Puffed up some skirts

[Mark75H]

I noticed my 880 was really throwing some wild groups with BB's. A few went real straight, but some curved like a major league baseball pitcher ... started wondering if it was a slight inconsistency with the BB diameter ... then I noticed the wadcutters I was shooting worked better if they weren't perfect ... started squeezing the skirts out of round, thinking my 880's barrel is a little loose. My groups stayed consistent with the bent pellets vs the perfect pellets where some were straight shooters and some were curve balls.

I decided to look for a tool that would let me ever so slightly expand the skirts on the back of the pellets. Turned out the thing closest to me was the best ... the plastic tip of the pen in my pocket was exactly the right size and shape to re-size the skirts so they fit tighter (but not tight) in the breech of my 880.

With the resized wadcutters I was able to move back from 30 yards to 45 yards with the 880 and hit the same target from my favorite kneeling (elbow on knee) position. With my Phantom at 45 yards I was already hitting my target 17 or 18 times out of 20 ... with the resized wadcutters the Phantom is 20 out of 20.


I think the main thing I'm dealing with is the large bore of my 880, but the inconsistent size of the BB's is adding to the lack of repeatability with BB's.

Maybe 1 out of 5 BB's went very straight ... I suspect they were slightly bigger. I might try to get a 4.5mm drill bit and see if I can sort the small BB's out of the jar and just use them for working on my mechanics and plinking and use the bigger BB's for targets.

 

[Samuel]

I've noticed that for at least the last 10yrs (maybe 15-20yrs) the quality of BBs made by Crossman and Daisy has been severely lacking. It used to be that nearly every BB in a 5k carton was perfect with only a,few having dimples or some other defect. Now almost all the BBs have those defects. This is critical to accuracy since BBs are not intended to engage the rifling which would otherwise correct the accuracy a great deal.

As for pellets, at least there are a plethora of manufacturers to choose from. Back in my day there were Crossman wadcutters or there was nothing.

 

[lx1x]

oops.. not that kind of skirt.. moving along.

 

[deMontjoie]

If you want accuracy out of an airgun, good (and heavy) lead pellets are essential.

 

[Mark75H]

I've found that not all heavy pellets are good

 

[deMontjoie]

I've found that not all heavy pellets are good

You are quite right there -- "...good (and heavy)..." are both essential elements.

But I've very rarely gotten match-level accuracy with the lighter pellets.

 

[Mark75H]

The Eun Jin pellets made in Korea seem to be pretty good for a heavy pellet. Can you recommend another?

 

[deMontjoie]

Gamo TS-10 .177 and TS-22 .22 Long-Distance pellets are quite nice. Although I once got a tin that had them all beat-up inside.

RWS R-10s are also quite good.

 

[squig]

Out of my Gamo Whisper with nitro piston, I've had accurate results with Crosman Destroyers and Gamo Rockets.

 

[Blacksmith101]

There is some indication that air rifles are ammo selective like has been long known about .22 rimfire. That is certain guns shoot better with specific ammunition. In .22 rifles it depends on the individual gun with different guns of the same manufactuer and model liking different brands or lots of ammo. At one time Beeman made Pellet Sizers that would resize pellets to specific bore diameters. Here are some links to pellet testing.

http://www.gunmart.net/accessories_review/airgun_pellet_accuracy_testing/

http://www.vogelusa.com/pellettesting.htm

http://www.usashooting.org/library/Instructional/Rifle/pellet_testing_may_june_2008.pdf

Blacksmith101

 

[MindOOB]

oops.. not that kind of skirt.. moving along.

+1 I want my click back..