H&N Match pellets (somewhat wonky).

[Penfold]

When my 9015 first arrived (my first ever air rifle) I bought a selection of pellets to try, and these included a tin of H&N Match (.177).
Now you would think something labelled as 'Match' would be a better quality..but sadly no.
I couldn't understand all the fliers. Must be me not used to an air rifle, must be the rifle needs to be adjusted, etc, etc.
So I put these pellets aside until yesterday and dug them out for a better look.
Most pellets had a wee 'tit' sticking out in front (I had read about this fault sometime ago), and some pellets also had a very skinny skirt.
About 10% of the tin has the skinny skirt (bear in mind I had shot a few already when first testing).
Moral of the story...shooting straight from the tin isn't a good idea if you are wanting good accuracy, and don't trust what ever a maker calls their pellets. 'Match' should be a quality checked and accurately sized/weighed pellet.
The pellets with the wonky skirts are all 1gr lighter than the thicker skirt pellets too. Should be 10.65gr...but the skinny ones are 9.65gr.
If I could be bothered I'd annoy H&N about this but they obviously don't care anyway.
Pics to entertain you...the last two show the skinny skirts.

 

[hameditor]

Hello @Penfold That's a nice air rifle you have there

Actually H&N DOES care and I'm sure that Jörg Siemens from the company will comment here. (He's very busy right now planning and running the H&N Cup in Germany, the first major international shoot of the 10M season).

But I do have a question...

For an Anschutz 9015, I would expect to use wadcutter - that is flat-fronted pellets. The pellets you show have a domed head. Maybe you can post photographs of the tin labels? (the label on the top and that on the underside). Then we can understand exactly what you have.

The "H&N Match" pellets I would anticipate using in your air rifle would be more like these:

H&N Match Heavy .177 Cal, 8.18 Grains, 4.50mm, Wadcutter, 500ct | Pyramyd AIR

Stock up on H&N Match Heavy .177 Cal, 8.18 Grains, 4.50mm, Wadcutter, 500ct at Pyramyd and get the best price for your next outdoor adventure!

www.pyramydair.com

Please note that I am not commenting on the quality, just trying to help with your search to find the best pellets for your beautiful air rifle.

 

[Solo1]

Yea my 9015 will put that style pellet in the exact same hole shot after shot most consistently accurate gun i own with the very best trigger ive ever used right out of the box

 

[Solo1]

I meant the wad cutter design i mostly shoot rws r10 match

 

[Penfold]

I did buy a lot of different pellets to test.
Settled on QYS Olympic (so that's a wadcutter) but running out of them and no more in NZ.
So I've gone on to QYS Streamlined and they shoot OK, plus H&N FTT 8.64gr, and JSB Exact 8.44gr (both of which which seem OK too).
The H&N FTT all have a wide skirt that makes them tough to put into the breech. I do think that at times I push them a bit off centre as I load...and I do get the odd flier that I think is related to the way I've 'thumbed' the pellet in. The QYS and the JSB all slip nicely into the breech.
I bought a pellet sizer to knock the H&N skirts down a bit, but I feel that some accuracy is lost.
Please remember that here in NZ we get very little choice of pellets, and not worth bringing in from overseas. For example Krale want €43.50 just for shipping even one tin.
Anyway...photos. I see the full name is Baracuda Match...so I may have put you wrong on this. Do note the blurb on the lid...'Match Grade Quality'.
Sadly, we can't get these here...
H&N Match Heavy .177 Cal, 8.18 Grains, 4.50mm, Wadcutter, 500ct | Pyramyd AIR

 

[Penfold]

Quick update...finally (just now) I have found a supply of proper RWS R10 to try.
There were none that I could find in NZ since buying the 9015.
I have tried these (below) as online mentions reckoned they could be a RWS R10, but I'm not so sure about that. The label underneath says 2319244 which doesn't seem to relate to a RWS R10.
They weren't as good as the QYS Olympic.

 

[Jörg Siemens]

When my 9015 first arrived (my first ever air rifle) I bought a selection of pellets to try, and these included a tin of H&N Match (.177).
Now you would think something labelled as 'Match' would be a better quality..but sadly no.
I couldn't understand all the fliers. Must be me not used to an air rifle, must be the rifle needs to be adjusted, etc, etc.
So I put these pellets aside until yesterday and dug them out for a better look.
Most pellets had a wee 'tit' sticking out in front (I had read about this fault sometime ago), and some pellets also had a very skinny skirt.
About 10% of the tin has the skinny skirt (bear in mind I had shot a few already when first testing).
Moral of the story...shooting straight from the tin isn't a good idea if you are wanting good accuracy, and don't trust what ever a maker calls their pellets. 'Match' should be a quality checked and accurately sized/weighed pellet.
The pellets with the wonky skirts are all 1gr lighter than the thicker skirt pellets too. Should be 10.65gr...but the skinny ones are 9.65gr.
If I could be bothered I'd annoy H&N about this but they obviously don't care anyway.
Pics to entertain you...the last two show the skinny skirts.
View attachment 18410

View attachment 18411

View attachment 18412

View attachment 18413

I'm sorry you're having problems with our pellets.

It appears this tin contains a mix of Baracuda Match and Baracuda FT pellets. Could you please send your complaint, including photos, to sales@hn-sport.de? It would also be helpful if you could take a photo of the original label on the bottom of the tin, which is hopefully still underneath the retailer's label. This label shows the batch number, which is very helpful for us in tracing the pellets' production.

 

[Penfold]

OK, managed to remove the other label.
This tin was bought about 1+ year ago here in New Zealand, and I'm fairly sure that this style of pellet would be slow moving through the retail chain.
It's the only tin I bought, and my 9015 didn't like them at all...fliers everywhere. At that point back then I knew nothing about air rifles, pellets, etc so I figured it was just a case of me or the rifle at fault.
I could send the photo to the email address you gave...but that won't help me at all. I don't think they will entertain the idea of sending replacements all the way to NZ.
Here it is...

 

[pan60]

I could send the photo to the email address you gave...but that won't help me at all. I don't think they will entertain the idea of sending replacements all the way to NZ.
Here it is...

I would follow @Jörg Siemens directions.
thats the man do what he says because it might help you it might help someone else it might allow him to track down what caused the issue.

 

[Jörg Siemens]

OK, managed to remove the other label.
This tin was bought about 1+ year ago here in New Zealand, and I'm fairly sure that this style of pellet would be slow moving through the retail chain.
It's the only tin I bought, and my 9015 didn't like them at all...fliers everywhere. At that point back then I knew nothing about air rifles, pellets, etc so I figured it was just a case of me or the rifle at fault.
I could send the photo to the email address you gave...but that won't help me at all. I don't think they will entertain the idea of sending replacements all the way to NZ.
Here it is...

Please send us the details by email. As @pan60 already mentioned, this would help us improve our processes. And if the complaint is justified (which it almost certainly is in your case), we will also send a replacement to New Zealand.

 

[Penfold]

OK, will do...but I bought these about 1 year ago and they certainly will be way older than that (as Match/Competition pellets would not be a quick seller over here). I'm sure your processes would be well sorted since then.
I have no FT pellets here so it's not something I will have mixed up. I do have H&N FTT though, but they are completely different.

 

[Penfold]

Done, sent photos and a link to this thread as well.

 

[Jörg Siemens]

Done, sent photos and a link to this thread as well.

We have received your email and our QA has confirmed that this is a mix of Baracuda Match and Baracuda FT. This must have happened at the packaging system when changing from one product to the other if the filling hoppers were not completely emptied and cleaned. It's a standard procedure...

We will now send a replacement (safely) to New Zealand.

By the way, the batch is from 2019.

 

[hameditor]

We have received your email and our QA has confirmed that this is a mix of Baracuda Match and Baracuda FT. This must have happened at the packaging system when changing from one product to the other if the filling hoppers were not completely emptied and cleaned. It's a standard procedure...

We will now send a replacement (safely) to New Zealand.

By the way, the batch is from 2019.

Jörg, thank you for the superb follow up and support. That's excellent customer service from H&N

 

[pan60]

We have received your email and our QA has confirmed that this is a mix of Baracuda Match and Baracuda FT. This must have happened at the packaging system when changing from one product to the other if the filling hoppers were not completely emptied and cleaned. It's a standard procedure...

We will now send a replacement (safely) to New Zealand.

By the way, the batch is from 2019.

you couldn't beat that with a stick!
: )

@Jörg Siemens thank you for your constant support ; )

 

[Penfold]

That is great service, and H&N have been in touch with me.
Wow...2019! I knew that sales moved slow here in NZ but that is really slow.
I really didn't think it worthwhile bothering H&N about it as I knew this would be old stock as most pellets here would be sold for hunting/plinking.
I haven't let that one tin stop me buying more H&N though. About 2 months ago I bought 5000 more of the FTT which shoot OK (but still have those very wide skirts...which may only be a problem in some rifles such as my 9015 with a tight breech).

 

[BanjomanMI76]

Its service like this that reaffirms my trust... especially with H&N

 

[jps2486]

It seems everything marketed today is called "match". Match barrels, match triggers, match pellets. It's getting so that the term doesn't have any significant meaning anymore.

 

[BanjomanMI76]

It seems everything marketed today is called "match". Match barrels, match triggers, match pellets. It's getting so that the term doesn't have any significant meaning anymore.

Sounds like an article waiting to be written. Can anyone elaborate?

 

[Penfold]

H&N have replaced the wonky tin of pellets, plus they sent the new tin in a soft zipper pellet case...plus some H&N stickers that I will display (and stick) around our range.
Great service, and truly unexpected. NZ is a long way from Germany.
Can't fault the customer care!
I will test these new Baracuda Match in a couple of days time.
Just for my own interest I ran 12 of the pellets through my 4.53 pellet sizer. Yep...tight fit at the start. H&N seem to make their pellets with a wide skirt. Will see if the sizer makes any difference to how the pellets shoot in the 9015 HP.
Just going to shoot 10 random pellets from the new tin and then 10 of the sized pellets and will compare the groups.
Not all that scientific with such a small lot, but maybe enough to show if my 9015 likes them sized or straight from the tin.