The Pellet Test

As I never tire of saying, airguns can be enjoyed on any level, from bargain basement kit, right up to several thousand pounds worth of precision hardware. However, one thing is for certain - where top-class performance is the goal, it’s foolhardy to then go and use substandard ammo. In certain circles then, top-quality airgun pellets are much in demand, and given that it’s the final link between us and the target, that’s hardly surprising.

New kid

Just recently, I was asked by Mike Hurney, who runs ‘The Shooting Party’, if I would like to conduct a comparison test between the brand new JTS Dead Center pellets that he is importing, and some other popular market-leading brands. Well, the answer was an emphatic yes, and I have to say I admire Mike for putting his head above the parapet.

The challenge

Mike’s request was that we test the Dead Center pellets directly against those which are perceived to be the market leaders, so JSB Exact and Air Arms Diabolo Field. That’s no mean challenge, and it really does show Mike’s faith in the product. It should also be pointed out that Mike didn’t specify the rifle to be used for the test, but I did then request one of the Niksan range, that Mike also distributes, mainly as I didn’t have a .22 calibre gun for the test, and I hadn’t tested a Niksan before. The JSBs and Air Arms pellets were from my stock rather than submitted by Mike, so there’s no ‘fixing’ the results as such!

The claims

As far as the marketing goes, the Shooting Party certainly talk a good game, and the advertising claims for the new pellets, branded by the American company JTS, are impressive, to say the least. Apparently, the new pellets are manufactured using proprietary equipment and technology, and using proprietary ‘clean’ tooling, incorporating three key elements - Standardization of Tooling, SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies), and No ‘Adjust’ tooling. OK, I’m not sure either, but real-world testing is the name of the game here.

The test

Two different weights of Dead Center pellets were provided - 16.08-grains and 18.1-grains. Up against these two were the JSB Exact Jumbo and the Air Arms Diabolo Field. All four pellets are conventional dome-headed waisted profiles, but concentrating on the two Dead Center pellets, I was interested to see how they compared alongside each other. Sure enough, a close-up image shows the heavier version is actually fractionally longer, with a thicker driving band on the head, and less of an elongated waist. It’s becoming more common to produce pellets of greater weight, in order to provide more choice and suit the vagaries of pneumatic airguns. FX, for example, offers their dome head in 16-grain and 18-grain, just like JTS does here.

The test consisted of three parts - consistency of weight, consistency with regards to velocity, and finally an accuracy test over 30 yards.
All the pellets look very well formed and finished, just looking by eye in the tin, as you would expect from the likes of Air Arms and JSB. The new Dead Center Pellets also look extremely well made, and are slightly shinier than their two rivals, suggesting a higher antimony content in the lead mix, which makes them very slightly harder.

Weighing pellets requires accurate scales, either powder scales or a set intended for the diamond industry. I used my Accura mini scales, and although these aren’t easy to track down, the Reloadr Digital Powder Scales, available from Henry Krank, are equally good.

Weight

For the test, I randomly selected 15 pellets from each of the four brands and weighed them to see how near to the target specified weight they would be, plus to gauge the overall variation in weight. *See Weight / Consistency Tables in images*

A quick look at the tables reveals quite astonishing results for the two Dead Center candidates, and I have to say these are genuinely among the most consistent pellets I have ever encountered. With the standard Dead Center at 16.08-grains, varying in total by just 0.05-grains, that really is a remarkable consistency of weight, and you simply wouldn’t notice any discernible change in trajectory. The heavier Dead Center weren’t far behind, again with amazing consistency.

Surprising was the variation seen with the two rivals, and it must be stressed that the sample tins of JSB and Air Arms were just picked up as a random selection. When I have weighed pellets in the past, I would normally work to 0.2-grains of a pellet, so 0.1-grains either side of my target weight. So, 0.4-grains and 0.5-grains of variation respectively from JSB and Air Arms is surprising here, and perhaps not a good example. The variation isn’t huge, but if I were using these for serious competition/hunting, I would weigh from these two tins.

Velocity

As mentioned, the test rifle used was the Niksan Archero S Synthetic, and I chose to shoot using the magazine supplied. The results over the chronograph were as follows.* See Velocity / Consistency Table in images*

As can be seen, fairly similar results across the board, which given these four pellets follow very similar profiles, and the weights aren’t dramatically different, shouldn’t be that surprising. Slower velocity with the heavier Dead Centers, but still near identical energy from all.

Accuracy over 30 yards

And so, to the final clash. Now here, there is some luck as to what pellet a particular gun likes, and I don’t doubt that Mike would have been mad not to have checked that the Niksan liked the new Dead Center ammo. As mentioned though, I picked the other pellets in the test, and the results are as follows. In fourth place, with still creditable 5/8” groups, the JSB Exact Jumbos. Third place goes to the JTS Dead Center 18.1-grain pellets, posting still excellent 3/8” groups. Finally, joint first goes to the JTS Dead Center 16.08-grain pellets and the Air Arms Diabolo Fields, with ¼” c-t-c clusters apiece.

Conclusion

I’m a huge fan of JSB-derived pellets (which includes the Air Arms), and it’s hard to fault their silky, precise manufacture, and perfect mating to the barrel. That said, the JTS Dead Center offerings on test are truly amazing for the consistency of weight. They genuinely equalled the top dogs in terms of accuracy on test too, so they definitely get my thumbs up as a worthy alternative at the top table.

Further shapes, weights, and head sizes are all planned for the future, so we are reliably informed, so watch this space.