GoingGreen

88 november 2013 | GUN MART

airguns | lead-free

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It is certainly a sign of the times. As with many product lines for the centrefi re and shotgun

rifl e industry the airgun world has now an alternative to the accursed toxic lead pellet! The worry about toxicity may be founded, but synthetic or non-lead pellets are nothing new –Prometheus have been around for decades now.

Lead pellets were chosen because they were the best choice at the time, so let’s see if the new breed of pellets solve the ‘toxic issue’ and can actually perform, and not be the chocolate teapot of the airgun industry.

GM

11.1

4/15

1a/r

Bruce Potts puts a selection of lead-free pellets to the test…

Air Arms Prosport in .177 and a Venom tuned HW77 in .22 were used in the tests

The Air Arms Propsport in .177 cal was 50/50 in its lead-free likings

The .177 pellet line up, left to right: FTT Lead, FTT Green, Baracuda Green, HyperDome, HyperMax, RWS Hyper Velocity, Gamo Power, Dynamic SN1, Promethus Z1

89GUN MART | november 2013

lead-free | airguns

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weighed each calibre per brand (an average from fi ve pellets) then measured the head and skirt dimensions as well as length. I then checked velocity, energy and fi nally accuracy.

The brandsFirst up were the H&N FTT Green. The Field Target Trophies

are a great pellet that in lead weight 8.6gr in .177 and 14.8gr in.22 respectively. In the H&N FTT Green lead-free confi guration they weigh 5.6gr in .177 and 9.4 grains in .22. Overall length is 6.02mm in .177 and 6.52mm in .22 but their domed classic waisted design is the same.

The H&N Barracuda is another classic H&N design, heavier than the FTT`s with .177 at 6.4gr and 12.4gr in 22 cal. Overall length is 6.62 and 8.63mm respectively.

RWS too have now bought out two lead-free variants, the Hyperdome and Hyper Max. The Hyperdome is a classic domed waisted pellet (like the RWS Superdome) now weighing 5.4gr in .177 and 10.8gr in .22. The Hyper Max has a pointed design (like the RWS Superpoint) and weighs 5.6 grains in .177 and 10.8 grains in .22. Overall length for both are 6.94mm in .177 and 8.24mm in .22 cal.

A couple of extras were the GAMO Power pellets, these are gold-plated lead-free designs and were the lightest tested. I only had .177 to test and these weighed only 5.0gr with an overall length of 6.43mm.

The Dynamic SN1 from Prometheus in .177 and SN2

ChoiceMost non-toxic pellets are either a single component and profi le as its lead pellet brother, i.e. H&N Field Target Trophys (FTT) but made from a Zinc alloy, or they are made in two parts from a compressible synthetic body with an alloy head section like Paragon and Prometheus types. What is common to both is that the weight for the size of each calibre is lighter than its lead counterpart, i.e. FTT lead weighs 8.6gr in.177 and 14.8 gr in .22 but only 5.6 gr in .177 and 9.4gr in .22 for their non-lead equivalents. True you can achieve some higher velocities with these lighter lead free pellets but velocity is not everything, whereas accuracy and consistency are.

I sourced most of the available pellets from Mark at C H Weston`s of Brighton (01273 326338) and the rest from www.uttings.com. I

The Venom HW77 in .22 cal really loved the lead-free pellets

.22 lead free pellet selection on test

.177 lead free pellet selection on test ▲

GM11.14/151b/ra

90 november 2013 | GUN MART

airguns | lead-free

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▲

Pellet Weight Grains Head diameter Skirt diameter Overall length mm mm mmH&N FFT Lead .177 8.6 4.43 4.57 5.89 H&N FFT Lead .22 14.8 5.52 5.67 6.85H&N FTT Green .177 5.6 4.48 4.61 6.02H&N FTT Green .22 9.4 5.50 5.70 6.52H&N Barracuda Green .177 6.4 4.49 4.62 6.62H&N Barracuda Green .22 12.4 5.49 5.59 8.63RWS Hyper Dome .177 5.4 4.45 4.60 6.15RWS Hyper Dome .22 10.8 5.47 5.65 7.70RWS HyperMax .177 5.6 4.49 4.65 6.94RWS HyperMax .22 10.8 5.46 5.68 8.24Dynamic SN1 .177 8.0 4.43 4.75 7.32Dynamic SN2 .22 12.8 5.52 5.75 8.01Prometheus Z1 .177 6.6 4.44 4.69 8.68Paragon Z2 .22 12.0 5.50 5.45 9.53Gamo Power .177 5.0 4.46 4.60 6.43RWS Hyper .177 5.8 4.45 4.53 9.18

Pellet Velocity fps Energy ft/lbs Accuracy at 25 yardsH&N FFT Lead .177 791 11.95 0.62H&N FFT Lead .22 591 11.48 0.39H&N FTT Green .177 980 11.95 0.53H&N FTT Green .22 727 11.03 0.58H&N Barracuda Green .177 874 10.86 0.87H&N Barracuda Green .22 632 11.0 0.69RWS Hyper Dome .177 978 11.47 1.11RWS Hyper Dome .22 649 10.10 0.45RWS HyperMax .177 916 10.44 2.03RWS HyperMax .22 702 10.84 0.51Dynamic SN1 .177 828 12.18 0.58Dynamic SN2 .22 630 11.28 0.67Prometheus Z1 .177 839 10.32 1.31Paragon Z2 .22 660 11.61 0.71Gamo Power .177 1004 11.19 0.92RWS Hyper .177 950 11.63 2.7

SPECIFICATION TABLE

PERFORMANCE TABLE

in .22 weighed 8.0gr and 12.8gr respectively, so more like the lead counterparts. They have an all alloy body and domed profi led point with splayed out skirt.

The next were synthetic pellets, the RWS Hyper, again I only had .177 cal and these weighted 5.8gr but were made of a compressible rear section topped off with a pointed alloy head.

The other synthetic pellets that made up the test were the Paragon and Prometheus, both made by Prometheus. The Prometheus Z1 in .177 and the Paragon Z2 in .22 had synthetic base and separate alloy domed head. In .177 weighing 6.6gr and in .22 12.0gr. I used a control sample of good old lead FFT pellets in both pellet calibres to give a comparison between lead and non-lead pellets.

ResultsI used an Air Arms ProSport rifl e in .177 and a Venom HW77 in .22 Calibre. See Specifi cation and Performance tables.

Pro/ConsLead is used for airgun pellets for a reason; it grips the rifl ing and deforms into the barrel dimensions and has enough weight for continued momentum. It`s interesting to see from the results that there is a complete spread of what works and what does not!

The control FTT`s lead, shot 0.62- and 0.39-inch fi ve shot groups at 25 yards from the .177 ProSport and Venom HW77 respectively. From then on in it was obvious the .22 non-lead were far more accurate than the .177 equivalents. The control .22 FTT`s lead shot 591fps for a healthy 11.48ft/lbs as expected from the Venom.

Best .22 non lead pellets for accuracy were the RWS Hyper Domes with a lovely tight 0.45-inch cluster of fi ve pellets although power was 649fps for 10.10ft/lbs. Second best were the RWS Hyper Max at 702fps for 10.84ft/lbs and 0.51-inch groups. Third were the H&N FTT Green with

0.58-inch 25 yard groups at a velocity of 727fps for 11.03ft/lbs.

In fact the largest group from the .22 non-lead pellets was only 0.71-inch which is still very good, that Venom really shoots! The .177 pellets did not fare so well, in fact they were very erratic.

The control FTT`s lead pellets shot 0.62-inch groups at 25 yards from the Pro Sport which is normal for this pellet from this rifl e. Velocity was typical at 791fps and generated 11.95ft/lbs energy.

Best .177 non-lead pellet were the H&N FTT Green at a

velocity of 980fps and 11.95ft/lbs and nice 0.53-inch fi ve shot groups. Now the tests go pear shaped as the second best were the Dynamic SN1 that although gave 0.58-inch groups shot too high a velocity of 828fps for 12.18ft/lbs not good. So check them over a chrono before taking them out with your own rifl e.

Third up were the H&N Barracuda Green at 874fps and 10.86ft/lbs but 0.87-inch groups.

All other pellets did not work in the Prosport. See the chart as the groups were very erratic from 0.92- to 2.7-inch groups!

ConclusionsWell, there are the results. Personally I am sticking to the lead pellets until some bureaucrat tells me not to! But in these tests the .22 non-lead pellets seem far more accurate than the .177 versions. Best accuracy went to the control group .22 lead FTT pellet at 0.39, but the .22 RWS Hyper Domes were not far behind at 0.45.

Next time I will check down-range performance in ballistic putty and zero at differing ranges to see if some of those higher velocities can compensate for accuracy issues. GM

.22 pellet line up, left to right: FTT Lead, FTT Green, Baracuda Green, Hyperdome, Hyper Max, Dynamic SN2, Promethus Z2