Comparisons in Air Gun Ammunition

Air guns have become all the rage with small game hunters and those who enjoy a good target practice session alike. Air guns can pack quite a punch but they are only as good as the ammunition you load them with. Recently, my husband John put the more expensive 1200 F.P.S. PBA ammo up against 1000 F.P.S. lead ammo.

John loaded up his .177 caliber Gamo Big Cat 1200 air gun rifle with 1200 F.P.S. PBA (Performance Ballistic Alloy) ammunition and shot a standard 2x4 block at 10 yards and again at 20 yards.

These were his results of that particular test:

At 10 yards the PBA ammunition penetrated to flush.

At 20 yards a small amount of the flange was left out of the block.

John then loaded up the same .177 caliber Gamo Big Cat 1200 air gun rifle with 100 F.P.S. Crosman - Premium Grade (hunting) lead pellets and shot the same 2x4 board again at 10 yards and 20 yards.

His results of this second ammunition test:

At 10 yards the Crosman lead ammunition penetrated 9/16th of an inch to edge of flange.

At 20 yards the lead ammo penetrated 1/8th of an inch to edge of flange.

Based on this test, it is clear that the Crosman - Premium grade (hunting) lead pellets far out-performed the more expensive PBA ammo in shear penetration force. This will now be our ammunition of choice when out small game hunting with our air gun rifle. It should be noted that this particular air gun is in like brand new condition, having only been shot a handful of times prior to these tests. We encourage you to perform your own tests. If you do, we'd love to hear your results.