21 - Exposing the Truth: Debunking Airgun Pellet Myths 

Well done! I'm not surprised at the results; sometimes we create our own "problems" in our mind! Thank you for your time and energy!!

I think the bent skirts actually fire-form with the softer lead compounds. The fact the skirt is off the contact gives the blast of air momentum on the skirt and actually ends up causing a better seal and bite into the grooves.

Another really interesting set of tests. I was lucky enough to test 3 different dies of JSBs recently, at Borders Wood, and one in particular liked my rifle. As JSB had a special deal on, I bought a load to keep me going for a while. I agree about the concentration and tiredness, as when I tested the pellets, I'd just shot a full (long!) round of HFT and by the end of the test, my neck and shoulders had really had enough! One to bear in mind - get shooting-fit..!

Very interesting results. Thanks for taking the time to do the testing. I've always found sorting pellets tedious, so I'm delighted with that one! You've earned a sub!

There’s something fascinating about the lead diabolo air rifle pellet. Such a tiny soft thing of perfect shape. (That’s what she said)

You do get more flyers if you leave the skirts damaged , it's obvious. I have a very small skirt straightener that I use and it works everytime opposed to wobbly skirts. 👍

Great content and got a new subscriber here, knowing about some of this stuff it's fantastic to see it put to the test in a controlled and unbiased way, 45 yards might be a touch ambitious for my 70's original Hurricane pistol though lol my 15m garden is plenty for me. Keep up the great content, scope mounting video for me next 👌

Very informative and interesting results, well done and thanks.

The numbers on the back of a pellet tin do not show the actual head size of each pellet in the tin if you use a pellet gauge, you will find a mix of head sizes usually in jsb from 4.50 up to 4.54. Even when the labels say 4.51 or 4.53.

Enjoyed that video, thanks for your time and effort 👍🏻

Good work Jeff, thanks for putting in the time and effort.

Thank you very much for that video I think that was eye opening and very informational

Well done sir, thoroughly enjoyable video, great pace and to the point. Nice to see a knowledgeable chap doing his homework to debunk theories held by some so called experts. Subscribed.

Just a note to say how much I enjoy your channel, from across the pond.

I concur your content is both practical, useful and easy to comprehend. I would be really interested to know the make and model of your pellet scales (and where you purchased them of course). I've been trying to find a scale with a two decimal place reading for ages without success.

4.51 head size definitely produces tighter groups, and if you varied the speed, it would have shown even more. My theory is that concentricity inconsistencies are more of a factor. I had a tapered hollow tube and push pun to check .25 caliber and found amazing things. The branded pellets were at least 30-40% less than the JSB. I use a joker holder with my tube. The head of the pellet just protrudes, and the skirt is braced with the square-ended push pin. Then it is rotated for runout

Great video think at some point need a part two with pellet washing and lubing and maybe add in outdoor to see if these variations take more or less wind but I think setting any kind of control group would be difficult at best. Keep up the good work 👍

Very interesting results. I think the biggest takeaway, is that the S 400, seems to shoot better than the Wolverine. Who would’ve thought it? 👍

I was plinking one day and put all the distorted pellets in my 14 shot magazine and lo and behold they shot just as good if not slightly better than the good pellets. Definitely a myth 😅

Nice video. I would have added a last test. Using only the best batch (dye) for each gun, and then sorting by weight and head size and also a 3rd category of identical weights AND head sizes from the best dye. I am pretty sure you would get interesting and conclusive results as I have done these same tests myself on many rifles until I have found the best combo for competition. Another suggestion would be removing the rifle stock and clamping it straight to a heavy table using 2 bolted vices (and eventual weights to the table) therefore eliminating any potential human error and getting rid of an extra variable....Thanks again for that video.

Great videos I've bought a HW97K one year old,what scope would you recommend for shooting hft, as that's what I want to do when I'm comfy with the gun.

I have an AGT Vixen which doesnt seem fussy at all yet my HW100 when you compare 4.50 to 4.52 heads shoot notably different, 4.52 are a much tighter group. Again great video.

Interesting video well presented, I have an S410 .22 that I find very tolerant of various pellets, and never found a distorted pellet skirt makes any difference I've always thought the skirt reforms when pushed into the breach.

Thank you for an interesting video were the pellets used for each test weighed ?

I live in the Philippines - shoot a locally made regulated (1,500 PSI plenum - 4,500 bottle) 22 cal PCP using local pellets. They all have to be sized (head and skirt) and still need to be force seated. I made a pellet seater from a 1/4" nail by rounding end. The fact that the seater is actually of a larger diameter insures that the skirt to reformed and the pellet set at the same depth each time. 75 yards - 125 feet - 68m? 1/2" to 3/4" groups - 1.27cm / 1.9cm

Very interesting and enjoyable video, got to love a s400 😊

Very well done and you are right because you PROVED IT.

Very interesting , gonna have to watch it again and take it all in .. had a long shift at work and ready for beddy byes .. one thing I did notice was the deformed skirt groups , think its been proven in the past that it doesn't really matter that much .. the pressure in the barrel forms them on the way down to the muzzle end .. unless you hit em with an hammer first .. THEN you'll see a difference .. but yeah .. gonna watch again tomorrow

Have you tried sizing as well, as the bench rest guys do that, then weigh, and then lube just before the match.

Great informative vlog my friend, and a new subscriber. 👍 found lately that j.s.b pellets seem a lot lthinner lead than they used to be. And that daystate is grouping like a shot gun lol, always Q.Y.S for me ❤

Very interesting ! For pellets with a deformed skirt, I reform them with the wooden end of a small paintbrush 🖌, to the right size, and honestly it doesn't pose a problem!

That would be an interesting experiment, to have a transparent barrel and high speed camera to give a very slow motion view of the pellet as it was fired to see if it actually does re form in the barrel?

I didn't expect the weight one to make any significant difference (with those weights) but I was really interested in the bent skirt test. I bin mine like everyone else but I've often thought the skirt would expand when fired anyway and make little to no difference. FWIW, I shoot H&N FTT 4.52 in both my S400 and HW98, good as any I've tried inc JSB.

Thanks. Lots of things I don't need to obsess over 🙂👍

some interesting results. I only sort pellets to chrono when checking power unless I have noticed a brand of pellet has a large variance in weight.

Thank you for your hard work. New subscriber.

thank you for going through all that work to make the video👍

In my HW100 I look for JSB with a low batch number usually 1

Hi there, I’m local to Cambridge. Are you shooting at a public range?

The problem is, as you've shown the Die number is a plausible one. This probably accounts for the disparity in the OEM v branded pellets. I use BSA Goldstars ( rebranded H&M FTTs) whatever dies they use ( maybe specific ones for specific branding) the BSAs just edge the H&Ms for me.

What are the twist rates on them barrels, and how many lands, ?

IMHO this confirms the folly of paying for mortgage-deposit priced guns for accuracy reasons when we are at the mercy of such variable quality pellets. Of course this is not to say that the joy of owning something of quality and beauty isn't of great appeal. Great to see the giant-killer AA S400 doing its thing - what a brilliant gun.

Interesting thoughts. I've tried the different head size and managed 2 different results on different days 😂

how din you know the pellet head size? did you just use the numbers on the tin or did you use a pellet gauge?

It would have been nice to see another test of how the latest slugs compare to traditional pellets, just a thought 😊 👍

Excellent video and interesting. No problem from me subscribing to your channel👍

Interesting results but could be different if outside with a slight wind😊

In this sport , whatever level you shoot at , do whatever you think works best for you ! First and foremost , I pick a pellet that gives me the best groups out of my setup and stick to it ! It is unfortunate , we end up with so many tins we will probably never use , getting to that magic pellet . Lol

Interesting video. I'd have to say though that most scales people are using simply aren't accurate enough to weigh down to 0.1 grain plus you've calibrated it with a 50g standard. I'm saying this as someone who has worked in research labs using scales that cost a great deal more than the kind you are using and are calibrated using a range of standards capable of accurate readings down to 0.0001g.

I think the variability of accuracy on weight and head size does matter in certain barrels, but not all. I have an FX Dreamline that is easily most accurate with 4.49 head size pellets

That was some serious Stephen Hawking stuff Jeff.. _ucking pellet Porn or what.. 👍👍 great video and thanks for doing it.. as you know I'm a new shooter and I thought I was going crazy sometimes while shooting.. but this makes sense.. weight counts.. I bought some cheap pellets just to see the difference.. I went back to the heavier ones.. and smacked 25mm spinners at 30 odd meters.. from a cheap BOG tripod (£125) And off hand to.. with crossman domed ultra magnum... not the most expensive well £6 cheaper than the rest.. I bought them all before.. no difference in them compared to Air Arms or Weihrauch or Jsb's.. oh I'm .22.. but same results.. bent ones wonky pellets. Still 5 pence peice at 30 odd meters.. bullseye most of them in the wind to.. like you taught me in another video wait for the wins to calm down 👍👍👍🤣 I better go cause If the girlfriend sees me messaging you I'm truly _ucked 😂😂 👍👌🤘 J x

Is allowed to bring the pellets only in the airport sir?

What I did notice is you do not get a lot more for your money when you buy the over priced Day state. Air Arms S400 is a great rifle for the money, get a reg fitted to it and you have a first class bit of kit

Interesting, apparently you find no noteworthy difference in accuracy between the different head sizes, in my experience it makes a significant difference. This is based on trials I've done using my HW98, HW100, and Vulcan 2, all in .177 (FAC for you guys across the North Sea) shooting H&N Baracuda Match as that's what they seem to prefer of diablos. I've shot 4.50, 4.51, and 4.52s through all of them, and maybe it's just a coincidence, but they _all_ group tighter with either 4.50s, or pellets of the same brand/model I've resized to 4.50 mm, the groups open up the higher I go in actual caliber. As for your Test #4, in my experience, there isn't a whole lot of difference between the pellets we get over here in DK - according to my lead pusher, FX pellets are rebranded JSBs but FX supposedly does their own QC on them and send them back if they fail the test, so in _theory_ they _should_ be more consistent in weight/size/etc. than the other rebranded JSBs, but I can't tell the difference in accuracy, in my guns JSB and FX hit all over the place compared to the H&Ns. No, I'm not sponsored by H&N.😄 The last test caught me a bit by surprise, to be honest, think I'll have to do a bit of testing of my own, thanks for taking the time to put this video together.

May I suggest that you do these tests again, but this time run every pellet through a pellet sizer? Differing weights are one thing but if the pellets are different sizes they won't be consistent.

I just tried to size some Hades 15.89 gr at 5.5 mm and none of them would size from 5.48 to 5.57 . Other one's I've sized went from 5.51 to 5.54 these two tins wouldn't even size at all in my scale 😢

Main conclusion Daystate Barrel is more pellet fussy than The Air Arms barrel.

Interesting video … but every barrel is different … the wolverine might not preform as well as the AA with those pellets (or vice versa) … tbh shows me how inconsistent JSB’s are now and also depends on the die … my steyr loves die 80 jsb 8.44 4.52 but with die 62 it throws them like a shotgun …

I would disagree with pellet head size . I’ve been shooting bench rest competitions for 15 years and pellet head size definitely matters , in pellet testing I have found certain head sizes perform better than others in my rifles . Also breach size my hw97k will only hold and shoot 4:53 if I put a 4:51 or 4;52 in they will literally drop out the breach and terrible flyiers

Wow! I know that this video took a lot of hard work...Thanks for the very interesting test of those pellet. For me, I have noticed that for short distances up to and around 60 yards, a slightly damaged skirt (as you demonstrate so well with an unexpected outcome,) doesn't change your POI too much...but shooting out to over 80+ yards with a damaged skirt will make a difference I have noticed. This was a fantastic video mate and I did Subscribe! (So one more closer) Cheers, Mark. RU-vid Channel: Farm Pest Management-Airgun

interesting tried some of those tests and got different results 😂😂😂 but i find guns are a fickle thing tx shoots 4.52 but definitely shoots 4.51 or 4.50 better not a massive amount but the difference between a split line or in the bull circle ⭕️ on bench rest targets 98 shoots any thing half decent and size does not seem to matter that much . red wolf shoots jsb short’s like a laser . as for weight most of the time i have bothered to way pellets out the tin they are not far enough out that i noticed to much difference . sizing them i noticed i definitely get less flyers

Afternoon love following your show It's said it's All about the grouping yarda yarda very good but for the love of God zero that bull and and take the sucker out just for the show of it . Aiming for the dot but generally happy with the group anywhere other than taking the Bull out marksman like All the best Mark Ps not got a clue myself but it's great that people like you are out there to follow

your shooting position and location of target seems to effect results more than anything it seems

Nope, I've run extensive tests using jsb exacts and the 4.50 and 4.51 head size are no where near as accurate as the 4.52 out of my fx rifle.

One myth that heavier pellets will only produce more energy is incorrect. Its down to which type/weight is more suited. I had this with Bisley Magnum & Sovereigns, the Sovereigns produced 1.5ftlb more energy.

The dies have the most impact on group size!Pellets from some dies perform well in most rifles and exceptionally well in some cases while pellets from other dies are absolutely useless!

Matt Gleason does this and he seems to have it work for him, so perhaps it may work?, just a thought.

What were the die numbers on the branded and none branded pellets. Too many variables to come to a conclusion.

S400 best buy

Phenomenal gun the s400 more than holds its own

👏👏👏

I'll have to add ..lool ,,,,,,,I short my pellets by weight. ,,,I live my pellets ,,,,,and my groups from a avenger. And akela are way tighter than this ,,,yes each gun like a certain pellet weight n design ,,,,,but sorting and lubeing helps out tremendously for my shoting at 50 yrds

At the end of the day if sorting and weighing pellets makeing you happy and you shoot better for it , go for it , what ever floats your boat, 😂🤣👍

This is not busted this test shows both your rifles shoot a tighter group with the 8.4 pellets, and if you were to do this again but keep the weigh difference to .02 of a gn you would see a difference between batches ,the way you have weighed them is upto a full gn difference, i know this works as ive done it ,dont worry about the crono ,its where the point of impact is

Sorry but head size makes A difference no question. The die number also makes a massive difference and if you get a good one that works for your gun, but then all ! Git to be honest , your Air arms does not seem to be that accurate at all ? Have you cleaned it at all ??

You cannot draw the conclusions you did from such s small number of shots, AND you need to actually measure group size in x and y a nd with calipers not a ruler. 20 shots per group may well give a different result.

Useless (and confusing). We all know that the "marginal" weight differences (within the same pellet model) do not mean all that much, both, in terms of velocity/energy and in terms of accuracy. However, differences in energy and - especially - in accuracy between different MODELS of pellets, might be (and usually are) significant, even though they weigh the same. As for "distorted" pellets vs "regulars": it depends on the severity of the distortion (and that too is a well-known fact - we didn't need yet another hot water inventing).

Should be tighter groups than that on a fixed stand . I could do better free hand with me old bsa scorpion

Its pronounced vi-rau-ch

I really do not mean any offence, but your shooting is so randomn its almost meaningless....sorry. (And on a rest as well...😂😂😂) On another note, the 'W' is pronounced as a 'V'....German manufacturer. Your test on different labels for same tins is meaningless, because they were all different dies. The rules apply, its the die that matters, not the picture on the tin. To suggest that different dies having an effect is 'plausible' is nonsense. Its a fact, and you call yourself a HFT shooter???😂 The damaged skirts will have a much different outcome in the wind, as it acts on the pellet . The head size on a tin is meaningless, we all know this, so unless you measured them yourself, then the difference was, again, the die number only. Airguns are dynamic things, and to shoot a few pellets then declare a result is, quite frankly, nonsense. I categorically disagree with you.