Henry Rifle Forums

I'm getting a fair supply of pellets. What I'm finding is good ammo isn't cheap. That tin of 500 Monster Diabolo was $9.99. I paid less for a brick of .22LR just eight years ago.
Also shown are some BB's and cleaning pellets.

I like Daisy target pellets aren't to bad and the are cheap and almost as good as my high dollar pellets .. Now when it comes to BB's Avanti perfect and are super accurate and if you mike them you will see .

Thanks John. I'm going to buy some of those Avanti's.

My high grade 177 guns do best with high grade pellets and these typically come in at 3 cents each for most, with a few running up to 3.6 cents, so still cheaper than most bulk 22 LR which starts at about 5 or 6 cents a round. Remember, though, this is an apples and oranges comparison. If we compare premium pellets to premium 22 LR match ammo, it's a much, much wider gap. Decent 22 LR target ammo starts at about 8 cents a round and runs up, quick, from there. Some of the premium grade stuff can run 40 or 50 cents each.

Some of our air guns, though, especially the classic pump ups do well with the basic Crosman domed pellets (note that accuracy is best with domed pellets once you get beyond 30 yards) at about 2 cents each.

If all you're doing is plinking and shooting spinner targets, shooting out to about 25 yards, pellets under 2 cents each are fine and some guns actually do better with some of the cheapest pellets, but this is the exception, not the rule. Cheap pellets are notoriously inconsistent and you'll often get quite a few deformed pellets in a tin, so literally not worth pinching pennies. Air gun shooting is challenging enough, as it is. Spend an extra penny, apiece, and get a pellet that shoots well in your gun.

How does pellet choice affect accuracy? Under 30 yards, a lot of pellets will shoot reasonably well in most air rifles. It's when we get past 30 yards that air rifles really show a preference and by the time we hit 50 yards, it's usually down to one or two specific types of pellets. In fact, once we move beyond that 30 to 35 yards, everything about air rifle shooting becomes more critical.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Joanie, that did help.

I'm just putting it out there, I haven't done it, but if you can recover your pellets, you can re cast them if you know how. Just saying.

daytime dave wrote:I'm just putting it out there, I haven't done it, but if you can recover your pellets, you can re cast them if you know how. Just saying.

My bullet trap recovers them easily.

Another major advantage to using premium pellets is there is less weight variation among the pellets providing better consistency and accuracy.
Most air gun competitors will weigh and sort out even the premium pellets.

Sorry I missed this thread, funny how that can happen.

Anyway, I'm sure SirH has arrived at his conclusion, but for other reading the thread, I have noticed that the 7.9g Crosman Premier Hollow Points are almost universally praised on the net as the standard cheap pellet. I kind of look at them as the CCI standards or the pellet world.

The fact they are hollow points is a + for me also.

22 pellets are even more outrageous. I just paid $10 for 200 H&N Baracuda Hunters and JSB Exact Diablos usually run around $12 for 250. Crosman Premier Ultra Mags about the cheapest accurate pellets I've found at around $9 for 500.

Premium quality pellets go for between $12 - $20 over here. I tend to use RWS Superdome or RWS Superfield for general plinking. They average $10 - $11 for 500.They give good results in all of my air rifles. I don't know if they're available in the USA, though?