Thread: Airgun pellets - How light is too light in spring guns ?

Supposedly, lightweight pellets don't offer enough resistance to the spring and the spring and piston slam down too fast and cause damage.

For instance, I'm using a 22 cal spring gun and typical weights for lead pellets are 14-18gr. Would 12gr be OK ? 10gr ? a cleaning wad ? Can you look at it by a corresponding maximum mechanically safe pellet muzzle velocity ?

why do you want a lite pellet? I think as you get start getting light your back into alloys. I'm assuming if they make them they arn't breaking springs.
I use ftt at 14.66gr, aafield at 16gr and I consider that light. Don't think I'd go lighter due to the fact I don't want to lose any more fpi at target, don't want to use alloy, if the piston is moving faster it's going to stop faster, more recoil.
I also think it would have a lot to do with how powerful your gun is.
Not really an awser to your question though I guess

Depends on your rifle and what it it set up for.

For less powerful rifles such as junior air rifles you might get away with a lighter pellet but junior rifles are normally only .177

The lighter the pellet yes you are basically dry firing the rifle which in turn will break the piston, piston seals, and the piston spring (or gas ram) cleaning wads I never use the as yes you are basically dry firing (use rod and cleaning patch)

For .22 I wouldn't go under 14gr if your hunting with it. Lighter pellets might be faster out of the muzzel but loose their energy faster at distance and are also less accurate down range. A heavier pellet will be slower, retain more energy and be more accurate every time.

Also ... The lighter the pellet the heavier the recoil and you will destroy your scope very fast.

You will find that lighter weight pellets are made for sub 12flb rifles like what they use in UK and other county's to be suitable for their laws for muzzle energy. You will also find that most lighter weight pellets are flat heads and to be used in target air rifles for like 10m target shooting and yes they aren't putting out hunting muzzle velocity

I cant for the life of me see the attraction of lighter pellets in an air rifle.... match grade more accurate forsure...but lighter is purely faster.... heavier hits harder. the range an air rifle is used at you want every bit of energy you can get, a bit heavier pellet is better on game...and cheap old school ones work just fine for me....

The two pellets I use are the ones that group the tightest out of gun up to 50mtrs. I have a dozen or so tins that didn't shoot as well especially the 18 gr and above. I've had no issues with them knocking over hares, cats, rabbits, pidgin, pheasant up to 45 meters. From what I've read(don't know from experiance) a heavier pellet retains volicity more and over a longer distance will reach the target quicker.

Yes you absolutely need to find what your rifle likes to shoot.

I'm my .25cal rifles, my Hatsan loves JSB exact king 25.4gr pellets, any lighter the grouping is terrible, it will shoot H&N 28gr pellets accurately too but any heavier it struggles to send them.

My .25cal webbly doesn't like the JSB pellets and likes Gamo hunter 21.6gr pellets and will shoot them more accurately than the JSB even though they are a terrible looking pellet!

I usually like my springers around 890-950 range and choose the pellet weight depending on that and accuracy. If gun goes beyond 950, I use a higher weight pellet (Provided its accurate)

Usually if a pellet is too light the sound signature of the rifle is more like crack, recoil is harsh and overall harmonics go for a toss. You can feel it. My Diana52 .177 was going as high as 979 on a 7.87grain JSB and I could feel it. Started using 8.44 grain JSB and I could feel difference in the shooting cycle. It is more subdued.

Not sure if this answers your question, basically you have to experiment a bit with different pellets and employ a chronograph.

My 2 cents

-Inder

Its a 16 ft.lb HW 95 and im wondering how far up and down the weight range i should explore.
Some heavier pellets are recommended for more powerrfulair rifles like PCPs which I understand can have twice the KE of mine.
I was thinkingof trying H&N baracude tinpellets that come inaround 13 gr.
are there problems with tin: fouling cleaning or aNything ? It wouldbe niceto use non toxic stuff for cleanup and disposal .

Well you have a good quality gun so don't destroy it!

I wouldn't go any lighter than 14gr but your sweet spot will be 15-17gr. Buy decent pellets, H&N or JSB are my two best pellet brands that perform well try out the JSB Hades .

For cleaning you should only need to push a rod and patch down once every tin of pellets you shoot (250ish shots). Never use brass Brushes to clean your air rifle barrel or you will ruin it and loose accuracy ( @kruza will be able to explain this for you?)

Forget about non toxic / green pellets they just aren't worth it, I've and others on here handled thousands of pellets and never got lead poisoning.......

I personally won't use alloy or copper. I have a tx200 and after getting tired of reading the arguments about weather or not to use metal brushes wrote to air arms who said don't use metal brushes (brass or copper or cleaning rods) as they run the risk of damaging the thinner lining of the barrel. Air rifles are not as hard a metal as powder guns. For this reason I don't use alloy or copper pellets. They are a harder metal than lead pushing their way down the barrel.Lead residue fills in small inperfections in the barrel and leaves a miniscule layer which is like a lubricant, alloy doesn't.
I got a lot of good advice from kiwi air gunners site. It's a bit of a quiet site, but some of ppl there know there stuff. Guys who are constantly buying, rebuilding, tuning their guns. (Looking at you billbob, as one) Go there and ask their views. I have no drought some one will have had the same rifle and can check notes on various weight and head sizes and point you in right direction.

There's also something called transonic flight, it's approx from 900fps to about 1200fps (I think) it's as the pellet heads into faster than speed of sound. It creates a vary erratic airflow around the pellet and kills stable flight. You need to be above or below this range. What are you using your gun for? Hunting? the heaviest pallet your gun shoots accurately in the ranges you intend to shoot.
Target shooting I only ever use the pellets I hunt with as to me it's just keeping your eye in, and learning your gun in different wind conditions and shooting positions for hunting. Target shooter can fill you in on what you need for that.

For your 16fpe HW95 i would use medium weight. They will have good speed, flat trajectory and won't damage your gun. For hunting and accuracy the JSB Hades 22 seem to work very well in a lot of rifles. H&N FTTs are also good in some HW barrels.

Forget the heavy or light question. Decide based purely on which pellet is the most accurate at the range you wish to shoot at.

I purchased a really nice Diana .177 but after zeroing the damn thing just simply would not shoot - at 25 metres would not even group an inch -frustrated at what I saw as a very nice air rifle I tried a mix of pellets .Aha it shot heavy pellets and hated light ones -I cant remember the weights but one brand called wolverine came down to near key hole groups -the only frustrating thing was so many pellets did not have the weight on packet - still had a mate with kids and an older BSA (huge difference in power ) that shot the light ones so spare light pellets gave hours of pleasure to the muppets