Pellet stuff

[JJRunner]

I'm not even sure if this is interesting relavent, ect... but here it are.

I bought some pellets when I bought my gun.  I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking for, so I grabbed up a cheap tin of Crosmans.  Later on I ended up at another box store, and just for yucks, I cruised their pellets.  I picked up two more tins of differant pellets (both Gammo) just so I had a few to compare once I got the gun all sighted and such. 

Upon unpacking, I noticed the Crosman pellets didn't have a weight.  So I took them into work and weighed them.  The scale at work goes out to 0.00 g.  Not real precise, but I just wanted a ballpark figure.  And I had to eventually convert to grains.  Here is what I found.

The Crosmans are labled Lead Free Alloy, High Velocity SSP Supersonic Pellets.  .177 caliber, 250 count.  I weighed 25.
1@ 0.20 g.
2@ 0.21 g.
1@ 0.22 g.
9@ 0.23 g.
10@ 0.24 g.
1@ 0.25 g.

Averaged out I got .23 grams which converted to 3.55 grains.

I wanted comparison (and just for giggles) so I weighed the other ones.

Gamo PBA Bullet.  7.1 Gr. .177 150 count.
2@ 0.43
7@ 0.44
1@ 0.45

Averaged out about 0.44 grams or 6.79 grains.  Not quite what the package said.

Lastly I got some Gamo Red Fire in 7.8 grains.  I didn't want to shoot pointed pellets, but a voice in the back of my head said I wanted to shoot somewhere in the 8 to 10 grain theater.  Off hand, I can't remember why.  This was the closest I could find to anything approaching 8 grains.
5@ 0.50
3@ 0.51
2@ 0.52

Averaged out at 0.51 grams or 7.9 grains

At the end of it all, I'm not sure if the scale I was using went down far enough to be of use.  I used average ammounts for my bottomlines, so I know the math is a bit flawed.  Most importantly, I haven't actually shot any of these, so I don't even know if they are any good.  I haven't checked any of the gun shops around town, so as far as I know, these are the only two places I can get pellets in town.  I get the impression I'll either be special ordering or ordering on-line eventually.

I dunno.  I just wanted to share.

[breakfastchef]

Funny how Crosman does not mark pellet weight on thier tins. Most all the European and Asian manufacturers do.

Your scale at work might not have been completely accurate, but there is weight variation between pellets from the same tin. The tighter the variation, the better the manufacturing process.

I weighed 10 pellets from a half dozen tins or so and found that better pellets generally do not vary more than .2 grains from the stated weights on the package. Cheaper pellets can vary in weight more than .2 grains. I was kind of suprised that Crosman pellets (Premier Hollow Points - 2 different tins) were pretty much the same weight, and this for an inexpensive pellet. The widest spread of the pellets weighed were the RWS Hobby: 7.0-7.4 gr.

[loksi67]

before you begin to weight your pellets, please take an etalon weight for calibration.

there are only a few manufacturer, who are able to produce the same weight by the pellets. before I make pictures http://www.crosman-air-pistol-owners-forum.com/board/index.php?topic=637.0 I measure all pellets and you can see that most of the pellet types have deviances. cheaper pellets more and expensive pellets less deviances.

most consistent pellets are the jsb´s, than high priced h&n and rws.

[Crosshairs]

Crosman put the weight on there Premier ultra magnums .177- 10.5 gr. I also weigh pellets just for kicks to see what the difference would be.The RWS and JSB pellets and pretty good and are very close in weight for each pellet.
                                                       Mike

[NorthStaR]

It's also worth noting what decimal place your scales are accurate to and that they are calibrated accordingly.

Mine does to 0.001 - this can be a reason for swaying weights. If the scales are not über sensitive then they may round up or down.
Depending where that decimal place is could make quite a difference (on a small scale) to the end weight.

Just a thought.... 

The only pellets I have had that are THE most consistent are Defiant .22 from the company that makes Prometheus.
Both in weight and form.

All IMHO 

[quickster47 †]

The only pellets I have had that are THE most consistent are Defiant .22 from the company that makes Prometheus.
Both in weight and form.

All IMHO 

I definitely agree with you about the Defiant pellets from Prometheus.  Some of the most honest pellets I've ever used.  Now if they were only easier to get over here on this side of the pond.

Carl

[NorthStaR]

Well my friend, if I can be of service I can ship them to you if that helps? Anytime.... 

Just need a head size for a future order: 5.48, 5.5, 5.52 are the sizes if I remember right.

They're produced less than 10 miles from my work place.

[quickster47 †]

Well my friend, if I can be of service I can ship them to you if that helps? Anytime.... 

Just need a head size for a future order: 5.48, 5.5, 5.52 are the sizes if I remember right.

They're produced less than 10 miles from my work place.

Are you serious, they are made that close to you?  Great news.  I will be in touch very soon as I am getting low on the SN-2 pellets.

And thanks so very much.

Carl

[Smaug]

Don't expect match grade accuracy from the Crosman SSP pellets. They're rated at 4.0 gr., and I don't have a single gun that would shoot them accurately. They're so bad, I wound up just leaving them at the range (along with some Daisy pointed pellets) for someone else to try out.

What gun are they for?

Generally, pistols and lower powered rifles do well with pellets in the 7-9 gr. range. They don't do badly with the heavier ones, but they're moving so slowly, the trajectory starts to become .... challenging.

I've found RWS Hobby and Diabolo Basic (both are 7.0 gr. wadcutters) to be good affordable target and plinking pellets. JSB Exact RS at 7.33 gr. are better for ranges beyond 15 yards, due to the superior aerodynamics of the domed pellet. Crosman Premier Light, in the 1250 ct. boxes are good in all of my guns so far.

Let us know how they work for you.

[JJRunner]

Thanks to all for the replies!

The scale is technically an analytical balance.  I like to "eschew technical jargon" whenever I can.     Totaly not designed for what I used it for here.  It gets calibrated once a quarter to +/- 0.01 g.  Like I said, I just wanted ballpark figures.

The gun is a stock crosman 1377.  I couldn't stand it anymore so I went out to the garage and shot a few.  I don't have much to say about accuracy as it was at a whopping 6 feet.  I just wanted to see what it would go through so I could get to work on an indoor shooting range.

Semi-off topic: 2 layers of drop ceiling panels will work to slow down pellets to the backstop, but they make a mess!  File under "seemed like a good idea at the time."

[arkmaker †]

Do a search on pellet traps. You should turn up some great ideas and then pick one that suits ya!