What to do with bad pellets...?

[Kragman1]

I'm posting because I have run into some pellet sizing problems and I really hate to be stuck with them.

Just today I tried a tin of .25 cal RWS Superdomes, and they are badly undersized in a rifle that has no bore size issues based on the fit of many other pellets.
They have absolutely no head engagement and very little skirt engagement.  I certainly don't expect accuracy from them.  They mark my first disappointing RWS ammo product, and I really mean disappointing!

I also have a bunch of H&N .20 cal pellets that have sizing issues - some are much too small, other tins are much too large.  Same maker.  Same gun.  It seems that H&N is unsure what size a .20 pellet should be.  I can only shake my head in frustration.

So, in the case of tbe RWS pellets, its pointless to return them to PA, as I would just waste their money to have them replace my tin with another from the same lot.
Thats a lose-lose.

Does RWS/Umarex back pellets when the fit is off?  Because while mine are way off in a proven rifle, I can imagine a CS nightmare for RWS of people swapping out pellets at will trying to get some that are "juuust right", etc.

The H&Ns are a different story as I bought some new, some used and have had them all for a while.  Even though H&N clearly made some bad pellets I wouldn't expect them to do anything in this case.  I've had them for over a year.


Anyway, if anyone has some insight I would like to hear it.

Thanks!

[Blacktalon6]

Just plink with them or melt them for the big bore you have (or will have  )

[Firewalker]

Sell them off, there are plenty of people looking for pellets. 

[Kragman1]

Ed - you may be right about the big bore thing.  I don't WANT to move away from .177 & .22 springers, but I do like the big ones.  For powder burners I have basically become a rimfire & big bore guy.  Shot Top Shot a while back with a Bodyguard .380 and an iron sighted .375 H&H.  Talk about conflicted....  ha ha!

Dave - its good advice but unless someone was looking for undersized .25's I would eat them.  And I'm sure PA has plenty more.

I really want the Superdomes to shoot well out of my 125, so I'm going to try again but from a different vendor.  If I have the same issue I may complain to RWS.  If they sent a pallet of garbage pellets across the pond, they should expect to own up to it.
If they won't, then I wont buy any more RWS product.  I'm sure they won't miss my meager purchases (1 rifle and maybe 20,000 pellets in the last year) but word gets around.

Thats two big "if"'s though.  I have no beef with RWS, just 1 bad tin of pellets.  And from the reviews on PA, most other buyers got the same undersized pellets that I did.  Perhaps my complaint should really go to PA for not sending their inventory back to RWS once this became known.

[Firewalker]

Ed - you may be right about the big bore thing.  I don't WANT to move away from .177 & .22 springers, but I do like the big ones.  For powder burners I have basically become a rimfire & big bore guy.  Shot Top Shot a while back with a Bodyguard .380 and an iron sighted .375 H&H.  Talk about conflicted....  ha ha!

Dave - its good advice but unless someone was looking for undersized .25's I would eat them.  And I'm sure PA has plenty more.

I really want the Superdomes to shoot well out of my 125, so I'm going to try again but from a different vendor.  If I have the same issue I may complain to RWS.  If they sent a pallet of garbage pellets across the pond, they should expect to own up to it.
If they won't, then I wont buy any more RWS product.  I'm sure they won't miss my meager purchases (1 rifle and maybe 20,000 pellets in the last year) but word gets around.

Thats two big "if"'s though.  I have no beef with RWS, just 1 bad tin of pellets.  And from the reviews on PA, most other buyers got the same undersized pellets that I did.  Perhaps my complaint should really go to PA for not sending their inventory back to RWS once this became known.

There are plenty of people looking for smaller pellets for a tight barrel. 

[wolverine]

There is the "Pay it Forward" gate.

[Madd Hatter]

I just throw them back in to the lead pot and recast them. From what I've read, the head of the pellet should just ride on the lands with the skirt should be what engages the grooves to seal the bore. I'm not sure but I believe Hector is the one who wrote about it. I know crosman pellets engage both.

[mikeyb]

...
Just today I tried a tin of .25 cal RWS Superdomes, and they are badly undersized in a rifle that has no bore size issues based on the fit of many other pellets.
They have absolutely no head engagement and very little skirt engagement.  I certainly don't expect accuracy from them.  They mark my first disappointing RWS ammo product, and I really mean disappointing!
...

Anyway, if anyone has some insight I would like to hear it.

Thanks!

Are you checking for rifling engagement by pushing the pellet through the bore or shooting/recovering the pellets?

The reason I ask is that I've had a few "loose" pellet/bore matches when pushing pellets. Like you I found no rifling marks on the head and VERY light rifling marks on the skirt. I immediately assumed poor accuracy for those pellets in that rifle.

I was wrong and on-target accuracy was very good. So I checked "shot/recovered" pellets and found the pressure pulse (especially in my Mod125/135 rifles) was really inflating the skirt section into the rifling far better than I expected. That experiment showed me I cannot reliably predict accuracy on any pellet by push-testing. I have to shoot the pellets at range to really KNOW if they will be accurate or not.

The Diabolo Exact .30 44.75g pellets are a loose fit in my Mod130s. That had me worried because I bought a bunch of tins and they were not cheap (even pre-covid). They do shoot very well in this particular rifle.

Image of pellet from tin verses one shot and recovered. Not the best example, but the skirt expansion is good. I'm using the bunched up HDPE (#2 recycle) shopping bags (shhh, now illegal here!) stuffed into a 3" cardboard tube as the catcher. My 177 pellets usually go through 6-8 bunched bags. The 30 cal was captured by the first bag, but it really STRETCHED that bag a lot!


late edit: Chrongraph says these pellets are averaging 550 fps at 30' range. My chrony is set up right in front of my target... with a pellet proof shield of course;-)

[Kragman1]

Thanks Mikey!

I was going strictly by sense of touch.
But, when I say loose head, I mean that I held 6-8 of them by the skirt and felt nothing going in and out of the barrel.  Zip.  And there was very little skirt engagement as shown in your pic.
I did not push any through the barrel.

That said, they only website I've found that has negative reviews of these pellets is the Pyramyd Air site (where I bought them) and the constant complaint is undersized pellets.
Looks like PA has a bad batch so I will likely try again elsewhere.

And I will definitely shoot for group once I get a chance.  Not today though.

[HN Sport]

The H&Ns are a different story as I bought some new, some used and have had them all for a while.  Even though H&N clearly made some bad pellets I wouldn't expect them to do anything in this case.  I've had them for over a year.

I would give it a try and write to us ... 

[SteveP-52]

The H&Ns are a different story as I bought some new, some used and have had them all for a while.  Even though H&N clearly made some bad pellets I wouldn't expect them to do anything in this case.  I've had them for over a year.

I would give it a try and write to us ... 

Hopefully he has good luck writing to you
I did but H&N is not considering now, if ever, bringing a .20 cal wadcutter back to market, which just leaves all those container ships off
both US coasts finally getting to piers to get pellets back on shelves since none currently have any of your H&N FTT 11.42gr or Baracuda
pellets on them...lol.