Post by HeadHunter on Mar 10, 2022 12:12:47 GMT
I've often wondered about pellets and BBs in relation to power and penetration, lighter weights Vs heavier weights, differing designs etc., so I decided to test some out to see if the results would fashion a definitive answer.
Method.
I decided to use the venerable Schofield, firstly it's a popular replica amongst members of the forum, secondly it's got a smoothbore barrel and thirdly, it's quite powerful when compared to other CO2 replicas.
So the plan is to take two shots with an assortment of pellets and BBs, waiting ten minutes between each pair of shots to allow the CO2 time to equalise, using the same two cartridges for each test and firing through a chronograph onto a tin can, using seven identical tin cans as targets. The distance between muzzle of the gun and the tin can is less than a foot, with the chronograph situated between the two.
The cans are ones that I use for my coffee, so the lids are still attached just pierced on either side to allow the contents to be poured out, it makes for a much stronger and more resilient target.
On the top of each tin was placed another slightly smaller can that was full to the brim with old used pellets, this helped to keep it solidly positioned so that the impact force would not throw the can around the room like a 'straw in a hurricane'.
The pellets and BBs.
1. The Legion V from iHunter, these weigh 15 grains are are shaped like miniature bullets.
2. JSB Exact, these are dome headed 4.51mm 8.44 grain pellets.
3. H&N Smart Shot, copper coated lead BBs, 7.4 grains.
4. H&N Excite Plinking, these are the run of the mill flathead 7.25 grain pellets.
5. Walther High Power, these are a lead free pellet, with a steel core surrounded by a plastic sleeve, weighing 5.59 grains
6. RWS Hypermax, these are a non lead pellet made of tin, pointed profile, weighing in at 5.2 grains
7. Umarex steel BBs, the standard 5.2 grain steel BBs.
8. Skenco PolyRhino, a very unusual profile non lead pellet that weighs in at just 3.4 grains.
9. ASG Blasters, little lightweight plastic BBs, only weighing 2 grains
Test Results.
As stated previously, the first shot has allowed the CO2 to rest but is quickly followed on with the second shot, so the first shot will generally be the more powerful out of both shots taken. I decided to start with the heaviest and work down to the lightest, to see if there was any correlation between pellet weight and penetration.
1. Legion V - With these weighing 15 grains I wasn't really expecting too much from them even in the schofield and I wasn't surprised with the results. Both shots dented the tin, with the first one causing a slight crack at the impact point but failed to penetrate. Unfortunately both shots failed to be recorded by the chronograph.
first shot
second shot
2. JSB Exact - Both of these heavy dome headed pellets managed to penetrate one side but failed to even dent the other side of the tin. Chronograph recorded 511 fps and 503 fps, which equates to 6.6J & 6.4J respectively.
first shot
second shot
You can see that the force of impact really dented the tin prior to the pellet penetrating the can, it clearly shows the impact pressure caused by pellet deformation as it imparted all it's energy to the target, it ripped it open rather than punctured it.
3. H&N Smart Shot - These are the heavyweights of the BB world and proved to have a bit of punch to them ! Both BBs penetrated one side of the tin and dented the other side too. Chronograph results were a pretty consistent 389 fps and 382 fps, which equates to 3.30J & 3.25J respectively.
first shot
second shot
4. H&N Excite Plinking - These flathead lead pellets only managed to split the can on the first shot and dent on the second. No chronograph readings were recorded unfortunately, but generally when I've used these before they sit squarely in the high 300's, around the 380 to 390 fps mark.
first shot
second shot
5. Walther High Power - These steel cored and plastic outer shell proved to have great penetration, the very first projectile in the test to punch completely through both sides of the can ! I found that the cores separated from the outer sabot on initial impact. Unfortunately no fps recording was managed.
first shot (entry & exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
6. RWS Hypermax - These tin pellets punched clean through the can on both sides and then 'rang' my steel pellet catcher like it was a bell ! The chronograph recorded 830 fps and 477 fps, which equates to 10.78 J and 3.56 J respectively.
first shot (entry and exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
7. Umarex steel BBs - Although I've stated Umarex for these I'm sure that either ASG, Crosman, Diana or any of the many other vendors steel BBs will produce identical results. Both shots penetrated both sides of the can and gave chronograph results of 463 fps and 499 fps, which equates to 3.35J and 3.89J respectively.
first shot (entry and exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
8. Skenco PolyRhino - These unusual pellets gave surprising results by penetrating both sides of the can. The chronograph results were 615 fps and 633 fps which equates to 3.87J and 4.10J respectively.
first shot (entry and exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
9. ASG Blaster BBs, These little super light weight BBs penetrated one side of the can and visibly dented the other side of the can. No chronograph results were recorded.
first shot
second shot
Findings ?
Firstly let me state that obviously these results have no bearing on accuracy or range, these are just simple tests on the penetrative power of certain projectiles when fired through a hard hitting CO2 replica and secondly, these tests were done at the ultimate of close range shooting, so what's the takeaway from all of this ?
Well there certainly were some surprises, well for me anyway. I certainly wasn't expecting the punching power of the weird little 3.4 grain Skenco PolyRhinos against a steel tin ! The steel BBs performed as expected and proved to have more 'hole punching power' to them than the heavier lead pellets had, but even the super light weight ASG Blasters performed well above my expectation of them. The steel cored Walther High Power pellets proved to be quite a surprise too, especially as the core frees itself on impact and carries on through the target. The pointed tin pellets from RWS proved to be quite frightening really, out of all of them I really would not want to be on the receiving end of one of them and the Walther High Power come a very close second to that feeling too, the thought of digging out a steel core from some various part of my anatomy is not something I ever want to do !
My personal experience on accuracy with the lighter pellets is generally that they're pretty poor, with the possible exception of the Skenco PolyRhinos when used in the Remington 1975 revolver, as these turned out to be a match made in heaven, both in terms of accuracy and tight groupings at around the 5-7m mark, but in every other gun I tried them in they fared poorly when compared to even a standard, everyday lead plinking pellet. Another thing to consider is their cost, lead free pellets seem to be very expensive when compared to normal lead pellets, but this brings me neatly around to the BBs.
BBs seemed to shine through out the test, I personally think that's due to their inherent shape, because whether they were of lead, steel or even plastic they performed almost equally as well as each other, plus they're cheaper than lead free pellets and in quite a few cases they're cheaper than even standard lead pellets. The steel BBs tore through both sides of the tin can, plus both the heavier lead and the incredibly light plastic BBs managed to equally penetrate through on side and created quite a sizeable dent the other side of the can too. I know that many people have reservations about using steel BBs through a rifled barrel (I being one of them) but that still leaves the lead and plastic BBs that could be safely used through a rifled barrel without the fear of damaging the rifling of your precious gun. When you compare the results of the H&N Smart Shot (7.4 grains) against the H&N Excite Plinking (7.25 grains) you can see an obvious difference in the results, the BBs clearly punch through without deforming too whereas the pellets deform and give that energy as an impact force by denting the can considerably, again it seems if you're looking for penetration then BBs are the way to go.
So what's the bottom line ? Well, it seems to me that if you're looking to put lots of holes in your target when tin can plinking then look no further than BBs, either steel, lead or plastic will do the job, although the plastic ASG Blasters may lose their momentum over distance but when you consider that a lot of the heavier projectiles couldn't even puncture the can at point blank range they won't fair any better at a longer range either. All of my autos are smoothbore BB firers, so steel BBs will be the order of the day, but most of my revolvers are rifled pellet firers so I might switch to suitable BBs (lead or plastic) for use in them for a spot of tin can puncturing and switch back to lead pellets just for paper punching. The expensive lead free pellets proved to be frighteningly effective in destroying targets, but I'm certainly not keen on firing a tin pellet down a rifled barrel as I'm sure that will not be good for the rifling but the steel cored plastic sabot type from Walther and the Skenco PolyRhino pellets would not worry me in the slightest and they seemed to just as effective as the RWS Hypermax but ultimately all three gave the same results as using a standard steel BB which are far cheaper and from my own experience are far more accurate too.
For me this was just a bit of fun, testing out those 'wacky' pellets that I've often wondered about (how good are they ? how fast are they ? etc.) and comparing them against the standard diet that we normally feed our guns. I've learnt that the humble steel BB performs just as well as some of the very expensive non-lead pellet options at a fraction of their price in terms of penetration but excelled in terms of accuracy.
The Future.
I may well do this all over again with 6-shot groups at 10m this summer just to see what sort of accuracy we get with them, as a definitive end to the test. I might even try a few through the ol' shell loading Winchester for good measure too.
Method.
I decided to use the venerable Schofield, firstly it's a popular replica amongst members of the forum, secondly it's got a smoothbore barrel and thirdly, it's quite powerful when compared to other CO2 replicas.
So the plan is to take two shots with an assortment of pellets and BBs, waiting ten minutes between each pair of shots to allow the CO2 time to equalise, using the same two cartridges for each test and firing through a chronograph onto a tin can, using seven identical tin cans as targets. The distance between muzzle of the gun and the tin can is less than a foot, with the chronograph situated between the two.
The cans are ones that I use for my coffee, so the lids are still attached just pierced on either side to allow the contents to be poured out, it makes for a much stronger and more resilient target.
On the top of each tin was placed another slightly smaller can that was full to the brim with old used pellets, this helped to keep it solidly positioned so that the impact force would not throw the can around the room like a 'straw in a hurricane'.
The pellets and BBs.
1. The Legion V from iHunter, these weigh 15 grains are are shaped like miniature bullets.
2. JSB Exact, these are dome headed 4.51mm 8.44 grain pellets.
3. H&N Smart Shot, copper coated lead BBs, 7.4 grains.
4. H&N Excite Plinking, these are the run of the mill flathead 7.25 grain pellets.
5. Walther High Power, these are a lead free pellet, with a steel core surrounded by a plastic sleeve, weighing 5.59 grains
6. RWS Hypermax, these are a non lead pellet made of tin, pointed profile, weighing in at 5.2 grains
7. Umarex steel BBs, the standard 5.2 grain steel BBs.
8. Skenco PolyRhino, a very unusual profile non lead pellet that weighs in at just 3.4 grains.
9. ASG Blasters, little lightweight plastic BBs, only weighing 2 grains
Test Results.
As stated previously, the first shot has allowed the CO2 to rest but is quickly followed on with the second shot, so the first shot will generally be the more powerful out of both shots taken. I decided to start with the heaviest and work down to the lightest, to see if there was any correlation between pellet weight and penetration.
1. Legion V - With these weighing 15 grains I wasn't really expecting too much from them even in the schofield and I wasn't surprised with the results. Both shots dented the tin, with the first one causing a slight crack at the impact point but failed to penetrate. Unfortunately both shots failed to be recorded by the chronograph.
first shot
second shot
2. JSB Exact - Both of these heavy dome headed pellets managed to penetrate one side but failed to even dent the other side of the tin. Chronograph recorded 511 fps and 503 fps, which equates to 6.6J & 6.4J respectively.
first shot
second shot
You can see that the force of impact really dented the tin prior to the pellet penetrating the can, it clearly shows the impact pressure caused by pellet deformation as it imparted all it's energy to the target, it ripped it open rather than punctured it.
3. H&N Smart Shot - These are the heavyweights of the BB world and proved to have a bit of punch to them ! Both BBs penetrated one side of the tin and dented the other side too. Chronograph results were a pretty consistent 389 fps and 382 fps, which equates to 3.30J & 3.25J respectively.
first shot
second shot
4. H&N Excite Plinking - These flathead lead pellets only managed to split the can on the first shot and dent on the second. No chronograph readings were recorded unfortunately, but generally when I've used these before they sit squarely in the high 300's, around the 380 to 390 fps mark.
first shot
second shot
5. Walther High Power - These steel cored and plastic outer shell proved to have great penetration, the very first projectile in the test to punch completely through both sides of the can ! I found that the cores separated from the outer sabot on initial impact. Unfortunately no fps recording was managed.
first shot (entry & exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
6. RWS Hypermax - These tin pellets punched clean through the can on both sides and then 'rang' my steel pellet catcher like it was a bell ! The chronograph recorded 830 fps and 477 fps, which equates to 10.78 J and 3.56 J respectively.
first shot (entry and exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
7. Umarex steel BBs - Although I've stated Umarex for these I'm sure that either ASG, Crosman, Diana or any of the many other vendors steel BBs will produce identical results. Both shots penetrated both sides of the can and gave chronograph results of 463 fps and 499 fps, which equates to 3.35J and 3.89J respectively.
first shot (entry and exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
8. Skenco PolyRhino - These unusual pellets gave surprising results by penetrating both sides of the can. The chronograph results were 615 fps and 633 fps which equates to 3.87J and 4.10J respectively.
first shot (entry and exit)
second shot (entry and exit)
9. ASG Blaster BBs, These little super light weight BBs penetrated one side of the can and visibly dented the other side of the can. No chronograph results were recorded.
first shot
second shot
Findings ?
Firstly let me state that obviously these results have no bearing on accuracy or range, these are just simple tests on the penetrative power of certain projectiles when fired through a hard hitting CO2 replica and secondly, these tests were done at the ultimate of close range shooting, so what's the takeaway from all of this ?
Well there certainly were some surprises, well for me anyway. I certainly wasn't expecting the punching power of the weird little 3.4 grain Skenco PolyRhinos against a steel tin ! The steel BBs performed as expected and proved to have more 'hole punching power' to them than the heavier lead pellets had, but even the super light weight ASG Blasters performed well above my expectation of them. The steel cored Walther High Power pellets proved to be quite a surprise too, especially as the core frees itself on impact and carries on through the target. The pointed tin pellets from RWS proved to be quite frightening really, out of all of them I really would not want to be on the receiving end of one of them and the Walther High Power come a very close second to that feeling too, the thought of digging out a steel core from some various part of my anatomy is not something I ever want to do !
My personal experience on accuracy with the lighter pellets is generally that they're pretty poor, with the possible exception of the Skenco PolyRhinos when used in the Remington 1975 revolver, as these turned out to be a match made in heaven, both in terms of accuracy and tight groupings at around the 5-7m mark, but in every other gun I tried them in they fared poorly when compared to even a standard, everyday lead plinking pellet. Another thing to consider is their cost, lead free pellets seem to be very expensive when compared to normal lead pellets, but this brings me neatly around to the BBs.
BBs seemed to shine through out the test, I personally think that's due to their inherent shape, because whether they were of lead, steel or even plastic they performed almost equally as well as each other, plus they're cheaper than lead free pellets and in quite a few cases they're cheaper than even standard lead pellets. The steel BBs tore through both sides of the tin can, plus both the heavier lead and the incredibly light plastic BBs managed to equally penetrate through on side and created quite a sizeable dent the other side of the can too. I know that many people have reservations about using steel BBs through a rifled barrel (I being one of them) but that still leaves the lead and plastic BBs that could be safely used through a rifled barrel without the fear of damaging the rifling of your precious gun. When you compare the results of the H&N Smart Shot (7.4 grains) against the H&N Excite Plinking (7.25 grains) you can see an obvious difference in the results, the BBs clearly punch through without deforming too whereas the pellets deform and give that energy as an impact force by denting the can considerably, again it seems if you're looking for penetration then BBs are the way to go.
So what's the bottom line ? Well, it seems to me that if you're looking to put lots of holes in your target when tin can plinking then look no further than BBs, either steel, lead or plastic will do the job, although the plastic ASG Blasters may lose their momentum over distance but when you consider that a lot of the heavier projectiles couldn't even puncture the can at point blank range they won't fair any better at a longer range either. All of my autos are smoothbore BB firers, so steel BBs will be the order of the day, but most of my revolvers are rifled pellet firers so I might switch to suitable BBs (lead or plastic) for use in them for a spot of tin can puncturing and switch back to lead pellets just for paper punching. The expensive lead free pellets proved to be frighteningly effective in destroying targets, but I'm certainly not keen on firing a tin pellet down a rifled barrel as I'm sure that will not be good for the rifling but the steel cored plastic sabot type from Walther and the Skenco PolyRhino pellets would not worry me in the slightest and they seemed to just as effective as the RWS Hypermax but ultimately all three gave the same results as using a standard steel BB which are far cheaper and from my own experience are far more accurate too.
For me this was just a bit of fun, testing out those 'wacky' pellets that I've often wondered about (how good are they ? how fast are they ? etc.) and comparing them against the standard diet that we normally feed our guns. I've learnt that the humble steel BB performs just as well as some of the very expensive non-lead pellet options at a fraction of their price in terms of penetration but excelled in terms of accuracy.
The Future.
I may well do this all over again with 6-shot groups at 10m this summer just to see what sort of accuracy we get with them, as a definitive end to the test. I might even try a few through the ol' shell loading Winchester for good measure too.
Obviously some of those FPS figures must be due to muzzle blast though.
