Most accurate .25 pellet at 750 ft per second

[smythsg]

The only thing I did to the Octane was swap the .22 barrel with a .25 barrel. The new barrel is a couple inches longer than the stock .22 and that may add some fps. The swap was fairly easy and inexpensive.

[Gatorproof]

Howdy PJ,

Could not sleep again last night took the 125 out to shoot off my deck rigging. I could hardy see a new 8" Dirty Bird reactive target, fired 2 pellets and quit.

Went back out this afternoon and saw my 2 hits from last night, they were great considing I could not see the target.  Raised him up today and still couldn't see the target. My scope was smeared and fogging from 99% humidity.

Ok I was shooting 19.1 H&N FTT. I shot 2 decent hits and then 3 shots I could not see on the reactive target.  Since it is nearly impossible to miss seeing hits on those targets I could not figure out where those pellets went. I shoot 30 yards and rifle height is about 11 feet and target about 30".

I walked out to target and found 3 .25 19.q pellets buried in the bulleye.
I have never had that happen with the 125 before. I shot a total of 16 shoots, 8 in one fairly tight  bulleyes hole.(.75ish) Found 8 more in one hole a inch to the 8 o'clock.

Feeling like Wild Bill Cody, I switched over to JSB 25.4g. Big mistake, they all dropped a good 2 inches to 6 o'clock. Couple same distance out to the 8 o'clock. So I held 1 mildot over and it went 2 inches high, closed up the tin. I shot 4 more 19.1 with 3 in the paint and 1 to 3 o'clock about 3/4".

So my official answer to your question is my Hatsan 125 TH Nitro Piston .25 loves 19.q and hates 25.4g.

Be Well,
Gator

[Pappywith4]

What if you zeroed the heavier pellets. How would it be on accuracy?

[Privateer]

I zeroed my .25 with the NPSS at 60 yards with the JSB. I have to hold a bit high to go to 75 yards.
The H&N's at 19 or so hit dead center with nearly no hold over at 75 yards.
Both seem as accurate but the H&N's just get there a tad faster.

[Pappywith4]

Hey are you still thinking about trading barrels?

[Privateer]

Yes. I have not been home to get things shipped to you as planned.
I travel ALOT for my Demo work and it may be another 2 or 3 weeks before I get home.
I have to roll for the jobs at a moments notice so it gets crazy at times.
I did manage to fly up to the Islands for our 8th Anniversary and meet my Wife for an over nite visit.
 

[Pappywith4]

Ok jeff I am in no hurry ! When ever you get ready we will check it out!
I know that I am going to tear down mine again and replace the seal, I have another one coming from ARH and one from PA!   My rifle is accurate when the pressure is up but it is all over the place when it isn't!
So I am not shooting it until I do it!  Don't worry about your work I understand 100% 
I wish I could still work and make a good living! Take care Jeff and Happy Anniversary

[Privateer]

I should have a stand in Supervisor on this job in the next few days. (At lest that's the plan)
I can then go home for a few days since it's only 2 hours away for this job.

As to the barrel and fit of pellets you asked about?
The H&N's seem to fit a tad tighter then the JSB's but both hit the neck of a Beer bottle at 75 yards.
I like the H&N's as they do hit the 700+ FPS where the JSB's don't with the Nitro Piston in my Gun.
I do have a new Piston to try but I'd like to switch to .22 since I only shoot bottles.

[Bryan Heimann]

.22 is a lot more economical than .25.  I wouldn't trade my .25 for anything and i darn sure would never re-barrel it, but my next air rifle will be a .22 cal.  Think about it this way- a 350 ct tin of jsb exacts cost the same as 2 500-ct tins of .22 premier domes, and a couple dollars more than one 500 ct tin of good .22 jsb jumbo heavies.  Apples to apples- 200 .25 benji domes is a dollar or two more than 500 .22 premier domes.  And you can't find .25 on store shelves.  There are only a couple of pellets that can really compete with the mid-to heavy-weight .25 domes for retained energy if your gun can push them to around 700 or so feet per second, but inside 50 yards the difference on ballistic coefficient really isn't enough to make a lot of difference with most .22 dome pellets.  I do think the momentum and wound channel of the .25 gives it a distinct advantage when hunting even if the .22 matches it with retained energy.  If you shoot every day, especially if you only have one air rifle, you probably ought to have a decent .22 air rifle.  But if you only get out on weekends if you're lucky snd you mostly just hunt, why not a .25?  I can't shoot in the back yard, so I am a weekend only guy if thT and my 4 tins of kings will probably last 6 months to a year.  So being a .25 cal lover works for me.

[Privateer]

One thing I love about the .25? Doing it at long range.
Reaching out there to 70+ yards with the Hatsan .25 Magnum?
And hitting what your aiming at?
Still one of my biggest thrills.

[Pappywith4]

I guess you are right about the cost factor! So privateer thank you for your offer I will keep the .22!
I do appreciate the fact that you were willing to trade me just to satisfy my curiosity !
I know that what I have is deadly accurate to 40 yds because that's the farthest I have shot!
And most likely all I will ever shoot a squirrel ? Now rabbits you have to reach out but I have confidence in my form and ability!    Thanks again privateer     Pappywith4.

[bubba zanetti]

.25 M-Rod shoots JSB Kings 25.4 grain at 800 fps so well I see no point in trying other pellets  .

At 50 yards, one small ragged hole. Over the 4th weekend, my Dad and older brother were shooting empty 12 ga. shotgun shells off the wood pile at 45 yards.

BZ

[Gatorproof]

Hey PJ,
1) I don't want to waste the ammo to rezero. The 19 H&Ns are made for my 125. 
I'll save both my JSB 25.4 and my AA 25, 4 for my Galation .25 PCP.
It is off to the Hatsan Hospital getting new air cylinder and hammer parts. I need those 25, 4s for him when he gets home.
He is the only one of my guns that has placed 5 rounds (AA 25, 4) in the exact same hole at 30 yards.  I save the paper and I can set a pellet in that hole and no day light.

2) I still am hoping you will try a 21/22g .22 in your gun. It will have the same fpe as a .25 for just the cost of a tin of pellets.
3) our other buddy is right, I didn't do the dollars and sense, but my last order of .25 pellets 8 tins was like $96.

4)  I don't scare myself by adding up ammo costs, and I now I need .22 ammo for 4 Kodiak 21.14 and 4 JSB 18, xx I should have ordered over the 4th but I bought that Hawke Eclipse 6x24x50 scope at about $100 off.  P.A. never discounts Hawkes.
So I try to live on my allowance SS, and not touch my other investments. It is hard being on a fixed income after all those years of the strong income. But common sense kicks in when necessary,  lol. Or I would buy all the guns and goodies in one week and have no toys to look forward too, lol

Be Well,
Gator   
BTW if anyone wants a brand new 125 spring I will send it to them no charge. It came with my 125, P.A. sends the spring when they mod with the NP. I have no use for it.
Think my email is in my profile. Now if you live in Russia then no free postage but other wise, it's free. lol

[Bryan Heimann]

Hang on that spring. You will get the urge to tinker.  Or if that ram fails a few or several years down the road- and all springs and rams eventually fail or grow "tired"- you will wish you had it...

[Gatorproof]

Actually,
Mounting toys on top of guns is my limit. It fails, I buy something else. I am too old for grief, lol.

Be Well,
Gator

[Bryan Heimann]

The ballistic coefficient for .22 cudas/kodiaks is pretty close to the .22, and the JSB Jumbos and heavies are pretty close to the .25 kings as well.  But not quite there. Pretty close though.  You are still missing out on the momentum and surface area/wound cavity of the .25, too.  Almost 50% heavier.  But you are REALLY missing out with just a .25 gun and no other caliber.  You can zero your .22 with the heavy pellet it likes best and just use the mildots to aim with ammo off the shelf to shoot cans and stuff.  I would just zero a .22 with CPHP and pick up a tin or two every time I get groceries.  Inside 25 yards I don't think the differences in ballistic coefficient really matter, except with something really light weight or maybe a wadcutter with a really poor ballistic coefficient.  Accuracy is all that really matters, at 25 yards most any pellet from a magnum breakbarrel is going to knock the &^^& out of a small critter.  But, I already have a nice .25 breakbarrel zeroed with Exact Kings as my first-string hunter if I want to stretch it out a bit.  I really wish I had a powerful .22 breakbarrel "beater" to take fishing with me, so I could save all my .25 ammo for more serious hunting.  More and more I find myself using one of the boy's 880's since they got new breakbarrels.  The last time my youngest went with me, he wound up using the 880 instead because he didn't like shooting with the scope on his X3!  I will probably wind up getting a .22 xs25 in synthetic to fill that need.  .22 is a great all around caliber for air rifles, and compared to .177 it really makes a big difference on smaller quarry.  For frogs it seems like you have about a 1/4" kill zone with a .177 on the back of the head, and if you miss it or try to shoot for the body you stand a good chance of losing the frog.  Amphibians can go far with a bad shot.  About 12-13 fpe in a .22 will literally knock the insides out of them at the range you will be shooting frogs in the dark- maybe 15 or 20 feet max.  If you pull your shot at least you can catch him quickly and end his suffering.  I have also pulled a few shots on squirrels with a mid powered breakbarrel and it still dropped them right there.  Bear in mind these were not careless gut shots and still caught the edge of the rib cage.  When those 18 grain exacts smack a squirrel it knocks the breath right out of them, and anchors them.  They stiffen up and drop if they aren't knocked right out of the tree.  I have yet to hunt with the .25 but I am going Saturday and I can't wait.  I think .25's are nice, but you can probably do anything with a .22 breakbarrel that you can do with a .25.  It just gives you a little bit more stopping power for small game.  Doesn't really have a great advantage unless it is windy or you are stretching it out far enough to take advantage of the higher ballistic coefficient and larger kill zone.

[mtsheron70]

Stefan is correct.  My Patriot also likes the JSB domed pellet!  Great overall pellet.  My M-Rod will drive a ragged one hole at 35 yards with this pellet.  I know......can't compare a PCP to a springer but just indicating the quality and consistency.

[EdwardS]

I am using JSB Exact King .25 in my Hatsan AT44S Long.  They are very accurate at 75 yards.  I do weigh and sort these pellets because I have found some very light (<25.0 gr) and very heavy (>26.0gr) pellets.  I wish JSB would sell pre weighed and sorted pellets.  It takes about 30 minutes to weigh and sort 350.

[rsterne]

I assume you either discard the light and heavy pellets, save them for practice, or resight your gun when you change weight groups?.... Otherwise there would seem little point in sorting them....

Bob

[Pappywith4]

I have some H&N Barracuda match and they are 21.14 gr. but I haven shot anything with them that bleeds and I don't know how fats it shoots either since the rebuild! I have an app for my iPhone that works off of the sound of the gun and the sound of hitting a metal target but believe. It or not since the rebuild it doesn't work but it did before the rebuild!  I put the phone directly in front of and close to about 6" away from the barrel  but still doesn't pick it up!  I took out a decibel meter and if I'm lying I'm dying it registers 47 decibels! Placed right under and slightly in front of the barrels end?  I can clap my hands it jumps to 60 decibels , I scream it goes to 80  so I know it's working! I have used it to check sound volumes at church and it shows 100 at peak  noise from about 30 ft from the speakers!