GUNS Magazine Are You Ready for a Slugfest?

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The term “pellets” has become a misnomer with the advent of larger-bore
airguns ranging from .25 caliber all the way to big 50s.

While cute and arguably adorable, airgun pellets are puny little things, aren’t they?

A “standard” .177-caliber airgun pellet weighs somewhere in the vicinity of seven grains, give or take. That’s about one-tenth the weight of a .32 ACP, a self-defense caliber mocked by many. Will an air rifle slug hurt you? Yes. Penetrate the skin? Yes. Leave a nasty little scar? Yes. Kill you? Theoretically possible, but it’s quite the long shot.

Even though most home airguns carry about the same kinetic energy as a cluster of nine bananas dropped from six feet — yes, I did the math — they still require strict adherence to all the standard firearm safety rules. After all, five out of five moms agree airguns can put an eye out right before you get a whoopin’. Even so, let’s just say airgun caliber pellets are less than ideal for dangerous game hunting.

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Left is the “tiny” .177 pellet we all know and love. Right is
a .45 caliber 150-gr. flat-point “pellet” from Hunters Supply.

Really?

There are pellets, and there are pellets.

I never much cared for the term “pellets” even when talking about airgun projectiles. The word reminds me of rabbit food and the recycled product they leave behind. Besides, times have changed. While “pellet” may have adequately described the miniscule skirted flat-point chunk-let of lead fired from a 760 Pumpmaster, it doesn’t do justice to the current crop of air-powered missiles.

I dare you to refer to airgun projectiles as “teeny little pellets” when in the presence of the folks from Hunters Supply. Comparing a “pellet” like those in a tin sold at the local Dregs-of-Humanity Mart to a modern airgun projectile is like equating a Tesla to a golf cart because both are electrically powered.

To ease into the world of modern air ballistics, let’s start with something familiar in appearance. If you think of a “pellet” as something shaped like the Soyuz service module and capsule, you might be surprised to learn they grow them big too. If you want the flight characteristics of a skirted, air-catching projectile, but bigger, check out the Hunters Supply 138- and 150-gr. jumbo pellets. Chunky skirt, slender waist and flat-point included, these look just like the .177s except they’re the size of the last digit on your pinky and generate 176 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy.

If you feel like musketeering, check out round ball offerings like the .45 caliber 147-grainer. This one left a Gamo TC45 at 849 fps for 240 ft.-lbs. Or maybe you prefer a genuine slugfest, launching a hunk of solid lead for maximum penetration? Try a 250-gr. lead hollow-point for 769 fps and 328 ft.-lbs. If you want a knockout punch, consider the 411-gr. solid. This one got me 637 fps and 370 ft.-lbs. from the TC45.

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The .25 caliber airgun platform has become Tom’s favorite because of
its versatility. Left to right: 48-gr. HP, 71-gr. slug, 105-gr. slug.

Gelatinous Splat

Kinetic energy is a convenient way to measure raw power, but it doesn’t always tell the entire story. The real test of terminal performance is on live game, or more conveniently, penetration and expansion performance in ballistic gelatin blocks.

When my wife was out running errands, I tested out some .25-caliber hollow-point slugs from Hunters Supply down in my under-house garage using an AirForce Airguns Condor SS rifle. This little gem flings those 48-gr. slugs at an average of 888 fps. If you do the math, you’ll find the combo produces 84 ft.-lbs. of kinetic energy — somewhere between a .22LR pistol and rifle.

I happened to have a fresh and unused block of synthetic gelatin from Clear Ballistics. It was even labeled “for airgun use” so I figured I was good to go with the nine inches of fresh plastic material. I set up, aimed carefully, and promptly blew right through the nine inches of ballistic gel and smack into a pile of old books I’d set as a fail-safe backstop. Good thing, because my plan was dumb.

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The Real Thing

Realizing I was using more of a “real” gun than the Christmas Story model, I broke out some 16″ centerfire gelatin blocks and repeated the test. This time, I did capture the slugs. They’d penetrated to a depth of 15″ to 16″ and had even started to expand. The post impact diameter measured a hair under a third of an inch.

Just for kicks, I launched some traditional .25 caliber pellets into the gel as well. Those 27.47-gr. skirted versions penetrated just over 7″ and expanded to the point of tearing the hollow-point sides away from the base.

Given the performance of the comparatively small .25 caliber slugs, I think I’ll save the .45 caliber slugfest for an outdoor range trip.

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