.177 farmyard hunting....

[Black Beard]

I did a fair bit of pellet testing into soap and gelatine...

Best expanding hollow point was BSA interceptor (but quality control sucks and pellet heads tend to be too small). Next was H&N barracuda hunters (great pellets) and Bisley pest control. Super h point and h&n hollow point don't expand. Best expansion ever was Hobbys fired backwards. Norica killer were also interesting but not accurate and no longer available.

No matter what you use, please make sure accuracy is acceptable at farmyard ranges. Don't expect much from BSAs Noricas or pellets fired backwards.

[Mcolly]

I use the polymag shorts in all my pcp's and I haven't found a better pellet. It's a Shame there £14 for 200.

[rhyslightnin]

I use the polymag shorts in all my pcp's and I haven't found a better pellet. It's a Shame there £14 for 200.

Ouch

[lensman57]

Just watched an aeac video on long range .177 pellet stability. He used some predetor polymags and it got me thinking..... The Daystate hasn't sold, the BSA is broke, as am I & I'm currently without a pcp (don't like using a gun I'm trying to sell). So I'm considering re-scoping the DS and trying some of the above pellets or other various hollow point variations for the farm. Might even service it & wind the power back to 9.5/10 just to slow them down a bit more.
What is people's impression of the various "hunting hollows" ,"flat heads" & what I call "spiked hollows".... Any recommendations in .177?
And is there any other tips I could use for a .177 rat & bird rig?
Thanks Rhys

If they proved accurate in your barrel and you wanted to use them then keep the distance short. They are accurate in my HW100 and Huntsman Regal but no further than 35 ~40 yards and preferably about 25 Yards or so. The short distance is due to the lack of power of the sub 12 guns and the Polymag being a quasi wad cutter design has relatively poor BC, it bleeds energy quickly.

A.G

[Steyr]

I like flat heads. I don't believe that the extra shock makes any difference to a clean kill but the extra energy dumped (a considerable amount) means less over penetration and so less ricochet.
I will have some at the bash which you are welcome to try

That doesnt make sense to me. If you have a pellet that has 10FPE in it and it drill thruogh then only a proportion of the potential.has been imparted. If its a flat or an HP and it doesnt drill through then all of that energy is imparted to the target.

Flat heads are generally a paper puncher pellet so the mass may not be present as in say an HP. But 10 FPE is 10 FPE. Cross sectional density and argualbly the softness or hardness may contribute to efficient transfer of that energy.

Either wauly....if itndoesnt groupmor makenthe distance then the most effective pellet on paper spec.9s uselezs if it cant hit the spot at the distance you need

[rabbitwrecker]

I have to agree with FF, sub-12 ft/lb air rifles don't kill by dumping energy into the quarry - there's so little of it to begin with. They kill by destroying vital tissue. A pellet that passes through a creature's brain will actually cause more trauma than one that stops short.
Wadcutters, such as Hobby, can be devastating against fur - the flat face causes more trauma - but aren't so hot against feather, as they tend to featherball quite badly, which retards penetration and can prevent the pellet reaching the heart on a body shot...

[rhyslightnin]

I have to agree with FF, sub-12 ft/lb air rifles don't kill by dumping energy into the quarry - there's so little of it to begin with. They kill by destroying vital tissue. A pellet that passes through a creature's brain will actually cause more trauma than one that stops short.
Wadcutters, such as Hobby, can be devastating against fur - the flat face causes more trauma - but aren't so hot against feather, as they tend to featherball quite badly, which retards penetration and can prevent the pellet reaching the heart on a body shot...

I found that the .22 sniper lites (domes) did this.. dragged a whole bunch of feathers 3/4 of the way through the animal.. I almost think it causes more damage as the wound canal was bigger than when it didn't bind.

[rhyslightnin]

I like flat heads. I don't believe that the extra shock makes any difference to a clean kill but the extra energy dumped (a considerable amount) means less over penetration and so less ricochet.
I will have some at the bash which you are welcome to try

IL do that thanks!

[Geezer]

I have to agree with FF, sub-12 ft/lb air rifles don't kill by dumping energy into the quarry - there's so little of it to begin with. They kill by destroying vital tissue. A pellet that passes through a creature's brain will actually cause more trauma than one that stops short.
Wadcutters, such as Hobby, can be devastating against fur - the flat face causes more trauma - but aren't so hot against feather, as they tend to featherball quite badly, which retards penetration and can prevent the pellet reaching the heart on a body shot...

Not just the case with sub-12 airguns.

Militaries typically used retained energy at distance as a measure of lethality. But that isn't a perfect measure of lethality. It's a way of setting a baseline specification. They also require things like penetrating a given amount of body armour/steel helmet (as was) at a given distance.

Add all those up, and other things like trajectory, and you have a requirement that must be met to qualify for consideration. The round must penetrate this thing at distance A, carry this ft-lbs to distance B, and stay with X inches of trajectory between distance X and distance Y. And group into Z at distance P.

Same applies in wound ballistics. Different projectiles with similar energy can have markedly different effects on a biological target.

Wound ballisticians do not talk about "energy transfer" or "knock-down power" or "stopping power". They talk about wound ballistics. The one thing they all agree on is that shot placement is critical to outcomes.