Caliber & Pellet Selection | AB101 Pt. 7

[@shootfishspearstickley6937]

I just learnt more in those few minutes than I ever knew about pellets. Thank you.

[@mikestone9129]

I think everyone who thinks they gotta have the biggest cal air rifle and heaviest pellet should watch this. You explained this so clearly. Thanks

[@Nechayev_]

Patriotic American yeah but sometimes you gotta make due

[@ΔημήτρηςΝίκου-ε3π]

You know, guys , actually, my teacher in air rifle sharp shooting was Matt and, I don't even know him, I have never spoken to him in person or with any other way yet, I feel like I know him through his videos. Some of them, are very entertaining, because I am a hunter myself, and some others are full of knowledge and experience tips. What can I say, well done and keep it up! ! !

[@MrKillermeatball]

Coincidentally one of the things I like about the smaller calibers with low BC's is their shorter absolute range. I don't have to worry about what's 1/2 a mile behind my target

[@victoryfirst2878]

Let see, to make a barrel with the features that you want, barrel metal, correct twist, proper stress relieved barrel, barrel straightening, bluing, gun assembly. Now you have to get people who know how to do all that, then you have a winner. I wish all makers a lot of luck. What you said is so true. Just hope someone does all that for the sport. Will not hold my breath as their is so much to do. Peace

[@lennycruz4558]

.22 for me..not too heavy not too light..Matt I hope you upload pest control videos again,dove and sparrows..sparrows is much more challenging to shoot because of the size..I love your videos man,,more power and take care out there

[@drekceldude]

I`m looking at my 2nd pcp in a few months and was looking at .25 but after looking at what pellets are available,I`m leaning more towards .22,main reason is there`s such a bigger variety of pellet in .22,around 4 times more and good value as well.

[@GeorgeMcintyre-q7d]

Get pellet molds

[@davidoakes3878]

Another couple steps forward in my thinking. A good teacher relates the information in ways that are more understandable.

[@40SnWfan]

Straight Shooters has pellet sampler kits in .177, .22, and .25. I've always been a proponent of trying as many different types of ammo/pellets to find what each particular gun likes.

[@dynosor1]

Matt, There are good reasons why you can't find commercial "spitzer" style airgun projectiles; but I have an idea that may get you closer to the holy grail: Spitzer bullets were developed for rifles directly after smokeless propellants came into use. The spitzer nose (and boat tail) add value by greatly reducing the drag of SUPERSONIC projectiles. The problem is that airguns cannot drive projectiles much over the speed of sound. This is because the air flow through the metering valve (or transfer port) reaches maximum flow at the speed of sound. That is OK, as at 900 FPS, a round nose heavy projectile is plenty aerodynamic enough for 100 m. More significantly, a round nose bullet has its center of form closer to its center of mass, thereby requiring a slower rifling twist than longer spitzer projectiles of the same weight. Heavier pellets of a given caliber require higher pressures and more air to launch them at any given velocity. Unless you abandon common 3000 PSI scuba equipment, and develop 4500 PSI tanks and compressors; 50 grain .22 pellets are simply not practical, even at 900 FPS. Even your .260 rifle's bullets becomes unstable as their velocity drops below 1200 FPS at long range. The spin stability requirements for long pointy tail heavy bullets in the trans-sonic velocity range requires twist that is so tight it causes a number of side effects: 1. Drag in the barrel is increased. This requires increased pressure, or muzzle velocity is reduced. 2. Soft expanding bullets tend to explode at higher spin rates as soon as they leave the muzzle, due to very high centripetal force. 3. Bullets tend to be over stabilized earlier in the flight path, causing more drag and velocity loss, and more spin drift. If you want your airgun to shoot at Mach2 with spitzer bullets, add a solid or liquid propellant directly behind the bullet, with appropriate ignition source. Now, welcome to firearms. Shooting airguns effectively at 100 m is already an achievement. Be happy with that. Black powder cartridges don't use spitzer bullets because their (barely supersonic) velocities are not high enough to see the advantages. Sub-sonic airguns suffer similar limitations. Early smoothbore black powder guns used round ball, just like early airguns. The way to increase striking energy and range was to use a larger caliber for both of these gun types: The power and range of bird shot is limited compared to buckshot. The reason is simple. Drag is proportional to the radius of the projectile squared; while the mass is proportional to the radius cubed. The larger the radius, the larger the advantage of greater mass becomes. Notice how standard diabolo shaped airgun pellets weigh almost exactly what a sphere of lead weighs for that caliber? This is no accident. The "waisted" pellet (or shotgun slug) can be shot from a smoothbore with consistent sealing and drag stabilized flight. Round balls would either be distorted if tight enough for a good seal in the barrel, or would bounce off the sides of the bore if loose. Both causes made round ball inaccurate without spin stabilization. The same problems applied to black powder guns before rifling was invented. It is smokeless powder that made high velocities possible. That meant lighter smaller caliber bullets could do the job of larger slower ones. Appropriate rifling twist made it possible to shoot long pointy, heavy for caliber bullets with long range accuracy and efficiency. My advice is to be happy with airgun pellets weighing twice as much as a round lead ball of that caliber. Please try the .22 cal 34 grain JSB Jumbo BEAST pellets and report back. You are unlikely to see any "better" than that. If that does not meet your long range requirements, use the next larger airgun caliber that has a wide pellet selection; probably .25 in your case. These would also make shot placement more forgiving, without wounding more animals. You will also need to drive the larger heavier pellets at near 900 FPS, or they won't offer much advantage, despite their better momentum over drag value (RxRxR/RxR). This assumes that you don't mind the extra cost of the pellets, the louder report, and the fewer number of shots per fill on your PCP. The only way I can see to achieving your "holy grail" is to launch a heavy sub-caliber boat tailed softnose spitzer projectile, using a larger caliber SABOT. An example of this technology was the Remington "Accelerator" round: That .30-06 round fired a .22 cal spitzer bullet at over 4000 FPS. It combined the larger area of the sabot to apply the accelerating force at standard operating pressure; with the benefit of the lower drag in flight of a .22 cal projectile. Even then, you are not going to see a practical air rifle shoot pellets over 1200 FPS - unless you deliberately make it to burn a controlled amount of oil by dieseling. Now, because the projectile would be too long for its effective spin speed when fired from 1:16" twist barrels at perhaps 1100 FPS; the design would need some small drag stabilizing elements. I will bat the idea around a bit and see what I come up with... What is the longest projectile you can load in your .22 air rifles? Consider that the ".30-06 Accelerator" round was not a commercial success. Perhaps because the ammo was too expensive, or it proved less accurate than dedicated varmint caliber rounds; such as the .22-250 Remington.

[@KC-dx5pf]

dynosor1 finally I got the drag vs mass physics explained, kind of. I spent a lot of time thinking about surface area and mass vs drag. Your bird shot/ buckshot example explained this better than anything else. I have been stuck on the dropping two round objects of different size, but equal density from a tall building theory for a long time. Supposed to hit the ground at the same time right? The physics are confusing to me. Does the mass radius cubed not effect the smaller round object until it is faster than terminal velocity of an object pulled by gravity? If a given surface area is equal in proportionate mass with one projectile larger than the other given identical proportionate shapes why does the larger projectile have better BC? Thanks for your post and hope you comment. I have not found anyone to explain this. Seems to be a contradiction in theory.

[@Mike-xi4zt]

Once a bullet has left the barrel the RPM of the bullet is set and does not change as a function of velocity. You could stop the bullet to 0 feet per second and the bullet will keep spinning as long as friction doesn't stop the spinning of the bullet.

[@rickoshea8138]

@@KC-dx5pf The high school physics example of objects falling at the same speed is because they are not moving fast enough, or far enough to see the difference in drag. That is unless the ratio of diameters is large enough to drive an obvious difference. For instance; if someone tipped a bucket of loose sand onto your head from two stories up, you would be annoyed but not hurt, due to drag limiting the speed of the individual grains. If the surface area were reduced by placing the sand in a bag, and it fell on you as one object, the difference would be very noticeable, to put it mildly. Here we have one large object VS many small ones. A bit like a shotgun slug VS the smallest bird shot. If you shoot an object at over its terminal velocity it is going to slow down quite rapidly. The terminal velocity for bird shot is low enough that it can fall on you from 200 yards away without causing injury. Not so, a lead ball the size of a bowling ball...

[@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498]

You are talking about different guns. Matt is right and you are wrong. BP cartridges can generate very high pressures and supersonic speeds. Do compare apples with apples. Another problem that arises with internal balistics at high speeds is lead fouling, because you need a harder alloy (or a jacketed bullet). One might be tempted to think that the rifling lands are to blame but Whitworth shooters know very well that too soft lead does not work well because it fouls the barrels pretty fast (and they are above sound speed). Sabots (accelerator) proyectiles were commercial failure for several reasons, the most important being inconsistency . I've tinkered quite a lot with them and it is pretty impossible to make them shoot accurately because sabot release was very irregular and barrels were not taylored for sabots. Size does matter in way that what works well for a tank barrel doesn't work at all for a portable weapon barrel. Also post Korea war barrels that use sabot ammunition are smooth. The accelerator was more of a "shoot a 223 in your 30-06 and buy only one gun" but it's a carpet-bagg seller trick that does not work well at all. Also my experience while in the armed forces is that oiling can ruin a barrel pretty fast since it increases the internal pressure in a very important way. I've seen it happen before my very eyes and have direct witness reports of rifled barrels turned smooth bore (and over bore too) in less than 1000 shots in well oiled powder burners both in roller delayed blowback, Mauser and lever action guns.

[@rickrodgers9277]

@@miguelangelsimonfernandez5498 I load my .308 casings with a sabot and .223 hp bt and keep mv under 3800. They are very accurate under 200 yds. Maybe accurate at longer distances, I just never shot longer than 200 yds.

[@alanperry9744]

Hi there Matt really good video. I am about 3 to 4 weeks away from reseving a wolverine 303 hi Light one of the reasons for choosing that gun is wind the energy behind that slug + the Wight of the slug. There are a few other reasons. Thanks for touching on that subject makes me feel like I made a good choice

[@travisday423]

I am on the same page with you Mat, we have 2 and 3 thousand dollar pcps and still shooting prehistoric ammo if the ammo manufacturers don't listen to you give Ted a call and tell him to make a video they listen to him👍good video keep it up.dropping pest worldwide

[@adam100a8]

Travis Day 3 GRAND? Damn bruh I think I'm going to far when I buy a 15$ scope 😂😂

[@davep6286]

18:32 I will give you a AMEN and a massive thank you, for bringing the very complex subject to the masses 👍🇬🇧

[@finq0997]

Matt saw the revolution of slug rounds coming before they even had a name. That's when you know you're listening to a real expert and not just someone who does YT videos for fun.

[@dimasakbar7668]

Amen brother. My dream is to have an air rifle with a somewhat comparable performance with powder burner (even if it shoot slower and less far)

[@marcofiebelkorn1232]

hei, i only want to say, i love your videos, you are the reason why i bought my first airgun. i learned so much from you, thank you so much. greatings from germany

[@esauseven]

Chiming in late but I just have to say you've done an excellent job covering this subject with very good dialogue and visuals. All enthusiasts will benefit. I've had a passion for airguns since childhood, and just now, being semi retired have time to get into it. I have a wolverine on the way. Thanks for your efforts on this.

[@chrispetersen1492]

Very informative. Learned a lot from this guy. As I always thought, accuracy is the main thing to have with your ammo

[@jerroldshelton9367]

Finally, someone tackles the myth that "heavier pellets buck the wind and carry downrange energy" better! Many air rifle hunters don't pay any attention to ballistic coefficient I think they should. I don't shoot PCP. I shoot a pair of Beeman R-9's, one in .177 and the other in .20, with both tuned (at present) to run around 15 ft/lbs at the muzzle. If I shoot 11.90 grain H&N match out of my .20, they get an average MV of 753 fps for 15.0 ft lbs. At 50 yards, they're going 520 fps for 7.1 ft.lbs. Now, if I shoot 8.44 grain Exacts out of my .177 R-9, they get 890 fps for 14.8 ft/lbs. At 50 yards, they're going 653 fps for 8.0 ft/lbs. The .20 pellet in this example has a BC of .016, while the .177 pellet in this example has a BC of .021. But because of that, even though it makes a little less power at the muzzle than the .20 does, the .177 delivers slightly more downrange. What happens if we change the .20 projectile to a Beeman FTS 11.0 grain? MV rises a bit to 785 for 15 ft lbs at the muzzle but at 50 yards, they're going 581 fps for 8.1 ft lbs of energy. They're a little lighter than the first .20 example, yet they hit a little harder downrange because of their higher .020 BC. Change pellets again to 11.5 grain H&N FTT's and they get 775 fps for 15.3 ft lbs at the muzzle and at 50 yards, they clock 608 fps for 9.5 ft lbs of energy. This is still a lighter pellet than the first .20 example, but it is going 88 fps faster at 50 yards and hit the target with 2.4 foot pounds more energy, and they do that because of their .025 BC. Ah, but what happens if I change the pellets in the .177 to 10.3 grain JSB Exact? Velocity drops to 795 at the muzzle for 14.5 foot pounds, but at 50 yards, that pellet is going 652 fps and hitting with 9.7 foot pounds of energy. How is it possible for this .177 version of the same rifle to hit harder at 50 yards than the .20 version? It's the .031 BC of the pellets in this example. Let's change the pellets one more time in the .177 to 8.3 grain RWS Superdomes. They exit the muzzle at 897 fps for 14.8 ft/lbs. But I don't think they're all that "super" because at 50 yards, they're only going 553 fps for a paltry 5.6 ft/lbs of energy. That kind of defeats the point of having a more or less 15 ft/lbs rifle. The reason for this poor downrange performance is a BC of only .013. Fortunately, they aren't very accurate in my rifle so I have no reason to use them. Just for fun, let's dial back the power on the .177 R9 for springer-class Field Target shooting. We'll set the rifle up sub-12 ft/lbs , shoot the 8.44 grain Exacts, and see how we get on. They get 792 fps at the muzzle for 11.8 ft/lbs. At 50 yards, they're going 593 for 6.6 ft lbs of energy. Thanks to BC, it is possible for a sub-12 ft/lb gun to deliver more energy at 50 yards than a 15 ft/lb gun shooting the not-so-super Superdomes will. For more fun, let's seem how much power you need at the muzzle to get.177 RWS Superdomes to deliver 9.7 ft/lbs at 50 yards. I'll give you a hint at the outset: you'd have to make them go supersonic, and that's not good for accuracy. Even if you wanted to and could drive these things out of the muzzle at 1080 fps for 21.6 ft/lbs of muzzle energy, they're going to be going just 617 fps at 50 yards for 7.0 ft/lbs. That's only .4 foot pounds more energy at fifty yards than a sub-12 ft/lb rifle could deliver with a more efficient, higher BC pellet. Less than half a foot-pound. What's the point of having "FAC" power at the muzzle if you squander it all by using pellets with a lousy .013 BC and wind up with less than a half of a foot-pound more energy at 50 yards than can be had from an 11.8 ft/lb rifle shooting a pellet with greater ballistic efficiency? Maybe we don't need the more powerful rifle as much as we need more efficient pellets?

[@Mike-xi4zt]

Great video! BC and velocity are what determine drop and wind drift. Caliber and bullet weight can become irrelevant. if BC and velocity are the same you will see comparable Wind Drift and drop the same, independent of caliber and bullet weigth. As a general rule heavier longer bullets increase the ballistic coefficient.

[@michaeleber4752]

I started in full rifles in the states then moved to Colombia where my rifle is illegal. Back then I chose .260 Remington and used Berger High BC for a flat trajectory that shot very well for very long distance competition. I fully agree that high BC is important to pellet guns.

[@pllagunos]

Great video Matt, some airgunners actually modify air force guns to shoot .257 cast bullets (with high BCs), this along with a carbon fiber bottle (4500psi) let's them shot out at very long range. There are some that have shoot +1000 yards. Also while I agree that the next airgun evolution will be with ammo, I also think pellets, due to their design, give the shooter an advantage over bullets, that is, they drop and loose energy quickly, making them very safe to use in populated areas. Cheers

[@mikel9162]

Howdy From Texas Matt! this is exactly why the .257 cast bullet airgun has become so popular with long range airgun shooters. fill to 250 bar, and launch a .257 cast HP bullet of 80 grains at a little over 1000 fps. The effects on game are far beyond what one would expect from an AG. Please check out Tofazfou's latest vid's on the custom .172 bullet shooting, custom built Marauder. Very-very impressive. Very good BC, and down range performance. KnifeMaker

[@OneFun71]

AMEN to ushering in the 200yd off the shelf rifle! Great Video Thanks

[@motorosso3349]

It would be interesting if you could do a retrospective video comparing what is in this video to today's pellet/slug selection. As we know now, slugs are a big part of the air gun story. Thanks for your prescience on this subject.

[@blackdiesel]

Some airgunners are casting bullets that perform very well at long distance. Cedric (Tofazfou) modified a 40 cal Badger into a 375 cal and cast his own slugs. He has a video of him shooting a 170 yard group of less than an inch.

[@Sir.Leonardo.Scherer]

I love air rifles and this series is great, congratulations on the good work. please make it in 4K

[@martinfernandez5005]

H&N Pile Driver is a bullet shaped boat tail pellet in .22 cal with 29 grains. Pellets need to be washed and carefully selected for accuracy.

[@PalomboDylan]

I've used gammo red pellets for BACKYARD HUNTING and they did extremely well and that was years ago and I bought yesterday a brand new crosman .177 caliber break barrel stealth shot pellet rifle with nitro piston technology and 1200 FPS and when I bought pellets for the first time in years for this rifle the pellets I went straight to was gammo red.

[@rasberryrl]

Matt, I hope the manufacturers have thanked you for ushering in the current slug frenzy 4 years ago! You definitely was ahead of the time and right on the money in regards to the slug trend.

[@JM10344]

Its beautiful how serious people are taking airguns and money they now invest. Thank you, Matt.

[@wildrangeringreen]

Gamo TC35 or Airforce Texan .35 with an Accurate Molds 35-148A (with narrow grease groove added to the driving band to limit lead-steel friction and hold some lube) would do nicely, or an Airforce Texan .30 with an Accurate Molds 31-115KG. Many of the newer big-bore hunting guns are twisted to handle heavy (for an airgun) bullets. Order your molds oversized by .008 and swage them down to fit. Growing up, Airguns were for kids learning to shoot or "rich guys with money to blow on junk" (when a usable Muzzle Loading gun could be bought for $200+/-, a .22LR can be had for $200 +/-, and a decent centerfire could be bought for $500+/- ... air rifles in the early 2000's were kind of a toy for people with money). With newer developments in the last 10 or so years, they are actually becoming very capable and affordable. To the point where even I, an avid Muzzle loader shooter, am considering getting a big bore air rifle.

[@wm973]

Subscribed! Well done. A difficult subject to discuss and never to much information if your want to shoot well. I've been shooting center fire for a very long time for hunting and just for fun and I never get tired of it. But the air rifle is something I know nothing about. It's getting harder and harder to find places to shoot where I live and that's why I am searching the web to find my first one. As I get more experience I'm hoping the industry will keep pushing the technology and developing better and better air gun systems. As I am new to this I am amazed at how far it has come. Already it's a tuff decision to just select my first one!Thank you for a great vid!

[@danijuggernaut]

Very, very, interesting. I´m going to buy me my first PCP and i had doubts about the caliber. I got it clear now, many thanks for your video.

[@willybee3056]

Wow,,, and thanks,,, 50 years ago I studied the SD an BC. I'm glad nothing has changed. But few have studied to this degree. Like with anything else, attention to detail is everything. Have you ever heard of a LEE Target Loader? Thanks and keep up the good work....

[@salmanbajwa777]

You are a masterclass.... thanks for being there and taking all the pains of explaining things so well .... i wish some day soon you launch your own projectiles if not the gun manufacturing units...

[@fieliesvannievrystaat]

For the record, my AA S410 Carbine just loves the Gamo Pro Magnums with groupings right up there with the JSb's and Crossman Premiers. So rather than just dumping the Gamo range because someone say they are no good test them in your rifle first. Specifically the pro-magnum/pro-hunter range, you might be pleasantly surprised.

[@vansantsam]

If you drill 4 small holes (12,3,6,9 o'clock) 1/2 inch from the end (muzzle) of the barrel, this will release some pressures prior to the pellet leaving the barrel and will reduce the fast air behind the pellet as it leaves the barrel, similar to what an air stripper does but it does it while the pellet is still in the barrel.. It also assist in reducing barrel whip by releasing air in 4 directions..

[@EarthSurferUSA]

Good informative vid IMO. I would like to add one thing I noticed in my shooting though, is the shape of the pellet and it's effect on BC. If you notice the .25 (second place BC wise) that has a better BC than the .30 (third place). The best in each caliber did not have that Diabolo "necked down", (skinny waste line) shape. The best BC comes from the pellet that has a filled in mid section, (but not to touch the bore), which also adds mass. The skirts on a necked down pellet act like a drag.

[@TheOlsonOutfit]

Great opportunity for a air gun and pellet manufactures to team up.

[@wibble1999]

hopefully the new fx crown with its interchangeable sleeves or liners will sort this problem ...fx leads the way once again cheers for such in depth explanation in this series Matt. Dave

[@safakaswedishairgunforum-n1490]

Thanks for another excellent and very tutoring video Matt, Thanks for sharing Your knowledge to the airgun society, I learned so much from You. Actually You inspired me to start shooting for real and join a shooting club after plinking all my life.The "Sensei" of airguns and airgun hunting are You. Keep up good work and many Greetings from Swedish Airgun Forum and FX Country :D

[@alienmechanic8696]

barrel length is important too, when using heavier pellets

[@GeorgeMcintyre-q7d]

Will show us to see how they work

[@kareemancher]

good video Matt. I would like to say though. Moving from a 22 to a .25 makes a massive difference. even though we have things like jsb beasts in 177 and .22 because of their higher energy retention they are not very forgiving if the shot placement is bad. however something of a larger calibre with a larger sectional density effectively dissipates the energy better on quarry then something with a smaller sectional density. high ballistic coefficient and small sectional density are great for target shooting( if you can stabilise them) it would not be my first choice when taking quarry though.

[@travisday423]

kareemancher ,Yea a well placed 22 is better then a ok placed .25

[@drekceldude]

Ted Holdover as a youtube video discussing that very issue,basically what he`s saying his, .25 can be a bit more forgiving if shot placement is off slightly with same result as well placed .22. He shows 2 videos hunting rabbits,the .25 just delivers more power and sheer impact over .22 means shot placement not so critical for same outcome. But main reason I`m sticking with .22 is just more variety in different pellets out there,4 times as many than .25.

[@mettahuttravels3183]

Thank you for showing off beautiful SA & showing all ethical hunting..

[@reinhardtmaritz7654]

for anyone shooting .177 still, a great pellet choice is the JSB exact monster (redesigned version) - 13.4 gr great accuracy and hold their energy well at range

[@shikharmaru2791]

Love u bro for ur great insight in pellets which finally define effectiveness of a air rifle.

[@gratefuldude7511]

Great video Matt, lots of info. Going to try and get the JSB Beast Jumbo .22 34 Gr to work in my Crown. I emailed FX and they are still working on the barrels and twist rate for the 34gr.

[@gehtdianschasau8372]

Thx for the interesting video. You also get an amen and an "i'd also like to see a compressor you can plug in at home, which is able to fill up a bottle to that kind of pressure. Quite slowly, but if i can pump it up to 200 bar, 220V should be able to exceed 300 bar easily.

[@Pownyan]

I have no idea why i'm watching this as i don't own a airgun, and live in sweden where airgun hunting i basically banned, but it was very instructive!

[@grabbenskarve3518]

Väldigt sent svar men kanske värt det. Ifall kalibern är minst 22 och skjuter 160 eller så var det 180 m/s så är det tillåtet för jakt. Detta innebär en anslagsenergi på typ 16J vilket innebär att vapnet är licenspliktigt.

[@camerahammerwoody9196]

Hi, I am finding your series very informative. I have not read all your replies, so, I hope I am not stealing someone else's thunder, but, 30-40 years ago there was a .177 pellet called a Promethius (spelling?) Pellet, this was a small teardrop shaped lead pellet with a very tightly fitting plastic skirt. This all held together till reaching its victim, then the skirt would be shed, and the teardrop core of the pellet would accelerate into the victim.

[@gunsaway1]

That opened my eyes. I use the exact JSB's for my .25. Now I know why Ted uses the "heavy" JSB's

[@kyleoden3015]

Head size is important also. I got some cheap ruger pointed pellets that fit loose on the head.

[@indraaccuracy352]

thanks Mat, now im understand too choose the right weight and BC for my PCP

[@komradewatches3754]

When we moved to the UK in 1979 and I got into air rifles a year or two later .20 guns came out as an answer to the question which is better .177 or .22 along with a plastic tipped pallet called a prometheus which I believe was a first at the time? The Sharp Innova rifle was very popular at the time, 4 under lever cocks to get it up to power. I take it .20 died a death commercially and is no longer around? Great video. Thanks again.

[@MrPfaber11]

I got some .22 Prometheus pellets a couple of days ago and have to say at short range they are very effective . Not tried them at distance yet.

[@berlynreed4253]

I currently own a Sig Sauer MCX CO2! I use .177 hollowpoints in it and love them!

[@audigit]

Thank you for your research and posting this.

[@davidmwood560]

I use the ·22 RWS Superpoint Extra. 14·5 grain Field Line in my Crossman 2240. Very high quality, very accurate.

[@JM10344]

17:00-17:37 changed airguns and your life forever.

[@Danzwain1]

Excellent video and very well presented for new comers and experienced air rifle sports men/women

[@azdubz2021]

I wonder why pellet tins don't have their BC on each tin?

[@truthspeaker2062]

I think fx slugs they have written bc on each box

[@ThaHerbanLegend]

Because 99% of people are just going to shoot cans in their backyard

[@sebastianhabel7312]

Amen! But if there was a PCP with a barrel with a twist rate high enough to stabilize the rather bullet shaped pellets you mention, how would this barrel perform with standard pellets? Can the twist rate be too high, so standard pellets would only be poorly stabilized? I heard that this was the case with early M16 rifles. But since these firearms that shoot supersonic bullets, I am not sure if this phenomenan can be transferred to a subsonic airgun projectile^^ What do you think? Because, if a barrel can be designed to stabilize all kinds of pellets well, there is no more excuse for the manufacturers.

[@tomgranberg5651]

Spin speed is also a result of FPS, and not only the twist rate of the barrel and it's not a linear relationship.

[@oliviervanweede1842]

Sebastian Habel Yes, the twist rate can be too high for a projectile. If it's too high, the projectile's nose can still be pointed upward while the projectile is already moving downward. This can really mess up the trajectory of the projectile.

[@gregorkamensek3923]

Great video as always. Your interpretation of the whole ballistic theory is perfect and you explain it very well. I just wanted to comment that the high power with low caliber rifle that shoots heavy bullets (with a faster twist rate) at about 100 fps and is regulated is my dream as well. The closest I got to this goal is with Huben K1 but I did have to change the barrel with faster twist to get the accuracy. Huben K1 also has another great feature (beside the fact that it can shoot regulated up to about 90 ft-lbs in .22), it can shoot at those powers with relatively low regulated pressure. I shoot 40 grain bullet at 1000 FPS with only 150 bar regulated pressure. Because of its unique valve design it has an extremely high power to pressure ratio, unlike any other PCP that I know of... You probably will not like it though because you are a hunter and it is a semi auto bull-pup.... You can check my videos to see the accuracy of it with my modifications...

[@AirArmsHuntingSA]

+Gregor Kamenšek I'm going to go look at it at IWA this year!

[@gregorkamensek3923]

See you there... :)

[@nicedward7544]

Tried tons of 25 pellets. Always turns out the 34 jsb is the most accurate out of all of my .25s but they are all tuned to push them 860-920 fps. I'm sure the 25grain can get just as close 50yd and under though if slowed down to the sweet spot.

[@timwilliams4295]

Pause at 15 min 56 sec and skip forward 5 sec twice with right arrow on keyboard!!! Good vid by the way too mate :)

[@slmxenon]

At 13:28 you say, "It has nothing to do with weight, it has to do with sectional density and BC". But both sectional density and BC are dependent on weight or mass.

[@MicrolonProTV]

Matt, an issue is that many air rifles do not have the velocity to ensure complete expansion of a expanding pellet....this isn't an issue for FAC velocities but is massive for sub 12 ft lbs weapons. Users are misled that their pellets expand as described. Tests show the truth.

[@bev2423]

18grain jsb... are you talking about jsb jumbo heavy(diablo)? They are 18grain I know this is an old video but i'm hoping you find this comment as i recantly started using jsb jumbo pellets and i found them to be more accurate than the reccomended pellets that are made for my air rifle. The main reason i don't think you'll respond to this because you don't have time to do so but also because i use a springer that recantly launched and i have to say it is a budget gun, it's an aretemis sr1000r in .22cal the point of me mention that is that my airgun only get about 750fps with 16grain lead pellets but this is good for jsb diablo pellets. I watch your videos before choosing pellets and i don't regret doing that. Thank's for the help 💪😎

[@cagondena]

1:15, i never had problems with gamo pellets, well maybe the same ones than with other brands, Gamo is quality to a very good price, thanks for your video

[@chicolittle5409]

I agree. I just killed a feral cat with a Gamo Red Fire with my .177 Gamo springer. And Cats are very hard to kill with a .177. But one Red fire to the heart turned his lights out. Here is a link to them. www.airgundepot.com/gamo-150-ct-red-fire-177-pellets.html

[@pepegotera3155]

i agree with you, gamo pellets are as good as the one this dud has on the table

[@Sanus180]

Im liking the H&N Hunters for my HW77K when I go hunting - works well

[@thomaswashington3742]

Hey for .177 pellets. The beemen silver arrows. Have done me very well out to 50 yards. With a cross men pump pistol. I haven't had the chance to use them inn a rifle yet.

[@tommyjoestallings3339]

Hi my name is Tom I live in Central Florida I love your videos very informative.Also very entertaining. I own a Hatsan flashpup QE in 177. I absolutely love it, I don't love having to hand pump it to 200 bar. and that's due to the fact that I don't have the money to purchase anything other than a hand pump at the moment.Keep the videos coming, 😍them.

[@garypostell5268]

No .45 or .50 cal just now seeing this so at the time this was made may have not been available! But would love to see the hammer and the Airforce Texan less be very interesting long rang hunting big game , just a thought!

[@randyburleson5115]

Outstanding presentation, well done!!

[@TheGreenMarksman]

the pile driver pellet was designed to address these issues unfortunately i think it is already discontinued. i have a feeling it probably had to do with power restrictions in certain countries

[@Smaug1]

TheGreenMarksman The Piledriver II is out now, but you need a real cannon of an airgun to shoot it well, like a Sumatra or Rainstorm.

[@drekceldude]

Another reason there was issues with Piledriver was poor quality,giving very inconsistent results,but potentially the Piledriver as huge advantages over classic style pellet design,now that rifles are becoming more powerful and efficient maybe more pellet manufacturers will start development into these types of pellet.

[@OmarDelawar]

Matt, I know this video is quite old but have you heard of the airforce .50 cal airguns? They operate at the pressures you said you wished existed - hitting high velocities with muzzle energies reaching almost 1000+ FPE.

[@MartinIDavies]

any chance of a couple of shows were you use 'classic' break-barrel .177 rifled air rifles from the 1950s and 1960s... oh yes and scopes

[@gethinjones8992]

ive been using the same rifle and pellet combo for 16 yrs its absolutaly deadly accurate and very pradictable trajectory its well worth dooing yore reserch and testing out diferent amo when you find something that works 😆👍 shooting becomes a hole lot more fun 👌

[@qdosgolf]

Hi Matt, great series of videos, really helpful. A question, what's your take on sizing and lubing pellets?

[@joshuajonker7242]

Bigger is better and always use lube😈👹🤣🤣

[@JM10344]

Was your first gun really a S410 or was that your first " real" air gun. Man I started young with a little pump guns with bb's and crosmans, then springers with croamans and JSB's, finally a PCP just JSB's and slugs. I had to go through all of that with finding what ammo you had to find to get groups. As a kid did a lot of scratching my head thing, knowing it was the ammo causing the inconsistency. Trying to hone in on accuracy. Love this video takes me back and verifies I was right in my thought process. Thanks

[@tobiastackitt2399]

I've had good luck using H&N barracdu Hunter Extreme out to 100 yards

[@VTPSTTU]

Very good video! I'm thinking of buying an air rifle. I'm pretty sure that I'll get the .22 caliber, but I'm not sure which rifle to get. For the price, I'm leaning heavily towards a single-shot, break-barrel gas piston rifle. The one I like has great velocity, so it should be plenty powerful. Your channel has given me an interest in the PCP rifles. I'd love to get an FX, but the price is a bit high. In the PCP type, I'm considering an AirForce Escape.

[@heiliewessels3658]

re watching this in 2020 and thinking wow he predicted the future and started the manufacturing of slugs in a way by chalanging manufacturers to make it goed gedaan matt

[@mickypamei6629]

Hey Matt how about visiting this topic once again, this time adding slugs to the list, right from .177( won't a .177 slug have a better bc than some .22 pellets) and upwards.

[@iliaskoutsouris630]

Or for a spring gun a heavy .177 pellet to be better than a same weiht .22 pellet(less affection to wind because of less mass)??

[@sgroat96]

I can't seem to find any of the external ballistics anymore. I'm sure I've seen some before but not finding them.

[@kontraformalan9942]

Great video mate! Actually the best one about the caliber on YT. But i got stuck in decision which one to chose between .22 1000fps and .177 1250fps on lets say 100m? There are many videos that say that .177 has flater trajectory, but .22 fights the wind better yet again with biger drop...

[@chrisfigueroa3361]

Awesome the 25 cal 25 gn is an amazing pellet out of my taipan vet long at 895 fps love that pellet very accurate out to 75 to 100 yards

[@paulperth4205]

Hi, I have no experience as yet with (generic term "guns") I've just found this series, I understand about the flight characteristics of bullets and to a lesser degree pellets, and have a question regarding pellets. how accurate would a ball bearing be versus a pellet. I know it's probably a silly question but I'm old so I thought i'd ask rather than never know and learn. Love watching you hunt the grey men and dassies. Cheers from Australia.

[@Chris83A]

Great series! I have learned alot from your videos! Thanks for passing on your knowledge and love for the sport.

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

18: 32. Amain!! (That's the Hebrew word that means "Let's it be so". Amen was an Egyptian false diety). And thank you for the technical details of pellet pushing.

[@bigsword1957]

Matt, you should obtain a Benjamin Bulldog and use for larger game in your part of the world.

[@An9eL_C]

Matt thank you so much for such an informative video, I always thought mass was king but didn't take into account statistics like ballistic coefficient... Thanks for sharing... P.S> Really like the cooking videos, bring them on....

[@monkpato]

You didn't mention .20 caliber! How does it stack up? I would think it has a better BC than .22.

[@madkow2001]

This guys is great! Very well done!

[@bev2423]

The weird thing is that gamo pellets are accurate with gamo airguns, but i'm gessing that they are designed for gamo air rifles. Sorry abou the spelling (ek is afrikaans) i'm afrikaans

[@ClashClash89]

Awww. At about 15:26 the dog runs past the camera, giving it a good wiggle. Thumbs up for that. A proper sized dog! Anything below normal human knee height is basically a just big cat, and therefore kinda pointless. Also great work on this series! Just one question: How do you determine you ballistic coefficients? Do you measure and calculating it all by yourself. Or is there a proper table for this? 'Cuz a few years ago I searched the internet for hours without finding much. And two suggestions: Maybe it's time to open up a new playlist on your channel for your AB101... And will we also get a 3rd chapter of Airgun Ballistics? I mean after covering the first 2/3 of this topic it seems like the obvious goto. Especially for a channel dedicated to hunting. Soooo.... Terminal Ballistics or what, bro? ;)

[@Hillarparn1]

Got an pcp easily fitting the Eunjin .22, both domed and pointed. Shooting just below 1000 fps I get pretty high joules and accuracy is adequate. The domed weighing in at 28,4 and the pointed at 32,4 grains. Listening to your explanation of bc and density these pellets would be excellent at hunting. Too bad they won't fit into a FX Impact or something of the same in adjustability and accuracy. Any thoughts on this, Matt??

[@DimaProk]

Kalibrgun Cricket makes airguns with 300 bar reservoir. I really don't understand this obsession to push pellets/projectiles to levels of powder burners, to make an airgun similar to firearm. 1) Is it because it's quiet? Because you can buy a 22LR very accurate rifle like CZ 455 for 400-500 dollars and quality suppressor for about $1000 total in US and you will have a very quiet setup. 2) The truth is pellets in bigger calibers are expensive! I just looked at 30 caliber JSBs from most popular source in US and they come out about 10 cents a pellet! Now you can buy a premium 22LR ammunition for this price and a bulk one at 4-5 cents a round which is pretty accurate too. You can also cast your own bullets for centerfire rilfes very cheaply. A CCI 40gr bullet leaving muzzle at 1080fps has over 100fpe. 3) This is probably should be number one, a lot of state laws prohibit hunting with airguns in US! For example in my state (WA) you can't hunt any "game animal" with airgun and that includes raccoons or cottontail rabbits. You can't shoot crows either. You can shoot "unclassified" animals though like squirrels or coyotes :)

[@joelsd.i.y526]

AirarmshuntingSA the h&n piledriver is a pellets that is very much like what you want. I would look it up if I where you if you haven't seen them already.

[@travisday423]

backwoods survivalist az, They still have some work to do on the piledrivers at least the one's they sell in the states only one head size and it's to small.

[@tomirwin4819]

Very helpful, Thanks Matt 👍

[@nicbaeten]

I shoot always with a cal .177 gamo air rifle (Black bear) with a break barrel and I killed already a few fat wood pigeons from 15 and 30 yards distance but I try to hit them on 100 yards distance but that is already difficult. My meaning is to shoot and kill rats from that distance but even if I hit them I think they are not dead. The pellet is a baracuda hunter extreme from H&N.

[@ablesandoval4904]

I am very accurate at 50 yrds. I use crosman and Gamo pellets. 5 shots in a dime size target.

[@dmlandscapedesignllcatlant8093]

I disagree I have a 177 and a .30 cal blitz my blitz hits hard a 120 yards out with a 45g diabolo round I think it should be based on the gun used and capacity of what that gun is able to do depending on weight and shape. I can shoot all day in a 1 inch group and 16 rounds at a times in semi auto on the bench no problem