AOA Blog

These days, everyone’s interested in slugs. So, of course, you’ll find this new type of airgun ammunition available from your friends at AoA. Today we’re taking a look at one particular type of slug. It’s called the Daystate Howler.

Daystate Howler Slugs are the latest introduction from the British PCP specialists. But there’s a twist. They’re actually the result of teaming-up with Nielsen Specialty Ammunition here in the USA. NSA manufacture the Howlers for Daystate.

Naturally, these are not just any slugs. Howler hollow point slugs have been carefully formulated by Daystate’s Accuracy Research Team (ART) to deliver maximum accuracy and performance.

The Accuracy Research Team is a Daystate team guided by strict approval and testing protocols. Its role is to improve, wherever possible, the accuracy and performance of Daystate’s products and to do it with passion! Of course that includes considerable input and influence from the experts at Airguns of Arizona.

You can read more about the Accuracy Research Team in this story from 2019 https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/blog/2019/06/daystate-brings-art-to-producing-a-great-new-airgun-barrel.html

The first in the Howler lineup are .177 and .22 caliber .22 slugs. The .177s weigh 12.6 Grains, the .22s are 20.3 grains.

AoA has seen sub-1 MOA groups at 100 Yards in testing with this new ammo in .22 caliber with multiple air rifles!

While formulated to suit the ART barrels found in Daystate rifles, these US-made slugs have also demonstrated excellent performance from many makes and models of airguns, Airguns of Arizona reports.

And now for some unusual aspects to these slugs…

First, The Head Size Question

Unlike with many slugs, there’s no precise diameter given. Instead, the Airguns of Arizona website says that “Accuracy tested at sub-MOA. Daystate has confidence that these Howler Slugs are high precision ammo for the Daystate ART barrel as well as many other makes and models of airguns.”

However, we measured some to find the answer! The average diameter of the Howlers measured was 5.52 mm. That’s actually .217 Inches diameter, a very common diameter for .22 caliber pellets and slugs.

Next the Ballistic Coefficient

In testing, we found the Ballistic Coefficient (BC) for 20.3 Grain, .22 caliber Daystate Howlers to be 0.60. Let’s take a practical example to see what this means downrange.

Starting with a Muzzle Energy of 35.46 Ft/Lbs in tour test gun, no less than 78.9% of that energy – 29.97 Ft/Lbs – was still available at 50 Yards downrange. Even out at 75 Yards, 70.7% of the Muzzle Energy – 25.1 Ft/Lbs – remained available at the target.

Here’s the Chairgun graph showing that performance graphically…

That’s serious downrange hitting power that makes these Howlers ideal for hunters. Just look at this mushrooming!

Now for another word about BC values. There’s a tendency to think that higher BCs are the only factor of importance for slugs. But weight is important, too.

Our testing shows that slug weight and BC are linked. There’s actually a fairly straight line relationship between BCs and weights for cylindrical-sided lead slugs.

You can see how the Howlers fit into this in the chart below. Yes, heavier slugs will give higher BCs, but they require more – make that much more – power to fire them. That limits the range of guns that they are reasonably suited to.

At 20.3 Grain weight, the .22 caliber Howlers are actually lighter than some traditional lead pellets. So they can be fired with satisfactory Muzzle Velocity from a wide range of PCPs. That’s an important, useful benefit.

Maybe that’s not so surprising. However this next piece of information definitely is. These Daystate slugs are well-priced. OK – let’s say it – they’re cheap!!!

Now That Competitive Price

Cheap is not an adjective normally associated with Daystate products. But it’s true here! For the pricing of these Howler slugs really is attractive. They cost just around 5 Cents each…

One reason that Howlers are such good value is that they are packaged in large quantities. There’s 375 slugs in the tin of .22 caliber ammo. This is nearly double the normal 200 slugs per tin offered by most other quality slug brands.

(In .177 caliber, there’s as many as 600 slugs per tin!)

Daystate Howler .22 caliber slugs are sold in tins of 375 for $19.95. Calculating $19.95/375 = 5.32 Cents a slug. And that’s for just one tin – no need to buy multiples. That’s an outstanding price!

Or maybe it’s even less…

You see, there’s a card “coin” in each tin that entitles the purchaser to $2.00 off any Daystate, Brocock or MTC product. True, that $2.00 isn’t going to go far against the purchase price of that new Delta Wolf you’ve been promising yourself. However, save up these coins and they’ll be a welcome discount against further tins of Howlers in future.

For example, if we apply the value of one coin against another purchase of .22 caliber Howlers, the $2.00 “coin” reduces the price from $19.95 to $17.95. Then the price falls to just 4.79 Cents per slug.

I’ll bet you weren’t expecting that price to be so attractive!

As with any slugs – or pellets for that matter – there will be some experimentation necessary to establish downrange accuracy with your particular air rifle. However, that Daystate ART (Accuracy Research Team) testing means that Daystate and Brocock owners are likely to be pleased with the result. Many other airgunners may be too, so long as the slugs are fired from a fairly powerful PCP air rifle.

Daystate has plans to release other configurations of the Howler slugs, including .25 and .30 caliber options. Keep watching the AoA website for details…