TargetTalk

The first one I bought was very high quality. The last two were utter trash, with missing foam that was misaligned, and would not keep pellets in place, along with warped plastic that held the pellets unevenly. Its almost like the mold that made the first one is wearing out, and the people who put the foam in went blind from glue fumes.

H&N

There are a couple possibilities:

1) The original shaker boxes are still being made with the usually quality, but there are now cheap knockoffs on the market.
2) The original manufacturer has cheaped out & is making them with poorer quality control.

The same basic design is sold under a number of brands, so it's hard to tell if they are all the same or not.

The H&N ones are probably as good as they are going to get. I've had good luck with AHG-Anschutz ones:

https://ahg.anschuetz-sport.com/index.p ... duktID=449

Having owned several of them, I have come to the conclusion that they're kinda useless.

I now just use the lid of my pellet tin with a thin disc of foam in it. If I really need a pellet count (I never do), I can use the targets.

If you shoot firearms, the CCI primer trays (that the primers are shipped in) make a handy substitute.

That said, I have maybe a half-dozen pellet boxes, all made by (as far as I can tell) the same manufacturer. Two work (I was going to say "work well", but that may be overstating things.) The rest, not so much.

Ebay Nikkonos in Canada

https://www.ebay.com/itm/332611212597?h ... SwkXdaxl6H

m1963 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 05, 2022 5:47 pm Look at iHunter. It is not quite what you are looking for, perhaps better.

https://www.ihunter.co.uk/product/pelle ... dium-l794/

Best regards,
m1963

iHunter photo-
F85882A4-A1F7-46E0-B6AF-A1B9FFE110DC.jpeg

Interesting, but it appears like counting a 5 shot or 10 shot string would be harder.

Xman wrote: ↑Tue Apr 05, 2022 6:45 pm Ebay Nikkonos in Canada

https://www.ebay.com/itm/332611212597?h ... SwkXdaxl6H

I got one from them, not too impressed with the quality.

Man ... I just hate to say this ... but I *think* Rover may have made a valid point.

I've got 2 of blue/yellow ones. Whatever brand name they might have on them, they're identical. One works half decent, the other sucks. One, I had to glue the tray in place so the pellets wouldn't all pop out when I opened it, or worse, fall under the plate and make me create new and interesting words.

And I tend to get confused looking at the row of pellets and trying to remember if an odd number, or even, means I'm done with the target that's downrange. Fortunately, if I run it back a bit to backlight it there's no issue seeing 2 holes since they're typically widely spaced from each other.

I *might* someday try making my own, but it's far down the list of things I think I should try before I start chasing that bucket down the road.

There are some leagues that shoot 5 shots per target. I kind of need to know how many I have shot, especially on a good day when they might cluster. I use a sharpie to block off groups of 5. I will order an AHG version of the box. I do like the shaker for ease of inspection and grabbing. If I only shot electronic targets like some of you must exclusively, I probably wouldn't care.

I've never used one but I do have a method that works well for both paper and Sius targets.
I just make two rows of 6 piles with 5 pellets per pile.
It works well to make certain I don't put 6 shots into a paper target but also helps with my shooting pace on Electronic targets.

Out of curiosity, I dug out the two I have. They are both labeled "AHG Anschutz" on the top cover. One of them has also H&N printed on the underside of the yellow foam in the lid. They both work fine, and are probably at least 20 to 30 years old. The one detail that might be important is they both say "Made in Germany" on the cover label. I wouldn't be surprised if the newer ones folks are having issues with are made elsewhere.

I use them for several reasons:

1) I shoot RWS Basic pellets, and on rare occasions I get tins that were drop-kicked across the Atlantic. Some pellets have deformed skirts, and it is trivial to fish them out before a match. They have to be really bashed for me to pitch them in practice...

2) I practice in 10 shot strings, and shoot occasional local matches that are 5 shots on paper. On a good day, it's is helpful to determine how many pellets went through the ratty hole in my target.

3) The pellets are all securely presented in a uniform, easy to grasp orientation. I don't have to count them out in sets of 5 in the middle of a match, I don't have to chase them around in a pellet tin lid, and I don't have to worry about which way I grabbed them. I want ALL of my concentration to be on my next shot, not interrupted by futzing with my pellets.

My good ones are also made in Germany, and are from the 90s. My Canadian version is less quality.
The last two are branded from a large supply place in the US. They are made in Pakistan, and are next to useless.

I think that answers your question. The next question is: Are the ones from AHG/Anschutz and H&N still made in Germany?

I took a close look a the one being sold now by Champion's Choice, and the foam in the lid is all crooked & mis-shaped. Definitely not the quality of the German ones.

I'd check with Neal Stepp at ISS. He probably knows if the German ones are still OK, and may have old stock of the good ones even if they all made in Pakistan now.

The greatest value of a shaker box is that you can store the pellets nicely spaced out and easy to pick up. Shakling them just adds micro-dents to them. Roll them in place, and use your fingers to place those last stubborn ones. If you do this, then pretty much all shaker boxes will work. Of course, they are not really necessary (Rover is correct). I have three shaker boxes that are all mechanically identical, but with different labels and different colours. I suspect they were made by some plastics manufacturer in Germany (not a gun or a pellet maker), and you can put any label on it you want. Mine came with used pellet guns I've bought over the years, but I don't need any of them, and they all could go to new homes (as I have leaned how to shoot with one hand, and write a tally mark the other).

Not sure where my older one is. Rifle case possibly. The 'new' one is the problem child. No 'maker' name or country of origin on it that I can see. Just the dealer that stocked them.

Plastics are funny, a change in 'alloy' changes the shrinkage, the optimal mold temperature, etc. So the holes from the same German mold shipped off to Timbuktu aren't necessarily going to be the same size. Admittedy small, likely, for a 4.5mm hole, but there isn't a lot of difference between the head of the pellet and the skirt to begin with. Just opening it to look for a mark put a couple pellets out of place.

Austin, eh?

I own several different pellet shaker boxes, seems like they are all put together the same way and look identical or very similar. The problem I run into is eventually part of the platform stops rising to the proper level when the box is opened which makes it hard to get the pellets out. Seems like better springs need to be used to raise the top shelf. I have not been able to figure out what replacement spring size needs to be ordered. So far repardless which box I buy, given time and use, they go bad.
I have found that using a silicone trivet mat that are sectioned off with hundreds of little squares or octagon cut outs hold pellets nicely and are very easy to pick up. See picture examples here from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wapodeai-Multipu ... 85&sr=1-31

I was thinking a ring to cam the pellets up. Thinking further, if I knew the exact dimensions of the pellets I could make the box into a sizer to straighten them out as well. I'm sure I'd have a bunch of people lining up to pay 7 or 800 hundred bucks a piece for them ;-)

I have one but don't know from whom I bought it or what brand it is. As stated above, the springs eventually wear out and do not lift the pellets enough to easily pick them out of the box. I have disassembled the box more than once, stretched the springs, and reassembled the parts, after which it worked fine for quite a long time. One of these days I'll have to search out a new set of springs at a local hardware store.

Dennis, aka Dulcmrman

lakiraly wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 9:43 am I own several different pellet shaker boxes, seems like they are all put together the same way and look identical or very similar. The problem I run into is eventually part of the platform stops rising to the proper level when the box is opened which makes it hard to get the pellets out. Seems like better springs need to be used to raise the top shelf. I have not been able to figure out what replacement spring size needs to be ordered. So far repardless which box I buy, given time and use, they go bad.
I have found that using a silicone trivet mat that are sectioned off with hundreds of little squares or octagon cut outs hold pellets nicely and are very easy to pick up. See picture examples here from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wapodeai-Multipu ... 85&sr=1-31

I have a box with RWS on the label. Worked fine but over time I had the same problem you had lakiraly. Here in Oz, it can get a bit warm in the summer so over a period of time the lifting platform deformed and the pellets were not lifted uniformly primarily due to only having two lifting springs. That was soon sorted out with 4 light springs from the local hardware store, one at each corner.

Not sure about the silicone trivet - apart from stopping the pellets from rolling around it does not help keep track of shots taken, etc. Pellets in piles of 5 on a small square of towelling would, I think, work better.

Bob