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Diana 54. Open sights.
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RangerPete View Drop Down
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Posts: 867 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RangerPete Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Sep 2024 at 4:40pm
Had some time today and needed a therapy session, so I put up a target at 10m in the lounge and tried a few      different pellets in the D54 with her new more open open sights

From the chrono work I last did, the Exact 8.44gr and the Heavies 10.34gr both had very similar numbers, both producing 11.4FPE, with the 8.44gr doing 780fps and the 10.34gr doing 705fps.
I chose to work with the 8.44gr because I wanted the flatter trajectory for open sights shooting.

Well after shooting a bunch of pellets to check groupings today, I'll have to switch to the 10,34gr, The Barrel has spoken...

The 8.44gr group was not very impressive at all, especially for 10m! (I know I can do much better than that).The heavies group was an acceptable 12mm.
Will probably end up testing both again, and again, out to 30.

The suprise was the H&N Hunter (also sold as the GunCity Rabbiter), which is very close in weight to the Heavies at 10.49gr. Will have to include them in the 30 yard testing too.

I'm also slowly figuring out what size and colour dot works best at each distance for aiming at with squinting eyes over iron sights.
Walk quietly, but carry a big stick.
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RangerPete View Drop Down
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Posts: 867 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RangerPete Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Sep 2024 at 4:42pm
The JSB heavies 10.34gr and the H&N Hunter 10.49gr seem to both agree with her barrel.
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JasonEdward View Drop Down
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Posts: 85 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JasonEdward Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Sep 2024 at 3:04pm
Thanks Pete,
Nice shooting!
You may be saving me some work although I guess every barrel is different...can you tell me where I can get sample packs of a variety of pellets or aren't they available in NZ or does someone in this group sell un-wanted part tins? I'm 

My local shop has only Gamo pellets and I've never read anyone who finds them the best... 

Currently I'm using H&N Baracudas at 10.65 gr in my .177 D52 on the advice of Ron but have nothing to compare them with yet.
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RangerPete View Drop Down
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Posts: 867 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RangerPete Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Sep 2024 at 6:43pm
Hi Jason,

There is not really any rules for pellet and barrel marriages.
The best advise I can give you is try as many pellets as you can get your hands on, different weights, shapes, manufacturers, models, just keep trying them all.

Having said that some very general guidelines from my experiences are: (others may agree or disagree, but thats the beauty of a forum like this.)
1- guns in the lower powers (up to about 7 or 8FPE) like lighter for caliber pellets.
2- mid power guns, 8 to 15FPE, like standard for caliber weight pellets.
3- Higher power guns like heavy for caliber pellets.
4- Pellets also have preferences for speeds, the optimum speed for pellet performance is around 850fps, but pellets perform well anywhere from 500ish fps up to 900ish fps. Generally over 900 they will start to become unstable, but of course you'll always find someone who says his rifle shoots beautifully at 980fps...
5- Dont be fooled by the "devastating destruction, incredible penetration, superb accuracy" BS marketing that some pellets advertise. Try them and if the group tightly, theyr good, end of story.
6- If you are shooting out to 30ish yards most "hunting" pellets can be accurate, i.e. hollow point, spear point etc, but if you are shooting past that, usually round head "Diabolo" shaped pellets are the most accurate at longer distances.
7- As far as pellet manufacturers go, there are only two that I would reccomend, JSB and H&N. That is based solely on quality. RWS are not bad, and supposedly crossman are ok. I genrally avoid Gamo and other cheep brands.
Air Arms pellets, FX pellets, Cometa pellets and a few others are all made by JSB.
Gun Citys shop brand and a few others are made by H&N.

The only manufacturer that makes sample packs is H&N. JSB do as well, but I'v never seen them for sale in NZ.
Guncity stocks the H&N range. Finding JSB can be difficult, Rons is a safe bet, or online shops like NZairarms are not bad, bit pricy.

Stick with the big name manufacturers so you are working with better quality pellets, and then try as many as you can.
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RangerPete View Drop Down
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Posts: 867 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RangerPete Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Sep 2024 at 6:48pm
Somehow I've ended up with two of the H&N .177 sample packs...
Gun city sells them for about $40, if anyone wants a new unused pack of H&N .177 sample pack I'll post these to you for $40.
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JasonEdward View Drop Down
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Posts: 85 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JasonEdward Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Sep 2024 at 8:22am
Yes please.
I'll fire $40 buck sat ya immediately.

What is the best way to contact you?
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RangerPete View Drop Down
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Something I should add to my post above about pellet testing is the "Lead in process".
I used to think this was rubbish, but experience has shown me that it is actually a real thing and should be done.

So if you are testing pellets and change from one brand to another, you should "lead in" the barrel with the new brand of pellets before the real testing begins with the new brand.

The reason for this is that different manufacturers use different recipes for their lead. I dont think any of them use 100% pure lead. I think JSB is probably the closest as their pellets seem to be the softest, but its still not 100% pure lead. H&N's pellets seem to be a bit harder than JSB, so they probably add more tin and mayeb antimony, but who really knows for sure...???

Anyway, when changing from one manufaturer to another, shoot 5 or 10 or 15 before you start to look critically at the group size. How many do you need to "lead in " the barrel? I dont know. I find with my rifles 10 is enough.
Some people say up to 40...?
I know 10 usually works for my rifles because I shoot them in groups of 5.
First 5 will be all over, big group.
Second 5 will be tighter.
Buy the time I get to the 3rd group of 5 the group has usually settled down and will be about as tight as its going to get.

I dont usually bother doing this if I'm changing with in pellets from the same manufacturer, because I believe JSB uses the same lead recipe for all its pellets, as with H&N.
So if I'm testing 3 types of JSB and 4 types of H&N, I'll do all the JSB's first, then change over to H&N, shoot 10 or 15 then start testing all the H&N's for grouping.

Obviously if you try a "green" lead free alloy pellet, they dont contain any lead, but I still go through the same "leading in" process, just to condition the barrel to the new pellets.
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JasonEdward View Drop Down
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JasonEdward View Drop Down
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Posts: 85 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JasonEdward Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep 2024 at 11:08am
These huge Eunjin should be interesting but unlikely to group well. I think i got them with a Gamo Hunter years ago.
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JasonEdward View Drop Down
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Posts: 85 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JasonEdward Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep 2024 at 11:12am
Originally posted by RangerPete RangerPete wrote:

Somehow I've ended up with two of the H&N .177 sample packs...
Gun city sells them for about $40, if anyone wants a new unused pack of H&N .177 sample pack I'll post these to you for $40.


Keen as Pete. You can call me 0274500955.

If you're Cambridge it's only an hour or so away maybe we can catch up sometime and talk some sh*t...shoot some guns and I could learn some skills from the pros?
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