Report Abuse

“Can I preface matters with the obvious. No 2 guns are...”

Written on: 26/10/2007 by Steve22calibre (9 reviews written)

Good Points
They arrive with all the authority of the British ambassador at a diplomatic dinner.

Bad Points
A tad pricey

General Comments
Can I preface matters with the obvious. No 2 guns are the same & what works well in mine may not work so well with yours. However, I commend to you both the Air Arms Field & Hunter pellets & recommend you give them a try.

Most of you will have tried or at least be familiar with the Crosman Accupel & I will refer to them for comparative purposes, because if ever there was an industry standard for weight, shape, consistency & a compatibility to work well in most guns, the Accupel is it. However, I happen to think the AA's are even better!

AA Fields are a 16 grain smooth bodied pellet being slightly longer than the Accupels mostly by virtue of a slightly longer skirt & have a proper domed rather than just a rounded head. .The Accupels weigh in at 14.3 grains in case you wondered.

The AA Hunters are the pointed version (albeit that the points are somewhat blunt) & the conical point makes them about 1mm longer than the Fields.

Based on the amount of deformity seen in spent pellets the AA's are made of a softer alloy than the Accupels, the AA's having a tendency to flatten & deform whereas the Accupels compress without mushrooming out over much. A softer alloy will have a number of benefits including:-

1) Imparting shock & damage into live quarry. A pellet deforming on impact will make a bigger wound channel & increase the chance of an out right kill.

2) Less chance of over-penetration (if you think that's a bad thing)

3) Field target shooters have a better chance of a knock down.

4) Plinkers have less chance of a ricochet from a pellet that deforms on impact.

5) A longer pellet skirt in a softer alloy = makes a better seal & fit into the rifling in your barrel which produces more power & accuracy.

There has got to be an optimum weight for a pellet in a 12lb/ft gun. Too light, you get the velocity but not enough nock-down power. Too heavy & you lose a flat trajectory & velocity. IMHO the sweet spot is round about 16 grains & the AA's are right there!



Accuracy & consistency are the equal of the Accupel. The AA's tend to be an easier fit into the breach, with the Accupels being a fraction tight in more than one of my guns (that extra push with the thumb to get a pellet to seat just feels wrong)



There you have it. I could go on with the results of crude penetration tests but why bother? The short of it is if you want something that hits home harder than an Accupel & don't have an FAC rated gun that can cope with a pellet that is outrageously heavy (like a Bisley Magnum) then these AA's just about fit the bill.