Accuracy pellet vs bb ????

[Lee]

I've got a cheapie air gun, used for dispatching grackles. BB's so far, and accuracy is "loopable" if you know what I mean. Is it worth while to go with pellets? Would accuracy improve? Generic question, thanks for any opinions.... Lee

[Lead Fred]

My 20 cal Sheridan Silver Streak is the most accurate pellet gun Ive ever shot. I got rid of everything else.

BBs were not doing the trick on the birds that keep attacking my house. Pellets just knock them out of the sky (or wall)

[Dryball]

pellets for sure. If you go to Pyramid Air, when you buy 3 you get the 4th can free. JSB Exact kings are generally the most accurate in any caliber. Considering, of course, that expense/cost is subjective to the user.

[GhostHawk]

Hard to beat a Sheridan, although the new Crossman 1322 pistols come pretty close.

Personally I've never had much luck with the bb sized guns. .177 just doesn't seem to carry enough punch.

Granted I am biased towards the .20 or 5mm of the Sheridan, I know I am.

But in 30 years of shooting next to other people, who had .177's and early .22's nothing ever was a serious contender for a Sheridan Blue streak. None of them were as accurate, dependable, powerful all in the same package. Now it looks like enough folks have been aiming at that goal for long enough that the Sheridan is no longer king of the hill. Thats ok, it still does what I need it to do, and it does it with CLASS.

And yes Pellets weigh more so they hit harder all other factors being equal.

[Lee]

So, mine is a Crosman. Steel barrel, really sharp looking faux wood (plastic) stock and fore-end. 10 pumps for a dollar. You can see the BB's looping thru the air. Accuracy is barely OK. Minute of grackle. I'm cheap, not gonna buy pellets unless it might improve accuracy. So again, would a pellet be more accurate than a BB??
(I think so, but don't have the experience.) Thanks ..... Lee

[HARRYMPOPE]

I have a 760 and 2100 with rifled barrels that shoot BB's pretty well to about 20 yards. At 20y sometimes they shoot 1".The 760 is my wasp and bug garden guns and i shoot them alot. The 760 was shot mostly with BB's and its bore is pretty poor due to the steel beating the up the rifling. The 2100 though it shoots BB good i don’t do it as often as its bore is nice and it shoots pellets under 1" at 25 meters. The other 760 I have with good rifled barrel will also do this but the one shot out with BB is 2" or bigger groups at 25m.

[Lee]

Sounds like pellets might improve my score. Thanks all for the replys!

[badbob454]

yes a pellet will twist with the rifling bb's will destroy the rifling . if you have shot a lot , a pellet will only improve a little , a rifled pellet gun only, will shoot accurately,, like the difference of smooth bore to a rifled barrel.

[Smoke4320]

yes a pellet will twist with the rifling. bb's will destroy the rifling . if you have shot a lot , a pellet will only improve a little because of rifling wear, a rifled pellet gun only, will shoot accurately,, like the difference of smooth bore to a rifled barrel.

very correct

[mjwcaster]

Late to the party, but in my very limited experience pellets are definitely more accurate.
Had a crossman single pump AR style and in college I lived across from a Frat house.
With pellets (cheap whatever walmart had) I could hit the beer cans and cups in their yard with no problem, every time.
I'm not sure I ever hit what I was aiming at with BB's, not even sure why I tried them, must have just had some laying out one day.
Also the gun had been used almost exclusively with pellets as I grew up shooting it in my folks basement and BB's ricocheted too much, pellets just hit the concrete wall and stopped.

Matt

[Lonegun1894]

Pellets are a huge improvement if you haven't shot the rifling out by using BBs. After having used both, and seen the difference it makes both in accuracy and in the durability of the gun's barrel, I will gladly spend the little bit more to exclusively use pellets than the price of buying a new airgun every couple of years. Now for what it's worth, between 30minutes in the mornings before work watching for garden varmints, and maybe another 15-30 minutes in the evenings after work watching for rats around my shed, garden, and fence line, I take 5-10 pests every single day with a pellet gun, and that doesn't include a few practice shots every day, so maybe if you shoot less, you may not wear out a barrel using BBs, but you may also shoot a lot more than I do and wear it out quicker. LIke was also said, I wouldn't hesitate to use BBs out to 30 or so yards, but if that was my intent, I would get a cheap smoothbore BB gun instead of any kind of quality rifled pelletgun. I currently use a Benjamin/Sheridan 397 (.177), but miss my old Crossman 2100. Also had a .22 Crossman 2240 that was great also, and better for pests than the .177s, but I lost it in a trade that I shouldn't have made years ago.

[Texantothecore]

Bump for a noobie air gun shooter.

[Lead Bandit]

Try the pellets. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

[TCLouis]

Pellets for sure. I have never shot a BB that did not veer off to the left or right after traveling some distance. May be after grackle distance for you, but it seems like it was some 25-30 yards down range.

Trouble is finding the most accurate for your gun can be time consuming.

I have between 5-10 different brands/types of pellets and two shoot best out of my two grackle eliminators.

Like 22 LR ammo or CF reloads each gun has its preferences.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Pellets are more accurate period. Just like conical boolits are more accurate than round balls.

Pellet guns are NOT designed to shoot Steel BB's, the rifling is kind of delicate and shooting Steel BB's thru it will destroy the accuracy.

They are called Pellet guns, not BB guns.

Even the cheapest pellet gun made will outshoot virtually any BB gun. Also the pellets just hit harder simply because they are traveling faster and weigh more. They seal the bore better than a hard steel ball that can't upset to fill the rifling grooves.

Go to your local Sporting Goods store and spend $5.00 on a can of pellets. You should see the difference immediately.

Then, get back to us for other ways to spend your money.

Randy

[natty bumpo]

A good quality pellet rifle is arguably the MOST accurate short range weapon available. Far more accurate than a firearm can ever hope to be. A bb gun is for kids. Pellet rifles are for serious shooters.

[Multigunner]

Some Crosman 760 rifles have rifled bores others do not.

I replaced the smooth bore barrel of mine with a rifled barrel.

When it still had the smoothbore barrel it was a little more accurate when using pellets compared to when using BBs. The weight forwards design of air gun pellets helps stabilize them even without rifling.

With the rifled barrel its amazingly accurate for such a cheap gun with such a short barrel.

My Daisy 880 is pin point accurate at 25 yards. More one hole groups than not.

[54bore]

Pellets without a doubt! Try a few different brands, you will find one that shoots good! I have had EXCELLENT results with Crossman Premier

[GhostHawk]

No comparison, but then most BB guns are smoothbore. BB's are copper coated steel or a silver coating of some sort over steel. Fire them in rifled barrels long and your rifling is toast.

Even if you matched power levels, which with a multipump pneumatic is possible to at least come close. BB's will never be as accurate as a pellet. Just like as a general rule shotgun slugs through a smooth bore will never be as accurate as a rifle.

Leaving out everything but the barrel and projectile.

Pellets win every time. But like anything, everything has its uses and its place. Everything can do something. Me I think bb guns are best in lever action, for shooting thrown cans in the air on a summer eve. And with a little practice you can get fairly good with them.

But I have never seen even at 20 feet a bb gun put 3 into one hole. And I have several air rifles that will do that with pellets.

Buy a decent rifle, .22 preferably. Although 5mm or .20 works.

.177 is best for targets, paper, plinking. If you want to shoot something and have it drop, a .22 shooting a 14.3 gr pellet is double the weight, and at almost the same speed. Meaning it arrives with twice the energy, and a bigger hole.

Field Supply often has refurb guns at very reasonable prices. I have not heard any horror story's about these. Thus far every one I have heard about has been accurate and hit hard. Personally I lean towards the Hatsan guns. How do you go wrong with Turkish Walnut?

But then I also have a mid 70's Sheridan Blue Streak that has thousands of kills. Everything from Grackles to gophers, squirrels to rabbits. Never had to trail one. But then putting one in the brain box normally means DRT.

[lrdg]

yes a pellet will twist with the rifling bb's will destroy the rifling . if you have shot a lot , a pellet will only improve a little , a rifled pellet gun only, will shoot accurately,, like the difference of smooth bore to a rifled barrel.

Are you assuming he is using steel BBs?

just sayin' ~ http://www.nuclead.com/leadshot.html