Ferrets Bueller
24-09-2008, 09:34 PM
I purchased 2 boxes of these at the Midland Game Fair on Saturday, the supposed price of £17.99 had been reduced to £12.50 for the show, and i have heard that this will be the price now. Whether this is true or not i cant comment but hopefully Daystate have seen the light or more likely saw the negative response to the proposed pricing on the BBS and followed suit accordingly.
With the Daystate selects being no longer made (the older daystate pellets) and these being the pellets i used in all my rifles, i was rather worried as supplies of these will dry up soon, leaving me with the need to find a suitable replacement. Upon hearing of the release of these new rangemaster pellets i hoped they would be a good replacement to the old pellets even the price wasnt of too much concern, even though i thought i was a rip off at £17.99 i would have paid that to have a good consistent pellet and more so when i heard that Pax (the defiant manufacturers) as if they were to be of the quality and constituency of the previous defiant pellets i thought we are on to a winner, that was until i heard that they would be bullet shaped liked the defiants, from that moment i knew what the result would be and that they would perform just like defiants and penetrators had, excellent indoors or with no wind but outdoors and the slightest breeze i knew what the result would be before i even tested them. But to be fair i purchased them to give them a fair crack.
The pellets
You get 650 pellets (in a plastic bag) in a box the same as the Logun Penetrators come in, although nicely packaged some foam would have been nice in the box to help damage to the pellets. Upon inspection the pellets look very good quality and i believe a good consistent weight ,they are stated as 8.5 grain on the box and ive heard that the variation is about 8.4-8.6 which is rather good, upon closer inspection of the pellet you can see a consist ant mark in the pellets head, what looks like a small nick from the lead, as this is on nearly every pellet i assume this is a machine mark?. Also underneath the head where it joins the shirt there is some rough machining marks visible, whether both this flaws will contribute to inaccuracy im not sure as they are only small flaws they are flaws.
The packaging
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/Rangemastertest008.jpg)
Side by side, New Daystate Rangemaster on the left, and a old Daystate select to the right.
shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/Rangemastertest005.jpg)
The test rig
My 2 week old Daystate Mk4 was used for the testing, and although new its had about 6000 pellets through it in the 2 weeks ive owned it. Following pellets testing i found the best pellet for it was the Daystate Selects in Any head size (4.51, 4.52 and 4.53) it was producing one hole sub 10mm groups at 45 yards with ease, with no noticeable flyer's at all.
The Mk4 and bean bag rests
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/Rangemastertest001.jpg)
The night before the test i thoroughly cleaned the barrel with a Vfg cleaning rod using the abrasive cleaner felts and paste, 3 of the abrasives were put through and showed how ell the rob and paste worked as they came out black, but less and less with each felt. after the abrasives normal felts (3 off) were put through and the barrel was spotlessly cleaned.
Down to the range (North wales shooting school) and the rifle was set up. The rifle was supported on my bean bag rifle rest and bean bag cushion on the butt, the wind was only slight to mild at about 8mph blowing left to right and on occasion a slight head and tail wind. I attached a wind indicator on top of the target board to keep an eye on wind direction ( a stick with a length of wool) The rifle was filled to 200 bar for each test (it has a max working pressure of 230 bar) and refilled bofore changing pellet or distance.
28 yard testing
Daystate Rangemasters 4.50
I checked zero with the 4.50 rangemasters and it hadnt moved poi at all from my Select zero (28 yards). I then proceeded to plink with them until i had shot over 100 of the 4.50 then i started the grouping test.
9, 3 shot groups were fired at each sheet at this range with a control group of daystate selects thrown in for good measure (after testing of the rangemasters)this are shown above the red dots.
At 28 yards the grouping wasnt good at all, i only got about 4 good groups from the 9 shot, the 4.50 are shown on the 1st and 2nd column on the page of targets and you can see the groups they are capable when the wind drops, they are pellet through pellet, but the groups soon open up with the slightest of breezes. the daystate select group is in the first column bottom row above the red dot and this was when the wind was blowing and is a single pellet hole.
Conclusion=Not good at all, highly affected by the wind
Barrel was again cleaned before using the other pellet head size. 100 of the 4.53 rangemasters were used to plink with and then testing commenced again.
Daystate Rangemasters 4.53
Same range of 28 yards and the grouping is better (3rd and 4th column), definitely tighter groups than the 4.50 but still effected by even the slightest breeze, again another group of the Selects (3rd column bottom row, above the red dot) and they are pellet on pellet.
Conclusion= Better than the 4.50 but still not fantastic.
The 25 yard target itself.
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/rangemastertest2.jpg)
The barrel was cleaned again and another 100 of each head size was fired before testing (before changing head sizes.
45 Yards testing
4.50
After 100 plinking shots i settled down to test the 4.50 rangemasters, same amount of wind as before, the first thing i noticed while plining that the usual 45 yard aimpoint of 1 milldot with selects had changed to 3/4 milldot at 45 yards.
Eight 3 shot groups (1st and 2nd column) this time were fired again rested as before. Again as before when the wind was still the grouping was better than the shotgun groups when the wind was slight, these were totally useless and a real disappointment. You could really see the effects of even the slightest side wind and even more shocking any tail or head wind that would drop or raise the poi.
Conclusion = Useless and a real disappointment
4.53
3rd and 4th column shows the results of this head size and the results are as above greatly effected by wind
Conclusion = Useless and a real disappointment
Now the interesting bit without even firing any pellets when changing pellet type i fired two 3 shot groups of the selects, shown in the middle column bottom row (above the red dot)3 shots in less than a 12mm group, now the wind has carried these shots right by about 12 mm but notice how they still give a group so in effect when allowing for the wind they will still group. i proved this with the group above that one (middle column 3rd row above the green dot) i shot 3 shots allowing for the wind and they all grouped perfect right in the bull, i then fired a 4th shot (shown above the blue dot)not allowing for the wind and it was carried to the exact place as before. So just shows that eeven though effected by the wind (as should be expected) the pellets still give consistent grouping. Using the preferred diet of Daystate selects shows the accuracy of the rifle well.
The 45 yard grouping
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/rangemastertest1.jpg)
In conclusion although i already had predicted the outcome, and knew that due to the bullet shape of the pellet that they would be affected by wind, i did give these a thorough and fair test, Mikeygasbag was with me all along this testing which took more over 3 hours to perform, its still a shame that they wouldnt perform as good as the previous daystate pellets.
Of course all pellets will perform differently in each rifle when the wind dropped they did group well, but again as with the defiants they were highly affedcted by the slightest amount of wind.
Will i be using these pellest to Hunt or in compettion........................................ ........Will i hell.................as with he defiants i bought and tested i expect they will shoot well thorgh my pistols as thats ill use them for :roll:
One more thing...........................Pax pellets, for gods sake make a diabolo pellet, then we will see what your pellets can actually do.
With the Daystate selects being no longer made (the older daystate pellets) and these being the pellets i used in all my rifles, i was rather worried as supplies of these will dry up soon, leaving me with the need to find a suitable replacement. Upon hearing of the release of these new rangemaster pellets i hoped they would be a good replacement to the old pellets even the price wasnt of too much concern, even though i thought i was a rip off at £17.99 i would have paid that to have a good consistent pellet and more so when i heard that Pax (the defiant manufacturers) as if they were to be of the quality and constituency of the previous defiant pellets i thought we are on to a winner, that was until i heard that they would be bullet shaped liked the defiants, from that moment i knew what the result would be and that they would perform just like defiants and penetrators had, excellent indoors or with no wind but outdoors and the slightest breeze i knew what the result would be before i even tested them. But to be fair i purchased them to give them a fair crack.
The pellets
You get 650 pellets (in a plastic bag) in a box the same as the Logun Penetrators come in, although nicely packaged some foam would have been nice in the box to help damage to the pellets. Upon inspection the pellets look very good quality and i believe a good consistent weight ,they are stated as 8.5 grain on the box and ive heard that the variation is about 8.4-8.6 which is rather good, upon closer inspection of the pellet you can see a consist ant mark in the pellets head, what looks like a small nick from the lead, as this is on nearly every pellet i assume this is a machine mark?. Also underneath the head where it joins the shirt there is some rough machining marks visible, whether both this flaws will contribute to inaccuracy im not sure as they are only small flaws they are flaws.
The packaging
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/Rangemastertest008.jpg)
Side by side, New Daystate Rangemaster on the left, and a old Daystate select to the right.
shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/Rangemastertest005.jpg)
The test rig
My 2 week old Daystate Mk4 was used for the testing, and although new its had about 6000 pellets through it in the 2 weeks ive owned it. Following pellets testing i found the best pellet for it was the Daystate Selects in Any head size (4.51, 4.52 and 4.53) it was producing one hole sub 10mm groups at 45 yards with ease, with no noticeable flyer's at all.
The Mk4 and bean bag rests
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/Rangemastertest001.jpg)
The night before the test i thoroughly cleaned the barrel with a Vfg cleaning rod using the abrasive cleaner felts and paste, 3 of the abrasives were put through and showed how ell the rob and paste worked as they came out black, but less and less with each felt. after the abrasives normal felts (3 off) were put through and the barrel was spotlessly cleaned.
Down to the range (North wales shooting school) and the rifle was set up. The rifle was supported on my bean bag rifle rest and bean bag cushion on the butt, the wind was only slight to mild at about 8mph blowing left to right and on occasion a slight head and tail wind. I attached a wind indicator on top of the target board to keep an eye on wind direction ( a stick with a length of wool) The rifle was filled to 200 bar for each test (it has a max working pressure of 230 bar) and refilled bofore changing pellet or distance.
28 yard testing
Daystate Rangemasters 4.50
I checked zero with the 4.50 rangemasters and it hadnt moved poi at all from my Select zero (28 yards). I then proceeded to plink with them until i had shot over 100 of the 4.50 then i started the grouping test.
9, 3 shot groups were fired at each sheet at this range with a control group of daystate selects thrown in for good measure (after testing of the rangemasters)this are shown above the red dots.
At 28 yards the grouping wasnt good at all, i only got about 4 good groups from the 9 shot, the 4.50 are shown on the 1st and 2nd column on the page of targets and you can see the groups they are capable when the wind drops, they are pellet through pellet, but the groups soon open up with the slightest of breezes. the daystate select group is in the first column bottom row above the red dot and this was when the wind was blowing and is a single pellet hole.
Conclusion=Not good at all, highly affected by the wind
Barrel was again cleaned before using the other pellet head size. 100 of the 4.53 rangemasters were used to plink with and then testing commenced again.
Daystate Rangemasters 4.53
Same range of 28 yards and the grouping is better (3rd and 4th column), definitely tighter groups than the 4.50 but still effected by even the slightest breeze, again another group of the Selects (3rd column bottom row, above the red dot) and they are pellet on pellet.
Conclusion= Better than the 4.50 but still not fantastic.
The 25 yard target itself.
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/rangemastertest2.jpg)
The barrel was cleaned again and another 100 of each head size was fired before testing (before changing head sizes.
45 Yards testing
4.50
After 100 plinking shots i settled down to test the 4.50 rangemasters, same amount of wind as before, the first thing i noticed while plining that the usual 45 yard aimpoint of 1 milldot with selects had changed to 3/4 milldot at 45 yards.
Eight 3 shot groups (1st and 2nd column) this time were fired again rested as before. Again as before when the wind was still the grouping was better than the shotgun groups when the wind was slight, these were totally useless and a real disappointment. You could really see the effects of even the slightest side wind and even more shocking any tail or head wind that would drop or raise the poi.
Conclusion = Useless and a real disappointment
4.53
3rd and 4th column shows the results of this head size and the results are as above greatly effected by wind
Conclusion = Useless and a real disappointment
Now the interesting bit without even firing any pellets when changing pellet type i fired two 3 shot groups of the selects, shown in the middle column bottom row (above the red dot)3 shots in less than a 12mm group, now the wind has carried these shots right by about 12 mm but notice how they still give a group so in effect when allowing for the wind they will still group. i proved this with the group above that one (middle column 3rd row above the green dot) i shot 3 shots allowing for the wind and they all grouped perfect right in the bull, i then fired a 4th shot (shown above the blue dot)not allowing for the wind and it was carried to the exact place as before. So just shows that eeven though effected by the wind (as should be expected) the pellets still give consistent grouping. Using the preferred diet of Daystate selects shows the accuracy of the rifle well.
The 45 yard grouping
Shown here (http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x159/123bretland/rangemastertest1.jpg)
In conclusion although i already had predicted the outcome, and knew that due to the bullet shape of the pellet that they would be affected by wind, i did give these a thorough and fair test, Mikeygasbag was with me all along this testing which took more over 3 hours to perform, its still a shame that they wouldnt perform as good as the previous daystate pellets.
Of course all pellets will perform differently in each rifle when the wind dropped they did group well, but again as with the defiants they were highly affedcted by the slightest amount of wind.
Will i be using these pellest to Hunt or in compettion........................................ ........Will i hell.................as with he defiants i bought and tested i expect they will shoot well thorgh my pistols as thats ill use them for :roll:
One more thing...........................Pax pellets, for gods sake make a diabolo pellet, then we will see what your pellets can actually do.