TargetTalk

First off, I'm brand new to airguns so will probably have a lot of questions as time goes on. I just received a 2006 vintage Steyr LP-10 pistol and am rather confused as to pellet choice. About 99% of my shooting with it will be 10 meter bullseye off of my front porch so wadcutter type pellets are the logical choice. But what weight? I've found them in both 7.56 gr and 8.18 gr. Am I correct that the lighter weight pellets are basically for the spring powered pistols or those charged with a pump lever such as the IZH 46? While the heavier weight pellets are more suitable for gas powered pistols such as my Steyr?

If you look at H&N Finale Match pellets (one of the best), 7.56g are rated as Pistol, 8.18g are rated as Rifle.

I don't think I know anyone who uses 8.18g in a top quality pistol for match shooting.

It absolutely doesn't matter what weight you use as long as it's accurate.

Many of the the lightweight pellets (Hobby, Club, Basic) are much cheaper.

You will not see any diffence when shooting them.

As David mentioned, the 7.56 are "intended" for pistol and 8.18 "intended" for rifle. I use RWS pellets and go back and forth (had 8.18's left over from when I was shooting rifle), now preferring to shoot the heavier pellets in my LP10. It's anecdotal, but I think the heavier pellets don't "fling" as far when I have a flinch. I've shot under a 17mm ten shot group with both.

For RWS at least, there's zero price difference between weights within a quality level. Meaning the R-10's cost the same, the Meisterkugeln's cost the same, etc... When it comes time to reorder, I think I'm just going to order the heavy pellets and use those exclusively.

Most types of pellets are pretty accurate.

That being said I do tend to use rifle weight pellets for 2 reasons.

The first is that they tend to hold a very slightly tighter group through my pistol. The second is that it is a bit easier for me to get a hold of good quality pellets in rifle weight than pistol weight.

At the end of the day the difference in very small.

Good luck

I use 8,18 grains HN pellets mostly because they are available at a cheaper grade as HN Sport so if I feel like switching to Finale Match for a competition I have no significant change from my training pellet. At 1/3 the price, the difference adds up. The pistol can still shoot one hole with HN Sport, so I rarely bother with Finale Match for any other reason than confidence boost.

I have shot a lot of different pellets through my Izzy and have found the heavier ones to group a hair better from a bench. Holding unsupported it is unnoticeable. I get the heavier ones per brand model (ex. 8.2 over 7.0 with RWS R10 & MK's) as I need all the help I can get lol. I am playing with Vogels and HN Finales in the 8 gr. range and have shot some of my best cards to date. Just my.02 :)