Pellet choice- for air pistol,....

[m1963]

I never thought pellets would make a difference for air pistol, for me. Then I found out that an 8...that was called a 10...could be caused by pellet issues. I am using RWS R10, right now. I ended up sending the last tin of a tested lot into the "no go" bin, because of chatter marks on the head sides and lines down the middle.

I find that pre-selecting pellets without any deformity, is beneficial for me, at least mentally. No chatter marks, no lines on the head. Have you seen "any" pellet deformities like this? Send any deformed pellet like this to the practice bin...or simply do not use it at all.

9's and 10's breed more 9's and 10's An errant 8 or worse can certainly mess with that.

When you are expecting to shoot 9's, or better, the pellet really does matter!

Ideally, only use pellets that meet your visual inspection, for a match.

H&N, JSB or RWS,.....brand does not matter.

When you are practicing- look at the pellet before each shot, That pellet can easily be the difference between your 8, 9, and 10. Single out deformed pellets.

If you are in a match, you should have already "visually" sorted your pellets.

Shooting 9's/10's regularly means your ammo, your pistol, and your technique are aligned.

I hope this helps folks striving for that.

[Gwhite]

I disagree. Small deformations are very unlikely to cause an 8 that would have been a 10 with a perfect pellet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22q5mjHsGTQ

[m1963]

Each, to their own.

When selecting pellets for a match "why not" single out those that are deformed and only choose the ones that pass a visual test? Why not give yourself every opportunity to attain a 10?

It is a very small price to pay.

[Gwhite]

I'd rather focus on my shot process in the middle of a match than waste mental energy needlessly worrying about my pellets. I use a 100 pellet box like this:

https://www.krale.shop/media/catalog/pr ... m-pink.jpg

Once it's loaded before a match, I do a quick inspection to make sure none of the skirts are badly mashed (exceedingly rare, but happens). I toss those & then just shoot.

[m1963]

I'd rather focus on my shot process in the middle of a match than waste mental energy needlessly worrying about my pellets.

Exactly. Pre-sorting pellets (all done days, or hours before) and selecting only those that are NOT malformed, is a good thing...especially when shooting a match. I think we are talking the same, but looking at it differently.

[Gwhite]

Based on the video, I only check for serious skirt deformations. It sounds like your inspection protocol is much more involved, and IMHO, needlessly so.

Someday when I'm bored, I want to shoot a target with all the pellets backwards. I've occasionally loaded one backwards in practice & shot it anyway. They are usually quite close (within a point) to my "call."

[m1963]

Air rifle video. Not air pistol. I will agree, to disagree.

I will still be using 5 minutes before an air pistol match to throw out pellets that have deformities.

As you said, one less thing to think about.....

[Gwhite]

I doubt if the difference between air rifles & pistols are significant for the purposes of testing deformed pellets. Air rifles are slightly more accurate, allowing for easier detection of small errors introduced by the pellets. The test target groups supplied with most pistols are typically no better than some of the mildly deformed pellet groups produced by the rifle in the video.

To each their own. Posts can be easily misinterpreted by beginners who tend to too cranked up about pellets, when they should be working on their shot process...

[m1963]

Lets look at the alternative..

Why would any shooter, or coach, recommend NOT sequencing out pellets that have obvious deformities, or ones that cannot pass a visual inspection, prior to a match?

I truly enjoy the back, and forth that this forum provides. GWHITE shares his vast knowledge with us, and I respect that!

[Gwhite]

I would not recommend it because I feel that for the VAST majority of shooters, it's a waste of valuable time. Maybe you have tons of spare time for such things, and/or regularly shoot in the 580's, but I sure don't. I can imagine about a dozen activities that would help my shooting more than sorting pellets. Based on the rifle test video, you would really have to have a badly damaged pellet to make an otherwise perfect shot miss the inner 10 ring.

How many pellets do you actually reject? Have you tried shooting the rejects? I bet they shoot just fine. You could even have someone load the pistol in a "blind" test and see if you could tell which pellets were "bad".

This board has posts almost every month from beginners obsessing about what brand, size, weight etc. of pellet to shoot. Recommending sorting pellets just feeds that mind set. They need to get a grip (literally) and work on their technique instead of sorting pellets. If you feel it gives you more confidence going into a match, that's fine, but that's between you & your brain. Recommending it to beginners who can't keep their shots in the black as a way to improve accuracy is not helping them deal with the things they should be worried about.

The team I help coach shoots RWS Basic pellets exclusively. About once every 30,000 pellets, we find one that is badly damaged enough that a student notices. Until Ohio State set up a Varsity program and started giving scholarships to a large fraction of the US Olympic Pistol Team, our team won multiple National Collegiate Air Pistol Championships shooting unsorted Basics. We have a student from another school who shoots with us. Before college, she used to be on the India national junior team. She's been averaging 566 in matches this season, shooting the same stuff. It's not the pellets that are holding her back.

[m1963]

I understand.

My pistol coach is who told me to start sorting pellets. He may be the best US shooter, at the next Olympics. I trust him.

His aim is getting me to shooting 9's and 10's, almost every time.

So few people can access that kind of help. So few can train with a world class athlete.

If something we discuss helps others, that is wonderful. That is what this is about,

I am still sorting pellets- and I NEVER did that, before.

I do not show up for my training time with unsorted pellets, anymore.

Those training hours are very, very expensive!

[Gwhite]

Ask him if he's seen the video on pellet testing. :)

All kidding aside, you are clearly working at an elite level. I still claim telling rank beginners to sort pellets is a disservice. It only reinforces the notion that some magic tweak to their equipment/ammo will get them to the Olympics.

[m1963]

I am a USA Shooting life member. While there is a great deal of interest in Air Pistol. USA Shooting spends most of its time/money on shotgunning.

I would never disparage another shooting sport, and will not.

I will encourage folks that are interested in air pistol to support the sport, by signing up and becoming a member. Tell them why you joined, and why you chose to support USA Shooting, and our air pistol shooters.

Honestly, folks, there will not be any air pistol shooters in Argentina, for ISSF next week, unless they are there on their own dime...because the US cannot afford to send them. Help our shooters, if you can!

https://usashooting.org/

[Rover]

We found that USA Shooting was so unhelpful that my club dumped them and is now strictly NRA.

As far as pellets go (some know I've said a couple of things about them), sorting is for the folks at "The Home"
to occupy their time. This doesn't mean I haven't tossed a pellet or two when it wouldn't fit in the gun.

[Gort]

In the last 20 years I have gone thru 65,000 pellets, mostly Meisterkugeln heavy with some R-10 and Vogel thrown in. I can count the number of damaged pellets on one hand and they came from a tin dented in shipping. I give a cursory glance at every pellet as I grasp it for loading, not an inspection.
Gort

[m1963]

Ask him if he's seen the video on pellet testing. :)

All kidding aside, you are clearly working at an elite level. I still claim telling rank beginners to sort pellets is a disservice. It only reinforces the notion that some magic tweak to their equipment/ammo will get them to the Olympics.

He is on an elite level...I am still learning air pistol and simply trying to get better. I had never given a second thought about looking at pellets for damage. It is an interesting idea, though. A different perspective.

[rokada]

He is on an elite level...I am still learning air pistol and simply trying to get better.

There is also another aspect that can be disregarded on the beginner and intermediate level but not on the elite level: psychological. If shooter knows that there are no damaged/malformed pellets, he/she might feel more confident. And on that level it might make a real difference.