Boingerati
I'm scratching my head a bit on this one. Defiant Vintage and Wasp pellets are still in 5.6mm. Is the boxed Marksman pellet still 5.6mm and are there any other options?
Registered User
The 5.6mm Marksman are still available. Hefty premium over 5.5 versions when I last compared them. I am not aware of any other 5.6's although I am curious about Bulldogs.
Pellets that shoot ok in 5.6mm barrels: RWS Superdome, Superfield and Hobby. For me at least.
Pellets that fit well in 5.6mm barrels: H&N FTT.
As an aside: new 5.6mm Wasps are the best pellets so far in my SMK CP2.
Dodgy Diana User
What Drew said.
Also, this thread may help.
http://www.airgunbbs.com/showthread....-5-6mm-Pellets
Even better looking than a HW35
I noticed that Air Arms .22 pellets go well through my tap loader Airsporter and they also went well through my Challenger barrel but I'm not sure if that is an old style BSA 5.6 barrel or not? they go very well through the .22 Lightning barrel I've just fitted but that is a newer one, so most probably a 5.5, I did notice that H&N FTT where very tight in the Lightnings bore, so they may be worth a try, I think because the Air Arms pellets have soft skirts, they form to the barrel and make a tighter fit.
Pete
Last edited by look no hands; 31-12-2019 at 11:33 PM.
Far too many rifles to list now, all mainly British but the odd pesky foreigner has snuck in
Registered User
H&N FTT 5.53 were a nice fit in my mercury S but didn't group that well Superdomes were the best. My Airsporter S loves the ftt though. The only other pellets I have tried are hobbies. Interesting about the aa field from Pete though, might give them a try when I get some more.
Max
Plinkerer and Tinkerer
Boingerati
Some interesting options. I have samples of most of the aforementioned pellets, so a pellet testing session will be due. I automatically went for the 5.6mm options I had on the shelf, of which the Wasps were far more accurate than the Defiant's.Originally Posted by maximus
Registered User
Just looking at your post i had a look at my large collection of air gun pellets well knowing i had some 5,56 ones in there. Having sold alot of them over the past couple of years i came up with a new tin of Eley Wasp in blue tin in 5.56 and a rare Webley G.P Tin, Black with red G.P. Letters and in 5.56 cal.both tins in ex.condition and full of original contents.
Registered User
I still have 4tins of eley wasps i bought in around 1990. I bought 4000 at the time but used 2000 hunting.
Registered User
Defiant Vintage in 5.6mm have ceased production. The machinery was bought by H&N but I have been struggling to find out when they intend to commence production. Personally, I have found the old Defiant pellet not quite up to the standard of a number of 5.5mm pellets, so far as accuracy is concerned (but have a slight edge in terms of power), and I have found that Superdomes have the edge in many old .22 calibre rifles (5.6mm) and are also pretty good from a power perspective too.
A
Even better looking than a HW35
I bought a few boxes of Defiant Vintage but they don't seem to go through any of my BSA's very well.
Pete
Far too many rifles to list now, all mainly British but the odd pesky foreigner has snuck in
Registered User
Certainly, there is room for improvement by H&N; perhaps they can tweak the pellets to match their Sniper Light, which I have found to be highly accurate. However, they appear no further forward with production. This is unfortunate when one considers that there must be hundreds of thousands of air rifles and air pistols in the UK that were manufactured to the old .22 (5.6mm) size. Not least, there is no significant competition.
Dodgy Diana User
My understanding is that H&N have no intention of reintroducing the Vintage.
Registered User
At the prices the proper eley wasps fetch on evil bay i might take a punt and put mine on there. Some have gone for £45 plus postage
Registered User
I held extensive correspondence with them in 2019. They bought the Defiant moulds and machinery, which they must have done with a view to production. However, they needed to adjust it/upgrade/repair it and needed an expert from the UK to do this. The correspondence then became bogged down in the translation and I have not revisited it, which I must do at some stage.
I explained to them that with the demise of Eley Wasp and the absence of any competition, they could mop up here quite simply. It sounds like a no-brainer to me. It merely needs the go ahead.
Registered User
Hi Andrew,
What I dont understand is why any prospective manufacturer doesn't get hold some original 5.56mm ELEY Wasp pellets, and just replicate them specifically for the No.2 bore English vintage market.
This would involve analysis of the original lead alloy used, and re-manufacture of replica moulds. ELEY wasps were a short pellet in length, and had thicker than average skirt thickness. Also it is my understanding that the lead alloy had higher that average amounts of antimony, which made it harder.
Most vintage shooters regard 5.56mm Eley Wasps, as close to the ideal pellet for older english barrels, so surely, there is your template ???
Lakey
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