Crosman boxed pellets - first impressions

[nervoustrigger]

As a consumer of roughly 30 tins of Crosman pellets, in both .177 and .22 calibers, over the last year and a half since becoming an avid airgunner, I’ve come to think of them as a good all-around pellet.  Sometimes bordering on great.  Certainly in many cases grouping as well as brands costing 50% more.  And their availability at most Walmarts make them very convenient.  It’s no wonder they seem to be the most widely used pellets out there.

Most people when seeing Crosman’s boxed variety for the first time will ask, “What?  I can walk into Walmart and buy 1500 (3 tins) for less than this box of 1250.  Why would I pay more and wait for shipping?”  Those in the know will tell you it is because they are all made from the same die.  That gives the best possible pellet-to-pellet consistency which in turn translates into more consistent groupings.

Having experimented with my share of premium brands like JSB and H&N, I felt like there was an important shooting experience I had not yet availed myself of:  the much-vaunted Crosman boxed pellets.

You see, my son’s .177cal QB79 turned in some pretty impressive groups with the 10.5gr Crosman Premier Ultra Magnums (CPUMs) back in the summer at distances out to more than 40 yards.  And that was just with Crosman’s floor sweepings…the rejects…the ones so ordinary they could be sold to the unwashed masses.  So just imagine what the boxed pellets would do, right?

Well, when member Stickstoff graciously tipped us off to a breakneck after-Christmas sale on Crosman.com, I knew that would be my chance to finally answer the question. 

The package arrived today with 3 boxes of the CPUMs.  On opening them, I was pleased to see the mold parting line was barely noticeable to the naked eye.  Not the invisible (or nonexistent) parting line of JSB pellets, but hardly noticeable.   But hey, I don’t want to set my expectations too high.  It’s a good start.

Then that positive note was quickly soured when I saw the widespread presence of gnarly flashing peering out from under the vast majority of the skirts…the same junk in the pellets from the tins that I have been seeing.  I guess I had the wrong expectations for Crosman’s “Premier Premiers”.







There were also a surprising number of bent skirts, despite no apparent damage to the shipping box:




Now on the upside, the pellets do seem to group well in the QB79.  Just grabbing pellets at random, I turned in a couple of groups of 0.47” and 0.38” at 25 yards.  I know this rifle to be capable of producing 0.25” – 0.35” groups with regularity at that distance but I can’t rule out me as the reason with such a small sampling.



What I do seem to see in those first two groups is potential for greatness.  For example, without the errant shot in the first group, it would have measured 0.25”.  Many of the pellets are going through one ragged hole. 

I will continue testing with some of the worst-looking chaff omitted and report back in a few days.  I will also get some head measurements to check them for size and consistency.

[ivanpros]

Nice reporting. I look forward to your next post of performance. 

[jeff76]

the skirts on the cphp's from walmart look better than that. but I have found that bent skirts don't really affect accuracy too much. even with the top end pellets, which I generally have to drop to get bent skirts from.

[GunnerAl]

I'm about to buy yet another couple of 1250 lot boxes of the CP Lites in the next day or two. I haven't really seen any ghosts in the wood pile in the past but then again I haven't really looked. I have however, noticed how well they group and that's what's important. I'll gvie a large handful of them the once over inspection after I get them. Thanks for the pics and advice...

[56S]

I just placed my first order of the CP lite domes.  Since the Walmart tins of the 7.9gr HP did so well I figured what the heck,  let's order 10,000 of them from PA.  Pay for 6 and get 8 brings the cost to about the same as buying the tins of the "floor sweepings" (I like that one)

[Sfttailrdr46]

  Nice review I have 3 boxes of the CPHP .22 and a Box it the CPHP .177 to check out bot have held off until I use up a bunch of partial tins

[bgmcgee]

So far I've had pretty good luck with the brown box Crosman pellets.  My 1320 really likes the .20 but sad to say they are not being made any more. I do have enough to shoot for awhile now though.

[Dog-gone]

Definitely not hand picked. Thanks for the update.

[Frank in Fairfield]

I had a box of the .22 14.3 Crosman. Actually, I had four. In one box I found .22 caliber, .20 and (wait for it) .15 caliber pellets. I do not buy by the box anymore. Tins for me.

BTW When I sold my .22 I gave the buyer the pellets.

[Trigger man]

Great review.

There were also a surprising number of bent skirts, despite no apparent damage to the shipping box:

Not surprising with the weight of the higher pellets crushing the lowers. Dial-in rough handling during shipment and the casualties add up. Obviously, smaller containers minimizes the damage. Tins also make it easy to grab'n run when hunting - no fishing out handfuls then searching for smaller containers. The saving in tins makes it a no-brainer.

Box (625ct) = .040 ea. SH= $8
Tin  (500ct) = .017 ea. (4 tins - one free = .014 ea.) SH = $12

[GunnerAl]

I've found flattened pellets in so many of the containers that I have ever bought regardless of brand. If they are not too bad I just reshape the skirts and use them. They seem to go ok. It only takes the slip of a hand to drop a cannister or box and even if the container isn't damaged, the pellets inside can be.

[nervoustrigger]

Results of measuring the heads of 20 samples of the boxed .177 Ultra Magnums:

There was an extreme spread of 0.005" (0.13mm) which is very similar to that of the pellets in the tins.  Standard deviation is 0.0011".  None of the pellets measured had the gross mold flashing issue (i.e. was not deliberately selecting the worst pellets).

Such a wide variation is extremely disappointing for pellets supposedly from the same die.  The box is marked Die J, Oct 01, 2013 for anyone wondering.

[Doug Wall]

"And that was just with Crosman’s floor sweepings…the rejects…the ones so ordinary they could be sold to the unwashed masses."

People keep saying that, and it's not so. Tinned pellets come from several machines/dies mixed together. Not rejects, not from worn out dies, not floor sweepings. Boxed pellets are collected from one machine/die.

[nced]

not from worn out dies

I beg to differ.

As the forming dies used for the die lot marked and dated  pellets wear out of specification they are retired to use for the unmarked mixed die pellets in the tin. The tinned pellets are indeed from mixed "worn out of spec" dies which explains the wide variation of pellet fit.

Anywhoo.......years ago when the CPLs were numbered dies I bought one particular case of 4 boxes of die #7 CPLs that contained a LOT of swarf plus a BUNCH of pee-wees. The cases of "lettered die" CPLs I've bought over the last couple years have been so clean and consistent that I don't even pre-sort them anymore. I just lube them with Slick 50 ONE LUBE (not the engine stuff), then dump them into my pellet pouch for use. 

[Bullit]

I am a big fan of the Boxed Premiers.
If you think about it...if you can manage to make and pack and ship pellets, in the 99% percentile...you can still have some 1-3%, that aren't perfect. No biggey here with what I've gotten.   I wonder sometimes if the count is probably more than 1,250, to account for it,  but I've not counted them out.

[Tater]

Did all three boxes have the same type of damaged pellets or just one so far? Also, about what percent were un-shootable? Just curious.

[nervoustrigger]

Someone recently posted about their conversation with a Crosman employee during a plant tour.  He asked about the boxed pellets and was told that indeed they use new, tight tolerance dies for the boxed pellets and once the die falls out of their desired tolerance range, they move them to production of the pellets sold in tins.

Incidentally, my "floor sweepings" comment was just a lighthearted attempt at some humor.  I didn't mean it as a slam on the pellets in the tins.  As I said before, I do like them; I tend to get better-than-average results with them and the value is good.

Now with that said, I am stunned with the poor consistency of the boxed .177 CPUMs.  I've seen a lot of positive comments about the CPLs but I haven't seen much on the CPUMs that I can recall, so I hope the pellets I received are an abberation but this being my first experience, I cannot in good conscience recommend people to buy these particular pellets at the premium price.  I got them on sale so that assuages my heartburn a bit.

[nervoustrigger]

Hi Jerry, I only inspected one box so far but all 3 boxes have the same mfg date so I expect they have the same defects.

As to the percentage that are unshootable, that is a bit of a gray area.  About 50% have noticeable slivers (flashing) stuck to the skirts.  But I don't tend to think that is so much of a hindrance to accuracy as the wildly variable head sizes.  With sorted pellets having .178" heads (4.52mm), my son's QB79 will group CPUMs around 0.15" at 25 yards and 0.35" at 42 yards.  That's just unreal so that's why these pellets are such a disappointment to me.  I feel like so much unrealized potential has eluded us because of poor quality control.  Granted, there were no guarantees that I would have received 4.52mm nominal but with such a wide variance, groups are definitely being thrown off.

[madmullet]

Im a big fan of the Boxed lots from Crosman in .177 I shoot both the lights and heavys but the .22 at a 625 ish count from teh box is not so good.  I have been buying 4 tins every PA order when I get them I dump each tin in to a micro fiber towel roll them aroud to clean them up and put them back in to a padded tub witha good sealing lid, and I get just about the same results of not the same results as I do from teh Boxed .22.  If you put a little time in to the Tins they are and can be jsut as good in my book.  My only gripe is that the need to make the .22 boxes bigger.

[Bullit]

Jason,   If they truly are that poor then by all means contact Crosman about it.  They're good folks and unless they get your input, they don't know if there's a problem within their process equipment and personnel.   If they are bad, they'll replace them.  But they will ask for numbers.