Spring rifle energy with different pellets

[Stevie-L]

now that my 97k is well and truly bedded in I decided to pellet test again to find the most efficient for the rifle.

I was expecting the lightest of the lot,jsb rs to give the highest energy but it seems that no matter what weight pellet I use(all jsb branded 4.52)they all seem to give about the same energy.

I was under the impression that springers liked light pellets so can someone tell me what is happening here?

[TonyL]

As a general rule of thumb, many springers do seem to give higher energy output figures with lighter pellets. But it is very much a generalisation and demonstrates the need to chrono with as many different pellets as possible.

Pellet fit can be / is just as important to energy and firing manners.

A further example, my old Supersport in .22. Rebuilt with standard spring and it gave 14.5 with Superdomes! Shortened the spring and it gave 10.5. JSB Jumbo RS then gave 11.8. And RWS Hobbies, although extremely tight a nudge more. So it needs to come down again and the spring's out and lined up for further reduction on Sunday.

Piston weight, preload, spring force all important factors too.

[Stevie-L]

As a general rule of thumb, many springers do seem to give higher energy output figures with lighter pellets. But it is very much a generalisation and demonstrates the need to chrono with as many different pellets as possible.

Pellet fit can be / is just as important to energy and firing manners.

A further example, my old Supersport in .22. Rebuilt with standard spring and it gave 14.5 with Superdomes! Shortened the spring and it gave 10.5. JSB Jumbo RS then gave 11.8. And RWS Hobbies, although extremely tight a nudge more. So it needs to come down again and the spring's out and lined up for further reduction on Sunday.

Piston weight, preload, spring force all important factors too.

I did assume that how tight a pellet fitted would be a factor which is why I used all jsb with the same head size.
So the fact that the lighter pellets arent more OR less efficient isnt a problem?that being the case,if all of these test pellets group well is there a better choice to be made when it comes to weight?

[TonyL]

I did assume that how tight a pellet fitted would be a factor which is why I used all jsb with the same head size.
So the fact that the lighter pellets arent more OR less efficient isnt a problem?that being the case,if all of these test pellets group well is there a better choice to be made when it comes to weight?

Some will begin to go into "bounce and slam" explanations as to why the energy is identical.

If you're happy with the firing cycle and the energy is the same with the differing weights, I'd say that the deciding factor then simply boils down to accuracy, which is always the deciding factor for most anyway. If group sizes are then IDENTICAL then down range performance, pellet drop, wind drift, all products of the ballistic coefficient, may be your deciding factor. That would generally favour the heavier version.

Hope this helps.

[Stevie-L]

Some will begin to go into "bounce and slam" explanations as to why the energy is identical.

If you're happy with the firing cycle and the energy is the same with the differing weights, I'd say that the deciding factor then simply boils down to accuracy, which is always the deciding factor for most anyway. If group sizes are then IDENTICAL then down range performance, pellet drop, wind drift, all products of the ballistic coefficient, may be your deciding factor. That would generally favour the heavier version.

Hope this helps.

Yes that helps and makes sense because I was using barracuda ft seeing they grouped very very well but the firing cycle did feel totally different to any other pellet and I didnt like it even though they seemed deadly accurate.i would definitely say the recoil felt softer so to speak but at the same time I could feel the secondary recoil more than with a lighter pellet,it must have been bounce I was experiencing the barracuda.

I will go back to testing groups now that I've done my chrono testing and am happy.

Thanks for explaining things to me.

[TonyL]

Having used the old H&N Silhouette back in the mid eighties and being very impressed with them and also trying the JSB Heavies a couple of years ago which seemed superb in windy conditions, I was over the moon when H&N introduced the Baracuda FT, Steve.

A lovely and generous chap on the BBS sent me a few samples just before they became widely available. I've only tried them in my 95 so far and consider them superb. This 95 isn't pellet fussy at all but the very tightest groups I've shot with it have been with the FT and FTT jointly, closely followed by 7.9 boxed Premiers and RWS Superdome, various Exacts and AAFs equal.

Sticking to the FTs in this gun and eager to try them in my others.

[Stevie-L]

Having used the old H&N Silhouette back in the mid eighties and being very impressed with them and also trying the JSB Heavies a couple of years ago which seemed superb in windy conditions, I was over the moon when H&N introduced the Baracuda FT, Steve.

A lovely and generous chap on the BBS sent me a few samples just before they became widely available. I've only tried them in my 95 so far and consider them superb. This 95 isn't pellet fussy at all but the very tightest groups I've shot with it have been with the FT and FTT jointly, closely followed by 7.9 boxed Premiers and RWS Superdome, various Exacts and AAFs equal.

Sticking to the FTs in this gun and eager to try them in my others.

Yes the barracuda ft are a really good pellet and my hw100 fitted with an s200 barrel loves them.do you find them to be a very tight fit in your 95 though?that is the only reason I decided to pellet test again because as I said in my last comment I could feel more bounce when using them and put this down to the tight fit.apart from the fact that you get 20% less pellets for your money with the barracuda ft's!

[TonyL]

Hi Steve,

Yes, to be fair, they are quite a tight fit and I haven't tried them over the chrono.

I couldn't really detect any noticeable effect on the firing cycle; the same applied when a fellow Boinger Bash regular and I tried those JSB Heavies.

What was very noticeable, however, at the "medium" ranges we tested, 30 to 40 yards, was that they were far less affected by the strong crosswinds on the day, with wind drift more than halved.

[Stevie-L]

Hi Steve,

Yes, to be fair, they are quite a tight fit and I haven't tried them over the chrono.

I couldn't really detect any noticeable effect on the firing cycle; the same applied when a fellow Boinger Bash regular and I tried those JSB Heavies.

What was very noticeable, however, at the "medium" ranges we tested, 30 to 40 yards, was that they were far less affected by the strong crosswinds on the day, with wind drift more than halved.

That sounds good I will stick with them with my pcp.
Thanks again for the info Tony,its much appreciated.

[PhatMan]

Stevie-L,

The whole matter seems quite complicated

The empirical method of trying many different brand of pellets is the simplest and easiest to do.

The JSB pellets have a low 'release-pressure', which can mean that they will be the most efficient in a 'springer', though not necessarily so.

In some of my 'springers', RWS Superdome's & H&N FTTs show about 1 ft.lb less energy than the JSB 'trio', which tend to show around the same energy (RS 7.33, Express 7.87, & Exact 8.46 gr.)

However, as far as accurate predictions go, that seems impossible.

For me, with a new-to-me rifle, I would try first, in order, JSB Express, JSB Exact, JSB, RS, H&N FTT, Boxed Crosman Premier, & RWS Superdome.

Have fun & a good Sunday

Best regards

Russ

[Stevie-L]

Stevie-L,

The whole matter seems quite complicated

The empirical method of trying many different brand of pellets is the simplest and easiest to do.

The JSB pellets have a low 'release-pressure', which can mean that they will be the most efficient in a 'springer', though not necessarily so.

In some of my 'springers', RWS Superdome's & H&N FTTs show about 1 ft.lb less energy than the JSB 'trio', which tend to show around the same energy (RS 7.33, Express 7.87, & Exact 8.46 gr.)

However, as far as accurate predictions go, that seems impossible.

For me, with a new-to-me rifle, I would try first, in order, JSB Express, JSB Exact, JSB, RS, H&N FTT, Boxed Crosman Premier, & RWS Superdome.

Have fun & a good Sunday

Best regards

Russ

food for thought thanks for the info