Edgun Pellet Sorting – anyone do this? I will soon.
I have some observations to share. First, I’m happy to report that my Edgun loves to bring the heat. I played with the spring tension like crazy today, shooting 20 shot groups at various speeds to get a true feel for accuracy. And the winner was 950fps! No kiddin’.
This makes for a hell of a shot trajectory. I’m able to hold on the 5th dot at 16x at 100 yards. And I can simply hold on target (1″ kill zone) from 15 to 55 yards. That is pretty crazy.
Next, I’d like to ask who among the “old” Edgun owners sorts their pellets. I ask because I’ve noticed a distinct trend with this gun. It sends a “flier” every 5-10 shots. No, it’s not a true flier. Rather, a pellet that is just a bit off MOA accuracy. Yes, the gun is still capable of putting up a “lucky” 5 shot group. But 4 on target and one “off” is more likely. And a “lucky” 10 shot group rarely ever happens.
(Below are some photos to illustrate).
In an attempt to better understand why this is happening, I’ve been paying close attention to how the pellet enters the chamber. Some slide right in with absolutely NO resistance. Some catch a tiny bit. And some catch a bit more. None of them enter “rough” (like Kodiaks).
And from what I could gather from the little data I had, it seemed that the pellets that entered the easiest shot the best. I have a set of calipers on order, and intend to sort out a whole tin of JSB’s to see if my gun really likes the “skinnier” pellets. Of course, I’ve not ruled out that I am the one to blame.
I’ll have more to come on this topic in the coming weeks. But, for now, I request that anyone who has sorted pellets for their Edguns please tell us their experience.
What about you, Ed (if you are reading this). Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Ted
25 Yards – 10 shots – JSB 18’s. Nine shots stacked up and one “flier”.
50 Yards – 5 shots – JSB 18’s. Four shots close and one “flier”.
100 Yards – 5 shot and 10 shot groups – JSB 18’s
All Replies
Man, the 18’s are looking good enough to win a bet.
Ted, Great info and good shooting.
I have a Chrony, scope mounts, a new scope and a long version .25 cal Matador all in transit right now. I have a good supply of pellets. Today I was thinking that I am set for the forseeable future and there is nothing that I want/have to buy.
Damnit, now I need to order a scale! I guess this stuff truely never ends!
Good job Ted, you have got it dialed in……
Made it to the range today before the rain came down. Wind was 5mph from the west (our backs), and swirling a bit as it came over the bunkers.
So, you want to know if sorting pellets worked, or if I wasted my time, but you are too lazy to read a lot? Okay, here’s the short answer:
Sorting pellets had a measureable effect on tightening groups. It also decreased the total number of fliers. It almost completely eliminated the “little” fliers (about one in 10 pellets). But, it did not eliminate the occasional “big” flier (about 1 in 50 pellets).
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I sorted 500, 18g JSB Jumbos, and weighed them on my $15 eBay scale. Results are as follows:
17.9g – 10 pellets
18.0g – 80 pellets
18.1g – 150 pellets
18.2g – 200 pellets
18.3g – 60 pellets
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After I “warmed” up by putting 50 or so pellets through the barrel, I shot the first 50 yard, experimental group with sorted pellets.
I next shot the control groups – unsorted pellets – 5 shots at each 1″ circle.
Finally, I shot a second set of experimental group with sorted pellets.
Preliminary conclusions is that sorting matters. And that the “extreme” weights (17.9g and 18.3g are the least accurate). With the exception of the one flier from the 18.1g group (first round of sorted groups), all sorted pellets from 18.0g to 18.2g shot 1/2″ ctc or less. A couple groups were 3/8″ ctc, and one was 1/4″.
I shot all of the 17.9g pellets, but still have enough of the others to do some further testing on a different date.
I managed to get over to the 100 yard range, but the range was going to close in 10 minutes, so I had to rush the shots. Also, the guys flanking me on both sides were shooting high power rifles, and 3-4 people were walking the area behind me, “wiggling” my setup (at 100 yards, it was very noticeable. The groups at 100 yards were 1.25″ to 1.75″ (about the same as previous unsorted trials). But, I am not including them in this experiment as the conditions were not the same as they were at the 50 yard range.
Walter Riddle, from the Yellow forum, was on site with me, and witnessed all groups being shot.
Ted
you can measure them like that, i do it all the time.dont know what kind of calipers you use , but mine work fine .be easy on em
there was a guy on the yellow or some where that i read about that would take his pellet and had a clip board or something layed out at a slight angle with a piece of paper marked ,
one straight edge up and down and the other side to side, put the pellets on the paper in the same place on the one straight up and down and let them roll down to the bottom, and you can sort by how big around they are, by where they arch down and mark a range . and you can check roundness,
it works , i have played with it a little, enought to see how well it worked.
something to play with any way,give it a try
mussolini, Let a man have a go at something before slapping him around with doubt. 😉
I’ve considered the obstacles of the softness of lead and precision required for such an undertaking. And that is why I’ve purchased a set that I believe give me a decent shot at achieving my goal.
hehe, no problem…you can give it a try but I have the same calipers and cannot reach any meaningful conclusion when measuring pellets.
Weighing them is a different story though and allows you to discard the ones out of tolerance.
Another thing to do is to roll them on a mirror and see if they are concentric.
mussolini, Let a man have a go at something before slapping him around with doubt. 😉
I’ve considered the obstacles of the softness of lead and precision required for such an undertaking. And that is why I’ve purchased a set that I believe give me a decent shot at achieving my goal.
Since I’m going to the range on Sunday, I still wanted to be able to do some kind of experiment. So, I sorted a tin of 250 JSB 18’s by weight. About 50% registered on my scale as 18.2g. 30% were 18.1g. 12% were 18.0g. And 8% were 18.3g. There was also one pellet that weighed in at 17.8g – a real oddball.
I have enough of each to do a few groups at 50 and 100 yards. I will compare the groups against a control (unsorted pellets).
I’ll have results posted on Sunday night.
The next test will be sorting by head diameter. I’ll get to that when my calipers arrive.
Ted
I doubt very much you will be able to sort lead pellets using calipers…lead is too soft to be measured like that and simply deforms when you close the calipers…best to sort them by weight and do a skirt inspection too.
I was expecting my calipers today – but they didn’t show up.
Since I’m going to the range on Sunday, I still wanted to be able to do some kind of experiment. So, I sorted a tin of 250 JSB 18’s by weight. About 50% registered on my scale as 18.2g. 30% were 18.1g. 12% were 18.0g. And 8% were 18.3g. There was also one pellet that weighed in at 17.8g – a real oddball.
I have enough of each to do a few groups at 50 and 100 yards. I will compare the groups against a control (unsorted pellets).
I’ll have results posted on Sunday night.
The next test will be sorting by head diameter. I’ll get to that when my calipers arrive.
Ted
Iv’e never had an EDgun but I can tell you that Iv’e always had occasional flyers with all of my other guns. I figured it was just the nature of the beast. But then my Airwolf MCT arrived. I can honestly say that that gun never had a flyer. NEVER , not even one! It shot the same with Barracudas and jsb 18Gr. I even tried a couple of magazines loaded with deformed pellets…did not matter. They would just stack at 50 yds. I’m not exagerting either. My wife who is not really a shooter could lay down dime sized 10 shot groups consistantly. I should have sold her a kept the rifle 😛 .
Would the edgun maybe be better for long range groups if you didn’t fill it all the way up, maybe find a sweet spot for the regulator and get it even more consistent shots.
Then top off after 2 or 5 groups.??
what i am after is , is there a spot in the pressure range where the edgun is more accurate or more consistent for long range accuracy.
If the weather cooperates down here, I will try some different PSI’s in
my 88cu ft tank connected to my Matador and see if I can see any
variation in accuracy at say 100PSI differentials starting at 3,000psi….
Wow thanks , i have been wanting to ask about fliers with the edgun,if or how often.
Trying to figure out if the fliers i get with the condor are pellet, pressure variation , or rifle,with my groups. really irritating when you get 3 or 4 pellets in same hole and the next is out of the group.
Would the edgun maybe be better for long range groups if you didn’t fill it all the way up, maybe find a sweet spot for the regulator and get it even more consistent shots.
Then top off after 2 or 5 groups.??
what i am after is , is there a spot in the pressure range where the edgun is more accurate or more consistent for long range accuracy.
That’s some sweet groups Ted, cant imagine getting much better, but that doesn’t keep us from trying does it.
Eh Ted,
I’d be happy with groups like that. 😀 I look forward to your reviews and thoughts on pellet sorting.
950??????? 😯 And still holding the group? 😯 Never thought of going up in velocity. Might have to try that route. 😀
Again thanks for an interesting topic.
Aloha,
Mark
Ted, I get the fliers also. They really kill the bragging rights! If you stop and look at them though, all of those shots would hit a starling at 100 yards.
I go out to the local 100 yard gun range and shoot my Edgun and Royale. The Edgun averages smaller groups and everybody is Ga Ga over the Royale, because it is so accurate. I get a kick out of the powder burners at the gun club. When I start shooting, they want to know what I have. When I start to tell them they say oh, you mean a pellet gun. I just say, yeah just a pellet gun.
When we walk down to get our targets, the pb guys will compare groups. Somebody always asks to see mine. Mine are usually as good if not better. Then everybody wants to check out my Edgun. I hear a lot of, I didn’t know they made something like that. They get turned off by the price. Then I tell them that I live in the city, have a 32 yard range in my backyard, and can go through a 500 pellet tin in a day no problem. I ask them how much they get to shoot. None of them shoot 500 shots in a month, much less a day.
Sorry to ramble, back to the point, those groups are fine for shooting starlings at 100 yards. They would work for pigeons out to 150 yards, at least. The Edgun was made for hunting. Or at least shooting pigeons out of cars in Russia!
Tedd
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Love this post. As a new owner if a .22 FX Royale I’m stoked at it’s ability to shoot 4 pellet dime sized groups, but then 9 out of 10 targets I get one pellet that is outside of the dime, so that all 5 aren’t in that tight bunch we all dream of. The Royale is soooo much better than my Marauder though, I just don’t shoot the Marauder anymore…. anyone want a .177 Marauder… cheap! After reading this post I’m going to have to start saving for a .22 Edgun.
Thanks for the research. Going to have to do some sorting to see if I can get all five to stack at 50 yards.
Don