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Education / Training Crosman’s Premier hollowpoint – Part 2 Long-range accuracy test

Crosman’s Premier hollowpoint – Part 2 Long-range accuracy test

by B.B. Pelletier

Part 1

When I last tested this pellet, I was very surprised by the incredible performance it turned in. The expansion in Neutrogena soap was explosive, to say the least. You will recall that I had a transfer port limiter in the Whiscombe rifle to limit the Crosman Premier hollowpoint 7.9-grain pellet’s average velocity to just 913 f.p.s.

Today, I want to report on accuracy I got with this pellet. Instead of testing it at an intermediate range, I shot it all the way out to 50 yards. That’s where a pellet is made or broken, and I wanted to see just how good or bad this one was.

Adjusting the gun
Before I shot the CP hollowpoints, I adjusted the rifle’s Harmonic Optimized Tuning System (HOTS), to see if there was any difference in grouping as the adjustable weight was moved. There was, but I’m saving that for another posting. Suffice it to say that I got the barrel in a sweet spot for the other pellets of known accuracy. That’s not to say the barrel was tuned correctly for the Premier hollowpoint, but as I think you will see, it doesn’t matter.

Good groups
The average group with Crosman Premier hollowpoints was 1.207″ center-to-center for five shots at 50 yards. All groups stayed within a tenth of an inch of this one. That is outstanding accuracy for a hollowpoint pellet at this distance. Now, remember, the HOTS was not adjusted for this pellet. It took me about an hour to optimize the barrel for a different, heavier pellet of proven accuracy, and I simply did not want to invest more time to tune it for this one. There’s even more accuracy to be obtained with the right adjustment, but this test tells us what we need to know.

whiscombe-best-group-web
This is what the average group of Crosman Premier hollowpoints looked like at 50 yards. It measures 1.207″.

What about supersonic?
Supersonic pellets have long been the bane of accuracy, even though advertised high velocity sells airguns left and right. I wanted to test the same Crosman Premier hollowpoint pellet from the same barrel, only this time accelerating it to supersonic velocity. The Whiscombe made it easy for me. All I had to do was remove the transfer port limiter and the 7.9-grain Premier blasted out of the muzzle at 1,108 f.p.s.! I knew by the sonic crack it was breaking the sound barrier every time. The firing behavior of the rifle also seemed to get a trifle harsher with the restrictor out.

whiscombe-transfer-2-web
Changing transfer port limiters changes the amount of air that flows through the port to power the pellet. It’s a five minute operation that changes the firing behavior of the gun. The Whiscombe is an ideal testbed because of this feature.

I hunkered down and made certain my technique was perfect for the supersonic group, which, at 2.813″, is almost 1.5″ larger than the average subsonic groups and fully characteristic of what you can expect from going supersonic.

whiscombe-worst-group-web
Breaking the sound barrier is easy for the Whiscombe. But, as you see here, you don’t want to.

I’m leaving out a few things that happened because I’m saving them for tomorrow’s next report on the rifle. But I will say that this was a very good shooting day, and I was very pleased with how this test went. Clearly, the Crosman Premier hollowpoint is a pellet you can use at long range.

author avatar
Tom Gaylord (B.B. Pelletier)
Tom Gaylord, also known as B.B. Pelletier, provides expert insights to airgunners all over the world on behalf of Pyramyd AIR. He has earned the title The Godfather of Airguns™ for his contributions to the industry, spending many years with AirForce Airguns and starting magazines dedicated to the sport such as Airgun Illustrated.

32 thoughts on “Crosman’s Premier hollowpoint – Part 2 Long-range accuracy test”

  1. I’m surprised to see that you got the cphp to group so well especially at 50 yards. I would have expected a group like that at 30 yards. Maybe I need to retest them because when I shot them the gun was new and so was I to springers. One of my Gamo’s might like them. The newer one seams to have a tighter barrel. I hope you had some fun getting out of the house and shooting some. I didn’t mean to waste any of your time.

  2. Hi B.B.,

    Thanks for the great information. I read a brief thread about Crosman Premier HP pellets that was posted on the Yellow Forum yesterday. Folks generally seem to like the pellet, so I guess I’d better buy a tin and see if my guns like it!

    Also, I thought you and some others may be interested. If I had money to burn I certainly wouldn’t burn it. I’d book a flight, and a motel room, and enroll in “Airgunsmithing School.” Randy Bimrose posted a notice on the Yellow Forum. Read about it here…

    http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/thread/1173652979/Airgunsmithing+School

    Cheers,
    GH

  3. A question for you, B.B.

    I don’t know why I haven’t noticed it before, but I was once again (jealously) admiring your Whiscombe JW75 and began wondering how Whiscombe solved the problem of getting the compressed air to the transfer port. Searched the Internet for a schematic diagram of the Whiscombe rifles but couldn’t find one. It may not show what I want to see anyway.

    I own a Benjamin/Sterling HR81 which has the compression tube beneath the barrel, as your Whiscombe does. Similarly, all but one of the CO2 guns I own have the powerlet configured horizontally beneath the barrel. Additionally, many PCP rifles are configured with their tanks horizontal beneath the barrel.

    I sort of understand that with this configuration there’s a (fluid dynamics?) problem associated with getting the air/gas turned around to push against the pellet base. Watch out, slow curve ahead!

    What I don’t understand is why so many springer manufacturers have opted not to go there. Wouldn’t the advantage to having more room for spring/piston air compression beneath the barrel outweigh the disadvantage of having to turn the air around 90 or 180 degrees?

    Cheers,
    GH

  4. B.B.

    Yeah, I remember the blog article in which you mentioned him. A very informative article.

    “I want to work on airguns!” /blog/2006/4/i-want-to-work-on-airguns/

    Cheers,
    GH

  5. Boy am I glad to read someone writing that 1.207″ is excellent (for a hollow point) at 50 yards! I was convinced that all shooters with web access only shot MOA or better! Of course the Whiscombe is an outrageously expensive rifle if purchased today from the maker so I’d be careful what forums those results get posted on, lol! I bring this this up because I’ve been a little frustrated lately with the results I’ve been seeing from my Korean guns. They’ve been highly touted by others for accuracy but I’ve not seen the same. My Infinity with Eunjins shoots no better than 1.5″ groups at 40 yards with 2″ being more likely. Although I did see one trophy goup of about .5 inch…once. My Dragon Slayer does better with average groups of about an inch at 40 yards. The only gun I can actually get MOA groups out of consistently is my Barnes which cloverleafs at 40 yards with .5″ being no better than average. I’ve got some nice springers too but again, they do better than the Infinity but MOA? No way, not at beyond 25 yards at least. Ever get the idea that accuracy assumptions on the net need re-calibrated? My expectations for the Korean guns were probably too high. I should have known better…

  6. B.B.–I posted a comment the other day about my 4 shot group with my rws350 that could be covered by a penny at 40 yrds. Thank you for your acknowledgment. I posted the same thing on another forum and I recieved a reply that has me troubled. The person wrote back and srared” that after a tune my 350 should be a great hunter” -the post stated that I had only put 700 rounds thru it. I’m kinda new to airgunning but I do realize the benefits of tuning. But have we gotten to the point that nomatter what you own everyone immediatly needs bigger and better. Don’t people stop anymore and learn what there gun can do-or is it the big rush to buy it then tune it. I was shooting again today and my groupings were good, gun-vibration was nil and the gun was cycling bueatifully. I feel that if people just took the time to learn to shoot what they have, and shoot it well there would be a lot less -well what if I did thid or that to the gun. Are people buying new rifles and instantly modifying them in hopes of becoming a better shot? Listen to some blogs out there and it seems like an arms race-( we had one of these once-it was called the cold war) Any thoughts?

  7. Scott,
    I don’t know how it compares to B.B.’s groups but 4 shots that can be covered by a penny at 40 yards is outstanding in my book! I have a big heavy wall I built in the backyard as a target backer. It just happens to be exactly 40 yards from where I shoot off the deck so I’ve seen a lot of 40 yard groups! I’d be thrilled if I could shoot my springers as well as you. I agree completely with the comments regarding modifications. I think most of the mods one reads about were most effective on the wallet, not the gun!
    BTW, sorry for highjacking and ranting! 🙂

  8. hey bb,

    I recently bought CROSMAN .22 Copperhead Competition Wadcutter pellets (500 to a container) and my groupings shrank to half the size i was getting with the daisy wadcutters!

    I know wadcutters arent the best in accuracy, but they are the only good pellets available to me without ordering off the internet (i also saw some benjamin sheridan .20 pellets in yellow tins! covered in dust on one of the shelves!).

    Anyway, I was wondering how accurate the .22 version of these pellets are. they should be about the same, right? how do these compare to the crosman premier domed .22 pellets? (after seeing just how inaccurate some pellets can be, i want to get the most bang for my buck, and 500 pellets for $6.00 beats 625 at $15)!

    And i happen to agree that people should get to know their guns better before tuning them. but with pellets i understand wanting the most accurate right away (withing a reasonable price limit! I’m in that situation right now)go ahead! call me a hypocrite! 😛

    Insomniac

    • I haven’t shot it any paper but I can hit a tennis ball at 70 yards with a .22 Crosman Premier hollow point and a Benjamin Maximus. Soon I’m going to stretch it out even further.

  9. Fits all AirForce guns
    Over 1,000 shots per CO2 tank
    Ideal for shooting indoors
    Easy to switch back to air
    No handpump or scuba tank required
    Quieter operation

    How to switch from high-pressure air to CO2:
    Unscrew your AirForce air tank from your rifle.
    Screw in your CO2 adapter into your rifle.
    Screw in the filled tank into the other end of the adapter.
    Start shooting!

  10. Jerry and Scott,

    You bet I have some comments. I find over half the postings on airgun forums to be spurious. Since I personally know several of the people who post, I know where they are coming from and what axes they are grinding.

    Many of these writers don’t shoot airguns as much as they shoot off their mouths. When pressed, they cannot deliver on the claims they make, yet that doesn’t stop them from writing anything that pops into their silly little heads.

    They problem is when others who don’t know them take what they say at face value.

    For example, the moderator of one of the most popular forums personally hates a certain brand of gun. He never misses an opportunity to badmouth it, yet I remember 8 years ago when he was a newbie and was touting the same brand to everyone. I understand how opinions change over time, but this goes way beyond that.

    Many of the forum posters only talk about airguns. They seem to do very little shooting themselves. But if you post an honest observation, they are quick to correct you with whatever nonsense is the most widely accepted today. That’s where Scott’s commentor came from. Let’s see him shoot a penny-sized group with a 350 Magnum at 40 yards!

    That’s why I give very little credence to what is said on airgun forums. There are some good folks writing, as well, but how does a new person know who is who?

    B.B.

  11. Insomniac,

    I believe the .22 Crosman pellets are just as good as the .177s. The Premier domed that comes in the cardboard box is about twice as accurate as the hollopoints. It’s close to the Kodiak.

    The domes in tins can be just as good, but there’s no telling until you test them. They aren’t sorted by die lot, like the boxed pellets are.

    B.B.

  12. BB, can you recommend a reliable source of anatomical charts for airgun game? I may try these HPs but believe shot placement is where it’s at, even with a .22.

  13. B.B.,

    Isn’t it true that another individual airgun might prefer and shoot tighter groups with the Premier hollowpoints than the domed Premiers. One air rifle hardly makes for a trend, when claiming the domes are twice as accurate as the HPs.

  14. this might be a little bit off topic but, what is sillhouette shooting (forgive me if that is spelled terribly wrong). i realize that wadcutters are for accurate, competition shooting in order to make round holes in paper, there are your pest elimination pellets, round nose hunting pellets, and then the sillhouettes. ex: the beeman kodiaks, which are extra heavy. i assume since you did testing with these pellets they are for competition shooting. anyway, when i first saw the weight of them i figured they were for hunting, but then i realized that they were not advertised for hunting, so again, what is a sillhoute pellet

  15. Metallic Silhouettes is a sport that started in Mexico. Metal silhouettes of four aminals are engaged at four different known distances.

    The airgun component of the sport is very popular.

    To find out more, Google IHMSA.

    B.B.

  16. RE: “anatomical charts”

    Here’s what I found after a few minutes of Google searching.

    http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Image:Squirrel_Anatomy.jpg
    http://www.championtarget.com/products/targets/next_generation_targets.aspx
    http://www.kermitairgunclub.com/targets/
    http://www.airhog.com/targets/rat.htm

    I didn’t perform an exhaustive search by any stretch of the imagination, but I was surprised I didn’t find more anatomical diagrams of game/varmint animals.

    Head shot vs. heart/lung shot? Arguments pro and con regarding that aspect can be found in airgun hunting forums that host the topic.

    Cheers,
    GH

  17. I’ve had the same results. These Crosman HP Premiers are absolutely dead nuts accurate in my NightStalker. I bought several tins of them at Wal-Mart on sale as they were, well, on sale! I figured they’d be okay and a good pellet to use for breaking in a gun. But in the NS, they seem to be better than even cardboard box non-HP Premiers! I like them a lot.

    thanks,
    ben

  18. I own a gamo shadow, and it’s so fun, reading these post help sooo much in tunning, zeroing, and chooseing pellets. Just one last question: where do you guys go to shoot in the Orange County area? cities like Anaheim, Fullerton, Brea, Chino, Orange, etc? Are air guns legal to shoot around here? I looked online for law but MAN, i cannot understand the legal jargons… help?

  19. BB, are you replying to me about where to shoot? if so, gardenia is still too far away, im lookin in Brea, Anaheim Hills, Chino Hills, Orange, etc. I know that Casta Loeu something made a law stating that all airguns ARE firearms so we can’t shoot there.

  20. Orange County,

    Then I have no other places to ask (not to shoot). However, you should know that it is against federal law for any federal, state or local municipality to declare that an airgun is a firearm. If they have laws written that way, they are illegal.

    B.B.

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