by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Before we start, here is an update on Edith. Sunday was the last application of the medicine for Guillain Barre Syndrome. She was still in pain and only able to move her legs a very little, plus she had not eaten much in the past 5 days, so she’s weak. I got her to eat some fruit, which she enjoyed. I hope they have diagnosed her condition correctly and that she responds to the cure. I guess we now have to wait and see.
Apparently you readers let me miss a day of the blog last week. It was written, but just not published, because I am so new to doing the admin stuff. Therefore, I have an extra blog for this week, which I really needed.
I have not commented on my social websites about this because frankly I am too busy with other things. This blog is about all I can keep up with at this time. That will hold until there is progress in Edith’s condition. Now, on to today’s report.
Today’s report is the completion of the JSB FT Premium pellet guest blog from 4 authors: Ray Apelles, Hector Medina, Paul Plauche and Greg Sauve. They are all members of Field Target Team USA.
If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me.
Over to you, gentlemen.
This report covers:
- Introduction
- Accuracy Tests
- Ray Apelles
- Paul Plauche
- Greg Suave
- Hector Medina
- Conclusions
- Future work
- Acknowledgements
Accuracy Tests
It is worthwhile to note from the outset that all the rigs tested performed better with the pellet they had been tuned for. While this may sound obvious, we would say it was not a foregone conclusion. The tests provided useful information.
Ray Apelles
Ray Apelles sent these groups, on top are the JSB Exact Premiums. Below them, his usual, weight-sorted, Air Arms 8.44-grain domes.
JSB Exact Premium dome on top and Air Arms 8.44-grain domes below.
Ray took 15 shots without correcting for wind or elevation at 47 yards from the field target position, sitting on a bumbag. No jacket, sling, nor any other steadying devices were used. The wind was blowing right to left, and he was aiming at the right-hand bullseye. He called the lower flyer (arrow) of the AA group.
Ray then superimposed a 40mm circle (to simulate a field target kill zone) and simply counted how many hits he would have registered at this distance with both types of pellets. You can see that there are 12 hits on the JSB Premium pellet group, while you can count 13/14 (with the one pulled flyer discounted) hits in the weight-sorted Air Arms pellet group.
One thing that is notable is that the JSB Premium group is noticeably lower than the Air Arms group. This would seem to validate the other findings of a lower BC. Ray also pointed out that the feel of the JSB pellet was slightly loose on insertion, which agrees with the smaller-than-normal head size we found by air-gauging.
Paul Plauche
Paul Plauche sent these 5 shots groups he shot at 25 yards. All this shooting was from a bench rest.
Top row of bulls are seasoning shots with Air Arms 8.44-grain domes. Middle row were shot with lubed JSB Premium pellets, except for the last bull on the right. The last bull on the right in the middle row and the bull on the bottom were shot with JSB Premium pellets that were not lubed.
And now the usual for Paul’s Steyr LG110 Field Target rifle — the lubed Air Arms 8.44-grain domes.
In this photo, Paul Plauche averaged 0.66 inches for Air Arms 8.44-grain domes at 25 yards.
Of course, being Paul, he used software to analyze the groups’ size and distribution! It is notable that, for him, the JSB Exact Premiums (top photo) shot an average of 0.095 inches between centers, while the vs. the Air Arms 8.44-grain domes averaged 0.066 inches (Bottom photo). And the max spread for the JSB Exact Premiums is 0.292 inches versus the Air Arms 0.196 inches.
Greg Suave
Greg Sauve sent these groups from his Steyr LG100, tuned by Alan Zasadny. He shot the JSB Premiums and his regular pellet — the JSB Exact Express.
Greg’s first 50-yard target. Ten JSB Exact Premiums on top and 10 JSB Exact Express pellets below.
Greg’s second 50-yard target. Ten JSB Premiums on top and 10 JSB Express pellets below.
It is clear that the Premiums shoot low for Greg. Even assuming a re-tune, the difference in trajectory is quite dramatic.
The groups are larger for the JSB Premium pellets than for Greg’s usual JSB Express pellets. Here we need to note that the factory specified ballistic coefficient for the Express pellet is 0.021. The small red Xs in the pictures mark the aimpoints for each group.
For the next 2 pictures that show the targets shot on the second day of outdoor tests, the Premiums are still landing low, even with an additional of 12 clicks of elevation. The wind was stronger on this day.
JSB Premiums on top and Express below. The scope was elevated by 12 clicks for these targets.
JSB Premiums on top and Express below.
Third day produced similar results. Again, “X” marks the aimpoint.
On day 3 the results were similar, with JSB Preimums above and Express below.
Under strong winds, it can clearly be seen that the Express pellet drifts less than the Premiums. The total addition of 16 clicks makes rangefinding even more critical.
Hector Medina
Hector Medina tested the Premium pellets in two different guns, both Diana 54s having same basic architecture, but with different barrel rifling style. All his groups were shot from the classic seated field target position at 35 yards. He shot both the JSB Premium pellets and Air Arms 8.44-grain domes.
Hector Medina shoots his Diana 54 at 35 yards from the classic seated field target position. JSB Premium pellets on the left and Air Arms 8.44-grain domes on the right.
A second 35-yard target by Hector Medina, using his Diana 54. JSB Premium pellets on the left and Air Arms 8.44-grain domes on the right.
Average group size for the JSB Premium pellets is 0.660 inches between centers, where the average group size for the Air Arms 8.44’s is 0.755 inches. Incidentally, the Air Arms 8.44’s are not the pellets Hector’s rifle is tuned for.
Using Veronika’s gun, another Diana 54 with a different barrel, these are the groups Hector got.
Using a different Diana 54, here are 4 more groups Hector shot at 35 yards. Premiums on the left and Air Arms on the right.
The average for JSB Premiums shot in this rifle is 0.918 inches. The average for Air Arms 8.44’s is 0.859 inches. Hector mentioned that it is not easy for him to shoot with Veronika’s gun because the release is set for a loose hold, which is the contrary of his usual hold. FT Premiums still shot consistently low.
Conclusions
- In general, none of the testers would substitute the JSB Premium pellet for the pellet their rifle was tuned for.
- Hector’s tests show that the Premium pellets are good starting point in the search for the perfect pellet for a rifle. Hector’s Diana 54 is tuned to use the JSB Exact 8.44-grain pellet and gets a really good ballistic coefficient out of them. The Air Arms 8.44-graqin domes are his second choice in that rifle, and yet the new JSB Premiums surpassed that pellet just a little.
- Ray concluded that if he didn’t have time to sort his pellets, then he would change to the Premiums, but because he has the time, he prefers to buy large lots of pellets and sort them into plinking, practice and match grade lots.
- Greg would not change because his barrel is particularly suitable for shooting the JSB Express. The fact that his ballistic coefficient is higher than the factory ballistic coefficient for the same pellet tells you a lot.
- Paul would not change because his gun does not digest well the Express shape. He tried deep-seating the Premiums, but to no great advantage.
- Given the normal rate of culling that some shooters do by weighing, head-sizing, then rolling the pellets, according to our calculations it would take a bit more than 750 pellets to yield the same number of usable pellets that 200 Premiums give you. The economics may be there, depending on how finicky you and your barrel are.
Future work
When checking the physical characteristics of the Premium pellets, we also checked recent production batches of other JSB products. For the Exact 8.44 and the Express’s 7.9 we found that recent production lots have a much narrower range of head sizes and weights than the previous ones.
It is clear that in embarking on this project, the whole JSB line has benefitted from closer quality control and closer tolerances. As an illustration, this is a chart of the head sizes of current production pellets.
Doing all these numbers yields one incontestable conclusion: the concept of sectional density does not apply to pellets. Here we have a pellet that has a higher sectional density for exactly the same shape factor — yet it does not deliver a higher ballistic coefficient. On the other hand it would seem to imply that longer pellets, even if lighter, could deliver higher ballistic coefficients. A lot of work should go into the research of pellet shapes because the form factor is much more relevant than the weight or sectional density.
Acknowledgements
We want to express our sincere gratitude to JSB for their unflinching support of the sport of field target.
BB,
I appreciate that you continue writing the blog, despite edith being ill.
For whats worth. …. you have my blessing if you’d decide to put the blog on an temporary halt…..until Edith has recovered a bit.
If you dont want to leave us without new posts, maybe the blog could temporary continue with guestblogs
Dutchjozef,
Thanks for your offer. Others have said the same thing, but guest blogs take twice as long to edit. This one took 14 hours to get parts 1 and 2 into the correct format. I don’t have that much time.
B.B.
Continuing to pray for Edith’s recovery. Stay at her bedside and give her your support as she did when you were sick. No need for the extra blog. You can slow down as much as you need and we will surely still be here.
Nice avatar! Reminds me I need to get more fishing in.
BB,
Let Edith know we are all pulling for her. Take care of yourself also. You both are in our thoughts and prayers.
B.B.,
I must take my hat off to you for continuing to write the blog and do follow ups given Edith’s current illness. I will continue to pray for a complete recovery for her from this disease and that she’ll be back in the saddle in no time.
As for the tests of the JSB F.T. Premium pellets I must admit that I am very encouraged by the results. I don’t get that many uncalled flyers in a bench rest match normally and it appears that these may help to eliminate many of those. My next step is to try them myself and see if I can get as good as or better results. To accomplish that I have ordered four boxes of them to shoot in my Rapid Air Weapons BM500 LW. That is the only .177 cal. rifle I am currently using in competitions. I must admit, I have high hopes for them.
I think the next logical step for JSB is to try this method of producing pellets in .22 cal. I only hope they choose the Exact Jumbo Heavies(18.13gr) to do it with as that is the pellet I most often use in my .22 rifles.
However, I recently found the JSB Exact Jumbos(15.89gr) to be the best pellet in my new A.A. S510 Limited Edition Anniversary Model. You just never know till you start shooting. We’ll just have to wait and see what they do next. Unless you get some inside info.
Anyway, please let Edith know I am praying for her. You hang in there B.B. It can’t be easy.
G&G
Tom, unless you need something to divert your mind, take a week, take a month.
This is our hobby, that’s all.
Wishing Edith a speedy recovery
Missed a blog? Huh, I didn’t notice. 😉
If anybody complains, just send them to me. I’ll thunk a knot on their head. You give Edith all of you that she needs. We can wait.
Howdy Ridgey, I’ll hold ’em, you thump ’em. Much easier than chasin’ ’em around. Shoot/ride safe,
Beaz
Hi Beaz, I hope you are doing well. Everything else I was going to say seems unimportant just now. I remember you, my friend. ~ken
B.B.
Sorry to hear about the problems that Edith is having . I wish both of you the best , and that things go much better and much faster .
It does not bother me one bit if you let the same blog ride for a few days if you need to . We can always find something to talk about .
twotalon
Twotalon, I agree with you completely, we can always find something to talk about. I am distraught just now. Had I thought to order the piston seal, it would have come in the same box for the same $10.00 shipping. Alas is me. Now when I need a seal, if I don’t need anything else, it will cost me $20.00 for the seal, sigh. The seal looks okay for now, not torn but that can change at any moment, especially now that the Titan has more power. Whether that power transforms in either FPS, FPE or accuracy remains to be seen. Now to find a pellet that is the best compromise, if not the perfect one.
~ken
BB,
Praying for Edith and you.
Everyone,
Thank you for all the kind wishes and prayers. Edith’s condition seems to change hourly. I thought she would be coming home today, but instead she is in worse shape than when she went into the hospital. The malady — whatever it turns out to be — has gotten hold of her digestive system and is causing problems that give her constant pain. Nothing they have tried so far has seemed to work.
My gun buddy, Otho, and his wife were in the hospital with Edith and I this weekend, and his wife has now spent three nights in her room.
I need to keep the blog running because it is the only normal thing in my life right now.
Edith and I will get through this, one way or another. Your support is one of the things that keeps us going.
Thank you,
B.B.
Dear BB,
Though I have not commented, I have been following the blog by the last week, and I can understand what you are experiencing now with your wife. I say this because I had the same syndrome about 30 years ago, when it was less known, and my family had a very hard time then. May be that my experience can be encouraging for you, and this is why I comment now. The point is that my symptoms began after a flu, with a terrible headache and fever. And -this is the central point- during the first few days after that, it was when the symptoms associated to voluntary motion of legs and arms appeared, and despite the treatment, by a couple days they even become worse. Then, they stopped worsening, and in about one month the recovery began. And -this is the best news for you and Edith- after a few months I was again attending my classes at the university, and finally I recovered completely, up to the point that I regularly play tennis a couple hours every week, and I practice hiking regularly every year during my vacations, walking 20 miles in a day by the mountains of Patagonia. So, a good future is most probably waiting for you and your wife. Best wishes,
Vassili
Vassili,
Thank you for sharing that. I am printing it out and will read it to Edith when I see her this evening.
I believe the problem has reached its peak, but as you know, the symptoms continue and the patient thinks nothing is happening to make them better. Edith is in extreme pain now and she can’t move her legs much. They don’t think this will get to her lungs, but she is still fighting the pain all the time.
B.B.
I’m so sad for Edith. 🙁 Morphine proved to be too potent for me when I got my back injury and would knock me out but Demerol saved the day because I could stay awake on it, which meant I could practice walking with a walker. I hope they can get the pain under control!
life’s too short to be hurting all the time!
Vassili,
I read your comment to Edith and she told me to thank you for the encouragement.
Thank you!
B.B.
B.B.
So sorry to hear that Ms Edith is still in so much pain. Just to let you know that I’m still begging the Lord to cure her fast. BTW have they checked for auto immune disease. My sister has lupus & she too suffered severe pain before they finally diagnosed it. That was more than ten years ago. She is still on varing levels of medication but OK & able to live a normal life, although she gets a bit of pain sometimes. You take care of yourself Sir & don’t worry. She will recover soon. You are both fighters!
Errol
Tom,
My son Brett and I, will continue to pray for a quick recovery for Edith and for your continued strength as her caretaker. The same for your shooting buddy, Otho and his wife.
Jerry Smith
Leander, TX
Geez!? I had to jump through hoops to get back in here! Sorry B.B and the guys that I haven’t popped in as much but things have been busy and I have been running around a lot more. I haven’t had time to sit and read after work like I use to but still try and keep up with the blogs, although I have got to talk with B.B. on his Facebook page. B.B. I’m so sorry about Edith, please give her my best, I do know a bit about Gullian Bare Syndrome, my friend has it, she is is full remission and basically cured. As long as the diagnosis is correct and her treatment has begun Edith can make a full recovery, obviously it will take a bit of time, but this is good news really. I’ll be around a little more myself for the next 6 weeks as I just had Hernia surgery and was very busy getting things done and prepared prior to surgery and to top it off I am moving shortly after my recovery is done! Busy busy. Talk to you all soon, and hang in there B.B., Ricka
B.B., we continue to pray for Edith and for you. ~ken
I can relate to the need to keep something normal in your life but if push comes to shove then Edith updates would be appreciated but the rest can wait.
Prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Ron
B.B.
It’s all right if you forget about the blog for some time. For you – and for us – Edith is top priority. Update us on her health and please bring us good news – that would be the best blogs ever.
I wish with all my heart that she will be ok and I hope that we’ll see her soon on this page, helping and supporting us in our common passion for precision and style.
duskwight
B.B.,
I’ve written this before last week, regarding what Edith and you are going through, but please know that my thoughts and prayers are with the two of you.
Also, I hope that the two of you are able to keep her spirits up, despite the pain and anxiety. Finding a way to smile and temporarily forget the circumstances can help the healing process and reduce pain, even if ever-so-slightly.
Michael
BB
I know what you mean about keeping busy with something you like to do. And I know the blog is important to you. But Edith is the most important.
Are they able to give her pain medicine along with the other medication they are giving her?
And the best we can all do is keep praying.
GF1,
Yes, she is on morphine and hydrococone. But it isn’t keeping up.
B.B.
BB
Can you take a laptop or do you have a phone that has Internet on it to the hospital with you.
Maybe you could read all the comments over the last few days to her.
Edith said she uses an Iphone to monitor the blog on occasion. but I’m staying outta that
GF1,
What Reb said.
B.B.
BB – My love and prayers go out to Edith and you.
Jim K.
By the way, Hector’s Diana 54 is detuned and tuned. Saw Hector and Ray at the Crosman All-American FT match earlier this year.
I misspoke, “Detuned and tuned” as in it was tuned and had a power decrease. Chose the wrong words there.
BB,
I agree with the others: Sometimes there are more important things in life than airguns (or other hobbies). Everybody should understand that.
But I guess you’re also right and doing “normal” things can ease your mind.
I wish you both the best.
I’ll shoot some extra groups for you. Maybe I should post them, too, so everybody can see that life can never be as bad as my shooting is 🙂
Stephan
Stephan,
Oh, I don’t know. My shooting can also be bad at times.
B.B.
While I share the sentiments expressed for your wife’s health, I have confidence she will heal. It’s the waiting and uncertainty that is maddening.
I found this post to be extremely interesting. Obviously these folks know what they’re doing. I was particularly struck by the phrase “this rifle was not tuned for these pellets.” I understand the general concept of tuning an air rifle, but don’t know what “tuning for a pellet” entails. Would appreciate having that described/explained.
Thanks.
Guest blog anyone?
OntheRez,
Welcome to the blog.
I would like it explained, too. I think what is meant is that the shooter has discovered that as his rifle is now set up, it works best with such-and-such a pellet. Not so much a conscious effort to set up the gun to shoot a certain pellet well, but more of a discovery of what shoots the best as the gun is now tuned.
B.B.
Dear OntheRez;
There are things you CAN do and things you CANNOT do in an airgun.
USUALLY, the BARREL will dictate which pellet is most accurate from that specific airgun, BUT there are a few things that can affect radically HOW that accuracy is obtained and whether you maximize that potential accuracy.
I am still hoping that Edith gets better soon and that Tom takes it easy on himself. Caring for someone usually means not caring too much for oneself, so with that in mind, let me try to explain a few things you CAN do to tune a rifle to a specific pellet, and hopefully give Tom some breathing room.
An airgun barrel has, in essence, four sections:
Chamber
Rifling/bore
Choke
Crown
Each of these sections contributes to the total accuracy in a different way, you can change some and cannot change some others:
Chamber.- if you have a sliding cylinder spring gun, or a thimbled or direct insertion PCP, you CAN face off the rear of the barrel a little, then re-chamber the barrel and re-set the compression cylinder stroke, or the bolt or bolt probe to seal either with the OEM seal, or with an improved version (look for our discussion with BugBuster about how to “seat” the pellet into the rifling without a separate tool).
The rifling/bore will determine mostly which pellet style and weight the barrel likes. Emphasis on style, BTW. You CANNOT tune the chamber, choke and crown to make an inaccurate pellet become accurate in a rifle, BUT you CAN CHOOSE between the 2 or 3 best pellets in a rifling, WHICH one to go for.
I usually go for quality pellets. Pellets that can be obtained with some ease and that are repeatably well made. JSB is first and foremost in my list, but I also use extensively H&N and RWS. I have stopped using Crosman because of the lack of consistency between batches, and because I have noted that once you get some of that Antimonium into your barrel’s steel it is VERY hard to get out and the barrels lead more easily. Mind you, we FT shooters shoot between 25 and 45,000 rounds a season, what may be a consideration for us, may be an absolutely moot for you, so pick from what I am telling you the ideas that will help YOU.
So, you fire some pellets, register the groups and decide which one deserves further attention. If the pellet is shorter than what the gun was designed for, you face off the barrel and set forward the cylinder / bolt / probe to obtain a good seal and a good seating of the pellet into the rifling. Step ONE is done.
NEXT.- you can also analyze the length of the barrel, the WEIGHT of the barrel, AND the stiffness of the barrel. These three define the slenderness ratio and natural frequencies of oscillations of a barrel and they, in their turn, will dictate the harmonics that occur when a shot is released.
Those that are habitual long range shooters know that timing the EXIT of the bullet to the EXTREMES of the barrel oscillations is the best way to ensure consistent repeatability. Same thing happens with pellet guns. By carefully placing weights inside a muzzle “brake” or LDC, you can “tune” the harmonics of the barrel so that the pellet exits at the point in time where the cross-directional velocity of the muzzle is approaching zero (at the extreme of the oscillation, just before the oscillation changes direction, the speed is zero). You can also toy with different weight devices altogether. Or add ORings between the normal seat of the device and the barrel seat. That changes the position of the oscillating masses and you can reduce, or locate the oscillations where you want them in respect to the pellet exit moment.
There are still some devices in the market that will do this in a metered, clickable way. Some call them BOSS’s, some call them gadgets, contraptions and I’ve hear some indescribable/unpublishable names applied to them also! LOL!
Now, oscillations have two aspects: frequency and amplitude. You CAN reduce the amplitude of the oscillations of the barrel by stiffening it. With the modern availability of carbon fiber tubes, stiffening barrels is a not a hard job. Complex and time consuming, yes, and it requires good turning skills as well as good fitting skills, but with some Accraglass and some custom made aluminum pieces, almost any barrel can be considerably stiffened.
EVEN stiffened barrels will benefit from an oscillation tuning process. It is good to reduce the amplitude, but it will never disappear just by stiffening the barrel.
Last point on the harmonics and oscillations of the barrels that is possible ONLY IN SOME PCP’s is barrel INDEXING:
Airgun barrels are made with DOM tubing. DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel) tubing is a process that introduces VERY HIGH stresses to the barrel. And these stresses are NOT homogeneous all around the “hole” (bore). So, by shooting groups with the barrel indexed at 12, 3, 6 and 9, and then repeating for the intermediate positions till you get the BEST possible grouping, will also allow you to extract every last bit of accuracy from a setup/system.
So, that was step TWO, step three is something that is done routinely in the home workshop: re-crowning. Some barrels need a specific type of crown depending on the pellet’s caliber and weight. Which usually go hand in hand with the FUNCTION of the rifle. A hunter will use from 0.20″ upwards and will benefit from a sunken-dish style crown because MV’s will seldom go above the 900 fps region.
Match rifles will usually benefit from an 11º included crown and some form of air stripper or diverter. Here the location of the air-stripper’s core MAY be used to tune the oscillations of the barrel to a SPECIFIC pellet also.
In between, sporter rifles, will usually benefit from a Remington/Winchester style of rounded crown. The MAIN thing is that the crown needs to present a “release circle” that is perfectly perpendicular to the bore.
I’ve heard some people say that as long as the release circle is smooth, it does not need to be perpendicular to the bore; and that COULD be true IF the BASES of our pellets were always as good as the bases of swaged, cast or syntered bullets. Alas it is not. So a good crown IN A LATHE, will provide some peace of mind. If putting the barrel into a lathe is not possible, some of the current re-crowning tools that use pilots CAN be adapted to use in airgun barrels.
So, that was step THREE.
Wait, we missed the choke! Actually, we didn’t. I saved the choke till last because there are two ways to tune the choke to a specific pellet: You CAN cut the choke. Some pellets improve dramatically their accuracy with some 10 to 30 thousandths cut off from the barrel. Others do not.
How do we know?
The choke in modern air guns (but more important in the spring-piston than in the PCP) actually defines the MV of a pellet once the powerplant has done its job. You can easily experiment with MV’s in airguns by using a little more preload in a spring, or using a lighter for caliber spring, or you can reduce the MV by using a tighter piston seal, or a tighter fitting guide. There are multiple ways to control the MV of a rifle, whether a spring gun or a PCP. And that tells you if you need to do anything at all about the choke. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. It is worth remembering that once you cut a barrel it is impossible to replace the section of the barrel again. So ALWAYS make sure you KNOW that that is what you want to do by making MULTIPLE experiments with the MV of the SELECTED (by the barrel) pellet.
So, there you have it, the four steps to tune a rifle to a specific pellet. Mind you, you do NOT start from ANY pellet. You allow the rifle to choose the pellets you can work on and then improve your barrel’s performance by working towards the pellet that will provide you with the HIGHEST ASSURANCE of repeatability. It may be the 7.9 ‘er, or the 8.6′ er, or the 8.44′ er, or the 10.3′ er, or the 10.5’ er. OR any of the GOOD pellets out there.
My advice is to use JSB’s as the starting points. After 15 years of airgunning and 7 of professional involvement with the industry, they have never disappointed me.
JMHO
Un abrazo!
Héctor Medina
Hector,
Wow is about all I can say to that ! You did an excellent job in giving deep insight to the art of advanced tuneing. While far above what many of us will ever do, or can do…you did bring to light some areas that can be “played” with, if one’s gun and one’s skills allow.
Thank you, Chris
and suggested for you to take time off the blog to be with Edith. However, after reading your update on Edith at the beginning of todays blog, I feel you are in the best position to monitor Edith’s needs, and deal with her health issues. For your state of mind you need to maintain a resemblance of normality. If that one thing is this blog, then I support your decision, and respect your needing some normal in your life. The strange thing is both my wife and I have known 3 people that contracted the disease. They are all living normal lives today with almost a %100 recovery rate. I personally know very little of this disease, so I will respectfully refrain with what would be seen as speculation. I hope you are able to trust the diagnosis, and treatment regime of Edith’s doctors. As you are aware from your illness BB, finding a doctor who is competant can be half the battle
I haven’t commented (or been here much) lately but I’m sad to hear about Edith health.
We all like here and I join everyone in hoping she gets better soon.
I wish I could do something more… we feel so small and useless in situations like these.
Tell Edith we’ll all behave while she gets better.
J-F
J-F,
Thank you. She is counting on it!
B.B.
BB,
First and foremost, before reading a word of the article, wishing Edith and you too the very best. Thank you for the update.
Chris ( internet just got back up after 14hrs.+ off. Don’t ya’ just love it ? )
Well,….I read the article,….and will RE-read it when I can “see” better. Made it about 3/4 through and had to take a break.
Without a doubt,….Edith and you have a whole lot of prayers and best wishes headed your way,.. from all here.
With out a doubt.
Chris
Sorry to hear of your wife’s condition. Please note we will pray for the both of you. Just figured you had made some changes to blog. Had a time getting back on after being away. Want to thank you for the blog and all it has done for me and my wife. We do just about everything together including shooting. Thanks again
B.B.,
Continued prayers for Edith and you.
Jim M.
Ray, Hector, Paul, Greg,
Another fine entry. Nice work guys. I think I can speak for all when I say we appreciate your time, efforts and insight.
The thing that I take from this article is that for the average shooter can pick up a can of these JSB Premiums and get near same results without all the sorting.
Nice too that the test were done with different rifles and at different yardages. The results were very near the same when viewed from the standpoint of the average shooter. Grouping differences and hi/lo aside, I can see that if your concerned with .001″ or points, the extra effort of sorting is worth it.
Your comment on shape looking to be a possibly bigger factor than sectional density or weight was interesting.
Perhaps a primer on shape would be a good next article. Not sure how you would illustrate that though. While some features are more obvious from one pellet to another,..others are much more subtle,..but still there.
Also, sectional density. Not sure on that one. I am still pretty new. Maybe a primer on that as well. ( I envision that sectional density would mean mass, however arranged, into a shape. The object, placed into a fixed sized chamber, would displace a certain amount of air, or space. The more displaced, the higher the sectional density). But hey, that’s just a guess without researching it. Kind of sounds like your special air gauge set-up.
Thanks again and looking forward to future articles.
Chris
Hello Chris!
Short and sweet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectional_density
Because our pellets are NOT cylinders, we would have to use the first definition. But more important than that is that the THEORY that applies so well to Cylindrical projectiles, faces a complete disruption when used with skirted pellets.
Of course, increasing the length of the pellet MIGHT get us into trouble with the gyroscopical stability, but then we need to understand the real relation and that MAY imply the discovery of better rifling designs that will work with pellets, not necessarily extracted from the powder burning world.
😉
Thanks for your kind words and for reading!
HM
Prayin’.
For healing, for comfort, and peace of mind.