Salvaging Damaged Pellets

Great thread with some rare data re damaged pellets.

Best of luck with the shooting comp and I'll look forward to more testing of damaged pellets re POI...

thank you for your efforts!

Am I right in assuming that the first round in a mag is the one that locks the mag to loaded and takes the full weight of the spring that turns the mag or is that the last pellet fired?

JasonEdward wrote:

Interesting - so can I just clarify that I haven't misunderstood:

Is it that when I fit a magazine into my PCP, press the pin forward to center the rotating mag on it's spindle, this does not actually properly line up the mag so the pellets will slip directly forward into the breech? And that alignment only happens as the first pellet is pushed into the breech and the alignment is done by the actual pellet as it goes into the breech from a non-aligned position?

So the first pellet can be subject to deforming as it enters the breech while it is also moving the magazine into proper alignment?

And most (or all?) magazine fed air rifles are designed this way? Which is why serious target shooters want feed in single pellets not use magazines?

Thanks for educating me Thumbs Up

:-)

Yes, that's my theory and explains why for target shooting (as opposed to hunting) many use a single shot feed from a tray which is what I'm now doing with all of my target guns.

I recently noticed when target shooting that when I and fellow competitors changed to a new mag the first shot would inevitably be a flyer. Most of my magazines are CARM 3D printed items (beautifully made), but like most 3D printed mags takes a little bit of 'fiddling' to get into place and I believe that the first shot finalises the alignment but in the process potentially scores the side of that first pellet. In an extreme case where the mag isn't correctly manufactured then it's possible that every pellet will be marked which will obviously affect it's performance. Just like a misaligned suppressor that clips pellets it's not obvious unless you have experienced it before.

This is not really an issue for hunting, but definitely for target shooting (in my humble opinion). Also, as Kruza mentions, if the return spring for the pellet drum is too tight then the pellet can be damaged as the probe is withdrawn and the next pellet is slammed into place. On the other hand, if the spring is too weak, there is a risk that the drum won't rotate to the next pellet.

I imagine a similar problem can occur with a mechanically rotated drum. If the drum doesn't rotate precisely then damage can occur which I now suspect was the problem with my Hunting Master AR6 rifle.

Edited by KiwiTR6 - 24 Nov 2024 at 9:40am

FX King 600 .22
FX Dreamline Classic .22
Diana Outlaw .22
Air Arms S410 .22
Cometa Fenix 400 .177
Weihrauch HW50 .177
Crosman 2240 Custom .22
Crosman 2250 Custom .22
Brocock Grand Prix .22

Cheers Pauly, yes using silicon spray on the mag/Orings.

Makes sense, yeah mag is a passive feed one.

Refer my post re pellet loading issue after pellet change...

As promised I've done some quick testing to prove/disprove my theory re possible magazine initial alignment damage to the first pellet fired. Not big numbers tested, but enough to show that I may be on the right track.

Brocock Grand Prix standing/rested

Single pellet feed

JSB 0.22 Exact Jumbo Express 14.35gr pellets

10m indoor range

5 pellets in each target

One of the images shows the three types of damaged pellets used, slightly deformed skirt, badly deformed skirt and good skirt/damaged head (lead removed with a file).

The pistol is super accurate as you can see, but I only get around 15-16 shots so I re-aired after 10 shots. It's pretty clear that the slightly deformed skirts don't cause much deviation, but the badly deformed skirts (which shooters are unlikely to use anyway) definitely affect accuracy as do pellets with damaged heads. It's the latter I suspect can occur without being obvious to the shooter.

I probably should have done more tests but I feel the obvious difference is enough to confirm my thinking at this stage.

Edited by KiwiTR6 - 03 Dec 2024 at 4:06am

FX King 600 .22
FX Dreamline Classic .22
Diana Outlaw .22
Air Arms S410 .22
Cometa Fenix 400 .177
Weihrauch HW50 .177
Crosman 2240 Custom .22
Crosman 2250 Custom .22
Brocock Grand Prix .22