Red Wolf .22HP - Range Report

[DHart]

Here is what I'm getting with the RW .22HP at 35 yards. Pellets straight from the tins, no washing nor sorting. Aztec Emerald 5.5-25x50 scope settings are indicated ( e.g. E: 3.5 W: 0)





25.39 JSB Monsters (original version) perform well on LOW (est. 751 fps), MID (est. 858 fps), and HIGH power (931 fps).

21.14 H&N Baracuda Match are just "ok" on LOW power (est. 889 fps), but inconsistent

18.13 JSB are pretty good on LOW power (est. 889 fps)

15.89 JSB are crappy on LOW power (est. 949 fps)

So, it seems that my RW .22HP likes the 25.39 gr Monsters at all three power levels (nice!). These are probably the best performing pellet with my gun. And JSB 18.13 gr are pretty good as well.

For most of my shooting, I prefer LOW power, as the performance is good at my 35 yard range, the shot count is well over 150 rounds, and the sound level is lowest. I bump up the power for longer range and taking pests out of the picture.

Shot count:

LOW Power about 150-170 rounds

MID Power about 125 rounds

HIGH Power about 85 rounds

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the RW .22HP. Trigger and cocking action are, of course, superb. And shot count on LOW power, at well over 150 rounds, on a fill is enjoyable. Electronic selection of power levels is really nice.

"Regulation" of air seems quite consistent. I have not yet chronographed the rifle... that is to come before too long.

 

[Spray1Mark]

I bought 10 different batches of JSB in .22 the week before last, I tested them all and most looked like yours above!

Then I happened upon this batch, shot straight from the tin you can see the difference straight away.

My advice is dont accept that your gun will only shoot certain weights to the same level, try different batches. To be honest .22 pellet consistency is terrible compared to .177.

 

[DHart]

I bought 10 different batches of JSB in .22 the week before last, I tested them all and most looked like yours above!

Then I happened upon this batch, shot straight from the tin you can see the difference straight away.

My advice is dont accept that your gun will only shoot certain weights to the same level, try different batches.

To be honest .22 pellet consistency is terrible compared to .177.

I didn't know that! Sort of sucks, doesn't it!

Perhaps I should have gotten the RW in .177.

 

[Spray1Mark]

The problem is my friend that airgun pellets can only be shot accurately upto a certain velocity, so to gain "power" you can only up calibre and weight.

In countries where power is restricted .177 is the natural choice for the flattest trajectory, so we are very familiar with .177 and volumes of .177 are far higher than .22, add to that all Olympic disciplines use .177 and you can see why manufacturers place much more emphasis on .177 projectile quality.

I often think that .22 and above are seen as "hunting" projectiles and as such not requiring the same level of consistency as .177 match pellets, which of course is nonsense!

I am not saying though that .22 is bad, what I mean is that it requires more work, more experimentation to find a batch that your gun likes.

Hence I am saying don't base the "capability" of the gun on one batch of pellets, I don't generally bother with other brands than JSB anyway and to me the 18.13 seems like the perfect pellet for the .22 caliber where power is unrestricted, so I would work with it, as I did above with the 15.89 in my 12FT Redwolf and was very happy when one batch produced the above result!

A .22 at 30FT has almost the same trajectory as .177 in 12FT, add to that the extra air required to go to 30FT and you see that in reality all you get with higher power is more downrange punch, for hunting this is fine but for target there is little point.

Simon from Daystate tried to convince me to go with a .25HP rather than .22HP, the trouble with that is .25 usage is very low here, hence pellet availibilty is very poor, so why restrict yourself?

 

[zx10wall]

Shoot some 25.39 redesigned .22 Monsters when you can acquire them. They will impress and I believe set the bar for the RW HP. 935-960 at long ranges will boggle your mind

 

[DHart]

I am relatively happy with the results when shooting my RW with 25.39 gr and 18.13 gr on low power, but I can also see that the “one hole” results that some people are able to get are elusive for me.

I can understand that the RW .22HP is more of a hunting gun than a target gun. Apparently Daystate has considered itself to be primarily a producer of hunting air rifles, moreso than a maker of target guns. And that’s all well and good. It is what it is. My opportunities for taking small game are very limited now that I’ve reduced the pest population, so I use my RW primarily to punch paper.

I’m looking forward to trying the re-designed monsters. I do appreciate the opportunity to reach out farther with good accuracy and power.

It is unfortunate that, apparently, less effort is made to produce .22 caliber pellets with the precision and consistency that is given to .177 pellets. It may just mean that my next air rifle be chambered in .177.

 

[DHart]

Simon from Daystate tried to convince me to go with a .25HP rather than .22HP, the trouble with that is .25 usage is very low here, hence pellet availibilty is very poor, so why restrict yourself?

What would be the reasons why Simon was encouraging you to go with .25, rather than with .22?

 

[chohan]

I am relatively happy with the results when shooting my RW with 25.39 gr and 18.13 gr on low power, but I can also see that the “one hole” results that some people are able to get are elusive for me.

I can understand that the RW .22HP is more of a hunting gun than a target gun. Apparently Daystate has considered itself to be primarily a producer of hunting air rifles, moreso than a maker of target guns. And that’s all well and good. It is what it is. My opportunities for taking small game are very limited now that I’ve reduced the pest population, so I use my RW primarily to punch paper.

I’m looking forward to trying the re-designed monsters. I do appreciate the opportunity to reach out farther with good accuracy and power.

Dhart, I notice a similitude between us. I mainly enjoy punching paper for tight groups and it drives me nuts when they're not. Ok, maybe not nuts but I love to chase the unicorn. Some of those groups look fine to me but I might not be the best judge, I shoot 50yds and I want 1/2" or less, anything less and cho is not a happy camper. That group on the lower left is one ragged hole and some of the others are similar with maybe a flier. Let me just share this: there was a thread by PerkyVal where Ackuric wrote something that perked my ears up https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/regulator-break-in/#post-355191

This is what got my attention:

"1-2% es is pretty normal especially if you're NOT weighing / sizing pellets. A weight difference of just 1/2 a grain can cause a fluctuation of 5~ fps. That right there is .5% ES jump for most. If shooting @ 850~ fps that makes 2% es = 17 fps. Shooting into / against wind has similar effects so if you had reasonable distance between you and chronograph take that into consideration."

"1/2 gr Pellet weight fluctuation = 5 fps

+/- 1% regulated pressure differential = 5 fps"

I grabbed an inexpensive scale with good reviews off Amazon Digital Scale mostly out of curiosity and started weighing a tin of JSB 18.13 out in groups of .1 differences. Like 18.0 to 18.09, 18.1 to 18.19, 18.2 to 18.29, etc. The weights ranged from a low of 17.7 to a high of 18.4, a deviation of .7gr. Got me thinking when shooting a group unsorted, was that flyer a 17.7 and the rest 18.2 or 18.3? Yes, I can get tight groups with unsorted but that's just a variable I decided to get rid of because I can control it. I don't clean or lube but I do weigh now and toss out bent and damaged pills. I load a mag from a certain weight group. The first 2 mags might be 18.1 and the next couple mags 18.2, as long as the pellets in each group are close to each other in weight. I'm no zealot or Olympic shooter so this is good enough for me. If nothing else it gives me more confidence in my ammo if I already know my gun will perform well with those pellets. So purely psychological? Perhaps, but 5 fps deviation is 5fps and shooting groups is a big mind game anyway. Did I follow through on that shot perfectly? Follow through is so easy with a pcp, it'd be a crime for me to screw the pooch on such a basic fundamental of shooting, yet sometimes I do. You know those 25.39 monsters shoot well so why not just shoot a few sheets of those now or the 18.13's and concentrate on basics.

I guess my point is, don't be so hard on yourself or maybe like me, you're a perfectionist so a subpar group is like a splinter in the back of your mind that festers. Like a chipped filling that you can't keep your tongue away from, lol. I might get a tight group or two and then the next one is an embarrasment. Being consistent is hard for me. Control the variables you can like position, sight picture, breathing, trigger control and follow through. Add sorting by weight if you desire and remember there's a reason we chase the unicorn. The fun is in the chase, we never catch him so just have fun mate.

edit: one last thing... I hope my post didn't come off as presumptuous. I spent time in the Army as a marksmanship instructor and sometimes old habits die hard. cheers

 

[Smitty911]

Ok, the compulsion is REAL. The scale reads to the 0.001 Gram. Same Pellet weighed 10 times, only one measurement off by 0.001 so I'll claim that its accurate.

2 hours to Clean with Acetone, Dry, weigh, place in oven, Pledge Lemon (Lemon is faster and smoother than Oranges), and allow to dry prior to placing them in a plastic bin - Oh that's per 350 Pellet Tin. 5 350 count of 0.25 Cal JSB Exact Monster blah blah blah Diabolos. I've gone through the 0.22 Cals that AoA sent (which I purchased, you'd like for that kind of money a man could get a tin ) So now they are all sorted and ready to shoot.

During the sorting I started with the label on the tin and went +/-0.001 Grams. That wasn't enough, 15 on the low side, 13 on the plus for some of the tins. The amount of lead slivers that came off was surprising. The 0.22 seemed to be +/- of list, but the 0.25 are all over the place.

So what I read above is it matters.

Smitty

 

[Smitty911]

I bought 10 different batches of JSB in .22 the week before last, I tested them all and most looked like yours above!

Then I happened upon this batch, shot straight from the tin you can see the difference straight away.

My advice is dont accept that your gun will only shoot certain weights to the same level, try different batches. To be honest .22 pellet consistency is terrible compared to .177.

Care to sell that tin

Smitty

 

[DHart]

chohan! What a wonderful post! And you nailed it when you said that you and I are similar when it comes to these things.

I have begun to engage in some washing and weighing activity! Yes, I too am chasing the unicorn and I am beginning to realize that I may never catch him. But you're so right in that the fun is in the chase.

I can very easily fall into being quite "nerdular" (as my wife calls it) with precise details, measurements, quantification, and analysis. Excel is one of my most used software programs, as I use it to track and quantify comparisons of a lot of things that some people might roll their eyes at (i.e., I rack up candidates for what dog food to buy - carefully comparing ingredients, protein, cost, etc.)

I have those times when my groups are great and I love it. Then a pellet will land an inch away from the group and, yes, it bugs the heck out of me. Was it an off-weight pellet, an irregular skirt, a gust of wind, a fault with the rifle, or what?

I am very methodical in my shooting and generally, I don't blame my shooting skills when there is a flier because I know that I'm doing everything exactly the same when I'm shooting - taking great care with scope alignment, trigger control, and follow through. The trigger on my Red Wolf is essentially a "hair trigger" (which I LOVE), so there is no movement of the gun (stabilized on Caldwell sand bag blocks) when I nearly effortlessly release the trigger.

Part of my frustration is due to shooting five different pellets, JSB 16, 18, and 25, and H&N 18 and 21 at three different power levels - testing. Of them all, it seems the JSB 25 and JSB 18 shoot the most consistently for me. So, rather than trying five different pellets at three different power levels (15 different combinations to test and quantify) regularly, I'm finally down to shooting just the JSB 25 (at Low, Mid, and High) and the JSB 18 (at LOW). I will save my tins of the other pellets to try with my next .22, on another day.

This narrowing down of pellets and different power level combinations has been really fun. I shoot from my covered back patio, so I can step out any time of day and shoot as desired. I shoot nearly 100 pellets a day because it is so convenient. Fun, fun, fun! But, you're right, I am a bit of a perfectionist and when things don't go as I hope they will, it can be frustrating. I will persevere with washing and weighing to get to where I am shooting pellets grouped by weight. And, as recommended by AoA, I am cleaning the bore after 200-300 shots.

The odd thing is that from day to day, my scope settings on the same range with the same pellets are varying - not so much with the JSB 25's, but with the other, lighter pellets. The scope setting that I dial in today may need to be tweaked a bit when I shoot tomorrow - even though the condition seem quite similar. Is this normal? Perhaps temperature changes will cause needed changes with the scope turrets?

 

[DHart]

Shoot some 25.39 redesigned .22 Monsters when you can acquire them. They will impress and I believe set the bar for the RW HP. 935-960 at long ranges will boggle your mind

zx10wall... yes, indeed, I am very much looking forward to trying the redesigned "Monsters"!

 

[DHart]

I bought 10 different batches of JSB in .22 the week before last, I tested them all and most looked like yours above!

Then I happened upon this batch, shot straight from the tin you can see the difference straight away.

My advice is dont accept that your gun will only shoot certain weights to the same level, try different batches. To be honest .22 pellet consistency is terrible compared to .177.

Care to sell that tin

Smitty

Smitty... I have a Dillon scale which I use to weigh powder charges for reloading pistol cartridges (mostly .40S&W and .45auto). It's a very precise scale. I recently used it, once, to weigh a small batch of 60 or so JSB 15.89 gr pellets. Unfortunately, my Red Wolf doesn't seem to like the 15.89 pellets whether they are washed and sorted or not, so the effort hasn't really been very fruitful.

My next move is to wash and sort (by weight) some JSB 18s and JSB 25s. That should result in some interesting conclusions, I hope.

 

[chohan]

Dhart, I don't know the cause of that. I've experienced the same on occasion with 16gr, perhaps a .1 mil click or two left, right with a new shooting session but never gave it a lot of thought. I just chalked it up to a slight breeze down close to the targets or something. Shooting conditions vary, temperature or humidity perhaps a likely culprit but I'm guessing. Usually my first two shots are a tad low but that's likely due to regulator creep on the wildcat. Perhaps an expert knowledgeable in optics or technical aspects of these guns will chime in.

cheers

 

[DHart]

Dhart, I don't know the cause of that. I've experienced the same on occasion with 16gr, perhaps a .1 mil click or two left, right with a new shooting session but never gave it a lot of thought. I just chalked it up to a slight breeze down close to the targets or something. Shooting conditions vary, temperature or humidity perhaps a likely culprit but I'm guessing. Usually my first two shots are a tad low but that's likely due to regulator creep on the wildcat. Perhaps an expert knowledgeable in optics or technical aspects of these guns will chime in.

cheers

chohan... have you considered a Huma regulator?

The Wildcat is one of the guns I'm considering for my next rifle. Wildcat MkII, or Bantam Sniper, or AA Galahad HR. I sure did like handling the Wildcat MkII at AoA. Bantam Sniper is nice as well. I haven't handled an AirArms Galahad, but I get the impression that it's a really great bullpup.

I'm the type of guy that if having one nice air rifle is great, having three or four of them is MUCH GREATER!

 

[chohan]

Yes, I received the huma reg about two weeks ago but tbh, I feel no urgency about installing it. First, the gun shoots like a dream and .5" low on the first shot of the day doesn't trigger my OCD. I just aim higher or fire twice into the berm then drive on. Secondly, being the WC is only a couple months old, not sure but that might void my warranty. I'll just hang tight for now but if the stock reg starts acting wonky later on, it's good to know I can just install the huma.

Yeah, I like that Bantam Sniper also... and the Taipan Veteran Standard... and the Edgun R5M. Just don't tell my wife you heard me say so, lol.

 

[DHart]

Yes, I received the huma reg about two weeks ago but tbh, I feel no urgency about installing it. First, the gun shoots like a dream and .5" low on the first shot of the day doesn't trigger my OCD. I just aim higher or fire twice into the berm then drive on. Secondly, being the WC is only a couple months old, not sure but that might void my warranty. I'll just hang tight for now but if the stock reg starts acting wonky later on, it's good to know I can just install the huma.

Yeah, I like that Bantam Sniper also... and the Taipan Veteran Standard... and the Edgun R5M. Just don't tell my wife you heard me say so, lol.

I won't say a word about ti! ;-)

 

[Spray1Mark]

Simon from Daystate tried to convince me to go with a .25HP rather than .22HP, the trouble with that is .25 usage is very low here, hence pellet availibilty is very poor, so why restrict yourself?

What would be the reasons why Simon was encouraging you to go with .25, rather than with .22?

Apparently .25 is ballistically identical to a .177, he also suggested that the .22HP was designed to shoot pellets that were not readily availible in the UK, so potentially the very heavy end of JSB Monster/Beast which pratically no one sells in the UK.

Having said that almost no one stocks .25 pellets in the UK either, we are primarily an Island of .177 shooters LOL!

It could be that Daystate know people will try the "standard" weights of .22 pellet in the HP and be dissapointed, my plan was simply to shoot the 18's on low power and get more shots and efficiency due to the longer barrel, by the time the gun arrives though I may have changed my mind LOL!

 

[Spray1Mark]

I bought 10 different batches of JSB in .22 the week before last, I tested them all and most looked like yours above!

Then I happened upon this batch, shot straight from the tin you can see the difference straight away.

My advice is dont accept that your gun will only shoot certain weights to the same level, try different batches. To be honest .22 pellet consistency is terrible compared to .177.

Care to sell that tin

Smitty

Sadly the tin now only contains 28 pellets, I have scoured the country for more of the same batch (which I have imprinted to memory) but without luck!

Every now and then I shoot a group with them to remind me of how much difference the right pellet makes but the numbers are diminishing fast!

 

[Kitplanenut]

Spray1Mark. Do you happen to have a lot number or any identifier for your tin. Sylvan