I got what will likely be my last chance to shoot at longer ranges for the year yesterday.... There was an inch of snow on the ground and by the time I got home my hands and feet were darned cold.... but I had a good day of testing.... The rifles were my Hatsan AT-44S long in .25 cal and my 2260 regulated HPA.... The Hatsan shoots 25.4 gr. JSB Kings at about 960 fps and the 2260 shoots 18.1 gr. JSB Exact Heavies at the same velocity.... I was shooting from a rifle rest on a bench, starting at 35 yards, moving to 50, then 75, and for the Hatsan, 100 yards (I ran out of targets and was too cold by the time I got past 75 yards with the 2260)....
My Hatsan AT-44S is the 9 shot repeater with the long barrel and reservoir, and is equipped with a 4-16 x 40 AO Leapers scope and a Hatsan air stripper.... The pellets tested in .25 cal were 25.4 gr. JSB Kings, 25.8 gr. Polymag Predators, 27.8 gr. Benjamin Sheridan Domed, 28.4 gr H&N Hunter Extremes, and 30.9 gr. H&N Baracudas.... In .22 cal, I shot 18.1 gr. JSB Exact Heavies, 18.2 gr. H&N Hunters, 19.1 gr. H&N Hunter Extremes, and 21.0 gr. H&N Barcudas.... These rifles are my long range hunters, so these were really the only choices based on Ballistics Coefficient as I want to maximize retained energy....
With the .25 cal Hatsan at 35 yards, the gun showed a clear preference for the JSB Kings (5 shots covered by a dime), followed by the Predators, then the Benjamin Domes (quarter sized groups), while the Hunter Extremes and Baracudas were already not able to keep 5 shots inside a quarter.... At 50 yards, 5 JSB Kings were still under a dime, the Predators were just under a quarter, the Benjamins had 4 under a dime with a flyer (I don't think it was me), The Hunter Extremes were four in about a quarter with a flyer (again, not me), and the Baracudas were well over a 2" group.... I didn't test them at 75 yards as a result.... The group below was shot with the JSB Kings at 50 yards.... I'm VERY impressed with the Hatsan barrel on my AT-44 long....
At 75 yards, the Kings and Predators were still doing the best, and the Benjamins and Hunter Extremes were now over 2".... At 100 yards (and by now I was getting cold) the JSB Kings and the Predator Polymags were both still hanging in at under 2" groups, but the Benjamin Domes had spread to 2.5" and the H&N Hunter Extremes were well over 3".... When I tested the Hunter Extreme pellets in my .25 cal QB 78 HPA a couple of weeks ago I noticed the same trend.... at over 50 yards, the groups started to open up significantly.... I'm guessing the Phillips head hollow point is destabilizing the pellet, causing that spread at longer ranges.... The only drawback to the Predators is that they are obviously losing velocity due to a poorer BC than the JSBs.... At 100 yards, they are hitting the target 4" lower than the Kings.... The Benjamins were in between for POI, about 2" lower than the JSBs....
My 2260 HPA is regulated at 1600 psi and has a 24" Crosman barrel, a repeater breech, and a 3-9 x 32 AO Leapers scope.... This is the rifle that I used to take nearly 100 ground squirrels this spring, so I know how it shoots with the JSB Exact Heavies.... At 35 yards, those and the H&N Hunters were shooting about dime size groups, while the Hunter Extremes and Baracudas were already bigger than a quarter.... At 50 yards, the JSBs were just over the size of a quarter, followed by the Baracudas, the Hunters, and once again the Hunter Extremes were starting to open up, 5 shots were at 2.75".... At 75 yards, the JSB Heavies put 5 shots into 1.25", the Baracudas were twice that, and both the Hunter and Hunter Extremes were 3.5 - 4".... Once again, I have to say that I'm not very impressed with the new heavyweight hollowpoints from H&N, either the Hunters or the Hunter Extremes.... They may have a devastating effect on game at close ranges, but in the three guns I have tested them in so far I wouldn't use them beyond 50 yards....
I continue to be impressed with the JSB Exact series of pellets.... I don't have a gun which doesn't shoot them well, and in fact nearly every gun I have shoots at least one weight of them better than anything else.... While I would really love to be able to use some of the heavier weight H&N pellets, unfortunately I haven't found a gun yet that shoots them as accurately as the JSBs.... Your results may differ, of course, and I would recommend that you test all of these pellets in any of your long range hunters.... Let us know how it goes, OK?....
Bob
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