20 cal predator poly mags. good or gimmick?

[Bayman]

Some of you may have seen I got another post running debating switching my 20 Cal Beeman RX1 to 22 cal to use hunting pellets for hunting primarily squirrels. The only hunting pellets Ive found in 20 cal are the Predator Poly mags. I never tried them because they strike me as an expensive gimmick. My question is this, are there better hunting pellets in 22 cal than the 20 cal poly mags? I'm trying to determine cost/ benefit of switching to 22. Not that it should matter for a gun I don't shoot much but 20 cal pellets are more expensive than 22. Not to mention more difficult to find than 22. If you're not familiar with this gun its basically a 19-20 fpe springer break barrel.
Thanks

[Motorhead]

Likely many will agree with this statement ..... The best Hunting pellet is generally the most accurate one !
When it comes to squirrels they die just fine being accurately shot with a dome pellet, saying if shot placement is good you have a dead squirrel.

As too polymags ?  in general pretty safe to say an AWESOME pellet that tears up the target very well at CLOSER RANGES but does not hold it's accuracy as you go further out ( generally found 40 yards and under about it )

 Scott

[Bayman]

Likely many will agree with this statement ..... The best Hunting pellet is generally the most accurate one !
When it comes to squirrels they die just fine being accurately shot with a dome pellet, saying if shot placement is good you have a dead squirrel.

As too polymags ?  in general pretty safe to say an AWESOME pellet that tears up the target very well at CLOSER RANGES but does not hold it's accuracy as you go further out ( generally found 40 yards and under about it )

 Scott

Yeah you're right, they die just fine with domes. My placement is usually good and recover most everything. I'm not saying I'm a perfect shot but I'm man enough to admit I don't get them all. Anyway I guess I'm just looking for that "magic bullet" that plants them right there. I'm just not a fan of crawlers. If there's a way to reduce my percentage of crawlers, I would like to. I generally use powder burners for hunting purposes but there's times when the air rifle is better for the circumstances or already in hand when opportunities arise. Because of this, to this day my little Hw30 has more notches on it's belt than anything else I own. Yes its only a 8fpe gun but with regular domed pellets it wrecks bushy tails and bunnies to 20 sometimes 30 yards with head shots. With head shots they flip all over the place and "die just fine", but its gruesome. I have tried to switch to double lung body shots to eliminate the flailing around. Unfortunately that gun gets too many runners with body shots. I've stepped up to my Hw50 and 95 to try to plant them in their tracks with body shots. Those guns get complete pass throughs and while the squirrels die just fine, I still get some runners, albeit a lesser amount. I want to hit them where they deflate where they stand 100% of the time. It may not be possible with any rifle much less a spring powered air rifle.

[Motorhead]

Likely many will agree with this statement ..... The best Hunting pellet is generally the most accurate one !
When it comes to squirrels they die just fine being accurately shot with a dome pellet, saying if shot placement is good you have a dead squirrel.

As too polymags ?  in general pretty safe to say an AWESOME pellet that tears up the target very well at CLOSER RANGES but does not hold it's accuracy as you go further out ( generally found 40 yards and under about it )

 Scott

Yeah you're right, they die just fine with domes. My placement is usually good and recover most everything. I'm not saying I'm a perfect shot but I'm man enough to admit I don't get them all. Anyway I guess I'm just looking for that "magic bullet" that plants them right there. I'm just not a fan of crawlers. If there's a way to reduce my percentage of crawlers, I would like to. I generally use powder burners for hunting purposes but there's times when the air rifle is better for the circumstances or already in hand when opportunities arise. Because of this, to this day my little Hw30 has more notches on it's belt than anything else I own. Yes its only a 8fpe gun but with regular domed pellets it wrecks bushy tails and bunnies to 20 sometimes 30 yards with head shots. With head shots they flip all over the place and "die just fine", but its gruesome. I have tried to switch to double lung body shots to eliminate the flailing around. Unfortunately that gun gets too many runners with body shots. I've stepped up to my Hw50 and 95 to try to plant them in their tracks with body shots. Those guns get complete pass throughs and while the squirrels die just fine, I still get some runners, albeit a lesser amount. I want to hit them where they deflate where they stand 100% of the time. It may not be possible with any rifle much less a spring powered air rifle.

Again ACCURATE PLACEMENT is key and more accurate the rifle / pellet combo your shooting, better becomes your odds of DRT.

Few years ago shot a BIG jackrabbit in our backyard with a 32 ft lb .22 PCP doing body shots, each shot which was IIRC only @ 25 yards were pass threw with Dirt flying up behind the target giving the opinion they were misses !
In all 3 shots taken at @ same POA until the Jack finally hopped a few times and fell over dead.  Likely it was dead on his feet the first shot not realizing it, took a second with nary a flinch followed with a third causing him to hop a few times until succumbing to the fact he was mortally wounded.    Oddest darn thing ever witnessed in taking game I've seen in some time.

have also come to a conclusion that if you can actually KEEP THE PELLET inside the animal it creates more trauma / shock when doing body shots.  Heads shots don't matter, scrambled eggs is ... scrambled eggs 

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Ron

I have had squirrels run with upper body heart lung shots using 22 cal hunting pellets. 
Not Polly Mags but Gamo Redfires and such.
I even have had squirrels run after being hit in the chest with 25 cal. domed pellets.
Not so with head shots...... they flop some... but they do not run away.

These are the 22 cal rifles that I hunt with. 
I am not sure how they would match up, power wise, to your much higher quality Beeman RX1 rifle.

22 cal. Walther Talon Magnum (Hatsan 125) Spring Piston 
22 cal. Crosman Summit Ranger NP2 Gas Piston
22 cal. Hatsan Edge Vortex Gas Piston




I have some 20 cal. Poly Mags for my silver streak but I have not tried them out yet.
I also have some 22 cal Hades pellets that I have not tried out too.



Best Wishes - Tom

[Bayman]

Likely many will agree with this statement ..... The best Hunting pellet is generally the most accurate one !
When it comes to squirrels they die just fine being accurately shot with a dome pellet, saying if shot placement is good you have a dead squirrel.

As too polymags ?  in general pretty safe to say an AWESOME pellet that tears up the target very well at CLOSER RANGES but does not hold it's accuracy as you go further out ( generally found 40 yards and under about it )

 Scott

Yeah you're right, they die just fine with domes. My placement is usually good and recover most everything. I'm not saying I'm a perfect shot but I'm man enough to admit I don't get them all. Anyway I guess I'm just looking for that "magic bullet" that plants them right there. I'm just not a fan of crawlers. If there's a way to reduce my percentage of crawlers, I would like to. I generally use powder burners for hunting purposes but there's times when the air rifle is better for the circumstances or already in hand when opportunities arise. Because of this, to this day my little Hw30 has more notches on it's belt than anything else I own. Yes its only a 8fpe gun but with regular domed pellets it wrecks bushy tails and bunnies to 20 sometimes 30 yards with head shots. With head shots they flip all over the place and "die just fine", but its gruesome. I have tried to switch to double lung body shots to eliminate the flailing around. Unfortunately that gun gets too many runners with body shots. I've stepped up to my Hw50 and 95 to try to plant them in their tracks with body shots. Those guns get complete pass throughs and while the squirrels die just fine, I still get some runners, albeit a lesser amount. I want to hit them where they deflate where they stand 100% of the time. It may not be possible with any rifle much less a spring powered air rifle.

Again ACCURATE PLACEMENT is key and more accurate the rifle / pellet combo your shooting, better becomes your odds of DRT.

Few years ago shot a BIG jackrabbit in our backyard with a 32 ft lb .22 PCP doing body shots, each shot which was IIRC only @ 25 yards were pass threw with Dirt flying up behind the target giving the opinion they were misses !
In all 3 shots taken at @ same POA until the Jack finally hopped a few times and fell over dead.  Likely it was dead on his feet the first shot not realizing it, took a second with nary a flinch followed with a third causing him to hop a few times until succumbing to the fact he was mortally wounded.    Oddest darn thing ever witnessed in taking game I've seen in some time.

have also come to a conclusion that if you can actually KEEP THE PELLET inside the animal it creates more trauma / shock when doing body shots.  Heads shots don't matter, scrambled eggs is ... scrambled eggs 

Scrambled eggs gets em every time! Just isn't pretty. And I agree I don't think pass throughs aren't necessarily good. Id rather a bullet or pellet expand,take the animal off its feet and turn it's innards to mush than have it pass through like a lazer beam and leave em standing there wondering what just happened. I'm seriously considering just switching over my 177 guns (mentioned early) to wad cutters. As a teenager I used to wreck a lot of critters with them. You could hear the pellet wallop the critter.

[Bayman]

Ron

I have had squirrels run with upper body heart lung shots using 22 cal hunting pellets. 
Not Polly Mags but Gamo Redfires and such.
I even have had squirrels run after being hit in the chest with 25 cal. domed pellets.
Not so with head shots...... they flop some... but they do not run away.

These are the 22 cal rifles that I hunt with. 
I am not sure how they would match up, power wise, to your much higher quality Beeman RX1 rifle.

22 cal. Walther Talon Magnum (Hatsan 125) Spring Piston 
22 cal. Crosman Summit Ranger NP2 Gas Piston
22 cal. Hatsan Edge Vortex Gas Piston




I have some 20 cal. Poly Mags for my silver streak but I have not tried them out yet.
I also have some 22 cal Hades pellets that I have not tried out too.



Best Wishes - Tom

Thanks Tom,
Good information. Makes me feel like it's just not me. And btw the quality of a rifle has no bearing on the effectiveness of a shot. I'm sure you do just fine with yours. Fancy stuff is nice but it doesn't make up for talent or experience.
Thank you for your input
Ron

[DLP]

All I shoot in my R-10 .20cal are the Polymags. I always shot the boxed Premiers durning FT. But when the PMs came out I switched. They are just as accurate out of MY gun as any other pellet I have tried. And I have just about every .20cal pellet ever made. There is also something to say about the wallop sound when they hit. If you want to try some, let me know and I will send some your way. Darrell

[Bayman]

All I shoot in my R-10 .20cal are the Polymags. I always shot the boxed Premiers durning FT. But when the PMs came out I switched. They are just as accurate out of MY gun as any other pellet I have tried. And I have just about every .20cal pellet ever made. There is also something to say about the wallop sound when they hit. If you want to try some, let me know and I will send some your way. Darrell

Thank you Darrell. That's a very kind offer. I'll splurge and try them based on what you said. I can afford to try them. I just needed to hear from someone using them. You are using them for hunting? Just to be clear.
Thanks

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Ron

Here are a few of my squirrel hunting posts with 177, 20 & 22 calibers. 
Some shots were done with hunting pellets and some with domed pellets.
There are some that were head shots and some were body shots.
Some squirrels dropped on the spot, some ran a little and some ran quite far.

A. The Domed pellets were 117 cal. H&N 8.5gr. Sniper Medium Domed Pellets   -   20 cal. JSB Exact 13.73 Domed Pellets.

B. The Hunting pellets were 22 cal. Gamo 15.4 gr Red Fire Hunting pellets   -   22 cal Crosman 14.3 gr Destroyer Hunting pellets   -  117 cal. (old style) Crosman 7.9 gr Destroyer EX Hunting pellets


I hope this will give you some sort of a comparison.    Unfortunately none are with Predator Polly Mags, sorry about that.


Best Wishes - Tom

1. ( 20 cal.) >  https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=163759.0

2. > https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=163807.0

3. > https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=163946.0

4. > https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=163421.0

[Rico14]

I shoot Polymags and Hades pellets in my .22 Mutant. If your gun likes the polymags, they're deadly out to 40 yards or so. They do a lot of damage when they hit a critter. That said, if I had to pick between the two, I would pick the Hades. They are deadly also and they seem to expand more than the polymags. The deal breaker is the Hades pellets are accurate at longer distances.

[DLP]

Kind of stupid on my part I guess, but I practice and target shoot with the same ammo I hunt with. This is for any guns I shoot. Ammo is the least expensive part of this hobby for me. As for the PMs being less accurate than other pellets, I don’t know about that one. We were talking springers for hunting not punching paper at longer ranges. I will admit that they are less accurate then JSBs out past 40 or 50 yards out of my PCP guns. But again, talking hunting. Sure I want to be as accurate as possible, but I am not on a bench while hunting.

[mata777]

If they end up being accurate in your barrel, use them! You may hear people repeating the phrase that they're a gimmick but this is not the case. I've used them in guns pushing only 11 fpe (22 cal) all the way out to 20 fpe (25 cal) and they work as intended. Huge possums, skunks and rats have all been dispatched in short order.