Three new JTS .177-caliber pellets. Left to right — 7.87-grain wadcutter, 8.7-grain dome, 10.4-grain dome.
Testing three new JTS pellets
Testing the new Benjamin domed pellets
This report covers:
- Please take our survey
- The test
- Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
- JTS 7.87-grain wadcutter
- JTS 8.7-grain dome
- JTS 10.4-grain dome
- JTS summary
- Benjamin Bullseye
- Summary
Today I will look at the three new JTS pellets along with the Benjamin dome that I call the Benjamin Bullseye. Ian McKee and I are tag-teaming this report. He tested with his .177-caliber Avenge-X. I will test with an FWB 300S target rifle.
Please take our survey
Before I begin, a word about surveys. We are all asked to fill them out these days. Sometimes it’s good that we can comment, but what about those closed questions that only allow what they want you to say to be your response? “Other than that Mrs. Kennedy, how did you enjoy your trip to Dallas?”
Or, they don’t give you a chance to try the thing before they ask the questions. “How do you like your new Toyota Rav4?” Well, when I get it in six weeks and then drive it for a thousand miles, I’ll be glad to tell you!
What Ian and I are doing with this series is trying to answer your questions by testing these pellets in different airguns and in different ways. That way you get a better picture of how they perform. That doesn’t mean they will work the same in all airguns, but you will get a broader perspective.
The test
Today I shot everything you will see at 10 meters from my bag-rested FWB 300S. I shot 5-shot groups so I could cover all four pellets plus another baseline pellet that’s proven quite accurate in the FWB 300. That baseline should give us a check on me. After all my recent medical issues I think that’s needed, and as the test unfolds I think you will agree.
Sig Match Ballistic Alloy
The first five shots were with the obsolete Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellet. I’m calling them a baseline pellet because in the past I shot several groups of five that were under 0.15-inches between centers. But not today. Today I put five into 0.289-inches at 10 meters.
This is where BB is today with a pellet that usually groups in half that size in this rifle. Five Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets are in 0.289-inches between centers at 10 meters.
Okay — BB isn’t shooting very well today. Don’t worry, the pellets I’m testing are still going to surprise you.
JTS 7.87-grain wadcutter
But not this next one. The JTS wadcutter doesn’t seem to hold the same accuracy potential as the two domed JTS pellets — not in my tests nor in Ian’s. In the FWB 300S five went into 0.298-inches at 10 meters. Yes I am aware that those numbers are just switched around from the previous group, but that’s what I measured.
The FWB 300S put five of the JTS 7.87-grain wadcutters into a 0.298-inch group at ten meters.
JTS 8.7-grain dome
Next to be tested was the JTS 8.7-grain dome. They turned in the best group of the day, with five going into a 0.15-inch group at 10 meters. That proved two things. First, that this pellet is very accurate and second that BB was able to shoot this well, even when he couldn’t shoot well with the Sig Match pellet that was previously one of the best in the FWB 300S. What I’m saying is, considering the circumstances, this pellet did exceptionally well.
The FWB 300S put five JTS 8.7-grain domes into 0.15-inches at 10 meters.
JTS 10.4-grain dome
The last JTS pellet I tested was the 10.4-grain dome. Five of them went into 0.188-inches at 10 meters. That’s another very good group.
Five of the JTS 10.4-grain domes are in 0.188-inches at 10 meters.
JTS summary
In all the testing that’s been done I have to observe that the two .177 JTS domes are extremely accurate and the .177 JTS wadcutter leaves something to be desired. The .177 domes in this brand are worth looking into.
Benjamin Bullseye
The last pellet I tested was the .177 caliber Benjamin Bullseye dome. These have also proven to be accurate in many air rifles in recent tests. Today the FWB 300S put five into 0.154-inches at 10 meters. It’s so close to the best JTS group that an error in measurement could put either pellet in the lead.
The FWB 300S put five .177-caliber Benjamin Bullseye domes into a 0.154-inch group at 10 meters.
Summary
This test was a quickie. Positioned next to Ian’s test of the three JTS pellets and his earlier test of the Benjamin pellet you can begin to see how these pellets work, compared to others that you know. We’re not finished testing these guys, but we did these two tests so you would know if they are worth your consideration.
Tom,
No problem with the short report. What is important is you were able to show the accuracy potential of these new pellets.
Siraniko
Wow Trime territory…
You are still shooting well.
It just took a group to get back in the swing..
Ian
Ian,
Yeah, I thought about shooting another group of the Sig Match pellets at the end, but I had already started to put the indoor range away and it was too much to drag out again.
BB
There was no need to do that. The Sig pellets were not the star of the show today.
Ian.
You mentioned Dallas. One of the lame excuses that the naysayers like to bring up is the lack of evidence that LHO had recently practiced firing his rifle. They try to claim that he couldn’t have made those shots without a lot of practice in the days leading up to the assassination. First of all the shot didn’t require extreme accuracy. Secondly, I think that shooting is a little like “riding a bike” in that once one learns how to shoot well, it is relatively easy to immediately shoot pretty well again (after not shooting for a while). You only took a week off, but that’s some nice shooting. So, I consider that as being some evidence that supports what I just said.
Thanks for the report. Did you use peep sights or a scope on the FWB 300S?
Elmer,
Peep sights. That’s the only way I like to shoot 10-meter target rifles.
BB
I thought peep sights were most likely. It has probably been some significant time since you last shot that rifle (or even peep sights). Yet apparently, you were able to shoot very well without a lot of practice just before the test.
Elmer,
That’s because peep sights are easier to use than open sights. Military forces around the world use them because they are quicker to learn.
BB
I agree. For the good of the order, it bears repeating: The “secret” is not to even pay any attention to the peep. Just look through it and focus on the front sight. The aperture will force your eye into the right spot and your eye becomes the rear sight. Peeps are great!
Elmer
Accuracy with the first shot is one thing considering he did practice and was able to shoot well. But the doubtful thing was the speed he worked that bolt action and getting on target again. I am familiar with the 6.5 Carcano and it is not the smoothest action to cycle.
I am not saying he didn’t fire all the shots. But I have wondered if an accomplished marksman could duplicate it with that rifle in a dummy test.
Deck
Deck-
It’s been a few decades since I read the Warren Commission tests, but as I recall, five marksmen with shooting skills and training equivalent to LHO-
Same distance, angles, gun, ammo, target movement and speed, etc.
Three of the five met or exceeded LHO’s speed and accuracy.
One was slower but same accuracy.
Last one failed both time and accuracy.
I recall The American Rifleman had an article about the tests. I imagine that issue is available in an online archive.
The ‘legend of impossible shots’ has only grown over the years as fewer people gain practical shooting experience. Too many content themselves with only shooting on square ranges.
pac & Elmer
Thanks for this info. I was unaware of these tests.
Deck
Paco, one shot apparently missed completely. If it was the first or last shot, then the tight timing requirement gets much easier. In fact the HSCA investigation in 1978 concluded that the first shot missed and that therefore he had over eight seconds instead of the earlier believed 4 to 6 seconds. We will not likely know for sure all the details. But I think the exact requirements of the rapid timing is still undetermined.
Elmer Fudd,
Wow! Two (2) ” ” (DITTOS) in a row!
You guys ROCK!
shootski
pacoinohio,
” ” (DITTOS)
For hihihi: means that i fully and totally agree with Paco’s posted Reply.
shootski
To further respond to Pacinohio’s comment, I found a short TV series on Prime called “007 Road to a million”. Anyway, it involves a number of teams doing somewhat difficult tasks to find a question to answer. The point of this comment is that one of those tasks involved shooting a laser triggered rifle to hit a target. Most of the competitors were English and at least one team had absolutely no idea how to properly sight the rifle with it’s peep sight while the rest couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from the inside. They never had fired anything, including air rifles, in their lives and had no idea how to go about it. But I had a great time yelling at the TV trying to coach them.
Fred formerly of the Demokratik Peeples Republik of NJ now happily in GA
Deck, there is evidence that LHO practiced dry-firing while on a screened porch at night with the lights off when they were in New Orleans the summer of 1963. It is thought that he was dry-firing at passing automobiles. And the porch only had a limited field of view because it was set back between adjacent buildings. This would mean that he was trying to pick up a moving target very quickly and aim and fire before it disappeared behind the building on the other side. Perhaps he tried to get more than one shot off in that short time span. This would entail practicing rapid bolt operation. And I think he might get very good at it after enough practice. I think this practice would have been perfect for the situation he had in Dallas. Plus his brother Robert wrote that LHO had very quick reflexes. Robert knew this from games they played as they grew up. Plus see the reply to pacoinohio below for more on the timing.
Elmer
Very interesting. I was not aware he practiced in this way. Odd that it never was mentioned in any of the documentaries I saw. Guessing it didn’t fit in the conspiracy theory.
Thanks again to you and pac for the enlightenment.
Deck
Between what Marina testified to and what she told Priscilla McMillan (as documented in her book “Marina and Lee”) not long after the assassination, plus a little logic applied, it does appear that LHO practiced the way I described. People have spent years studying the subject and still have a lot to learn about it. That includes me.
Elmer Fudd,
Human Terminal Ballistics in DEPTH
As most of you have never been exposed to.
You, and others, may be interested in this:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934694/
Check the correction also!
WARNING WARNING WARNING
There are some very accurate data and details included.
It corroborates my eyeballed ranging of ≈80 meter (slant range) for his shots.
Note the lack, or at least minimal lateral movement, from the spot LHO chose as his perch.
Bibliography is also worth a look.
shootski
Thanks shootski.
What survey?
Speaking of peep sights, that is what I just installed on that Diana 34 that BB rebuilt for me and I have been doing a little testing on. I have a TruGlo globe sight up front and a Williams FP AG with target knobs peep sight on the rear. No, it is not a FWB 300S, but it sure is nice.
A Merit disc or Gehman 510 (?) adjustable aperature screwed into that Williams sight would make it perfect, I think.
RG,
That may be so, but since I do not have such I do not concern myself with them. I have this identical setup on my grandson’s HW30S. Feral soda cans do not stand a chance, no matter what the range.
RR: I have the same Williams Peep on my venerable Diana Model 36 in .177.
I put a Merit Disc on the Williams Peep and it is a great addition to what is an outstanding sight. It allows one to control, obviously, the aperture size and, thus, the light until it is “just right.” Under bright light, one can decrease the aperture for more precision, but with dim lighting one can open it up.
I have started to go to peeps on my break barrels because glass on a scope rail has so much mass that it is hard to keep them in place with the pounding of the double recoil. With the very reduced mass of the peep, that is less of a problem.
Further, since I am a confirmed and somewhat obsolescent springer devotee, the realistic range of a spring piston piece is well within the useable range of a peep. As I have recounted on this blog on previous occasions, the distance of my basement range is approximately10 meters and the distance out of my house windows to my property lines is about the same. So ravaging rabbits who want to consume my landscape plants have a very bad time of it.
LFranke,
Now you done gone and done it. I will have to buy a Merit Disc AND a Gehman aperture to try them out.
These peeps are quickly becoming my favorite sproinger sight.
Obsolescent sproinger devotee? Are you referring to your or the airgun’s age? I myself would be considered obsolescent if not outright obsolete. So would the airguns I prefer to shoot. What is really funny (in a strange sense) is that many of these obsolescent/obsolete airguns shoot as well as the newest/latest/greatest airguns on the market today.
I wish I could say the same for myself.
Both? Given the penchant of P/A and other sources for those new-fangled PCPs, I feel like a denizen of a by-gone age, a Neolithic type. HOWEVER, I also note that I don’t have thousands involved in tanks, compressors and the pieces themselves. Although I have thousands in the arms locker, to be sure.
A concur that shooting most of my springers is as on-the-mark as what seems to be the airgun trend – at least at reasonable ranges. I have a Norica that I have yet to get to behave, but I conquered an unruly Hatsan 135 by changing projectiles in a longish string. Within the ranges I shoot, I can, when well practiced hit what I aim at. I suspect as the majority move to PCP that many such folks won’t be able to hit anything with a springer due to the Artillery Hold requirement, ala Tom Gaylord.
I’m now 77 and wonder how this happened. I have my #1 grand at my alma mater, Miami University (the REAL ONE, in Ohio) and soon to be followed, this fall, by #4. I go down to Oxford (OH) and the reality hits! DAMN, they are letting CHILDREN into Miami! What REALLY makes me aware is move in or move out day. Those stairs are merciless and the boxes get heavier and heavier. No more scampering up three floors to the old dorm room – that would get the cops called anyway as they changed the gender assignment of the dorm!
Seriously, and back to airguns, my serious springers date back to 1989, and that RWS Diana Model 36 is STILL my gold standard for the rest of them to match. It’s sibling, a RWS/Diana 5G-TO1 pistol is also the standard for the hand weapons. Well, I guess I have to retract that some as I own a Beeman P-1 that Gaylord calls, “The Holy Grail of air pistols.”
I doubt that I shall go over to the “dark side.” The wife would probably administer “pillow therapy” on me while sleeping if I invested that kind of money in the arms locker. That, of course, despite the fact that she has filled a 17’x23′ closet with clothing….
LFranke,
I made sort of a promise to Mrs. RR to not acquire any “new” airguns, at least in the near future. 😉 I did inform her that I had every intention of accessorizing what I already had. That would include scopes, sights, parts, ammunition, etcetera.
The truth is if I only spent one hour with each airgun in my “collection”, it would likely take me a couple of days to shoot them all.
I don’t get into discussions with the wife about airgun purchases. She buys enough clothing and shoes that it makes any of her objections moot. A couple of years ago, I took 300 pairs of shoes to our local charity “closet” as a donation. That with many BIG Boxes of women’s clothing.
I have stopped buying any more air arms because I will have to build a new weapons locker if I do, but am constrained by the cellar stairwell to get a completed such locker into the basement. Well, that and the fact that the lumber store that carried better cabinet-grade lumber and plywood closed long ago with the passing of its owner.
I suppose I could go to Amish Country to Keim Lumber and fetch up the needed stock, but while the “spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.” Considering that I have to help my daughter finish her kitchen, I’ve got enough to do…
Wow. Thankfully, that is not an issue with Mrs. RR. She will spend money on our home, but I have a difficult time getting her to spend money on herself.
RidgeRunner,
“What survey?”
Why the ones you should be getting PAID to do!
You must not be much of an Influencer…or else you would get LOTS of requests for ENDORSEMENTS.
The Bottom Feeders try to get you to do them for FREE!
Tom is just showing his frustrations because i bet he gets them all the time.
shootski
shootski,
Thankfully I am apparently not much of an Influencer. Being conservative, I do not do surveys. When I hear/read that word, I immediately hang up/delete.
B.B., your worst shooting day is at least 3X better than FM’s best shooting day so, there is that. Happy to see you’re doing well enough to get those groups. Wadcutters, they’re never going to be as accurate as domed pellets anyway, right? The aerodynamic differences make all the difference there. Or so believes FM, the one with a non-degree in Impactful Ballistic Studies.
FawltyManuel,
I don’t think the aerodynamic SHAPE differences make much of a difference at 10 meters. I think, as far as the projectile, the pellet to pellet dimensional consistency, manufacturing precision, inspection and product handling is the nut of the grouping issue.
Then you need to know how the internal ballistics of the shooting platform are influenced by the pellet design and Mass/Shape. On the External Ballistics most folks forget how much the Bore changes the projectile is a big factor to consider; Less is More…identical each shot is better!
That brings up a shootski Hypothesis: Bore fit is vital because IF the projectiles travel the Bore differently each time it leads to INCONSISTENT external and terminal ballistic results.
This was a “paid advertisement” for buying the best projectiles you can afford and/or Pelletgage(s)….
shootski
FM usually shoots wadcutters at 25 yards so it makes sense the flathead shape will produce different results than at 10 meters’ distance – the pellets are traveling twice as far to target. Definitely subscribe to buying the best projectiles – and everything else – one can afford. Cheap no good, good no cheap.
BB
Great shooting – glad to see that your concerns were unwarranted. Also, the quality of all the tested pellets is amazing, except perhaps for the wadcutters.
Which brings a question. I thought that wadcutters were used in 10m competitions. However, many readers seem to think that the flat-faced shape is not conducive to precision. I guess what I am trying to ask is if there is something inherently bad in the shape of these pellets? Are domes standard now for airgun competition?
Of course, I am talking about short distances, when considering 25 yards and beyond other factors come into play.
Henry
Henry_TX,
Not B.B. but wadcutter pellets are used in 10M and other bullet paper target competitions because they cut better “marks” for reading with a Target Gage or other visual inspection. Given the move toward opto-acoustic targets and scoring systems we may see even the paper backup dropped some day…maybe in our lifetimes. Lol!
shootski
PS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadcutter
B.B.
Your “poor” shooting is better than my shooting on a good day.
You can tell, you have more practice than me….
-Yogi
Yogi,
Thanks for saying so, but remember — that rifle was resting on a sandbag.
BB
B.B.,
As long as you don’t rest yourself on the sandbags that is all to the good…
Isn’t that called sandbagging it? LOL!
shootski
“The FWB 300S put five JTS 8.7-grain domes into 0.15-inches at 10 meters.”
BB,
Thank you for that data point; that’s very impressive, and makes me think that I should try these pellets in all the airguns in which I am currently using JSB RS 7.33-grain domed pellets. 🙂
Blessings to you,
dave
B.B.,
After Midnight EDT…
Nothing heard, shootski Out!
It’s now Midnight here on the Left Coast, meaning that it’s 3 am back East. I have concern for the Blog, but far more- so for BB . . . are you OK Tom? Orv.