If you want to get the absolute best out of your airgun, you have to do one thing: you have to find the right pellet. By the right pellet, I mean the pellet that (a) produces the highest accuracy and (b) is suited for the type of shooting you intend to do.<\/p>\n
Before we dive into finding the right pellet for your air rifle or air pistol, let\u2019s agree that accuracy is critical. As one airgunner put it: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t\u2019 matter how big a pellet you\u2019re shooting, how fast it left the muzzle, or how much energy it retains downrange; if you miss, everything else is immaterial.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pellet
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If you look at your air rifle (or air pistol) as a system comprised of a powerplant (spring piston, precharged, multi-stroke pneumatic, etc.), an aiming device (scope and rings, iron sights, or peep sights) and a projectile, the most important part of the system (all other things being equal) is the pellet<\/span>.<\/p>\n The pellet is the only part of the system that goes downrange toward the target. Once the pellet leaves the muzzle, you have no control over it. If the pellet doesn\u2019t behave itself in its lonely flight toward what you aimed at, you\u2019re going to miss.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the key: different airguns work better with some pellets than with others. In the years that I have been writing about airguns, and I have had the opportunity to interview some outstanding airgun designers and airgunsmiths, no one has been able to tell me how to predict which rifle will shoot best with which pellet. Oh sure, some of them might say \u201cWell you might want to try this pellet or that pellet,\u201d and certainly some dealers may have a pretty good idea which pellet is likely to work well with a particular gun, but in the end, it all comes down to \u201ctry a bunch of different pellets and see which one works best.\u201d<\/p>\n My brother-in-law and I each own identical air rifles, and each of them prefers a different pellet. So, just because another fellow has an air rifle like yours and it shoots well with a particular pellet, that doesn\u2019t mean yours will also shoot well with the same pellet. It might, but then again it might not. I\u2019m not trying to be arbitrary or weird here; I\u2019m just stating the truth: the only way to know for sure if a particular type of pellet is going to work well in your gun is to try it and see.<\/p>\n And because the pellet is the most important part of your shooting system, if you\u2019re serious about airgunning, it\u2019s worth taking the time to experiment with a bunch of different pellets and see which one works best for you in a particular gun. Don\u2019t worry about fashion or what seems to be \u201cin,\u201d just shoot what works well in your gun.<\/p>\n How to Find the Right Pellet The easiest way to discover which pellet works best in your air rifle is to shoot groups from a rest. You shoot multiple shots at a target at a fixed distance and examine how well the pellet holes cluster \u2013 or group \u2013 together.<\/p>\n You need a rest on which you can place your air rifle and hold it steady on the target. The rest doesn\u2019t have to be fancy so long as it allows you to point your air rifle securely at the target without wobbling around.\u00a0 In addition, the rest must allow you to look comfortably through the sights. You don\u2019t have to buy one of those nifty portable varminting benches or professional bench rests to get the job done. My brother-in-law uses a toolbox placed on a picnic table and padded with a jacket. For a lot of my testing, I use a Workmate portable work bench topped with a couple of old foam boat cushions.<\/p>\n In addition to a rest, you\u2019ll need a pellet trap or safe backstop and some paper targets. Put a paper target on the backstop or pellet trap at a measured distance. With new guns, I generally start at 10 or 15 yards, then move to longer distances as needs dictate. With some very powerful, highly accurate airguns, I shoot groups at distances out to 50 yards.<\/p>\n Til next time, aim true and shoot straight.<\/p>\n — Jock Elliott<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you want to get the absolute best out of your airgun, you have to do one thing: you have to find the right pellet. By the right pellet, I mean the pellet that (a) produces the highest accuracy and (b) is suited for the type of shooting you intend to do. Before we dive…»<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,168],"tags":[157,170,8,20,211,171],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2788,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2787\/revisions\/2788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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