This is the Fieldtester survey where we asked you to tell us about your kit back in 2020, and you responded: 3,500 completed surveys came back to us, 10% of which are about PCPs, 10% of you told us about your airgun pellets, only 5% are about spring-loaded air rifles, which is why springers didn’t make it into our PCP survey.
If you buy airgun pellets, there’s nearly a half chance they are either Air Arms or JSBs. Air Arms is the winner with 28% of the market and JSB has 20%. If you shoot an Air Arms pellet, it is probably the Diabolo Field. If you shoot JSB, it is more than likely from JSB’s Exact range.
Now, we also asked questions about value for money, and winning pellet there is the Crosman Accupell. The prize for accuracy goes to the Crosman Premier, according to its users. And, all you pest controllers out there, the most highly-rated for killability is the H&N Baracuda.
We asked you to rate the manufacturers on customer service – and the springer winner here is Air Arms.
Are you an airgun manufacturer who wants to buy the results of this survey (names and addresses stripped out)? Please click here for our shop and instant download of our airgun survey
Also, here’s a quick stat about brand loyalty. For those people who own both a break-barrel and a PCP, guess which company has the biggest brand loyalty. The answer is BSA. 43% of BSA break-barrel owners who also own a PCP, own a BSA PCP.
Finally, what calibre do you shoot? Well you can forget anything that isn’t .177 or .22 because 95% of the market is. 7% of you shoot both the popular calibres. 30% of you shoot .177 and twice as many, nearly 60%, shoot .22.
So how do you choose the best airgun pellet? Johnny Muston from R&K Stockcraft says his biggest selling pellet is the Air Arms Diabolo Field, in both .177 and .22. He recommends you buy all available head sizes (i.e. 4.52 and the 4.51 in .22) and check which is most accurate in your air rifle. “There’s not really a rifle in either calibre that they don’t shoot well in,” says Johnny.
The H&N Field Target Trophy in both .177 and .22 is a “great pellet” says Johnny. He also likes the JSB Exact series of pellets. It has three head sizes in .177: 4.51, 4.52 and 4.53. Try all three, says Johnny, if you want to take accuracy to the next level.
Bisley Magnum is a heavyweight pellet. It is 10.5 grains (compared to the average 8.4 grains of the other pellets). It’s good for energy transference, which makes it a good killing pellet for pest control.
Among the pellets with cut heads, Johnny likes the JSB Hades.
If you want to try out different pellets, Johnny can provide 10 of each kind of pellet you want to test. Visit his website: RKStockcraft.co.uk
Chooseing the perfect airgun? Have a look at these survey results:
