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Thread: Pellets for 10m air pistol.

  1. #1
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    Pellets for 10m air pistol.

    Hi everyone
    I've recently got into 10m air pistol and would like some advice on pellets.
    Do any of you experienced pistol shooters notice any difference in using the expensive match pellets as opposed to the cheaper 'practice' pellets ?
    or does this only matter at elite level?

  2. #2
    RobinC's Avatar
    RobinC is offline Awesome Shooting Coach and Author.
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    Pellets

    It matters if you want to do well, the difference in price to a 500 tin of RWS R10 (£8 ish), and a cheapo is the cost of a coffee, nothing.

    That's the bonus of shooting air, the top ammo is cheap. If you want to know the bad shot was you, buy the best, if you don't care buy cheapo's and you'll never know!

    Have Fun
    Robin
    Walther KK500 Alutec expert special - Barnard .223 "wilde" in a Walther KK500 Alutec stock, mmm...tasty!! - Keppeler 6 mmBR with Walther grip and wood! I may be a Walther-phile?

  3. #3
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    I'm using RWS Hobby pellets in a LP400. Before the lockdown I was shooting a 10 meter average of 93. Going to a match pellet might get me an extra point occasionally but in reality what costs me points is the nut behind the trigger. The critical issues to shooting well, assuming you have a pistol fit for the purpose (big,adjustable sights and reasonable trigger), is get some coaching or study the instructional resources available on the web to learn the basics such as position, grip and trigger control and then practice, practice, practice. Treat every card shot as if it was a match card and have them scored and analysed to identify what you are doing wrong and, just as importantly, doing right.

  4. #4
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    I shoot a Steyr Evo 10 e, years ago after shooting R10s for a while a did a test with 5 different types of pellet and with the pistol clamped; 10 shots at 10m. Two of the pellet choices made a perfect hole, the others slightly ragged but not bad. Of the two that shot a perfect 10 shot hole one was R10 and the other was the second to cheapest and half the price of R10. I've been shooting those ever since and have won a few county comps and my ave is 560, PB 573, all with 'cheap' pellets.
    Steyr Challenge HFT - HW97K - BSA Mercury Challenger - Anschutz 9015 One - AA Pro Target - AA Pro Elite - ASI Paratrooper (R) - Walther LP500

  5. #5
    harvey_s's Avatar
    harvey_s is offline Lost love child of David Niven and Victoria Beckham
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    Robin's right the difference in price is so small as to not really be of any concern especially if you went and bought a high end pistol to put them through....the difference between a 9 and a 10 is the same whether you're a club shooter or an elite one and you might argue its the less capable shooter that needs all the help they can get!

    But if you really are hard up (as opposed to just being tight ) Gecos are the best of the practice pellets IMO.

  6. #6
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    John,

    As the others have said, the difference in price between Hobby & R10 is really not a lot - just use the R10s.

    Please have a look at the weight distributions below (these were for one hundred and twenty (120) each of the pellets, individually weighed on a four (4) decimal place lab. balance).

    The R10s are clearly far superior, for not a lot of extra monies.

    Pellet RSD/% Min/gr. Max/gr. Mean/gr.
    RWS R10 Pistol 0.17 6.96 7.02 6.99
    Geco 0.79 7.07 7.33 7.19
    Hobby 1.07 6.98 7.45 7.11

    Have fun & a good Sunday

    Best regards

    Russ






  7. #7
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    I mainly shoot RWS Basics through my LP400 over 10m and Ive had dozens of 50 ex 50s.
    Founder & ex secretary of Rivington Riflemen.
    www.rivington-riflemen.uk

  8. #8
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    I think some people may not be considering how much lead some shoot. I do 100-200 per week. The difference between R10 and cheaper ones is considerable when you shoot that much (depending on your budget).
    Steyr Challenge HFT - HW97K - BSA Mercury Challenger - Anschutz 9015 One - AA Pro Target - AA Pro Elite - ASI Paratrooper (R) - Walther LP500

  9. #9
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    Hello to All,

    For sake of argument :

    500 RWS R10 --> £8

    500 RWS Hobby --> £4

    So, for two hundred (200) pellets a week, we save ca. £1.60 by using Hobby's over R10s.

    For five hundred (500) pellets a week, we save £4.

    Have fun

    Best regards

    Russ

  10. #10
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    This subject has been debated at length on the US forum 'Target Talk' and is worth a read if you do a search. The general consensus was that unless you are shooting 575 ex 600 or more, then pellet type makes little difference for 10m air pistol. If you are concerned however, then buy a pellet trial pack selection and test a few types in your own gun. I did that and found that cheap Gecos were as good as anything else in my pistol and could outshoot me so I just use these.

    As others have said though, the cost is not great no matter which pellet you use, so buy whatever gives you the most confidence.

  11. #11
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    Another way to look at it:
    £8 R10
    £4 XXX

    Half price!

    It's important to remember I'm not not shooting cheap for cheap sake; I've tested the pellets with the pistol clamped, and the results were as good as R10. The other brands I tried; Bisley, RWS Hobby, Umarex and another I've forgotten were not.

    So my annual outlay for lead is half what it would be for banging R10 down range with the same results. I'm on a budget; you guys crack on with R10 if you like
    Last edited by bootneckbob; 30-03-2021 at 06:04 AM.
    Steyr Challenge HFT - HW97K - BSA Mercury Challenger - Anschutz 9015 One - AA Pro Target - AA Pro Elite - ASI Paratrooper (R) - Walther LP500

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by I. J. View Post
    I mainly shoot RWS Basics through my LP400 over 10m and Ive had dozens of 50 ex 50s.
    All Rivi shooters used RWS Basics to shoot Dorset leagues (and we've won a few medals as well)

    Sizing has been carried out and seems to make little difference if any.

    At the end of the day it's down to who's holding the pistol.
    Nowhere to go ........in no hurry to get there; www.rivington-riflemen.uk----- well I suppose it is somewhere to go.... founded by I.J. - let down by the tainted blood scandal

  13. #13
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    I remember Mick Gault slagging off R10s at a training seminar !!forget what he was using,it was a few years ago...but 575 is prob a bad day for him
    so he would be pellet fussy
    I shot a series of high 90s with Geco as I left my JSBs at home
    The following night I was rubbish with JSBs... so mainly it was me
    Theres no such thing as practice,everytime you shoot...its serious,it may be you against you,but thats usually the problem,the person behind the gun

  14. #14
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    I did some batch testing with the NSRA pistol and rifle squads a few years ago the results were interesting and generally the R10 matched or most often bettered the performance of the shooters own selected pellets or batch tested pellets of other manufacturers.

    Do better grouping pellets really matter? For pistol the difference between a good batch and an average batch is noticeable but with integer scoring and also the inherent movement of a shooters aim point it's debatable whether it makes a huge difference to your score.

    To counter the above argument though 10m is very much in your head, any doubts and it's a very unforgiving sport, so if you can see an improvement by using xyz pellet then I would say use it as then it gives you one less thing to worry about.

    Matt

  15. #15
    RobinC's Avatar
    RobinC is offline Awesome Shooting Coach and Author.
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    Pellets

    Testing with machine rests or bench rests over 10 shots or even 20 or 40 shots, is close to being a waste of time, it may show you the very bad makes, but its not enough time to split the better ones. The serious shooters, and manufacturers testing ammo, and barrels seriously, (not just for a general production run) will test over at least a 200 shot test, and as said to me "sods law" the next one is the flyer! So its only a guide! I'm aware of some who do 250 shot tests.

    People talk about their wonderful tight ten shot test groups with all in the same hole, but the tens are irrelevant, we expect those, its the unexpected shot towards the 9 or worse a 9 out of the group that we are looking for. On metric with a rifle, if the shot is out of the group by 0.1 of where you pointed it, you loose 0.1, if with a pistol with integer and you point it at the edge of the ten, and its out by 0.1 (not you?) you loose a whole point, there is always the argument that you could save a point, but quoted law from Mr Sod above applies! Those who claim "acceptable" averages, or regular tens or 50's or 100's, what about the ones you missed? Do you shoot nothing but tens?

    Its beyond me, why save £4 over 2 and 1/2 weeks, £1.60 a week, if you are so hard up, I'm sorry if I offend you, but I'm I'm sure you can save that another way if your sport matters to you? Why risk loosing points? Maybe miss your PB, even though it may not equal the world record? Its the big advantage of shooting air, the cost is low.

    I've shot internationally air pistol, If you don't think you need the best pellets, that's your choice, and knowing Micky G well, and his coach, an old friend, the current GB coach, and also a CWG gold medalist, I can assure you they would say the same, for heavens sake just use the best, the cost difference is peanuts.

    Incidentally Mick used Qiang Yuan latterly, they are at least as good as RWS R10.

    I'm returning to my cave now, Hi Craig, hope you are well.

    Have Fun
    Robin

    Have Fun
    Last edited by RobinC; 31-03-2021 at 08:08 AM.
    Walther KK500 Alutec expert special - Barnard .223 "wilde" in a Walther KK500 Alutec stock, mmm...tasty!! - Keppeler 6 mmBR with Walther grip and wood! I may be a Walther-phile?

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