I decided to take a bit of time today to shoot a gun I rarely shoot, the RWS 54. I really should shoot it more often as it is a nice gun but I've got it set-up to shoot with a night scope so it gets little use. It is fun to shoot at night but since it has been cold...

Anyway, I wanted to see if the .22 Predator pellets performed as expected at a realistic hunting range and how they compared to another pellet. So, I took the night scope off and decided to shoot with open sights. It's not that I'm a great shot with open sights but I didn't have a scope on picatinny mounts that I was willing to move. Nonetheless, the RWS 54 is a very accurate rifle and I was delighted by my first three shots. So happy, I decided to call them a group and take a picture!

That ain't bad! Open sights, 43 yards and the first 3 shots out of the cabinet!

I figured I was close enough to be able to do the testing in the gel with that accuracy. I had shot the first group with light pellets so I tried some Predators to see what my change in aimpoint would need to be. The Predators hit about 3" low but online.

On to the comparison, these are the pellets I decided to compare:


Let's take a look at some video of the 2 pellets hitting the gel. The light was poor so we put a spotlight on the gel to help out. See if you can discern any difference in impact reaction. First up, the domed pellets:


Now the heavier and hollow point Predators:


Seems to me that the Predators caused more disturbance than the regular domed pellets.

So, how did they penetrate?

That's the impact face of the gel. No major damage there but note that the little red plastic tip of the Predator pellet detached and came to rest only a half inch into the gel.


Those are the Beeman slugs I shot. A sighter and another to be sure. Both penetrated 2 full blocks and came to rest here in the third block of gel. That is about 8" of total penetration into gel that has shown to be consistent with ordnance gel in use by the FBI and other testing agencies. These shots are from an unmodified RWS 54 with the gel a laser measured 42 yards from the muzzle.


It's not as easy to see but the Predator is there in this the second block of gel. That means the predator penetrated about 4" or half of what the lighter domed pellets did.

Did the pellets expand? Remember, these pellets hit the gel 42 yards from the muzzle. This was not one of those "can't miss, put the muzzle against the target tests."



The domed Beeman pellets were largely unaffected by hitting the gel, the Predator expanded from .218 (nose ring) to .264".

It looks like at an actual hunting range with a commonly available hunting rifle (of a power readily available from other magnum .22 springer makers) the Predator pellet reduced penetration and offered real expansion.

First, nice shooting. That's a great group, magnum springer, open sights, at 43 yards, that's a tough shot!! I switched to PCP when my RS 2 springer proved to hold sensitive for me to shoot with any consistency. Sad to say, I don't even have a long gun with open sights and with my aging eyes I'm not sure how my sight picture would add up.

I was of the opinion that those pellets were more gimmick than game getter. Looks to have good energy transfer to the 4in of gel, plenty for the critters such guns would be expected to take. I'm certain consumer reports would dedicate an issue to "magic bullets" if you could come up with just a few more examples like this.

Kent

Hi Kent,
I'm pretty proud of that group. The RWS 54 is completely insensitive to hold due to the sliding action. The open sights though...wow, my eyes have dimmed! I was having a heck of a time focusing on the front sight and putting it in the same spot repeatedly. Fortunately, I was able to repeat just enough to get the videos.

I'm with you on the eyesight issue. I've always had better than 20/20 vision until about a year ago, now...I'm not so sure. I'm noticing that binoculars are getting more and more fussy about focusing, and my books seem to need a bit more "personal space" than they used to. If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to get longer arms to read the fine print.

BTW, for open sights I've seen some of the target guys using glasses-mounted apertures. They're supposed to help, but I haven't tried one...yet.

Great write up Jerry, and very interseting to see the performance of the Pred'
How far out would they shoot accurately do you think?
Oh, and what grain are they??

Paul,
I've not weighed the Predator pellets but they are listed as 16 by AoA and 16.5 at PA. They seem to be plenty accurate as far as I can tell. I've not shot them for groups with a scoped rifle so I can't make definitive comparisons myself but I've read good things about them.

Vast difference in the shock wave with the second pellet. Really transfers energy well.

Good shooting. Vids look great.

Gary

Thanks, I should have zoomed in some more but it was close enough to show the shock waves. Guess I have to go shoot something else now...

Wow, 333 views and 7 comments 3 of which are my replies. That has to set some kind of record for an unlocked post...

Nicely done Jerry. Gotta love those predator pellets. Some people claim they arent that accurate but my BSA LONESTAR love em. I only use those and the JSB Exacts in my Lonestar. They are way more accurate than the crowmagnums and the best hollow point on the market right now...........in my opinion of course.

Keep up the great work with the Ballistics Gel

What kinda distances are you shooting them Tof' ?? ( the Preds')

"Tof' " I've got to get better at slang... The shots above were at 43 yards. I don't shoot them much. I've had the same tin for 3 years now...

No, my poor posting!!
I was asking Tofazfou what distance HE was shooting them accurately at!
We know YOU can shoot anything accurately!! (With decent glass of course!)

Well, maybe with exceptional glass!