RWS Pellets – Are they any good? What about their Ballistic Coefficient?
I just came across a signature of a forum poster that said among other things: “If you havent tried RWS pellets in a while give them a try. RWS pellets rock.”
Well, now that made me I wonder. I’m working in .22 cal, and I hadn’t considered RWS pellets – so this signature made me go back and check why!
Well, it is what is is... –– Their ballistic coefficient reaches the far bottom of the BC barrel.
(For that I won’t be looking at the Superpoint (0.013 BC) or the many wadcutters that RWS produces for the 10-meter target shooters.)
• Hollow Point: Super-H-Point, 14.5gr –– 0.012 BC
Of course, this is a hollow point and thus does not have such a high BC. But compare RWS’s BC of 0.012 to the BC of its fellow hollow points:
0.017 H&N Crow Magnum
0.020 H&N Terminator
0.021 H&N Hornet
0.023 Crosman Premier Hollowpoint
0.024 JSB Predator Polymag
0.025 H&N Baracuda Hunter
0.026 H&N Baracuda Hunter Extreme
• Flat Domed: Superdome, 14.5gr –– 0.016 BC (HardAirMagazine has it at 0.012 BC)
For a domed pellet this is just a lousy BC. Look at these domed pellets of similar weight:
0.023 H&N Baracuda Green (12.35gr)
0.023 JSB RS (13.43gr)
0.024 Crosman Premiere Domed (14.3gr)
0.030 JSB Express (14.35gr)
• Round Domed: Superfield, Version 1, 15.9gr –– 0.028 BC (BC is hard to find; this number is from a 2010 video)
The Superfield I have a hard time finding! And there must have been a change in this pellet sometime before 2014 that RWS did not care to announce to its customers. Cf. the following post:
“The situation with RWS Superfields appears thus: Some years ago RWS introduced their Superfield pellet in .177; which many suspected was a re-branded JSB Exact. As many will concur, the Exact is an excellent pellet and the Superfield rightly won a lot of fans based on its excellent performance. | Some time later the Superfield pellet design changed and many abandoned the pellet; citing a lack of performance compared to the old variant, poor product consistency / continuity and perhaps a slight feeling of betrayal towards RWS for continuing to sell what appeared to be a completely different pellet in the same packaging with no explanation to the customer. | Like many others I'm a fan of JSB pellets and with no local supplies of Superfields, never bothered trying them out. Recently I blagged a few to test and earlier in the week got up the club with the chronos to assess the performance of the "new" Superfields against the JSB Exact.”
Source: http://www.airgunforum.co.uk/community/index.php?threads/new-177-rws-superfields-versus-jsb-exacts-a-velocity-decay-test.183328/
Link to video that contains the BC:
The BC of this pellet is actually pretty good, but this seems to be a hard to find pellet....
• Extremely Heavy: Power Bolt, 24.7gr –– and in an extensive search I haven’t found any BC.... Anybody got a number for me?
It’s torpedo-shaped, 9.1mm long, and looks like it could do some “good” damage. Could it be a competition for the JSB Monster?
Here’re a couple of links to German websites with photos of this pellet:
https://www.4komma5.de/RWS-Power-Bolt-55-mm-fuer-Luftgewehre
https://www.versandhaus-schneider.de/product_info.php/cPath/49_242_0_40_95_157_1330/products_id/34797
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What do you make of this?
● Why are the BCs so low in comparison to other manufacturers?
● Or are the other manufacturers simply lying to us about the performance of their pellets, and RWS is truthful about it?
● Could it be that RWS does (or does not) use a ballistic calculator that takes into effect atmospheric conditions and the GA drag curve instead of some fixed drag value?
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For a comprehensive list of BC numbers in .22 cal, cf.
https://airgunwarriors.com/community/airgun-talk/bc-table-22cal-comprehensive-internet-wide-collection-of-ballistic-coefficient-data/
RWS, along with H&N, is one of the classic German makers with pre-WW2 roots. Their products are consistently high-quality, period.
Keep in mind that the majority of their production is of course sold in Germany, where owning a high-power PCP is comparatively difficult, and longer-range shooting is comparatively rare. Most RWS pellets are optimized for shorter-range work. I’m guessing that ballistic coefficient stats are not the first thing their designers worry about in the morning, LOL, though your post shows some interesting newer models that are obviously moving that direction.
I mostly shoot springers in the lower-powered .177 realm, and use a bunch of RWS ammo with great results. Many of their classic designs like the Hobby, Superdome, Superpoint, Super H-Point, and Meisterkugeln have head and skirt diameters that are slightly bigger than many competitors, giving a tight air seal that is important for springers. For many older guns - especially vintage Weihrauchs with the long breech taper - I basically don’t even bother trying other brands.
Two particular favorites of mine are the Hobby, the highest-quality light pellet (6.9 gr) I know of, and my standard for measuring a reasonable baseline max velocity in most guns; and the R10 flathead match pellet, which is about the most consistent bulk-packed pellet you will find.
I concur with Mike about the RWS Hobbys. My go-to pellet for basement shooting, and basic accuracy testing at short range. I am also a fan of the RWS Superdomes. Like Mike said, they make pellets to a very high tolerance, with wide and soft skirts, which work very well in a wide variety of barrels.
Probably not the BEST pellets for high-powered PCPs, but right up there among the best for vintage spring guns.
