Sometimes when the purchase of a new airgun is made, there will be a mystery begging to be solved. What ammo is its favorite? What brand? What weight? Pellet or slug? So many questions to answer! Answering those questions can require more of your wallet or bank account than you’re willing to give.
How Will You Know?
Each airgun may have different preferences for pellets or slugs. Some are extremely picky, while others can practically be fed any ammo and it will shoot well. Purchasing two, four, six, or twelve tins of pellets or slugs can get very costly, but if you don’t, how will you know?
The Air Venturi Avenge X is one that will send most any ammo type down range and stack appropriately! Not all airguns are created equally! What we need are more sample packs available. An ammo sample pack consists of several ammo options from a manufacturer. H&N Sport, JSB, and ZAN have a few offerings. The links, calibers and weights will be located at the bottom of this blog for further reference.
Variables In Play
The process it takes to find out what ammo you should stock up on varies with each air rifle. The twist rate, barrel length, velocity, and shooting distance all play a role in how well, or not, the piece of lead or alloy propels down range.
The faster the twist rate the more spin and stability it gives heavier and longer ammo, the slower twist rate is more suitable for lighter and shorter ammo. Knowing the twist rate of your barrel can help to narrow down your options.
Barrel length, distance, and velocity go hand in hand. The longer the barrel, the more energy produced for longer distant shots. If the air rifle has the ability to adjust the power, there is a higher chance it will shoot many types of ammo well when tuned for it.
Suggestions May Be the Answer
You can often find ammo suggestions included with each airgun. The Barra 250z in .22 have suggestions like JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo Heavy 18.13 Grain Pellets and that’s a great place to start. You may be able to stock up on the ammo suggested to put what may have been a mystery to bed, on the other hand, you may need to test other options.
How many shots make a group worth considering? A five shot group is sufficient but it is important to record a second or third witness. In other words two or three five shot groups should be a sufficient amount to decide if they deserve a place on the table.
Most pellet tins contain at least 250 pieces, does it make sense to purchase an entire tin to possibly only use ten or fifteen? No, it doesn’t! Especially when you could purchase a sampler and test several different types for the same price you paid for the other.
Do some research on your air rifle, find out what the twist rate is, so you can narrow down some of the options. Will you need a heavy sampler or a standard one?
Consistent Pressure
The best way to test ammo is to do so with the most consistent air pressure. If your rifle is regulated, stay above the reg pressure and you should be fine. If it’s not, the ability to stay tethered to an air source is extremely helpful to get consistent air pressure behind each shot.
Once you’ve narrowed down your airgun’s favorite ammo, you can stock up and know the ammo or your money didn’t go to waste. Happy shooting my friend and spend wisely!
Ammo Samplet Kits
| Samplers | Weights In Grains |
| H&N Sport Heavy Slug Sampler .217 & .218 | 30, 34, 36, 38, 40 |
| H&N Slug HP II Sampler .217 | 21, 23, 25, 27, 30 |
| H&N Slug HP II Sampler .249 | 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 |
| H&N Hunting Sampler .249 | 18.21, 16.2, 12.96 |
| ZAN Projectiles HP Slug .177 | 10, 13, 16, 20 |
| ZAN Projectiles HP Slug .217 & .218 | 20, 23, 25.5, 28, 30.5, 33, 36, 40 |
| ZAN Projectiles HP Slug .25 | 26.5, 28, 30, 33, 35, 37, 41, 45 |
| ZAN Projectiles HP Slug .30 | 45.5, 49, 54, 59, 63, 68 |
| NSA Slug Sampler .217 | 17.5, 20.2, 23, 24.8 |
| JSB Diabolo Sampler Testing Set .22 | 13.4, 15.9, 18.1, 25.4 |
| JSB Diabolo Sampler Testing Set .25 | 16.54, 25.3, 33.8, 33.9 |
| RWS Sampler Pack .177 | 6.9, 7, 8.2, 8.3 |
