Washing/weighing pellets (it works).

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   OK...my needs are probably not the same as yours.
I need the best accuracy I can get from each pellet.
Some time ago I read an article about washing/weighing/lubing pellets, and decided to give it a go (nothing to lose really).
I don't buy 'el cheapo' pellets of the backyard plinking genre.
Tried a lot of 'quality' pellets and two stood out. The QYS Olympic (probably the best you can get), and the RWS R10. Both of these shoot to the same POA (in my rifle) which is good.
But I noticed the R10 had little specks and slivers of lead and lead dust in the bottom of the tin. 
The QYS are hand inspected and sorted in packs of 200. They do have a very tiny amount of lead specks in the plastic box (2 layers of 100 pellets with each pellet held separately in a foam layer).
So...I poured all 500 RWS R10 into a warm soapy bath (2 litre ice cream container). Gently swirled them by hand for a minute or so, then out into a fine mesh colander for rinsing under running water.
Let them air dry over a few hours, and inspected/weighed them (weighed on my trusty Hornady beam balance...and yes it takes some time).
Then a quick squirt of Dry Film PTFE lubricant (don't want wet lube in a 3000psi environment).
Did the same for 100 of the QYS.
Yes, I did get a lot of loose lead from the R10 pellets, and a very tiny wee smudge or two from the QYS.
Weighing showed me that the QYS are exactly as stated on the box...8.18gr, while the R10 8.2gr were close but had up to .2gr weight difference per pellet.
Does all this bother help?
Yes it works. I can see the shots are now sitting in a closer spread to the 2mm dot I'm aiming at.
I have gained more 'centres' now and no more funny fliers that the R10 would give now and then.
QYS are $20 per 200 (so a bit spendy), while RWS R10 are $21 per 500.
I'm not shooting for Olympic Gold so the washed/weighed/lubed R10 will do me for now (although I do have about 1000 QYS to go yet). 
So if you are wanting the absolute best you can get from your pellets then washing and weighing does give rewards.
Probably not much use if you just shoot tin cans, or knock of the odd possum or two.

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Grey Kiwi Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 09 Jan 2022 Location: Richmond Status: Offline Posts: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote Grey Kiwi Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Washing/weighing pellets (it works). Posted: 12 hours 49 minutes ago at 3:11pm
	OK...my needs are probably not the same as yours. I need the best accuracy I can get from each pellet. Some time ago I read an article about washing/weighing/lubing pellets, and decided to give it a go (nothing to lose really). I don't buy 'el cheapo' pellets of the backyard plinking genre. Tried a lot of 'quality' pellets and two stood out. The QYS Olympic (probably the best you can get), and the RWS R10. Both of these shoot to the same POA (in my rifle) which is good. But I noticed the R10 had little specks and slivers of lead and lead dust in the bottom of the tin. The QYS are hand inspected and sorted in packs of 200. They do have a very tiny amount of lead specks in the plastic box (2 layers of 100 pellets with each pellet held separately in a foam layer). So...I poured all 500 RWS R10 into a warm soapy bath (2 litre ice cream container). Gently swirled them by hand for a minute or so, then out into a fine mesh colander for rinsing under running water. Let them air dry over a few hours, and inspected/weighed them (weighed on my trusty Hornady beam balance...and yes it takes some time). Then a quick squirt of Dry Film PTFE lubricant (don't want wet lube in a 3000psi environment). Did the same for 100 of the QYS. Yes, I did get a lot of loose lead from the R10 pellets, and a very tiny wee smudge or two from the QYS. Weighing showed me that the QYS are exactly as stated on the box...8.18gr, while the R10 8.2gr were close but had up to .2gr weight difference per pellet. Does all this bother help? Yes it works. I can see the shots are now sitting in a closer spread to the 2mm dot I'm aiming at. I have gained more 'centres' now and no more funny fliers that the R10 would give now and then. QYS are $20 per 200 (so a bit spendy), while RWS R10 are $21 per 500. I'm not shooting for Olympic Gold so the washed/weighed/lubed R10 will do me for now (although I do have about 1000 QYS to go yet). So if you are wanting the absolute best you can get from your pellets then washing and weighing does give rewards. Probably not much use if you just shoot tin cans, or knock of the odd possum or two.

Smith Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 05 May 2025 Location: Christchurch Status: Offline Posts: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Smith Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 hours 43 minutes ago at 4:17pm
	Hi, Yes agree with this, when I competed in local field target shooing that's what I did, but also sizing each pellet through a "home made" swaging die for altimate accuracy, consistency. Now days I don't wash my pellets I open a new tin, squirt some ballistol into the palm of my hand, dump the pellets in my hand and gently move them around to coat them and when I put them back in the tin the residue on my hands holds alot of lead debris. I also now only swage terribly oversize pellets that are too tight for my barrel. Like the RWS super domes, way too tight and such bad groups, lubed and swaged them and now they on par with my H&N FTT in my Hw97.

mercs Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 25 Apr 2020 Location: Stratford Status: Offline Posts: 298	Post Options Post Reply Quote mercs Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 7 hours 52 minutes ago at 8:08pm
	The QYS are gaining a good following, I give credit to suppliers that maintain consistent stocks of any pellets but it can be very difficult. When Air Arms and other pellets are costing $60 a tin you would hope that the quality is sorted.

Grey Kiwi Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 09 Jan 2022 Location: Richmond Status: Offline Posts: 8	Post Options Post Reply Quote Grey Kiwi Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 7 hours 38 minutes ago at 8:22pm
	The R10 and QYS are available but my stockist has maybe 20 of the QYS Olympic, and 100 of the R10. Guess I should stock up before telling everyone where I shop. My 9015 does 'sort of' like the JSB pellets too, but they have lost some of their quality in the last year or so. The QYS Domed are OK too, but are harder to mark with the plug gauge. Using a floor mounted machine rest my rifle bunged 10 QYS Domed into a single hole little bigger than a single pellet (at 25 yards). Be nice if I could hold that POA so well! The old JSB Exact 8.44gr I have are almost as good too.