I have been spending quite a lot of time testing various wadcutter pellets in different .177 spring powered air rifles (non-recoiless) to find the best combination of barrel and pellet to give the tightest groups at 10 metres for me to shoot in the MPL 10 meter Spring Powered Air Rifle with Scope competition.

We shoot the Air 7 rifle targets at 10 meters with our scoped "kickers" to give a nice challenge, but the target rings are packed very close together as they are designed to be shot at 6 yards.

Any error in shooting can be punished quite heavily, so finding the pellet that works best with your chosen springer is important to stand any chance of hitting a good score (that can be repeated).

I shoot strings of 10 shots each time I test any barrel/pellet combination to see what size of hole they produce so I can see which gives the tightest group.

The many hours that I have invested in these pellet tests has shown me that one of the best ways of aiming (for grouping purposes only!) is when the scope is not adjusted accurately enough to strike the aiming cross that I have drawn on the test target.

With every shot landing away from the aiming mark it is much easier to ensure that every shot can be aimed with the same precision as the hole (or holes) do not spoil the aiming mark in any way.

Shooting "dead-on" makes it impossible to aim with the precision needed as the pellet holes are so much bigger than the Air 7 centre spot.

Once the grouping tests have been completed, the scope can be re-adjusted to make the shots hit the centre of the target.

Hope this helps?