Pellet expansion?

[andyfr1968 772]

Hi, folks.

What do you think about pellet expansion?

With the small amount of power we've got to play with, is it good to waste some de-forming a pellet, or is it best to keep it intact?

I can see the point for very close range, but what about general field use?

 

Cheers.

Andy.

[shottyscotty 3]

ive hunted just about everything legal to hunt with an air gun and found that most of the time regardless of what pellet or rifle i have used that pellets dont deform much at all and that the only time they do is on wood or metal backstops

[The one 8,479]

Most of the time when im gutting rabbits i can pick out my pellets and there no deformed i thought about using them again

[Guest Scuba1]

Right here we go again.

 

For starters I have to say, that I am not a fan of HP pellets for anything but close work ( ferrals and rats in barns etc. ) because of the aerodynamics of those things. You see, the people that designed the Aston Martin, Boing 747 and other things that have to move fast make them look sort of rounded to sort of pointy on the front, instead of strapping a wheelie bin to it with the open end pointing in the direction of travel, because it would have a somewhat negative effect to the performance of said fast moving things. So a domed or even a pointed pellet has better aerodynamic properties as the HP version. If you shoot a HP pellet at a lump of meat at lets say 30 yards and get it out carefully, chances are, that you can just stick it back in the gun for another go, because at that distance, the HP will have lost a lot of its speed due to said lousy aerodynamic properties.

Whereas the domed or pointed pellet will not have deformed either, but you will have to cut a bit deeper in order to get them out of the lump.

Close in its a different story. If you shoot a rat at close quarters, the pellet is fast enough to deform, but have still enough velocity to get deep in there to do some damage. Whereas the domed pellet will more often then not pass right through expelling most of its retained energy in the wall of the barn. In that scenario the HP has the upper hand. But again, if shot through the head....... the rat could not care less if it has a bit of deformed lead between its ears or just a lot of air. Dead is dead. In short, All this hype about over penetration and deforming pellets is IMHO a load of oblocks because at 12ft/lbs we need all the penetration we can get to make a shot count. I for one would go for the most accurate pellet that I can find for my gun as shot placement counts a lot more then deformation of this bit of lead and wuld rather have a pellet go through the head of a pigeon then having it deform nicely on a branch next to it.

This is just my take of things.

 

ATB

 

Michael

[Guest buster321c]

Most of the time when im gutting rabbits i can pick out my pellets and there no deformed i thought about using them again

 

 

I dont ever shoot rabbits in the guts

[Holdaway 2]

Well put Scuba1

 

H

[Guest hyperion]

ive done some tests of a diy kind at home with hollow point pellets (bisley pest control) and found that they have more penertration at close range than a normal domed pellet!

 

when shooting them at apples, oranges, bars of soap and putty at 15 yards, the "exit wound" and pellet tract through the target was smaller than that of domed pellets!

 

the only way i could get them to expand at all was to remove a lot of lead from them in such a way as to make the head/cup of the hollow point pellet very thin walled and deeper, then they really did do some damage (and dont ask how its done please!)

 

BUT.....................

 

it really wasnt worth the effort, they were only good for 15 yards or so any way!

 

the time to "make" each pellet was silly!

 

and as to them even being legal???????????, expanding ammo ect, who knows!

 

end of the day domed pellets give better penertration at range and just as much if not more shock and damage at close range!

 

cheers

hungover

hyperion

[Malt 379]

I've always thought that HP pellets were mainly used for humane despatch at point blank range, IE in conjunction with live capture traps. However, a normal domed pellet will do the same job on legal airgun quarry.

[Guest hyperion]

using some RWS super field (domed) on the beach, (targets on sand dune) i found they would expand about 1mm all around. this could be due to the friction with the sand on impact tho, range was aprox 20-25 yards.

i never use my 'pest controle' as i find you loose too much accuracy, i supse they would be good if your aim was to mortaly wound your target, say a shot in the gut so it would bleed to death, but doubt many people on here would choise that.

 

how good would you say copper plated pellets are? i baught some h&n diabolo-extra hards for extra kick, but i havnt had a chance to use them on quarry yet? i assume theyd be a trade off on range for penintration?

 

 

ive tried those copper coated pellets in my AA TX200 and they were god awefull! even at ten or fifteen yards they were all over the place!

 

cheers

hyperion

[Malt 379]

to save starting a new thred

 

 

WTF ARE THE POINTED PELLETS FOR? seems to me that ther nt as accurate as the roundheads, and pack less punch. so why do they even exist?

I think the idea was to give the pellet more penetration for feathered quarry. Don't quote me on that though, can't remember where I heard it!

[RAMCAM 4]

Hi, folks.

What do you think about pellet expansion?

With the small amount of power we've got to play with, is it good to waste some de-forming a pellet, or is it best to keep it intact?

I can see the point for very close range, but what about general field use?

 

Cheers.

Andy.

 

I've used the Crow Magnum .177 8.8 grain pellet on a magpie dropped him dead with a chest shot 15 yards, it expanded quite well but they are no good for field use. I can not be bothered anymore with changing pellets, I use Air Arms they are very accurate in my rifle I go for head shots out to 60 yards on birds.

 

If you have a pcp rifle and you want more impact, go for the extra heavy barracuda or the bisley magnum pellets both 10.6 grain in .177.

[Guest Scuba1]

I think that a lot of pellet " designs " are made more to get the shooter and not because they are the dogs bits in the field. At the end of the day the people making them do it to sell them for money.

 

ATB

 

Michael

[andyfr1968 772]

I think that a lot of pellet " designs " are made more to get the shooter and not because they are the dogs bits in the field. At the end of the day the people making them do it to sell them for money.

 

ATB

 

Michael

 

Yeah, it's always been the same.

I started this thread to see if anyone had any real succes with odd shaped ammo and it's just confirmed my thoughts.

You can't beat a good dome head as an all rounder in the field.

The only uncoventional pellets I've tried that really seem to work are the Dynamics.

Shoot great out of my old HW90 .20.

Clearly expansion's not an issue with them, as they're made from tin.

 

Cheers.

Andy.

[Guest Scuba1]

As I said IMHO shot placement is paramount in the sub 12 ft/lbs even more so and that's why I would go for whatever is the most accurate out of my gun. End of

 

ATB

 

 

Michael

[ghillies 209]

ive hunted just about everything legal to hunt with an air gun and found that most of the time regardless of what pellet or rifle i have used that pellets dont deform much at all and that the only time they do is on wood or metal backstops

 

fair statement... i will say too hard can be a problem near too...