TargetTalk

Dear Air Pistol Gurus:

Will Crossman Wadcutter (flathead), 7.9gr pellets work for Men's 10M Air Pistol Competitions? If not, any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!
FK

I am not familiar with Crosman pellets, but if you are just starting out they will probably be fine-at least for a while. There have been many discussions on this site about pellet selection, so just do some searching. In fact there is one just a few posts below on "Cheap Pellets for LP5". You may be better served by buying one of the recognized brands such as JSB, H&N, RWS, or Vogel. I have tried several of these and saw little, if any, difference in accuracy. Pellet size may be more of a practical factor. In my IZH46M, pellets sized 4.49mm seemed to fit best in the chamber; 4.48's were too loose and 4.50's were somewhat difficult to seat, but all shot about the same. You will be the most significant factor in how well you shoot-not the pellet. As I mentioned in my reply to your earlier post, I am not a competitive shooter, so I don't claim to be an authority on this subject, but I have been using Vogel Sport pellets (orange label) and they shoot just fine and are mid-range on price.

Always with a grain of salt, as I am fairly new to this as well, but the important thing seems to be that you get a comfortable, snug seating with the pellet. For instance, I was running out so I bought some normal pellets from WalMart, Daisy Precision Max, I believe. Previously I had tried Gamo Match, Hobby, and various other pellets. Some seated hard, but worked well. Most seated snugly, meaning I had to push a bit to seat them flush in the barrel, but no real difficulty. The Daisies, however, slipped in without any resistance, and immediately started flying everywhere. They were slipping (about 1 in 5) further into the barrel while I held the gun pointed down, causing massive velocity shifts. Other than those, I haven't noticed a significant difference in either score or point of impact from switching between pellets.

What I surmise from this is that a well-formed pellet (not a guarantee with the cheap stuff, although you can sort out the bad ones) with a snug fit is probably good enough in pistol to not make a difference until you are very, very good. Rifle, with the insane 1/2 mm 10-ring, is another matter entirely.

For my money, I think Gamo Match or the Hobby pellets (RWS? not sure, Dick's Sporting Goods carries them) are the best bang for the buck. They only cost 1-2 dollars more per 500 than the cheapest stuff going, and 3-4 dollars less than H&N uberpellet, or whatever the rifle guys use.

H.

What you are looking for is clean and consistent . This implies some kind of sorting , which in turn costs . Even the " expensive " stuff is relativley cheap .

Chris

While your pistol may be accurate with Crosman pellets you might want to consider that Crosman pellets are very dirty. I mean VERY dirty! There is an almost insignificant difference in accuracy in my IZH-46 between Crosman pellets and RWS or H&N. Cleanliness of the German pellets sways me to buy them for match use. I use cheap Crosmans for practice.

CharlesC wrote:I use cheap Crosmans for practice.

Ouch! Why do people want to use substandard ammo for training and then swap for matches ? That is probably the worst thing to do - you'd be better sticking with the cheap stuff for all, if you really can't afford the extra 30% cost (or whatever it is there).

Two reasons you want to use the same - you are training for matches so you should do everything the same, pellets, targets etc. If you don't then you are missing out and losing that edge. You will mentally be doing things different and you bring out the 'special' match pellets and hey presto up goes the adrenaline when you're brain registers the difference. You also tend to train poorly putting down poor shots to the inferior ammo or not taking the training as seriously as you might do otherwise 'they are only cheap pellets'.

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote:

CharlesC wrote:I use cheap Crosmans for practice.

Ouch! Why do people want to use substandard ammo for training and then swap for matches ? That is probably the worst thing to do - you'd be better sticking with the cheap stuff for all, if you really can't afford the extra 30% cost (or whatever it is there).

Rob.

I disagree. I get groups with Crosman pellets from a bench rest that are almost identical to ones I get with RWS. In fact, if I didn't mark my targets as to which were Crosman I would have trouble seperating them. So there is no "Ouch". Lighten up, it's only a game.
My wife and I live on a meager fixed income so I try to limit my air gun operating costs. Air gun is not the only shooting sport I participate in.
Last year I won gold and silver medals at the New Mexico Senior Olympics State Games with Crosman bulk wadcutter pellets that I had gone thru my selection process with. Because they are maginaly more accurate I will using hand selected RWS Basic pellets this year to see if I can raise my personal best scores.
As for pistols I will be shooting the same ones I shot last year; my 1998 vintage IZH-46 in bench rest and a match pistol I made from a Crosman 1377 in standing. My county qualification match is this Saturday. Wish me well.

CharlesC wrote:
I disagree. I get groups with Crosman pellets from a bench rest that are almost identical to ones I get with RWS. In fact, if I didn't mark my targets as to which were Crosman I would have trouble seperating them. So there is no "Ouch". Lighten up, it's only a game.

So why buy the RWS ones at all then ? By your own accounts you are wasting money you don't need to on pellets that shoot the same. Like I said the worse thing you can do is swap varieties. If you want to shoot your best reduce all the variables and train identically to your competitons.

And oh, it's so, so much more than 'just a game' ;-).

Rob.

You know very well that matches are often won or lost by one point and ties, at least in the events I shoot in, are settled by the number of 10's each shooter has.
What I said above was "Because they are marginaly more accurate I will using hand selected RWS Basic pellets this year to see if I can raise my personal best scores." Maybe shooting RWS pellets will give me the one extra point or extra 10 that will elevate my position in the standings. BTW, I think I was a little trite in mentioning the cost element. Both are within a couple of bucks in price, so that shouldn't really be a consideration. On reflection, my original reason for shooting my hopped up Crosman 1377 pistol and Crosman pellets was to use all USA equipment and supplies. I proved my point by my performance and am now attempting to raise my personal best scores.

Charles,
I guess my point is that - as you say - one point can be the make or break (heck 0.1 can if you're in the finals). Doing the same thing in training and comps helps feed the (subconscious) mind confidence. That little more confidence and comfort can also lead to improved results. So what I'm saying is to give yourself the best chance, do everything you can to help yourself and your scores.

Rob.

We had our County Sr. Olympics airpistol matches today. I lucked out today and won gold in Standing Air pistol with my Crosman 1377 shooting my hand selected Basic pellets. Second place was shot with a IZH-46M shooting RWS R-10 pellets. He beat me in benchrest airpistol with me shooting my IZH-46 and Basic pellets. He came in first and I got second place.
The first three places in each event qualify to go to the State Games in August. Should be a fun time. Last year I got the
State Games gold in benchrest and silver in standing.
I'm starting to come around to your way of thinking, Rob. I may have to try some R-10 or Vogel pellets.

Charles,
Nice one and good shooting !

Rob.

CharlesC wrote:While your pistol may be accurate with Crosman pellets you might want to consider that Crosman pellets are very dirty. I mean VERY dirty! There is an almost insignificant difference in accuracy in my IZH-46 between Crosman pellets and RWS or H&N. Cleanliness of the German pellets sways me to buy them for match use. I use cheap Crosmans for practice.

Yeah thats about it.
I'll use them in practice when I'm broke and can't aford to train with R-10's.