Air Gun Home :: View topic - whats considered light and heavy in pellets?

ellerja · Member

ive read several threads about pellet sizing and am still confused.im using a ruger airhawk. i just bought it and did not know break barrels were so tempermental.i am using cheap daisys to break the barrel in and was thinking of switching to RWS superdome or muisterklugens.i am mostly just target shooting in the backyards 20 yards+.ive read enough to stay away from gamo and the varity at wally world is crossman and daisy.

BBgunNoob · Veteran Member

if buying from wall world exclusively i'd go with crosman premiers, they are generally a decent pellet if you could buy from online i would recommend JSB's probably the most...... though i do like rws pellets have not really tired too much of h&n n beeman, anything else id say is isn't worth your time, but you never know sometimes cheaper daisy pellets or even gamo pellets do work, would i recommend them generally, not at all

Slavia · Moderator

In general, there will be a pellet that shoots smoothest in your gun. Too light and it moves down the bore early, allowing the piston to slam into the cylinder head. Too heavy and the piston bounces back before it moves. Just right and the piston settles to rest smoothly.

Also in general, flat pellets are good for punching clean holes in paper at close range, while domed or round head pellets might be better for longer distances.

The best advice for your specific gun is to try as many kinds as possible. Your Airhawk might even prefer a different pellet than the next guy's Airhawk. Sampler packs are available. I like RWS, while many guys here like JSB. Crosman shoots well in some of my guns. I have an Avanti 853 that even likes Daisy pellets. You just have to experiment.

rsterne · Moderator

"Standard" weight pellets are considered to be 7.8-7.9 gr. in .177 and 14.3 gr. in .22 cal.... I would call anything less than that "light pellets".... Medium weight would be from there up to about 9 gr. in .177 and 17 gr. in .22 cal.... Over that they would be considered "heavy" for the caliber....

That really has nothing to do with what you gun might like, however.... the previous posts have covered that....

Bob

radar · Silver Status Member

I second the Premiers if going to wally world. I can't hit a beer can at 10 yard with Daisy pointed pellets.

14.3-14.5 is standard weight for .22 cal. 18 or more is pretty heavy.

Perhaps go to Pyramyd Air website and look at all your choices. Evert individual airgun will shoot well (accuracy and smooth power) with its own "favorite" pellet. They are way more sensitive to pellet trial and error and the barrel being conditioned to a specific pellet than a firearm is to ammo selection. Most people have good luck with Crosman Premier, JSB, H&N brands though.
But shoot 15-20 of whatever, whenever you switch beofre you consider the barrel conditioned to the new ammo. Don't count on good target groups earlier than that...and sometimes you even have to give the barrel a light cleaning between pellet switchovers, too. Get one you like and stick to it.

ellerja · Member

well went to three different stores gander mountain,bass pro,greentop.the basspro had the biggest selection.so im off to try my new pellets.they had beeman,gamo,daisy,benjamin,rws,crossman and one box of pollymags in .20.sure wished they sold 250 tins in rws.oh well thats part of the business.one thing i have looked at is online shopping for pellets but the shipping is down right insane.16.00 to ship a small tin of pellets?of course if you spend over 150.00 its free shipping.glad basspro is not really far from me.oh and yes they are expensive.the same rifle in bought was 6.00 more and the pellets were 11.99-14.99 for rws.9.99 for crossmans which i can get at wally world.thanks for everyones imput.

radar · Silver Status Member

PA has a deal where the fourth tin is free and that helps with overl cost. I usually wait until I have a few things I need. RWS Superdomes are good pellets. What caliber? For some reason I thought I read .22.

I also was redundent to rsterne's post. I guess I was typing when he posted. Sorry.

NZ Shooter · Suspended

Don't dis-count Gamo ammo too quickly. Alot of people don't like alot of different ammo. Your rifle may indeed pin a ragged hole with, say, ProMagnums. If you don't try, you could be missing out on an extremely accurate slug in your particular rifle.
If I listened to all the nagative S**T people say, I wouldn't try, or buy anything. There's always a critic. I will not say every single Gamo pellet in every single tin is without flaw, but in my experience, ProMagnums (in particular) have served me very well. I have used them in 6 different air rifles over 17 odd years, with very good results.
And yes, as you said yourself, air rifles are temperamental.... your one may just happen to LOVE a gamo pellet. You won't know till you try... Wink

radar · Silver Status Member

I had some Gamo tins have crushed pellet skirts, but the ones that weren't damaged (shipping?) shot well. I still use Gamo.

ellerja · Member

well i went to shoot today.i went from all over the place with daisys.now im shooting 1in groups some actually hitting same holes in 5- 6 shot groups.i have noticed the grip has a great deal with the zero.so im going to keep at it and see what happens.i had to retighten the mount after the first day.i didnt loc-tite the mounting screws.so ive been shooting 20-30 rounds today and scope still seems snug.now what kind of mounts do you guys use?mine came with some cheap two piece mounts i may go to one piece mount 11mm dove tail.im going to wait and see if the mounts loosen again.

SMP · Silver Status Member

There are tons of quality mounts out there. I have always used and always liked the centerpoint mounts because the rear mount has the screw down locating pin that fits the hole in most B18/19 guns.
And they are very reasonably priced

I have used them on a couple rifles that didn't have the locating hole and simply used the mount base to locate the hole and then drilled a shallow recess.

But as I say they are lots of good mounts available.

NZ Shooter · Suspended

I've personally never had any issues with two piece mounts. I've only ever used two piece, and that includes being on magnum springers. Personally I think it all comes down to the way they are put on your rifle, and in turn, how the scope is tightened into the rings.
I have never used loc-tite, and have not once had a scope move, break or fall off any rifle. Once two piece mounts are on properly , they should not creep at all. I do not recall even once in 17 years having to re-tighten scope mounts on any air rifle I've owned. Maybe I'm just lucky....I don't over torque them either.

ellerja · Member

these mounts im refering to are the ones that came with my airhawk.every review ive read pretty much has the same complaint i believe its the matieral there made from.ive mounted scopes on rifles up to 7mm rem mag and never had any trouble then again i used leopuld mounts(excuse the spelling).these seem to be of a soft aluminum which tends to stretch.instead of an alloy or steel.i see centerpoint seems to be popular and reasonably priced so i might upgrade to that.im wondering if i should go with a varible power scope but since it shoots shorter ranges dont know if its worth it.im using a 4x32 right now.

Slavia · Moderator

An adjustable objective is more important to me than variable magnification.

SMP · Silver Status Member

110%