Benji 392-On the hunt for the perfect pellet

[RGTools]

I am trying to eke out as much accuracy out of my Benjamin 392. So of course I am on the quest for it's best shooting pellet.

So I did a little testing yesterday using the Straight Shooters Pellet Pack in order to see if I could up my effective range on this pumper. I thought I would share my test results with you in case you are curious to try out a tin or two in yours.

Shots taken at 20 yards from a rested prone position with a leather lined military rifle rest (love that thing). There was a little wind here and there, but conditions were pretty much the same for all the pellets (and if wind isn't a factor in the field, where are you hunting). Center to Center CTC groups are in inches.

Side note:5 Pellets per group, 8 pumps per pellet, 9 groups tested = 344 pumps...my arm is tired.

From BEST to WORST

Vortex Supreme 14.66gr - 5/8 CTC
Beeman FTS DG 14.72gr - 5/8 CTC
Beeman FTT 14.66gr - 3/4 CTC
H&N Baracuda Green 12.65gr - 7/8 CTC (incidentally, the group was much wider than it was tall, so most of the drift was windage...not surprising for such a light pellet)
JSB Express 14.35gr - 7/8 CTC
H&N FTT Power 15.12gr - 1 1/4 CTC
H&N FTT 14.66gr - either 1 3/16 CTC or 3/4 CTC...I had one round that felt like a flyer, so these rounds may be worth a retest.
Beeman Kodiak DG 21.12gr - 1 3/8 CTC (oddly this group was thrown furthest to the right of any of the groups...Capstick was right about barrel whip)
RWS SuperDomes 14.50rg - either 2 CTC or 5/8 CTC again one round flew way off the mark ruining an otherwise great group. Retest here might be worthwhile.

I will test a bit more and come back with more conclusive results.

[oldnamvet]

I am trying to eke out as much accuracy out of my Benjamin 392. So of course I am on the quest for it's best shooting pellet.

So I did a little testing yesterday using the Straight Shooters Pellet Pack in order to see if I could up my effective range on this pumper. I thought I would share my test results with you in case you are curious to try out a tin or two in yours.

Shots taken at 20 yards from a rested prone position with a leather lined military rifle rest (love that thing). There was a little wind here and there, but conditions were pretty much the same for all the pellets (and if wind isn't a factor in the field, where are you hunting). Center to Center CTC groups are in inches.

Side note:5 Pellets per group, 8 pumps per pellet, 9 groups tested = 344 pumps...my arm is tired.

From BEST to WORST

Vortex Supreme 14.66gr - 5/8 CTC
Beeman FTS DG 14.72gr - 5/8 CTC
Beeman FTT 14.66gr - 3/4 CTC
H&N Baracuda Green 12.65gr - 7/8 CTC (incidentally, the group was much wider than it was tall, so most of the drift was windage...not surprising for such a light pellet)
JSB Express 14.35gr - 7/8 CTC
H&N FTT Power 15.12gr - 1 1/4 CTC
H&N FTT 14.66gr - either 1 3/16 CTC or 3/4 CTC...I had one round that felt like a flyer, so these rounds may be worth a retest.
Beeman Kodiak DG 21.12gr - 1 3/8 CTC (oddly this group was thrown furthest to the right of any of the groups...Capstick was right about barrel whip)
RWS SuperDomes 14.50rg - either 2 CTC or 5/8 CTC again one round flew way off the mark ruining an otherwise great group. Retest here might be worthwhile.

I will test a bit more and come back with more conclusive results.

I figure that at 360 pumps.  You should be tired.  I know of people who can't pump once beyond 4.

[BenjiHunter]

Try JSB Exact Jumbos.
They are very accurate in my 392's.

[Rob112o]

Now I noticed you listed them best to worse. Now best to worse, was it still roughly pellet order from start to finish? I don't know if I phrased that right. Was most of your worse groups from pellets you tried at the end of your test? You are already tired breathing a little heavier. I'm sure that can play a big part in accuracy after couple hundred pumps.

[oldnamvet]

Now I noticed you listed them best to worse. Now best to worse, was it still roughly pellet order from start to finish? I don't know if I phrased that right. Was most of your worse groups from pellets you tried at the end of your test? You are already tired breathing a little heavier. I'm sure that can play a big part in accuracy after couple hundred pumps.

The ideal would be if he had someone to do all the pumping for him and then he would do the shooting.

[Habanero69er]

Give some of the heavier pellets a try. I shoot 28 & 32g EunJins out of my Benji 342 & they shoot great. You might be surprised.

[longhunter]

I agree with Habanero69er. try some heavier pellets. while you're at it, give the CPH's, in the tin, a try. you might be surprised.

[RGTools]

Now I noticed you listed them best to worse. Now best to worse, was it still roughly pellet order from start to finish? I don't know if I phrased that right. Was most of your worse groups from pellets you tried at the end of your test? You are already tired breathing a little heavier. I'm sure that can play a big part in accuracy after couple hundred pumps.

The ideal would be if he had someone to do all the pumping for him and then he would do the shooting.

Could not agree more...now to find a willing slave. And no, the best ones and worst ones were scattered throughout the test. As a vineyard worker I use loppers all day, which is about the same muscle group as pumping the gun, so this was not all that bad for me. Still that is a heck of a lot of pumps.

[RGTools]

Give some of the heavier pellets a try. I shoot 28 & 32g EunJins out of my Benji 342 & they shoot great. You might be surprised.

I agree with Habanero69er. try some heavier pellets. while you're at it, give the CPH's, in the tin, a try. you might be surprised.

At some point I will do that, but by results from the Beeman Kodiak DG 21.12gr did not lead me to believe that would be a good fit for the gun. I would have tested a few more yesterday to see if it was just that particular heavy that did poorly but I was running low on targets so I had to be choosy about what I tried. I use CPH's at the moment but I am not really satisfied with them past 12 yards.

[RGTools]

The test is not finished...but I have found one pellet that is worth buying a 1000 rounds worth this morning.

My targets are in the truck, so I will have to get you the official numbers later (it's cold and I feel lazy). In the second test I tried the two top performers again. I tried those first, the Beeman FTS DG 14.72gr had two flyers that really blew it's group (more than and inch at 20 yards), but the Vortex Supreme 14.66gr stayed pretty darn close to 5/8 CTC without any flyers. I was also fairly impressed with the Predator Poly mags I tried (poly tips have never treated me well) but these were still not as good as the Vortex. Again I will get you the other couple pellets I tried with CTC numbers...but for me the important thing is when I took the Vortex rounds out to 40 yards (the 30yard section was overgrown with tick infested tall grass that I did not feel like laying down in).

Holy lord!!! I did not expect to see groups like that (3/4 or less) and I could not help but think that was mostly because of the 9x scope reticle covering the bulls-eye completely. I felt that with a higher power scope, I would still be hovering around 5/8 groups. These are VERY predictable rounds for this gun, and of course the most scarce on the internet...go figure. I ended up shooting an extra 5 shots on the target just for the shear joy of the predictability (that group was not so great due to screwy winds and my own excitement, on a squirrell 3 shots would be solid hits and 2 would have been 4" off the mark )

[MIKELMIS]

Try JSB Exact Jumbos.
They are very accurate in my 392's.

[Rob112o]

Get yourself a son and let him pump. Though they can be expensive and require a few years under their belt to be able to pump em up. Your in Oregon find yourself a hippy or a hipster dufus.

[RGTools]

Try JSB Exact Jumbos.
They are very accurate in my 392's.

Nailed a GS in the control room at 18yrd with one of these today...the Vortex are better rounds for this gun, but these are the best tin I have on hand till they get there.

[anuthabubba]

Once, about 10 years ago, did ~1000 pumps in one day while checking velocities at 4, 6 and 8 pumps, with repeats, on several older Dans and Benjis.  Had sore shoulders, the next day, because of it.

Even after a long day of plinking @ mostly 4 per shot, one can easily do over 500 pumps. Though at a lower effort per pump.

[RGTools]

Sorry for the delay on numbers, but I have been busy with harvest.

20yard rested groups. NOTE: My scopes AO was not set right until I went to the 40 yard range, this accounts for some of the opening up of the groups, but certainly not all of it.

The revisit on the Beeman FTS DG 14.72 rounds had two flyers taking the group out to 1 5/8 CTC oddly the first two shots flew and then the remaining three grouped to 5/8 CTC (cold barrell perhaps?)

JSB Predator shorts 15.89gr were a 1" CTC
JSB Exacts 15.89gr were a 1 7/8 CTC (yet I can get 1/2 groups at 12yards very consistently with this pellet)
CPHP 14.3gr were a huge 2 5/16 CTC ouch.
Vortex Supers 14.66 opened up a bit that day (might not have been at my best) to 15/16 CTC....

However, I took the Vortex rounds out to 40 yards and got the following results.

First group shots 1 through 3 landed in the same hole (1/8 CTC if that) remaining 2 shots took the group out to 1 1/4 inch.
The second group I shot does not really count as a group since I had a different point of aim each time (I was trying to hit a target), first two shots landed in the same hole (same POA), 3rd shot wide (my fault, not the pellet or the rifle) 4th shot nailed the target, 5th shot wide again (due to a VERY errant wind gust).

I know it does not sound impressive, but I do believe this round could get me out to 40 yards with a little practice. The rounds hit very predictably when I did my part and the conditions were correct.

I will also take some of your advice and try some of the heavier rounds and let you know what I see.