Let's Talk Airgun Slugs - Design, Testing, Development (With Roelf Vorster) 

We are having problems (once again) with shipping companies that have refused to ship to the USA. I believe a couple other manufacturers have recently encountered the same problems shipping from Europe to the USA. This means, frustratingly, that the container going to the US is going to be delayed again, but please know we are working around the clock to find a solution, even if it means shipping via another continent and making little to no profit.

Glad to hear there will be. 25 and .30 caliber slugs coming !

Thx for the information of the slugs Do you start making them in 177? We are some country's there only youse that calibre Best regards Jesper

Listening to the physics around slug dynamics would suggest that there is place for high power .177 also.

What may be of interest to you is the. 577 minie ball shape.... I imagine you may have looked at this so it would be interesting to know why nobody has done a similar projectile for airguns other than its only recently high power airguns have become "affordable" or popular.. I have a long and varied shooting interest and have returned to airguns as great progress in design has occurred... From shooting muzzle loaders for many years, especially my. 577 2 band volunteer has been fed many different types of 'improved' minie ball..... They live in the sub/trans sonic zone, have a deep skirt to expand into rifling and though not being hollow point (flat nosed are accurate and deliver energy impressively) tumble and provide large wound tracts... I think they could be a useful slug design that may be more forgiving on different barrel types... Proven on the battlefield in large caliber but may not work for airguns or computer simulation... I would be very interested in your thoughts... Keep up the good work, always informative and entertaining. Cheers from the UK

Fantastic progress guys! It is very nice to be a part of what you are doing and by invoking your customers, you grow the industry even more....Keep up the great work!

Nice too see Roelf sitting next beside you He deserves more subscribers on his channel,so talented!! Would be nice too see you make a longer hunt video together Great work guys

I would give this two thumbs up if I could, looking forward to getting the Maverick and some of these Slugs.

Absolutely agree. Slugs have been around but Matt started the craz🙌🏻

Well slugs and airguns have shurly come a long way since the .22 LR bullets I tried shooting in my Webley Tracker back in the late 80's :-) Keep up your great work and contribution to the air gun community!

Thank god for you guys, this hobby is getting so fun and exciting. You guys are the pioneers and innovators that will go down in the history books. Killing the game! Thank you!

Thanks guys for what you do.

Air guns ten years into the future will be amazing going by the progression of the last ten🤔.

Well said guys, I am ever appreciative of the the science behind the ideas you discuss. I am also thankful for the benevolent attitude you fellas maintain. Solid people so you are and to me that tops your obvious shooting abilities and the immediate benefits of the information provided. So excited that Patriot has sorted out the customs issues and that we can once again start to enjoy your products in the US. Indeed it is an exciting time to be an air gunner!

Thanks for your efforts, it will show up in your pocket at some point and lead the market as well. Great Job!!

Great discussion! I am so glad you design your slugs with testing on live ballistic gels. So many of firearm bullet manufacturers have become obsessed with high BC and hyper velocity that they have forgotten not everyone uses their projectiles to punch paper or ding steel and some of us need the bullets to expand in game.. Can't wait for that container to hit the US stores.

That's Pioneer.... Good job for your hard work, Thumbs Up Matt & Roelf 👍🏻👍🏻

Peace be upon you brother Big fan from Turkey🇹🇷

Thanks for the information about slugs. Keep it up. Looking forward to getting them in the us. Love the videos keep them coming. Thanks for being in the fore front of air guns.

Hey Matt when are we gonna get some 25 to 35 cal slugs🙏

What would be a better choice for shooting slugs from an non fx airgun? Standard rifleing or a polygonal barrel ?

Matt you are legend! I remember when you were just shooting your woodstock Air Arms. You truly did start the SLUG revolution...I was there lol. I personally think it should be called the Dubber Revolution!

just an amazing video guys really. thank you so much for sharing your info and being such awesome assets to the airgun world

I feel you Guy's are doing a fine job. I do feel like you are a swimming against the current however. With the restrictions you experience there, as well as air gunners in UK and most of Europe, it is difficult. In other words, you are not that familiar with what has go before. You touched on it a bit here in this vid. Slugs have been big with many of us here in the U.S. for years now. One of the first things I would suggest would be to forget comparing slugs to firearm rifle bullets. It is a fool's errand. Rather look at the very huge strides made in Handgun ballistics. This is far more similar to what we do with our Airguns. Particularly in fps to fpe results. Even here in the U.S. there is a reluctance to draw data from firearm results. There seem an almost dogged self induced ignorance of what has come before and learned over the years. It seems an odd movement to not think of air gun shooting being in any way similar to firearm shooting. This is much our chagrin. They are both shooting disaipens an are closely aligned. ( I well remember one member ona well known air gun forum saying he hated firearms and if he leaned one of his friends owned a firearm, he would never speak to him again). He seem totally oblivious to the fact that he too was enjoying sport shooting. Never understanding it was the same, regardless of how the projectile was indeed propelled from the barrel. Iit is all shooting and the same principles apply! I would strongly suggest studying such notables as the renowned Elmer Keith who pioneered the modern handgun bullet. He proved years ago what you are just now learning and discovering about lower velocity (Subsonic) ballistics. I guess what I am trying to say is that you are deep in experimentation and testing to eventually learn you have been trying to reinvent the wheel. It has already been done for you. The research is there. Thankfully, the Handgun sports shooting here in the U.S. has a huge following, and has given us the kind of easy info that is not so common in "Europe, UK and others parts of the world. (Elmer Keith was the handgunner who experimented with duplex loads and gave us the .357 magnum, 41 magnum, 44 magnum and developed the well known 257420 slug used in Australia for roo hunting. He is the most revered name in all of handgunning). It must be noted that our slugs more closely match the parameters of handgun performance per caliber than any modern rifle round. There many-many articles about his research and discoveries. He still holds the longest record kill on an Elk with a handgun at over 700 yard. Many years ago. with exactly what you have now discovered. The slower ogive, and wider meplat. Look up Keity Bullet. Every reloading manual has it, and most manufactures either make it or copy it. As do I. I design slugs, for both my own enjoyment and help with the designs of some of the manufacturers. Only Wish I could send pic' of some of the results. Which of course cannot be done here. KnifeMaker

Waiting patiently for the .177/4,5mm slugs, as larger calibers aren't allowed here.

Have you ever thought of a round nose bullet, with a hollow core? I'm imaging a round nose hollow core, where the front 1/3 of the lead is very thin, and a sold base. Upon impact, it would act like a hollow point, pushing the nose down into the cavity, creating a great mushroom affect....at least in my mind it looks good. So happy for your guys success, keep up the good work.

Groeten uit Nederland!!!

THANX FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK

Interesting video. Thanks. Both of you are knowledgeable and are willing to share. Blessings

Correction: The whole air rifle slug craze in .22 caliber would have had a slower start, if not for Matt's involvement with FX. Larger caliber air rifle slugs, fired from appropriate barrels have been around far longer in the USA. Now many Yanks are developing .172 and .177 slugs too; so you guys may need to talk FX into supporting that.

Matt, As i am following your channel quite some time now, I am interested in purchasing FX Maverick, 580 cc, scope and all other accessories required for it, and wanted to ask you your opinion about which caliber should I aim for? I am from Croatia, Europe, and in my country any kind of airgun is legal (18 years +). This airgun i would mostly be using for hunting some birds (often), jackrabbits (occasionally), but i am also interested in hunting wild hogs (from time to time), who are litteraly coming to our doorsteps, destroying the gardens and are no afraid of humans. With firearms we can not shoot less then 300 m from the houses, so airgun is the only option. Would .22 with 70-80 ft-lbs slugs @900+ fps be enough for hog headshots at 20-70 meters distance or would you rather recommend .25? Is there greater benefit from .25 comparing it with .22 in stoping power and balistics, and in considering long distances? Considering birds would be target 90% of time, what would be general opinion between this calibers? Thank you for your response!

Thanks for picking up the sluggish pace fellas! Does the, right diameter, hollow nose increase the BC in subsonic flight by generating a buffer air layer of lower dynamic friction coefficient around the bullet? Like reducing drag by driving faster in a pickup truck? Have you experimented with reducing the diameter of the hollow nose (to a pointed nose perhaps) and carving a groove around the nose. Could help by reducing the amount of air needed to create a buffer layer from a single large vortex in the hollow nose to a thin toroidal vortex ring around the nose. Fun stuff to think about, and test... Cheers!

every thing is great as long as matt and the guys standing behind this product and i am a big believer in you but please reconsider the prices 💐

great video, I have been waiting for the .25 cal slugs from Patriot since you started producing .22 cal slugs, as soon as the .25 cal are on Airgun101 I will buy some - come on lads

Hi Guys , will you be adding lighter slugs to the 22 , like maybe 19gr , 21gr , 22gr for the less powerfull pcp guns

Awesome work guys, keep it up.

You guys should work more on improving accuracy and range of the .22 pellets. If we wanted to shoot massive slugs and be limited by capacity, wed just be shooting 22lr or 17 hmr s.

thatmk you for your effort to make airgunning better. I have a quick question. Iwas wondering if you could make a 20 gr and 18 grain. .217 slugs for the mid high level air rifle, (IE) FOR MY Umarex Orgin and Air Venturi Avenger. FOR THE less expensive rifles out there . But thank you for your time and great job on the slugs

This is a amazing step in the history of Airguns, I’m excited gosh what next? Tom LI NY

Great content. Glad to see the slugs picking up speed ( pardon the phun) in airguns. 40 gr 0.22cal...looks like you are pushing it...i mean there is an upper limit of the SD that you can push through an air gun. Even if you crank your regulator to say 200bar you can't expect more than high 250ish m/s out of a standard 600mm barrel while you want to be at 300m/s no matter the caliber. In other words the mean pressure of your firing cycle available to you is what limits to a certain SD. I don't see mainstream manufacturers making a regulated gun that spits 40 gr slugs at 22cal...the regulated presdure would need to be like 230 bar thus cutting into your shot count.

I bought a .25 cal. maverick absolutely love it! I've been shooting 25.39 gr. Jsb Diablo pellets extremely accurately, but I really want to start shooting some FX hybrids slugs. I have only tuned the regs for what I'm shooting currently and that's it. What do I need to do to start shooting slugs? Power kit , barrel, what ammo is best? Target shooting and hunting med game??

Is there going to be a .22 sample pack available with different grains and both .217/.218 sizes for testing?

Nice and pretty interesting discussion topic guys. Keep up the good job. You may find interesting as well the story of Boeing’s abandoned Sonic cruiser design for the subsonic B787 Dreamliner instead. Lots of aerodynamic lessons there about the challenges of transonic flight region. :-)

Great video!

As a hobby slug designer, I feel glad I came the right way!! Unfortunately, producing one in my country, is merely in dark grey zone. Importing requires license... Really unfortunate...

Hello guys, I've been a keen follower of Mat's work from the very beginning and he is one of the people responsible for my experiments with slugs. I've got two questions and i hope that you can answer these. 1. Bearing in mind the fact that there are many shooters in this sport who are not interested in hunting but enjoy LR and ELR i would like to know whether you are planning to make a sort of slug projectile without the hollow point, since such a feature has no effect for target shooting, we usually shoot at steel targets. 2. If we compare standard .22LR ammo and the most powerful .22 PCP rifles we can conclude that .22LR and 40 grain slug are very similar in terms of velocity and energy. I would like to know what are your experiences when comparing these two in their LR and ELR role. Furthermore, we know that certain shooters using bergara b14 or vodoo ravage achieve excellent resulta at respectable distances of 500 and even 1000 yards so I would like to know your opinion on using high-end pcp for those distances and with same effect, of course gun being tuned and customised previously. Thank you for your time and best regards from Serbia. P.S. If you consider it more practical you may also reply at ledeni012@gmail.com

Could there be slug length details added to the website? This would help the customer ballpark on what would fit.

A great place Mat...

Can these type of slugs be used in a strong springer?

Matt/Roelf, excellent video and path forward. Please consider designig an integrated "range finder" into the new M3 barrel shroud like the optional chronograph. This would be an excellent opportunity for Element Optics I would think. This would be very desirable with the adjustable turrets on the Element scope offerings. Thank you.

Tq for the video..please do a hunt with m3.really looking forward for m3 capability

Can you design a slug that will work with good bc for us sub 12ftlb Uk hunters?

We are waiting to see .25 and .30 caliber

I am really pleased that you are going to be doing.25 slugs , will they be sold in the UK ? If not will we be able to buy them direct from you ? Great show, keep up the good work 👍👍👍

One more thing...what is your experiance with in-flight stability of hollow point (CG moved back) vs hollow base ( CG moved forward? ( constant mass in both cases) Terminal performance disregarded in this case.

Great video guys. Very informative on the how and why slugs do what they do. Matt talking about the 22 cal is the sweet spot of slugs and air rifle’s. I’m so glade I changed my mind from a 30 cal to a 22 cal Maverick. I’ll get the Impact M3 in 30 cal maybe you’ll have perfected them by then. The wait time for the M3 is 4 to 6 months unless you have a So African accent. 😂😂😂

I really enjoy your videos!!! Keep up the good work and appreciate the time you put into the videos!!! I would love to see what you can do with a .30 and .35 cal slug!!!

Some feedback for you guys. I bought some .217 23 grain patriot slugs and they would not feed in my impact mag. I have a pin probe. However NSA and JSB knockouts feed just fine. Also they would not group out of my A liner. Velocity of 960.

Any advice on slug to try for .22 Daystate Wolverine B barrel, at about 30 ft lbs?

Love your videos Matt, but when you say you can't give the formula for the lead slug, I almost choked on my coffee. The formula for lead is Pb and has an atomic weight of 207.2 +/- 0.1u. Next, 100% pure lead does not exist just like sulfuric acid at 100%. The closest you can get is 99.999% outside of a laboratory environment. I design wet lead acid batteries and the best are the ones closest to 100% Pb, which are very expensive, but the best. Now, if you meant to say that your pellets are made of a proprietary lead alloy (mixture of two or more metals) then I can understand your statement. Tin is added to harden, and the more added, the harder it gets, but the more coefficient of friction in the barrel travel which will convert some of the kinetic energy (Ke) into frictional energy that will be transferred to the barrel as heat energy. Fine and dandy, I still love your slugs, if I can get more of them. Another question: The can states Ballistic Coefficient (BC) at 950 fps, but at what distance or range? I understand the stated average, but are you averaging between 10 yards and 1,000 yards, or 25 yards and 50 yards? The BC is a component of velocity, and at every yard travelled, it has a different velocity and thus a different BC, no matter how slight, it will be different. I feel a BC at 50 yards, or meters would suffice for us shooting just above or below said distance range. Furthermore, when I calculated the form factor (i) on the cans at 8:00, they went up by 0.009/gr then down by 0.002/gr then back up by 0.004/gr, which leads me to believe that whomever shot the BC calculations used two different ranges. By how far? I wouldn't know, but estimate approximately 10 yards. Lastly, can you make me an experimental slug of 658mm 'caliber', weighing 25.91 grains? I called it the FJB caliber and soon you will be hearing about it because it will be right down your alley with your fine skills in explaining difficult subjects so smoothly and eloquently. I'll send you a copy of the transcript to my book for your review. Cheers! from north of the equator where you have to lead the shot due to the Coriolis effect and the magnus force, and curvature of the Earth because contrary to popular belief, they are effective even at the micron distance if you are doing quantum mechanic mathematics, as I do.

Awesome info guys, thanks!

early muzzle loader had it right for their velocity !

Testing yeah I’ll do it just on the FX barrels or multiple manufacturers barrels

What about slugs with boattails? Isn’t there an increase in BC?

Nice my frend

It goes boom

Roelf what happened to Air Hunters channel?

Love you from Pakistan. Great shooter both of you

What would you say minimum FPS would be to get expansion on your slugs

Have you tried making lighter slugs for 12ftlbs Air guns we have to use in the UK?

Thanks for all the info you put out. I have HW 100 in .22 and I can't get the accuracy I would like with the Patriot slugs. Can you give me some suggestions? thank you

Will you look at. 177 slug as we in Zimbabwe need a license for. 22

Bonjour à quelle vitesse le 56 grains se regroupe le mieux ? Canon Fx de 700mm en 1:18’ merci

Hi guys. I own a Bobcat MK II with an 1. generation smooth twist barrel ( .22) . Could I shoot slugs? Light ones !!! 217´s 18 gr´s ? And my next question is ...Is there a possibility to produce a barrel wich shoots round lead balls of cause out of a FX !!!! I try´d it with horrible results 😜 I did a test with balls in my HW 77k in sub 12 fpe , and it was even worse! Could not hit a house door size target at 20 yds😂 This vid was so informative !!!!! Learnt a lot ! One more. Matt was the first one who noticed that slugs are in some better than pellets but in the 1970s in East Germany when I being teach´d by my dad we did not had axes to pellets. Some times we had to find a way . And I (12 years old) cut some pieces from a steel rod. 7-8 mm long and 4.4mm in diameter . After 100 ´s of shuts the barrel was "smooth" After that many shuts I could use 4.4 mm round balls ,and I tell you , this little gun and the balls was accurate up to 50 meter!! The brand was" Haenel Mod.300 " and I sold it to my uncle in West Germany for 100 DM ( for us in East ,real money ) Sorry about this long history but I can´t talk about my hobby . My girl and friends just understand " blablabla..... that doesn´t help me at all ! O.K. that´s it and thank´s you listening !! Greetings from Norway

Very interesting - and always makes me love the technology being used to push air rifles right to the cutting edge. (But - and I had this dilemma - when you're working at this level of power, would you consider a .22LR using subsonic ammo and a moderator instead?)

How much are the new "harmonic tuners" barrel tuners going to affect the performance of(particularly) heavier slugs?

I need this slugs here in Brazil ASAP ! No joke.

Hey Matt &Rolfe, thanks for all you do. Are there any chances for other dealers as myself having a chance at carrying these, or are you limiting them to a few here in the states? .30 and .35 would be sweet! Thanks , Brian

Hi....i'm from Indonesia🇮🇩

So......25 and 30 cal are coming to the states soon?

Great video guys . I would like to see something in the .357 cal . Love my new barrel for my FX Impact and can not wait to do some hunting here in Michigan . But ammo is the bottle neck right now . Need some help with that . Thank you

How do the patriot slugs perform in the Hatsan barrels with a 1 in 17 twist and a .217 diameter?

Great video , keep it up

It would be great to have a barrel that can shoot 18 grain JSB and 35-40grn slug equally well without the need to changing the liner.

For 700mm Impact MK3 in .22 go with "ballistic king' 34g but in .217 or .218?

Air Guns and Ammo are there, but i wish the Prices for Slug capable Air Rifles would come down too. No FX under 1100$ + Pump + Reservoir= 1500+$ and stuff like Impact easily 2000+$ Maybe we get lucky and Hatsan or Benjamin is bringing a Slug Thrower for 750$.

I never tried FX hybrids or Javelins. H&N and JSB Knockout . Its all about the price and pcs for me.

What about Gerard? Why is he not present or even mentioned?

Excellent video! Question for you guys, with the impact m3 having a substantially larger plenum and transfer port as standard, do you think we'll be seeing the 40gr slugs more often?

Arguably...my LCS Air Arms SK-19 .25 caliber is as accurate as any FX barrel...that said...what slug would be best in .25 and .22 for these guns? I have tried several and some are sub MOA sat 100 yards, but the lead is so hard on many brands that they pencil straight trough animals. Yes shot placement is everything and the velocity is more than there with this platform...1000fps+ and change easily. I need soft pure lead with a large hollow point and deep. I have never had Javelin Slugs. I have some on order but god knows when they will get here to try. JSB slugs are working at the moment at distances out to 250 but expansion still seems to be an issue. Is this normal at these distances? Thank you both for these videos. I always lear so much that I can not thank you enough for. God bless.

I'm in the UK IV got an FX dreamline 177 I'm hoping slugs will be on the table soon ????

Are some of these slugs going to be tested if rifles other than a FX as i dont own one i shoot other rifles ?

just need to make a manufacture in the US.

My .25 impact mk2 with 700 superior heavy shoots slugs with a bc of over 1.

Matt and Roelf. Slugs require longer distances. My Sumatra pushes the 34 gr Javelins on 9X power at 970fps. Chaigun is down an now were all flying blind. Any plans in the future for 10, 20, 30 or 40moa scope bases especially for guys who want to target shoot our to 300 metres.

any thoughts on .177

I bought my AA 22 fac based on your earlier videos on your channel. I can't afford to upgrade to FX unfortunately. Is there a slug that will work with my current set up?

Not sure if this question has been asked yet but are the javelin slugs coming to Australia?

I haven’t actually seen any of your slugs, but the videos all looked like flat bottom. U.S. made .308 (powder burner) subsonic slugs I have are boat tail. Also very slight olive and severely rounded nose. I also have some boat tail hollow point .22 airgun slugs from Nielsen Specialty that are boat tail. Alas they don’t make those any more because of quality control issues with the boat tail. I have some other slugs that have a dish tail like a lot of .22lr slugs. So, are you guys looking at dish or boat tails on your ammo?

Is there a reason why you didn't create slugs with boat tails or recessed boat tails? Would it not really improve the bc in subsonic flight?