The Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter.
This report covers:
- Weights
- The test
- Three warmup shots
- FWB 600
- Crosman Challenger 2009
- HW 30S
- Now for the pistols
- Beeman P1
- FWB P44
- Discussion
Today we test the Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter pellet for accuracy potential. I learned a few things in the last pellet test of the Podium Basic pellet that I will be using today and I’ll tell you what they are when we get there.
Weights
3 — 7.9-grains
1 — 8.0-grains
3 — 8.1-grains
1 — 8.2-grains
2 — 8.3-grains
The test
I shot three different rifles and two air pistols in this test. Two of the three rifles were 10-meter target rifles and one was a sporter. One of the pistols was a 10-meter target pistol, and one was a sporting pistol.
I shot all targets from 10 meters. I shot five pellets per group.
Three warmup shots
I pulled a shot in the last pellet test because I wasn’t ready for the light trigger so today I fired three warmup shots to get comfortable with the airgun.
I’ll describe the hold for each airgun as we go.
FWB 600
The FWB 600 target rifle is my most accurate target air rifle. It eclipses the FWB 300S by a small margin. In previous tests the FWB 600’s best 10-meter group was 0.043-inches for 5 RWS R10 Match Heavy pellets and the worst group was 0.117-inches.
I was shocked by the poor performance of the 600 in the Podium Basic test. So today I wondered what would happen. Have I lost the ability to shoot?
Today the FWB 600 that I rested directly on the sandbag put five Olympia Shot Match Middle wadcutter pellets into a 0.179-inch group at 10 meters. The group is well-centered on the target, though that doesn’t matter because I’m not adjusting sights; I’m just looking at the group size. It’s a large group for the 600 but at least it indicates that old BB can still shoot.
The FWB 600 put five pellets into a 0.179-inch group at 10 meters.
Crosman Challenger 2009
The Crosman Challenger 2009 was a good affordable youth-oriented target rifle. The previous best 10-meter Challenger group with my rifle was five JSB Simply wadcutters in 0.143-inches. The worst was H&N Finale Match High Speed, with five in 0.398-inches. Today the Challenger that I rested directly on the sandbag put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into a 0.295-inch group at 10 meters. So this pellet is about in the middle of where that rifle can shoot.
Crosman’s Challenger 2009 did well, with a 10-meter group measuring 0.295-inches between centers.
HW 30S
Next up is the HW 30S. I love this little rifle that is the German basis for the Beeman R7. But it did not seem to like the Olympia Match Middle wadcutter. Today the HW 30S that I rested directly on the sandbag put five pelletst into 0.911-inches at 10 meters. That doesn’t mean that the rifle is inaccurate. It just doesn’t work well with this particular pellet.
The HW 30S put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into a 0.911-inches group at 10 meters.
Now for the pistols
I removed the Webley Hurricane pistol that was used in the Podium Basic test and added a Beeman P1. That’s another new twist I put into the test. I thought it would give me a better group.
Beeman P1
The last time I tested this P1 rested was back in 2019. I got a best 5-shot 10-meter group that measured 1.166-inches between centers with Sig Match Ballistic Alloy pellets and a worst group that measured 2.199-inches with H&N Finale Match Light pellets. With the Olympia Match Middle pellets today five went into 1.871-inches between centers. I held the pistol in two hands that were rested on the sandbag. So this pellet is in the ballpark with other pellets in the P1. It’s just not the best.
The Beeman P1 put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into 1.871-inches at 10 meters.
FWB P44
Remember in the beginning I told you that I learned a few things shooting this pellet today? I’ve already addressed a couple of them but here comes the biggie. Give the accuracy we saw with the FWB 600 rifle I expected a similar result with the P44. It is my most accurate pellet pistol.
The P44 rested directly on the sandbag put five Olympia Match Middle pellets into 1.247-inches at 10 meters. That’s horrible for this pistol, but it’s not the strangest thing that happened.
Remember the three-shot warmups I was doing with each airgun? When I did one with the P44 I shot the target paper at the upper left corner. There was no aim point except the top left edge of the paper, so I held below that. Those three warmup shots went into a group that measures 0.458-inches between centers! Let’s look at both groups.
The FWB P44 put five Olympia match Middle pellets into a 1.247-inch group at 10 meters.
The three warmup shots that were fired with no aim point went into 0.458-inches at ten meters.
Discussion
I find the Olympia Match Middle wadcutter to be a fairly accurate pellet. It’s worth testing in your airguns because at a very reasonable price you get a target pellet that can hold it’s own with other premium wadcutters. I do note though that it seems not to work in some airguns that I know to be accurate. But at the price it’s worth a try.
B.B.
Some guns like um some guns don’t…
Since they are made in Poland, I do not believe that Poland is in the EU, do you know the tariff rate on Poland?
-Yogi
PS. When Inserting pellets did they all seem uniform in head size? Sometimes I believe that how they fit in the leade is more important than the actual weight.
So you support Big Pellet Gauge, Yogi?;)
????
-Y
Yogi,
Poland is in the EU.
The former Warsaw-pact country is also in NATO, one of many to have joined since U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion to Mikhail Gorbachev at the end of the Cold War.
Bob,
Yes they are. What threw me was they do not use the Euro currency. At least not yet…
I hope to visit there this summer.
-Y
Yogi,
As far as I could tell, these pellets were all uniform. The fit was semi-snug in the rfles and in the P1. In the FWB P44 they fit loose.
BB.
“…at least it indicates that old BB can still shoot.”
BB,
Yes, you still can shoot!…and much better than I can! 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
BB,
Since these are pretty new to the game, I should probably give them a try in my Izzy. It has been many years since I tried to feed anything else to her but RWS R10 pellets.
I should also try to get my grubby little hands on another ten-meter air rifle.
Yes, you can still shoot and yes, you still have fat fingers when you type. In the photo caption for the FWB 600, you hit the / instead of the . 😉
RR,
Fixed it. Thanks,
BB
RidgeRunner,
I think i need to try the RWS R10 pellets in my SIG ASP 20!
I had never shot any wadcutter pellets with it just the KnockOut Slugs and various round head pellets.
I needed to exercise the Gas Spring before month’s end in the .177 and grabbed an old tin of 8.2 grain Meisterkugeln and shot at my 30 yard vintage (handle is broken off) 4Lb Sledgehammer head target.
I believe they were just Sub Transonic with how fast they covered the 30…i will need to break out the LabRadar and get some numbers at various distances.
The Meisterkugeln were hitting the remaining wood in the hole and knocking it to pieces ;^)
That hole is pretty small at 30.
shootski
shootski,
In my Izzy, the RWS R10 is top dawg, even better than the best H&N pellets. Now this is at ten meters. What works best at longer ranges, I have no clue. I do not care. At longer ranges I break out one of my air rifles.
The BSA R10 SE is my top dawg right now. Trying four different pellets, I was getting one-hole groups at twenty-five yards. I am really looking forward to stretching that out to fifty, maybe this weekend.
I also need to invest in a suppressor for my .20 Condor. That thing is loud.
I have a new email account, whether I like it or not. goselyn2017atgmaildotcom Send me something so I can access you. My old stuff has shut down.
B.B.,
You wrote: Have I lost the ability to shoot?
Shouldn’t that properly have an EXCLAMATION MARK instead of a question mark ;^)
Nice shooting above my fellow shooting geezer.
shootski
BB
Off subject but there aren’t that many responses and it’s Thursday. Do you or any reader who has tested it care to share their opinion on leaving an unspent CO2 cartridge (88 mm) in a Umarex Komplete air rifle?
It is well known that this rifle is actually dual purpose in being able to shoot with either nitrogen or CO2. Ham review tests prove it and I use both in my Komplete .177 and .22 calibers. Accuracy is equivalent at reasonable ranges but velocity is far greater using nitrogen as expected. But CO2 delivers an incredible number of useful shots before a cylinder is exhausted. This lowers the cost of shooting to being very reasonable.
This gets back to my question. It isn’t practical for me, at least, to shoot 120 to 150 shots with any gun in one outing. I have too many airguns demanding their turn too. I’m hoping the greater hammer spring tension designed for nitrogen offsets the need to remove the CO2.
Any responses are appreciated.
PS: It is also well known that CO2 airguns that use 2 cartridges back to back like the Crosman 160, Beeman AR2078A and B have no problem leaving the unspent CO2 installed.
Deck
My completely uneducated opinion is that it would be fine to leave CO2 in the gun. CO2 would be likely half the pressure as N and it would keep your seals clean. However, I would consider that gun loaded as any obstruction or object that falls into the barrel becomes a potential projectile. A trigger lock would be advisable at a minimum, imho.
Roaming
Thanks for sharing your view on this and also the safety reminder. I will treat my Komplete rifles the same way as my other PCP’s. All are always under pressure. Also I am trained since childhood to consider all guns as being loaded, even when I know they are not.
Deck
Deck,
I will be testing a Komplete soon. But your question is bigger than just one airgun. So, it’s going to be a report.
BB
BB
Oh boy!
Deck
Decksniper,
Don’t own one but experience shooting CO2, Nitrogen, breathing air, and other gases in many different airguns.
The only issue i can think of is that IF the O-Rings are made of the type of rubber that gets saturated with CO2 you could have an O-Ring replacement (s) in your future. You could also go this route: https://inspireprecisionairguns.com/products/umarex-notos-cylinder-to-umarex-komplete-adapter
The high pressure compressed air will give you greater MV than pure Nitrogen according to the Gas Laws.
Even though breathing air has a high percentage of Nitrogen the Oxygen and other smaller gas molecules cut in front of the big N molecules to get out of the valve and barrel first; therefore air gives you higher performance.
shootski
Shootski
Thanks for the very informative response.
Deck
It’s May 1st and they have returned!
What, you say?
How about free targets?
Plus, they have the following features:
All natural!
Organic!
Bio-degradable!
Self regenerating!
High visibility color!
Reactive-no doubt when they are hit!
They appear at random ranges automatically!
Remember, they’re free!
What could they be?
They are Taraxacum officinale.
Better known as dandelions.
One more benefit.
No, dear. I can’t mow the grass until I finish weeding the darn dandelions. You know I don’t like to use chemical herbicides.
Roger,
My eyes deceived me and I had to read your comment twice. I first read it as the Latin term for “Tax Officials”
Siraniko
Next time I get audited, I will bring a bouquet for the Agent.