Canadian Airgun Forum

There seems to be a bit of a controversy and varying opknions on the better or lousy pellets for rodent hunting and target shooting. I have a Stoeger X20 GT that I bought for rodent extermination. I spent two afternoons and evenings hunting squirrels & rats using GAMO TOMAHAWK, pointed hollow points 177 pellets. They mushroom as advertised when the pellet initially hits bone and leaves a much larger exit hole i n the rodents skull.. The pellets seem to be very accurate at up to 30 meters; then begin to drift. Now that could be me, the gun or the pellets.

I would appreciate a little expertise on the subject.

Well if you ask me it comes down to distance and accuracy, using pointed pellets at 30yrd and over you won’t get much accuracy.
The Predator Polymags are probably up there when it comes to expansion and accuracy up to maybe 25-30yrd.

For me once I start shooting an longer distances I don’t think much beats domed pellets, get yourself some JSB Exacts those are the best.

Expansion is important but if you miss your impact point by 3-4 inches I’d take accuracy over expansion.

I’m sure the guys will chime in and you’ll get pointed to the right direction.

Good luck

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HW97
FX Impact

Yes! Agree with that, distance is also very important.

As I also replied your another post, use domed shape pellet , like JSB Exact, is very good for longer distance as you can aim at the upper body which is largerer and less moving than the head, so it's easier to shoot and the pellet usually can penetrate some critical organs at the same time...

I will always try the shooting as close as possible to make sure a good placement of pellet and more energy with the pellet when it arrive the target...

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Poly mags are good,out to 50-60 yds. Close 20-40 yds.I have been using Ultrashock,by JSB 22CAL.The Senca aren't to bad cheaper,but they're lighter wgt's 16 gr vz 26.4 ultrashock.my 02 worth..

If you're under 20 meters (15 is even better), wadcutters are devastating at 700 fps or faster. They perform like a hollow point on target and are usually more accurate. Very humane, and I miss less often at 15 meters than I do at 50. If the critters won't let you get that close, wadcutters are not a good choice.

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Theory is when you know how something works, but it doesn't.
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Two lathes and too many projects

I support the use of wadcutters, used properly you can't beat them. For hollow points, I have been getting good accuracy from h&n baracuda hunter extreme pellets out to 30 yards.

the best pellet for.hunting is the one that leaves the largest hole and does most soft tissue damage or what ever pellet expands the greatest on impact. depends on velocity and weight of pellet and range you are shooting at..what caliber and velocity do you shoot? usualy hollow points expand the best and are best for long medium and close distances and are pretty accurate so that should answer your question....

These are crosman hollow points at 52 yards on a 1" particle board 10 shots 1 in same hole wasnt really trying to be accurate. You see what expansion does when you flip the board. Last picture is one shot a pointed wad cutter.

Pointed wad cutter 52 yards same board

Yep~ wadcutter / flat nose pellets are really not for that kind of distance... From the pictures really proved this, the energy the flat nose had was even not enough to make it through the board and left enough damage...

According to chairgun, using R10 heavy 8.3g at 800fps, muzzle energy is 11.8fpe, and just 3.6fpe remains at 50 yards.

If using JSB Exact 8.4g at same speed, muzzle energy is 12fpe, and have 6.7fpe at 50 yards.

So that's the advantage of using domed shape pellets for long distance targets.

And in short distance (within 20 yards and closer is better), I agree wadcutter makes great damage! I proved that when shooting the pop cans, domed shape just penetrated through and wasted the energy which wadcutters just hit the compressed can so hard and pellet didn't go through. (hollow pointed will be similar)

_________________
~Plinkers~
FX-M3-22 Compact#PP700-Carbine#Diana48-177#XS28M-25@26fpe#HW45 Beast#AW-Custom Z-Killer DE
~Competitors~
FWB300SU#Tau-7#IZH-46M#FWB-65#CP88-C
~Target~
HW 30s/35e/97k/40+Extender/P3+Scope/70#CZ200s Laminated@10fpe#AA ProSport-177@12fpe

Ravenair, Going by your assessment of killing efficiency, what I see in this display is a bunch of pass throughs. Your hollow points probably just have more energy than the wadcutters at 52 yards, better ballistics. And particle board? A BB will blow that apart the same way.

Now, when you are hunting and want to kill humanely, you really aren't looking for a pass through. With pass throughs, you have insufficient expansion and energy transfer... Unless you're just plain over gunned.

The idea is, you want to find your bullet under the skin on the opposite side of your quarry. That is total energy transfer. Not only did you poke a hole through it, you also dumped all the energy into the target in the form of hydrostatic shock. With that you don't need much penetration. It shocks the whole nervous system. Also ruins meat.
This is actually one reason the military doesn't use hunting bullets. They aren't generally trying to kill people, more like mortally wound them. Costs the opposition more money and resources.

Ya looks like they both have pretty good stopping power with the wad cutter having the greatest energy dump hollow point would bleed the animal the quickest and probably ruin the meat were the wad cutter would probably stop it in its tracks. As for pass throughs yes they did pass through but also there is still an energy dump as it left massive holes....wad cutter probably is best for body shots while hunting....head shots hollow points may be better (messier)

No such thing as a pointed wadcutter.

95 times out of 100. the impact shock alone will kill small rodents (hence the comment above that wadcutters can be deadly at higher velocities and closer distances). Polymags are great for longer distances and bigger rodents (or small game), but otherwise domed pellets are just about "go to" for anything. Expansion is not an issue with these small critters. Go for the more accurate pellets.

Cheers.

I figured something like these
https://dlairgun.com/collections/h-n-pe ... eld-target

Definitely designed for field target use, me thinks. Dome head for airflow and straight ledge for punching clean holes