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Paulius1981 · Member

Ok, I have about ten years experience shooting powder rifles, so I know that finding the ammo your gun really likes is really important. I must have put at least 15 different brands and types of ammo through my 22LR powder rifle...but I;ve never experienced a difference like this before:

This morning I took out my Gamo sampler pack and did some experimenting. These are all six shot groups at 35 yards:

Firstly, for a baseline I shot my usual Crosman Premier Hollowpoints, this was the result:

This group was just under 1.5", and almost exactly 1" if you don't count the low flyer (which I'm 99% sure was down to my bad shooting rather than the pellets.)

My second group was with Gamo Hunters. I was actually quite impressed:

This one was 1 1/4", again down to a couple of flyers that were down to me.

Then I tried the Gamo Magnums and oh...my...effing...god.

Result? a 5" group. Apparently, you only use magnums if your idea of precision is 'somewhere in that direction'.

I thought that either my scope was broken or all the rifle's screws had come loose at once. Just to be sure I fired another set of groups with each pellet, and got roughly the same results for each...decent with the Premiers, ever so slightly tighter with the hunters, and looking like I shot with my feet with the magnums.

Is it normal to get this much difference? I've put at least fifteen different brands of ammo through my 22LR and the difference between the biggest and the smallest group was never more than an inch or so.

It just blows my mind that the difference in group size can be as much as five inches at that distance.

sniper · Silver Status Member

my .22 mrod will stack beeman pellets all day long.
if i put premiers in it i get 3 inch groups at 15 yards.

yes, that's normal.

VENI VIDI VICI · Member

I get the opposite results, my .22 walther groups the magnums well, won't group any other gamo pellet worth a f***, I personally will never purchase another gamo pellet, Crosman Premiers and JSB's for me. I personally would love to see a Crosman Premier in a 16-17gr, Seems to be the weight my gun prefers.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Totally dependent on the rifle and pellet in it- when two guns off the same assembly line, one after the other, act radically different with the same pellet- you know experimentation is the norm, not the exception. Obviously, your rifle isn't liking those Magnums. Heck, go buy every super-cheap pellet you can find at a dollar-store and try them, maybe one will shoot great in your specific gun and you'll be able to save a ton using them vs. a $10/per tin type.

packrat · Senior Member

Heck, $10.00 per tin is cheap....relatively speaking...Some of the German ones, (and I'm not knocking them, cause they ARE GOOOOD, ) are a WAAAYYY more than that..(depending of course, on several factors)...JSB's are really popular, and shoot great for a lot of folks, BUT they don't seem to be any more accurate than Crosman 14.3 Premiers, at least in my 3 .22 caliber guns, and THEY ARE expensive!. I threw away a tin of Gamo Master Points , (or something like that) day before yesterday 250 tin- was more than 1/2 full, but after trying in all 3 >22's I have , there was no sense in keeping them..they grouped just about like OO buckshot Mr. Green

.

Thank goodness, and the "powers of the pellet world", all 3 of mine, especially the Talon (of all things), shoot more accurately than I do Smile

, they're $9.95 per tin of 500 AND I CAN BUY THEM LOCALLY!! 2nd choice for me is rws superdomes, accurate and they work great with my RIM..

My problem is that sometimes I can't leave well enough alone...I have 4 tins, sitting on my bar right now, that I have never used before. I just HAVE to know how they do..that plus I'm hoping I can find some that are SO accurate that they make it look like I'm a good shot Laughing

Slavia · Moderator

fritz · Silver Status Member

The magnums do the same thing in my Diana 34.

I have a feeling if I weighed them or sized them then they would be a winner. I can clearly see there are three different dies in one container. One is very small (relative to my bore), one is just the right size (fits snugly), and another is almost a .20. The two extremes spray everywhere, but the ones which fit snugly actually produce a nice group. This is shown because of the clear pattern they produce, and the rest just fly as the wish, being nowhere near.

Paulius1981 · Member

Yup, that's the one thing I'm having a lot of difficulty getting used to with airgunning...the fragility and inconsistency of the ammo.

Most places I've been in search of pellets obviously don't treat the tins with much care. I've bought so many tins where almost half the pellets have been deformed it's not even funny.

sniper · Silver Status Member

i just cracked open a sampler of gamo pellets. i'm not impressed.

Paulius1981 · Member

I wasn't impressed either, especially with the wadcutters that looked like the quality control guy had fallen asleep on the job.

However, my rifle just seems to love the hunters...they're just slightly more accurate than Crosman Premier hollowpoints... but the huge downside is I only know of two places that stock them, and that's in the sampler pack.

I REALLY don't want to spend $10 on four tins of pellets, when three of the four types don't so much 'group' as 'spread'...especially when I can get 500 premiers at the local wally-world.

packrat · Senior Member

YUP-testing pellets can get expensive....I have three tins sitting on my bar right now that just do not shoot well in my 2250, or my 2240. Beeman Silver Bears-12.65gr (200 tin)....Beeman Silver Arrows, 17.10 gr(200 tin)....and JSB Exact jumbo express 14.3gr(250 tin)....first time ever using the 2 Beemans but have used the JSB's before they were fairly accurate in 2250 before I converted to HPA..today though, they were in the "lucky if I hit the backstop" category Crying or Very sad

perhaps they just don't agree with higher fps, only thing I can figure..Bottom line here is that I have 3 tins of pellets , that I gave like $8-$9 dollars apiece for that I'll more than likely melt down, mix with antimony and cast bullets out of Crying or Very sad

.No sense shooting them, don't know where they will go.....that's how it gets expensive.

But ya gotta do it in order to find a couple that do shoot accurately, and in my case, "load properly" as I use a RIM, and some pellets just plain suck when it comes to using them in the magazines. I have found one, that I had not used before, that is outstandingly accurate in my hpa 2250..H&N Sport 18.21gr. crow magnums...they're a bit longer than most pellets and yesterday I shot 125 of them through the RIM with perfect feeding on every shot. I did an 8 round group and could cover 7 of those 8 shots with a NICKLE Cool

, from 25 yard with my 2250..That is the best group I've shot since november of last year.. the 8th shot I'm pretty sure was me, not gun or ammo. Naturally they're expensive as ____.especially when you use a magazine feed...you can run through some pellets right quick like Laughing

Lipoly · Veteran Member

Regarding my RWS 350...bought eight different types of pellets and they all shoot consistently @ 25 yards. A couple of 'em need elevation/windage adjustment, to hit POI, but they are consistent. Bought a variety of about 3,000 good quality pellets for about $85.