"PBA" pellet gun ammo?

B

Buck268

Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
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I've noticed a lot of manufactures are starting to rate their pellet guns' velocity for PBA ammo. Sure does look sharp, but does it realy perform as well as they claim? Has anybody used it on game that can compare it to, say, a field point?

I have a Crossman, maybe the 1050 or something like that, and I've popped a few squirrels with it over the years, but it sure doesn't stop them in their tracks with the field tips. I doubt the semi-domes would do much better since its only .177cal and those buggers got some thick skin!
 
I used to shoot rabbits with my .22 caliber Benjamin pneumatic; it did an excellent job. I got several instant kills with the standard flat-nosed RWS pellets I was using.
 
I think the PBA ammo is much less dense than regular lead pellets. They don't weigh as much so you get impressive velocity, without necessarily getting that much more energy. Opinions may have changed, but in the past nobody wanted to break the sound barrier with an air rifle. The pellets supposedly become unstable because of the shock wave and accuracy suffers. Its better to shoot a heavier pellet and bring the velocity back down a little bit.

As far as pellet choices for small game or pest control, go with a flat nosed (wadcutter) or dome shaped pellet. The pointed pellets are like using FMJ's on big game, all penetration and relatively little damage.
For birds, a flat nosed pellet like a wadcutter is perfect. They dump all their energy and the feathers just fly all over. Pointed pellets tend to zip straight through and leave you with a wounded bird flopping away.
For squirrels and thicker skinned game, the dome type pellets are probably a little bit better. They kind of compromise and give better penetration than a wadcutter while still flattening out and doing some damage.

I mostly shoot Gamo brand pellets, and use the ones in a green tin. "Hunters" if I remember right. I've also had very good luck with the yellow tins.
 
Hey Guys..

I agree with Matt...

I also use an RWS hollow point pellet which is Very good...

Another problem to consider is that lighter pellets may damage the spring on high powered break barells...

I prefer a heavier pellet at a lower velocity. Heavy pellets zero better than lighter pellets for me in my RWS 350 Magnum...

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
So the PBA is lighter, eh? Thats interesting. I was looking at a chart in the cabelas catalog a while back and IIRC it showed the penetration of pba vs. pointed vs. wadcutter in balistic gel and the pba had almost double the penetration.
 
Look at the info listed with the actual pellets in the cabelas catalog. The green tin hunters I like to shoot weigh 8.3 grains in .177, while the PBA raptors only weigh 5.4 grains. I would guess that they might be a harder alloy than the other pellets, allowing them to penetrate better.Sort of how a steel BB will punch holes through things, but isn't really any good for hunting.
 
PBA is crap. It's a certain alloy that performs well at speed but horrible at everything else. You want to try and keep your velocities down under 1000 fps because the faster it goes the less stable it is (in .177). PBA ammo doesnt mushroom as well as lead and in my opinion it shouldnt be used in pellet guns. The rifling doesnt catch the PBA very well. I use 10.5 grain lead CP's in my RWS 48.
 
There are some lead free pellets that aren't ultralight. Scorpian Goldenrods are like 10grains. I read a write up on them on straightshooters.com. I haven't used them myself.

They seemed to like them fine for short range target\plinking. Mainly, I think they'd be good for indoor shooting to avoid lead issues, but not for hunting.
 
I shoot RWS flat tops or wadcutters great target ammo weight is 8.2 grams I do believe. I have also seen a heavier wad cutter from RWS that one would be better for hunting.
 
Yeah, I have used Crosman Premiers, RWS Superdomes and some random gamo's. My RWS 48 (Older version, the newer ones are produced by "rws" anymore) seems to like the CP's and the Superdomes. 8-10 gr seems to be what it likes. I have an older japanese made tasco on there, best scope you can get on a springer, they dont make em anymore. Japanese optics from that time are far better than some you can buy today, besides a leapers or something like that. Now, my brothers crosman pumpmaster likes the gamo's but its a cheapie gun anyways. My crosman quest 1000x seemed to like thw gamo's too, probably because theyre softer. I like domed pellets, but will never opt for PBA. It's just plain bad for a springer. Can't say theyd do bad in a pneumatic or pumper where theres no main spring or piston to ruin.
 
the pba ammo was created because when people look at airguns, they look at the velocity to decide how good it it. The really light ammo can get going really fast, so a company can make an airgun and advertise it as 1200fps or whatever. With powerful airguns, you're going to want to use heavier pellets, to keep the speed below about 900fps or so, because the pellets shape gets unstable when it goes above the sound barrier. The pba ammo is mostly useless, unless it's to get more penetration in a low powered gun.
 
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