by Tom Gaylord
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
Today we are looking at the S-Target Match pellet from Norma.
This report covers:
- A new line of pellets
- Today’s pellet
- Consistency
- Weight
- Cleanliness
- How to test
- FWB 300S
- JSB Exact RS
- Norma S-Target Match
- Beeman R8 Tyrolean
- JSB Exact RS
- Norma S-Target Match
- Another test?
- Summary
Today I’m doing something that I find difficult to do — introducing a new pellet. Actually I’m introducing a new line of pellets branded by Norma, but today we will look at just one of them — the Norma S-Target Match wadcutter.
This is difficult because you readers are all over the board when it comes to the things you shoot. I show a group of ten pellets in three-quarters of an inch at 25 yards and it’s sacrilege for some of you, and others ask me how that would look on a soda can! So today I’m just gonna do what I’m gonna do and you can watch if you want. Today will be a first look at this pellet — not an all-out test.
A new line of pellets
The S-Target Match isn’t the girl you fell in love with in the first grade and loved all through high school. This is a new girl who just moved into the neighborhood a couple months ago with a large family that we will get to know in the days ahead. There are domes, heavy domes, pointed pellets and wadcutters in both .177 and .22 in the family. I plan to run them into my tests in the coming days, but today is an introduction to the new line and I chose the Norma S-Target Match to intro the line. She has a pretty name, but can she cook? That’s what we will start to learn today.
Today’s pellet
The S-Target Match is an 8.2-grain wadcutter that I slipped into yesterday’s blog for the first time. Didja notice? With the words Target and Match in the name this pellet goes up against some pretty stiff competition and that is how it has to be tested.
There are 300 pellets in a tin in the .177 caliber and 200 in the .22. I don’t know the retail pricing, so I can’t say how expensive this pellet is. Norma claims a 7mm grouping at 10 meters for the pellets I’m testing today, but they measured from the outside of all the holes, rather than the more common center-to-center. But that is easy enough to correct. To get the group size you subtract one pellet diameter — 4.5mm — from 7mm and you get a group size of 2.5mm or 0.098-inches between centers. That would be a remarkable group! Of course I have no idea of what airgun shot it or if the airgun was hand-held or clamped in a vise, but there aren’t too many air pistols or rifles that can do much better.
Consistency
Question number one — does this pellet come in different head sizes? Not that I can see on the packaging. That’s a little odd for a target pellet. So I got out my Pelletgage and measured 10 of them at random. Seven had heads smaller than 4.49mm. One was 4.49mm. One was 4.495mm and one was 4.51mm.
Since the bulk of the ten I measured were smaller than 4.49mm, I believe that is the intended head size for this pellet. Maybe it’s 4.485mm but my Pelletgage doesn’t go down that small because who uses pellets with heads that small? Unfortunately I have no airguns that prefer head sizes that small (that I know of), but I proceeded with the test regardless.
Weight
We are also concerned with how consistent the weight of these pellets is. So I weighed the 10 whose heads I measured and got 1 that weighed 8.1 grains, 6 that weighed 8.2 grains and 3 that weighed 8.3 grains. For 10-meter competition weight means a lot less than head size, and there is no benefit in being anal and going down to the hundredth of a grain. The gram weight is advertised as 0.53 grams. Weight matters a lot more in field target where you shoot out to 50 meters. At 10 meters it almost doesn’t matter.
Cleanliness
One thing that does matter to both 10-meter shooters and field target competitors is the cleanliness of the pellets in the tin. Back when I competed in field target some people washed their pellets to get rid of small lead chips they called swarf. I hand-sorted my pellets by weight and eyeballed each of them but I never bothered washing them. But then I was only an average field target shooter.
Now, in 10-meter competition where I was more competitive I hand-inspected each pellet — though I never weighed them. I will say that the H&N, RWS and Chinese target pellets that I used back in the 1990s were all very clean and free from swarf. These Norma pellet are also clean and absolutely swarf-free. I cannot see a flake of lead swarf in the tin or in the skirts of any of the pellets — and I looked!
How to test
This is a new pellet, so how do I test it? Well for starters I shoot it in the most accurate .177 air rifles I have and see what it does. As I said in the beginning — this is just an introduction, not an all-out test.
FWB 300S
My most accurate 10-meter target rifle is my FWB 300S. I have shot 5-shot groups as small as 0.078-inches with Qiang Yuan Olympic target pellets, but I decided to use another pellet I have in greater supply today.
I shot off a sandbag rest, resting the rifle directly on the bag. Because the 300S isolates the barreled action from the stock to allow the action to slide back in recoil, a bag rest is the best way to hold the rifle.
JSB Exact RS
The FWB 300S has put five JSB Exact RS pellets into a 0.111-inch group at 10 meters in the past (Feb 24, 2012). I thought the rifle was still sighted for this pellet and it was. Now, on any given day old BB will be a little better or a little worse, so the first thing I did was shoot a group of five RS pellets off a rest at 10 meters. When the first pellet cut the 10-ring I stopped looking and shot the remaining four. Man — can that 300S shoot! The only thing I don’t like is the rear sight coming back into my eye, but I wear glasses to protect myself.
This time I put five RS pellets into 0.137-inches at 10 meters. That’s larger than back in 2012, but in the same ballpark. That would serve as my baseline.
The FWB 300S put five JSB Exact RS pellets into as 0.137-inch group at 10 meters.
Norma S-Target Match
Next I loaded an S-Target Match pellet into the FWB and touched it off. I was pleased to see the pellet was not just a 10, but a pinwheel (the pellet hole was centered almost perfectly inside the 9-ring, obliterating the 10-dot completely)! Then I shot the next 4 rounds without looking. At the end I had 5 shots in a hole that measures 0.172-inches between centers at 10 meters. Given the small head size of this pellet, that is excellent performance. If I had a pellet rifle that liked the smaller head sizes this S-Target-Match might do much better. Perhaps I do have something, but I will get to it later.
The FWB 300S put five Norma S-Target Match pellets into a 0.172-inch group at 10 meters.
Beeman R8 Tyrolean
The other hyper-accurate .177 rifle I own is my Beeman R8 Tyrolean that was a gift when I got out of the hospital in 2010. That one is so accurate that I don’t ever remove the Burris Timberline 4.5-14X32 scope that’s on it. I just shoot it.
Beeman R8 Tyrolean.
JSB Exact RS
This rifle likes JSB Exact RS pellet, as well, which is another reason I chose it for today’s test. In the past I have put five shots from this rifle and pellet into 0.22-inches at 25 yards — not 10 meters. Today I shot at 10 meters and five went into 0.21-inches between centers. That’s a very nice group, even though it is only 10 meters.
The R8 put five JSB RS pellets in 0.21-inches at 10 meters.
Norma S-Target Match
Now for the Norma S-Target Match pellet. Five went into 0.25-inches exactly. Given the smaller head I think that’s pretty darn good.
Five Norma S-Target Match pellets went into 0.25-inches at 10 meters.
Another test?
I do own an FWB P44 pistol whose test target group measures 0.018-inches between centers — the smallest test target I have ever seen. I was never able to get groups smaller than 0.242-inches at 10 meters, and that was with Vogel pellets that have 4.50mm heads. So that pistol might be the ideal testbed for this S-Target Match pellet. I’m thinking of testing this pellet again in that pistol, and I would sort my pellet heads for the test.
Summary
That’s a quick look at what promises to be a great new line of lead pellets. Like I mentioned, you will be seeing more of them in the future.
B.B.,
Norma was a girl from High School! She was pretty with pretty blue eyes, strawberry blond hair and a lovely voice. She was only 4′ 4″ and I was already 6′ 1″ and still had another inch to grow. It just didn’t work out with too many Mutt and Jeff comments. Hope the Norma pellets have a better history!
Second paragraph, second sentence In Consistency: “Maybe it’s 4.85mm (some other size? Smaller maybe?) but my Pelletgage doesn’t go down that small because who uses pellets with heads that small?”
shootski
Oh oh. I just read about a new air rifle coming out. It’s the Crosman 362. Appears to be based on the 1377/1322 platform, but is a rifle. I’m a big fan of the 1377 and 1322, and have one of each. I put steel breechs, Crosman buttstocks, and 4×32 rifle scopes on both. Makes a nice little short carbine, and I have had lots of fun with them. I have to rebuild the 1377 and have parts coming.
I love multi pumpers, and can shoot them well. I keep trying break barrels and am always dissapointed with them. Love the concept, but can’t get acceptable and consistent accuracy from them.
So, Tom, I hope you can snag one of these new 362 rifles for a review!
Birdmove,
Looks good. I wish they would have given it some more scope rail.
Chris
birdmove,
I will watch for it.
BB
Birdmove,
You need to get yourself a FWB300 or Diana 54!
Brent
B.B.,
They also made a .22 wadcutter? What matches would use that? It would be great for pesting though.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
Yeah, I wondered that myself. Yes, there is a .22 target pellet, but where to get a .22 target rifle? 😉
BB
Daisy still makes a .177 wadcutter. They used to make a .22 cal wadcutter, but dropped it a few years back. Thst .22 one shoots okay in my 1322. The .177 only shoots well in my Beeman QB78S. I tried it in my Hatsan older model Alpha. It shot all right, but it seems that is a super dirty pellet. Too bad, becauze it is super “thrifty”.
B.B.
Who, what, why, when, where, and how……..
So many unanswered questions? Are they made in China with slave labor? Lead or tin? Any .20 pellets?
You do know it is not April1st?
-Y
Yogi
And how much do they cost also.
GF1,
They are for sale at the same place I bought my Maximus.
RR
Ok thanks.
Yogi,
They are pure lead.
BB
Yogi,
That one 0.191 pellet that B.B. found in his sample of ten is closer to .20 caliber!
Maybe the .22 will have a few undersized pellets that are .20!
shootski
Yea, get a pellet sizer and size them down……
-Y
B. B.,
The Norma S-Target pellets weigh the same as RWS Meisterkugeln in both calibres. Is this a coincidence or are they the same pellet?
Regards,
Drew
Drew,
Stranger thinbgs have happened. I don’t really know.
BB
BB
I tried searching the pellets on the PA site and can’t find them. I guess PA doesn’t sell them yet?
GFG1,
I guess not. Yet.
BB
BB
Well good advertising anyway today.
BB,
My Izzy really likes the RWS R10’s in 4.49mm heads.
They are available from various sources. Also, they are apparently made in Germany by Ruag Ammotec Gmbh.
HAM posted about Norma pellet line in March 2019.
I bought some Norma .22 LR ammo a few years back. It was sold as rebadged RWS. GECO and Hirtenberger are also under the RUAG corporate umbrella.
Paco,
I was starting to think they were an awful lot like RWS. That may account for PA not carrying the Norma brand. Thanks.
RR,
I think that rebranding, in general, (not saying these are) benefits no one (end consumer). It does not matter if it is pellets, or air guns, or anything else. It just adds to the overall confusion. I am not a fan of the practice.
Do I expect it to ever change? Nope.
Chris
Chris,
I would agree, it can get confusing, especially with guns and scopes. There are maybe with some rare instances with pellets where it would benefit the customer, though:
1.The pellet that the new re-branded one is based on is not otherwise available. This is the case with some Bisley/H&N pellets here in the UK.
2. The pellets are available in smaller quantities. So if you want to test them in a gun, you can do so at lesser cost. The Normas look to be available smaller quants. that the RWS.
3. Possibly if pellets from one brand is a slightly better grade than the other.
Regards,
Drew
Regards,
Drew
Writing in the early 1980s, John Walter gives us the following anecdote.
“One ‘test’ undertaken by a leading magazine placed two apparently differing brands nearly twenty places apart on a guide to performance, without realising, as the maker was later to confirm, that they were identical but for the packaging. Unwittingly, this highlighted the differences that may be encountered in batches of the same pellets.”
Iain
Iain,
Good for you! And Walter! 🙂
BB
Iain – UK,
You and John Walker are far too kind!
Most often I tell folks to take all writings with a grain of salt! After all, on things we personally know first hand, how often are writings on the known by us topic 100% accurate? 1:10 is all I have ever found. Even 75% accuracy would be welcomed but seldom acheived.
shootski
Iian,
I worked for General Electric for 42 years and our plant made washers and dryers. I used to get really tickled when Consumer Report Magazine would rank different brands of those appliances every year, because they would post huge differences in results between brands and most of the brands were made identically on the same GE tooling and assembled on the same GE assembly line with the only difference being the label that was slapped on at the end. They always list the specific model numbers in their reviews, so it was simple to tell that they were identical except for the brand. I don’t know how to explain it other than that humans tend to see what they want to see and ignore what they don’t and prejudice and preconception play a bigger role than we are aware of or are prepared to admit to, individually.
Half
Half,
That is too funny,…. not 🙁
I get CR and pay it a fair bit of attention. I am not a mass consumer, as many,… but I still like to think that I am stacking the “odds” in my favor. Dumb me. Still, I will give it the once over.
Thanks for the awareness.
Chris
Chris USA,
They are a Not for profit and not a nonprofit! So the way they do that is take all the money from subscribers, donations, government’s Grants and BIG TAX Breaks to just spread around to the bosses of CR with sweet salary, Retirement, bonuses, and Perks.
Nice racket…maybe we could start Airgun Consumer Reports.
shootski
Shootski,
Sign me up. HAM does a good job. They seem very well funded and supported. Then again,… who knows. We have the blog here too,.. along with all the other independents doing their own thing.
No lack of reviews if you want to parse them all.
Chris
Drew451,
If you’re referring to the 300 count,.177 Norma and the 200 count,.22 Norma tins, those were introduced by RWS some time ago and they represented a substantial INCREASE in the per pellet price, since the are being sold at the same price as before the count change. If you are talking about something else, I’d like to know more, as I’m a firm believer in cheaper is better.
Half
Half,
The various RWS pellets that I buy regularly are only available in tins of 500 here in the UK. I would assume tins of 200/300 of the Norma equivalent would be offered at a cheaper price than a tin of 500 RWS and if I was wanting to try a particular pellet for the first time and couldn’t get a small sample or if I simply didn’t need 500, I’d look to buy the smaller tin.
Regards,
Drew
Drew451,
I hope you’re correct. When RWS went to 300/200 here, they stopped offering 500/250 tins and charged a price that was very near the price of the larger tins, so we have to pay a higher per pellet price. That took place at least 2 years ago and maybe as many as 3 years. What IS the current price for a 500 tin of Hobby pellets there? Maybe the change was made to lessen export costs to the US. After all, you can’t ship much that is denser than lead.
Half
Half,
A tin of 500 Hobby costs about £4.99/ $6.91 in .177 and £8.99/ $12.44 in .22 from some of the larger dealers here. Plus postage as they are not local to me.
Smaller, local dealers are likely to charge a bit more than that.
Regards,
Drew
Drew451,
Just bought a 300 tin of .177 for $6.59 USD and a 200 tin of .22 for $6.95 USD plus shipping. Your prices are what mine used to be before they changed the count per tin. I’m not sure that I ever saw a 500 count tin of .22 offered over here though.
Half
Chris USA,
I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. They are the only ones currently making a wadcutter in .22 to my knowledge. I could be wrong. But think of it another way. If another manufacturer set up a factory to produce quality pellets then it is all the better indication that airguns are becoming to be recognized as an untapped market. Having another worldwide manufacturer surely wouldn’t hurt.
Siraniko
Siraniko,
No judgements made. Just commenting on the practice of rebranded exact duplicates. It would be hard to see anyone starting from scratch.
If they have a (new) design, get some (new) molds made and have someone else make them (like JSB), then I could see that. Ok on that.
The other marketing point would be quality. Are they better (than their competition) on head size and weight?,.. for example.
Chris
Siraniko,
I have used RWS Meisterkugeln (14 gr.) that is sold by PA. I really like them for informal paper punching and the occasional pesting.
Henry
RWS Hobby are available in .22 wadcutter flavour. At least in the UK they are
Siraniko,
RWS makes Meisterkulen in .22 and Gamo has a .22 Target Wadcutter.
Half
Chris,
No, it is not going to change. Sorry dude, you are just going to have to do your homework.
There are times though, where rebranding works in favor for the consumer. Price. Some times the rebranded product is cheaper than the original.
RR,
I have seen “cheaper” for many new products through the years. The price always goes up and beyond the rest many times, if they stick around. Hey,… ya’ gotta’ get your foot in the door somehow,… eh? 😉
Chris
I just want new and quality,… not a re-label. That’s all.
Chris,
Sometimes you can find the deal. Like I did with my Maximus. With taxes and shipping, I paid $157. Not too bad, I would say.
Sometimes, if you know what you are looking for, I quick look can be a real deal.
Chris,
I think Norma, in general, is being marketed as Dynamit Nobel’s “Premium” ammo line, according to the HAM article I read. RWS is the redheaded step child now. Based on the photo that they use on the company website, I wouldn’t count on superior quality over the RWS versions. There are very visible mold marks on the heads and one of the pellets that is viewed from the skirt end is clearly bent.They said in that article that the company that owns Norma ( Dynamit Nobel ) also owns RWS and the ammo maker that makes RWS pellets (RUAG Ammotec GmbH) also makes the Norma pellets, so I’d say they are the same pellets. They have all been merging and absorbing one another since 1990.
https://www.norma-ammunition.com/en-us/products/air-rifle Check the quality on display here.
Half
Half,
I could not see any actual pellet pics,… but I will take your word for it. Norma is said to make PB ammo too, per comments,… so they are probably just trying to play some ($) on that. Like all the firearm companies in the US getting in on the airgun market with China stock.
SIG seemed to be doing it right, but not so sure now.
Like RR said,… do your homework. Oh well.
Chris
Chris,
It’s the big pic of the pellets laying on a bullseye target at the very top of the page. It has the words “Air Rifle” right by the bullseye.
Half
Half,
Got it.
Chris
Paco
Norma .22 LR ammo as in rimfire rounds?
The LR is throwing me. When I see .22 LR (Long Rifle) I think rimfire.
Yeah, of course. What else would it be?
Paco
I think I have heard of Norma firearm rounds before but wasn’t sure.
What threw me is you was talking about rimfire then went into pellets. So wasn’t sure what you meant.
If you look carefully at the photo of the tin, it reads ” dedicated since 1902″. These pellets certainly haven’t been around for that long but perhaps the Norma brand has? Or is Norma a new/reorganized name for an older manufacturer??
An examination of the website listed on the tin leads you to the history of Norma on this page:
https://www.norma-ammunition.com/en-us/about-norma/history
Air rifle pellets appears to be a new venture after building their business on firearm cartridges in Sweden and they claim to have “our own manufacturing process” for pellets on this page:
https://www.norma-ammunition.com/en-us/products/air-rifle
Thanks for posting!
and they are cheaper than JSB or H&N for similar type pellets and numbers.
-Y
Feinwerk,
They do have their own process, it’s the same one they use when they make their RWS brand pellets that they have sold for years. It’s all the same company. I found that wording, “our own manufacturing process”, when I read it in a 2019 HAM article, to be deliberately deceptive and meant to make the unwitting think it was a new pellet, with superior qualities, because they “control every step in production line. This allows them in order to warranty that every batch of Norma airgun pellets meets their standards.” again, as stated in the same HAM article.
That is the marketing practices that rile me up.
Half
B.B.,
Your comment about the 300s’ peep sight coming back towards your eye made me wonder how I might react to it when I next shoot my 300s. It never bothered me before, but two weeks ago, literally overnight, I lost all useful vision in my right eye to macular degeneration. I can see light and movement, but everything is a blurred smear. I can’t make out even the biggest letters on a vision chart with my right eye. Fortunately, my left eye is my dominant one (and I’m left-handed), But this does mean for the rest of my life if anything happens to my one and only useful eye, I will be blind.
Does anyone here know about how close the rear of the peep on a 300s comes to the shooter’s eye?
Michael
Michael,
Sorry to hear that about your vision? What did the Doc say,.. or have you been yet? No fixes?
Chris
Chris,
I’ve been to an opthamology team a few times in the last two weeks, and while I will never again have good vision in the eye, there is a chance I might regain a small amount of vision in it. I’m not a particularly good candidate for surgery, but yesterday I had an injection in the eye of a medicine which might reduce swelling behind the retina (and specifically the macula).. It was about as fun as a shot in the eye sounds, and I will need a shot once a month, each month, indefinitely.
I have a better than average chance of developing macular issues in my left eye, too, so I intend to get very serious very quickly about my hypertension, which, along with heredity, contributed to my having it in my right eye.
So I have to be very protective of the vision in my one good eye. When I shoot air guns, I wear eye protecton, of course, but as I must wear prescription glasses under them, they are such a nuisance that I might just give up shooting BB guns. Fragmenting BBs are too inaccurate for me, and Smart Shot is too expensive, so pellet shooters might be my sole option from now on.
Michael
Michael,
A shot in eye (ongoing) sounds no fun at all. Hypertension is said to be pretty bad all around. I take 20 mg. Lisinopril. Beyond that and healthy lifestyle,.. I am not sure what else can be done for it.
I will assume that you have done some research on the eye topic, so I will leave it at that. I do not know for sure, but I would imagine that some Docs stay up on/are aware of the latest and greatest advancements and others are just doing the same thing they have been doing for the last 20 years and less aware, if at all, so always something to consider.
Hang in there and best wishes,…. Chris
Chris,
I thank you for your encouraging and supportive words.
I have been on a “coctail” of high blood pressure meds for many years now, but my doctor will have to decide whether to increase dosages, change the meds, or order a combination of both. Additionally, I need to and will lose some weight. Obesity is a major cause of hypertension.
My opthamologist is a top retina surgeon who specializes in macular issues, so that much I feel good about. :^) Access to first-rate specialists is perhaps the greatest benefit of living in a major metroplitan area. For example, my wife’s orthopedic surgeon went to Harvard’s medical school. My mom’s old primary care doctor also was a Harvard grad.
Michael
Michael,
I hear you on the weight. I have 2 sisters that lost 40# + each within 2 months. 1# bag of frozen mixed veg. and a 1# bag of tricolor slaw. Steam and flavor with whatever. I toss in about 1 burgers worth of hamburger. Nothing magic about it, just a (whole lot of food you can eat on all day) at about 400 cal. (total). I will use salsa and whole milk Greek yogurt as a topper. Mrs. Dash for seasoning, etc.. It is simple and easy to fix and taste good.
Multi vitamins, of course.
They pretty well did that for all meals for 2 months. Minimize or eliminate anything processed, like sugar and white flour.
I have that mix for dinner most nights. I am 6-4 and 245, so I could easily lose 45. I love to cook and can cook,… so that combo does not work out the best. 😉 Still, maintained 245 for one year without gaining,… so I will take that.
I am sure my beer does not help. I’ll have to work on that. 🙂
Best wishes on whatever you try,………. Chris
Michael,
I am a retired VI specialist so I know how important good eyesight is! Follow your doctors directions and wear a good pair of sunglasses when you go outside! Will also be praying for you!
Brent
Sympathize much with you in the ordeal you’re going through; my dad has pretty bad MD in his right eye and a cataract in the left one. His treatment option was also the injection. He refused and, being almost a centenarian at the time (he’s 101 now) can’t blame him. At least he still enjoys watching TV through his better eye, cataract notwithstanding. I had a shot in the left eye when undergoing surgery for retinal detachment, and hope not to repeat the experience.
The weight issue and its connection to good health is real. My cardiologist buddy is constantly reminding me “sugar is Public Enemy Number One.” Avoid processed foods as much as possible and load up on the veggies, legumes and nuts. Fish and the “white meats” are better than “red” meats. He’s not advocating a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, just a sensible one.
You may want to watch this video which I watched at his suggestion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWg0oBFRZPI
Pray your vision improves or at least remains stable. For me, it is the most precious of our five senses.
FawltyManuel,
Thank you for the information and especially for your words of encouragement and support. It has been easy to fall into dark states of mind lately, so your thoughts are very welcome indeed.
Michael
Michael
Wearing glasses solves the potential problem with the sledge movement. Wearing glasses for you is a must do even if you need no lens correction. Sorry about the macular degeneration in the other eye. Shooting would not be much fun if one can’t see.
Stay safe.
Deck
Deck,
It’s funny, but I was never bothered by the 300s eyepiece coming back at me. I didn’t even notice it. (And I have always needed prescription glasses to shoot.)
Michael
Michael
Same here with my FWB 300 and 54 Air King.
Michael
I think I remember BB saying he gets the best focus when his eye is close to the aperture. Sometimes I prefer a little distance to get the roundest globe front sight. Seems to vary with light and my eyes on a given day. I have had it happen with my FWB300S but not enough to give it much thought.
Deck
B.B.
Does the tin tell where they are made?
Doc
Doc,
It says RUAG AMMOTEC GMBH. GmbH is code for Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, which means a private limited company in Germany, but it doesn’t say where the pellet are made.
BB
B.B.,
Translator Service:
Beschränkter = Limited…Haftung = liability.
That must be how they can get away with including the 4.85mm (0.191″) pellet head size in your .177 pellet sampling.
See: CONSISTENCY Second paragraph second sentence in your writings above.
shootski
These pellets must be good or why else would they have “accuracy” written on the label right? (Yes, that’s a cynical joke)
Not keen on the decision to only put 300 in the tin, another example of “shrinking product” in my opinion. I like my .177’s to be in 500’s.
On the subject of head sizes, it’s actually a myth. Try measuring them and you’ll see the stated size bears no resemblance to what’s in the tin. Some theories on the UK forums are that this relates to the diameter of the lead wire used to swage them or the die.
Ade C,
I have been hearing size/quality gripes too. Most people chalk up it to covid, increase demand, running dies too long, people/QC shortage etc..
I have not heard the lead wire one yet.
Yup, you don’t for sure what you have unless you sort.
Chris
I’d like a pelletgage but the price puts me off. Maybe a micrometer would be better (if a little slower)
Ade,
I don’t have a pelletgage either, but I have measured some head sizes with a micrometer. Don’t even think of using calipers. I was a quality inspector for 40 years so I do have a sensitive touch with measuring instruments. When I did my measurements I even used a jeweler’s eyepiece to visually see the shiny spots on the pellets caused by the micrometer. The problem with using a micrometer is that the measurement is only between two points, so you can get various readings depending on where you measure. The pelletgage is a much better option as it measures the whole circumference of the pellet as opposed to just two points. It would also be much easier and faster to use a pelletgage.
I only measured pellets once as an investigative experiment to see how consistent the head sizes actually were. I took samples from tins of Crosman Premiers, RWS Superdomes, and JSB domes. I found the RWS and JSB pellets to have very consistent head sizes. The JSBs measured within .01mm (.0004″) and the RWS head sizes varied less then .01mm. The CP pellet head sizes varied .04mm (.0016″). Based on those results, I have not used Crosman pellets any more.
Geo
Geo791,
I have found, with my pelletgage, that many pellet heads just aren’t round enough to gauge properly. I don’t see many others complain, so It may be because I have over 50 varieties in each of .177 and .22 caliber and have gauged more kinds than the average NORMAL person. If the head is oval in shape, for instance, or has a minute amount of flashing on it, it is going to require a much larger diameter “GO” gauge hole than would be used to measure the average diameter of the head. You can sometimes even feel the pellet rock back and forth in the hole telling you that you are only getting 2 points of contact. Sometimes, if flashing is the issue, a tiny amount of force will break off the flashing and allow the pellet to fall through easily, but not only that, it will now pass through the next 2 smaller holes. I haven’t found that the pelletgages are as useful as I had hoped when I bought them, since you can’t do much about pellets that don’t conform.
I wish someone would invent a pellet head UP- sizing die, since small heads seem to be the source of many inaccuracies in airguns.
Half
Half,
I agree with your conclusions. It can be a bit fussy. Still, better than nothing if you are going to do it. I have one in .25.
Chris
geo791,
Why does it matter? As soon as you push a significantly oversized pellet into the Leade/barrel throat it is DEFORMED (polite term swaged) then it gets kicked down a barrel that may slice it up with lands and grooves. Finally it might sometimes be squashed by a lopsided Choke and clipped by some kind of BAFFEL, Brake, or air stripper…. LOL!
Undersized = BAD
Right sized = GOOD
Oversized a little = GOOD/BETTER
WAY Oversized = BAD
But, if you don’t know your barrel’s ID along its entire length…but especially the last 2-3″(7-10cm) see !my first sentence and begin reading again; You have NOW Entered The Twilight Zone!
I think pellet gages have a place but only for QA use by airgunners not sorting every last pellet.
shootski
That Tyrolean stock is nice looking. Sure would be easy to measure a pellet if it could be dropped into a a precision taper tube with a scale on it. I suppose it would need to glass. the smaller the pellet, the farther down the tube it goes, but the difference between sizes might be too fine to register with a printed scale, a pellet gauge would be a nice tool aquisition for sure.
Krale has Walther LGV’s on sale with a scope. Looking forward to that LGV rebuild BB. I just sent out for my lisynopril. Maybe I can get Medicare early because of a recent disability.55 was so much easier, I am not liking the rate of change to this ageing thing.
Rob
B.B.,
The JSB Exact RS is the “go to” pellet for a few of my airguns. Hence, based on how these Norma pellets did relative to them, I’d surely give them a try. So, thank you for this report.
Take care & God bless,
dave
B.B. and Readership,
Those readers near Barneveld, Wisconsin are in real luck! Vortex the Optics Outfit has a newish shooting complex with ranges covering the usual 25, 50, and unusual 100 indoor and up to the the very unusual 1,000 outdoors:
https://vortexoptics.com/vortex-edge
Barneveld is west of Madison at US Hwy 18/151 and K.
This looks like a nice state of the art range complex worth a look.
shootski