A possible game changer - Slugs for sub12 rifles - short review

[Born Again]

Not cheap are they.

£12 for 100.

https://www.precision-ballistics.co.uk/mako-series

How do they group at 50m? It's all very well having a good BC and expansion but it needs to be in addition to accuracy to be useful. But if it's all that good then people may pay for them.

You can DIY, Corbin make a whole range of slug swages.

http://www.corbins.com/pellets.htm

[MartynB]

You can DIY, Corbin make a whole range of slug swages.

http://www.corbins.com/pellets.htm

Makes quite interesting reading

[bootneckbob]

I kinda hope (perversely) they aren't good at 55yds. At £12 per 100 the cost per comp just went up significantly. SWEFTA comps tend be be HFT and FT same day and 80 shots, both comps out to 55yds. Just going to make the divide even bigger in FT for those with cash and those without. I know expensive rifles and scopes don't buy targets but it all helps when there's some talent. Having a pellet which bucks the wind and groups at 55. Where's the fun in that?!;-)

[robs5230]

I kinda hope (perversely) they aren't good at 55yds. At £12 per 100 the cost per comp just went up significantly. SWEFTA comps tend be be HFT and FT same day and 80 shots, both comps out to 55yds. Just going to make the divide even bigger in FT for those with cash and those without. I know expensive rifles and scopes don't buy targets but it all helps when there's some talent. Having a pellet which bucks the wind and groups at 55. Where's the fun in that?!;-)

Hi Rob
Yes the cost may be prohibitive for some, but they're comparable in price to the other brands of slugs that aren't mass made.

They may give a comp shooter with a cheap rifle, an ability to mix it with those shooting more expensive rifles. I'd say thats lots of fun

And the big win with these, is that they were designed for sub12 from the off.

[bootneckbob]

Well there's 30mph winds forecast tomorrow up the club; I'm game if you are!

[Anothermiss]

Whilst the slug concept interests me, the price is a massive turn off. How is that price justified in comparison to the diabolo pellets? It can't be anything to do with mass production runs because if the slugs are as good as described, they'll need to undertake mass production runs to keep up with demand. Will cost fall accordingly?

[Shed tuner]

Whilst the slug concept interests me, the price is a massive turn off. How is that price justified in comparison to the diabolo pellets? It can't be anything to do with mass production runs because if the slugs are as good as described, they'll need to undertake mass production runs to keep up with demand. Will cost fall accordingly?

if and when they are manufactured in similar quantities to JSBs, yes, then we can do that analysis. But right now the volume would be what, 0.01% of JSB volumes ? If succesful, maybe 1% ? if they are so sucessfull they get to 10% of the volume, that would be frankly amazing....

[robs5230]

Well there's 30mph winds forecast tomorrow up the club; I'm game if you are!

I'm 75% of the way through a gun cabinet build, so wouldn't be able to get over today Rob (not that I fancy shooting in 30mph winds ), though if it eases off later, I' may pop out to the rabbit perm.

My next order of these, should be with me early next week. I will get in touch and drop over with some to let you have a look at.

[bootneckbob]

I'm 75% of the way through a gun cabinet build, so wouldn't be able to get over today Rob (not that I fancy shooting in 30mph winds ), though if it eases off later, I' may pop out to the rabbit perm.

My next order of these, should be with me early next week. I will get in touch and drop over with some to let you have a look at.

Genuinely be interested Rob if only to compare to JSB. If I clear the Shebbear course (never been done) I'll consider them! ;-) Seriously though, will be interesting to see how good they are.

Oh, reference your comments about the price of shotgun shooting compared to FT; how very dare you, Everyone knows Shotguns = money (even when sawn off). Us airgunners are the very poor distant cousins twice removed from the rest of the shooting Elite!

[Born Again]

Makes quite interesting reading

Quite a few people have tried over the years, the same problems kept coming up though - airguns lack the power / pressure to properly engage the solid sides of the slug with the barrel rifling. Attempts have been made to make a "bore rider" type, where the body of the pellet rides inside the minor barrel diameter and a tiny "lip" at the back of the pellet engages the rifling. The problem with that is that different barrels are different sizes, and some have chokes at the muzzle. When you consider how even standard design pellets like JSB have varying results at 4.51, 4.52, 4.53mm you can imagine how difficult matching a slug to a barrel will be.

Hugh Earl at Pax guns got around the problem to an extent by designing his Piledriver slugs with ribs down the side that were able to deform into the rifling, but these were only successful in long, heavy types and for best results needed a special loading probe that held the slug central as it was loaded into the barrel. In the right rifle they were accurate, in the wrong rifle they weren't.

ps/ I hope I won't get banned for mentioning Hughs pellets, it's relevant to the thread.

[angrybear]

At £12 per 100 they aren't worth it (imo) for the rare occasion when they give benefit over a std diabolo.
Interesting they may be, a game changer ?? nope

[Black Beard]

They look like they are lead cups with the noses swaged into a curve. That would be possible to turn into a mass production item if there was sufficient demand. I hope it goes well for the manufacturer.

[hillbill]

At £12 per 100 they aren't worth it (imo) for the rare occasion when they give benefit over a std diabolo.
Interesting they may be, a game changer ?? nope

Have you seen the expansion they offer at sub 12? They expand from 4.5mm to 7.5mm reliably. I also tried them, shooting through the bottom of 2 litre pop bottles filled with water from 20 yards. I compared them to JSB Exacts, and H&N terminators. Neither of those expanded or even deformed in that test. The Mako slugs basically tore themselves into pieces. You wont get any over pen with these.

[GoodWILLHunting]

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. At £15.25 delivered they won't break the bank so ordered a tin/box/bag etc. And we'll see how they perform at some point before the midges put a dampener on hanging around for precession...

[MartynB]

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. At £15.25 delivered they won't break the bank so ordered a tin/box/bag etc. And we'll see how they perform at some point before the midges put a dampener on hanging around for precession...

If you do get some, be interested in your thoughts from receiving through to shooting