Blackwolf Blackwolf and Sub-MOA Barrels Review

[Franklink]

OAL musings...

The BW is NOT a compact platform, and would require a short little barrel only 12-14 inches long to get down into that 34-36" OAL where guns start to get really handy.

Of course it's a traditional rifle, not a bullpup. So that means the barrel starts in front of the trigger, instead of far behind it. These photos really hammer that home.

BW next to an OEM Ghost, arranged so magazine slots are lined up...

And then arranged so the triggers/butt pads are lined up...

The BW, as shown above, is more than 50" long. The moderator is 7" of that so it does somewhat exaggerate the comparison.

The Ghost, as shown above, is just shy of 34."

BW has a 25" barrel.
Ghost has a 23" barrel, hidden under that shroud and going through the frame.

To be fully apples to apples, I should have put a moderator on the end of the Ghost, but I think the point I'm making here is evident anyway.....BW is a LOOOONNGGGG gun.

 

[Franklink]

100 yard pellet Blackwolf/SubMOA barrel SUCCESS!!!

Shot 4 cards at 100 yards this evening.
My usual set-up. Real high-end.

Wind speed pretty similar to the last session that I reported on, although less directional shifts today.




Bribed a kid again, to run the trap out and then replace papers for me, this time the redhead.

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Card # 1 below, AEA 21.9grain pellets at 970, all the same adjustments to the gun as described in post #220.

Yes, the big missing chunk of paper probably looks suspicious. This is where one of the nails holds the target to the backer. 7 year old son was a bit aggressive pulling the paper out of the trap. I asked him to be more careful on the following targets.


Card # 2 below. AEA 21.9grain pellets again. Pellet trap was a bit off-kilter so I didn't have a clean sight picture of the top right bull, so simply didn't shoot at that one.

Card # 3 below. Switched over to those JSB MRD Shallows. Again, same settings/speed as reported in post #220.

Had two flyers and decided it was time to pull the barrel for a clean. I did indeed have a lot of lead glitter on the patches, but it only took 6 tight Gunzilla saturated patches to get to a clean one on the 7th.

Card # 4 below, MRDs again.

Summary:
Card 1 with AEA 21.9 = 232 (5x5 average group size of 1.3")
Card 2 with AEA 21.9 = 224 (5x5 average group size of 1.275")
Card 3 with JSB 25.4 = 232 (5x5 average group size of 1.3125")
Card 4 with JSB 25.4 = 225 (6x5 average group size of 1.3125")

That's a four card average score of 228.25, with two different pellets.
That's 21, 5 shot groups at 100 yards that average 1.3" or 1.24MOA. Again, that's an AVERAGE of 21, 5 shot groups.

Blackwolf + 1:22 SubMOA barrel was firing on all cylinders for this shooting session. These four cards, and this shooting session, is the first time I've thought that the BW might nudge out one of my personal long range pellet shooters. And I've got some GOOD ones, one of which took 7 rebarrels to find an exceptional barrel. For a .22 pellet gun, THIS is approaching the best I own and/or am capable of shooting with my abilities and lack of true benchrest gear or desires.

The big question: Why, what changed to make it seem like I've turned the corner on the 100 yard BW pellet project? I feel it's because we finally got the excess air tamed down, via the plenum stuffer and the transfer port reducer. The only other factor changed is that I shot these dry, versus much of what I've shot prior being liberally lubed. This is an easy rule out,...simply shoot some really lubed up and see how they do, with all the horsepower reducers in play like they are now.

Finally...this tin of MRDs is completely unvetted. I save the good ones for competitions, and/or guns/barrels that are worthy. And I use the known lesser batches, or unproved batches, as practice/testing ammo. The results tonight were promising enough to make me want to break out the good Monster RDs.

This is the most optimistic and excited that I've been about the Blackwolf project.

 

[GHairgunner]

100 yard pellet Blackwolf/SubMOA barrel SUCCESS!!!

Shot 4 cards at 100 yards this evening.
My usual set-up. Real high-end.

Wind speed pretty similar to the last session that I reported on, although less directional shifts today.




Bribed a kid again, to run the trap out and then replace papers for me, this time the redhead.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Card # 1 below, AEA 21.9grain pellets at 970, all the same adjustments to the gun as described in post #220.

Yes, the big missing chunk of paper probably looks suspicious. This is where one of the nails holds the target to the backer. 7 year old son was a bit aggressive pulling the paper out of the trap. I asked him to be more careful on the following targets.


Card # 2 below. AEA 21.9grain pellets again. Pellet trap was a bit off-kilter so I didn't have a clean sight picture of the top right bull, so simply didn't shoot at that one.

Card # 3 below. Switched over to those JSB MRD Shallows. Again, same settings/speed as reported in post #220.

Had two flyers and decided it was time to pull the barrel for a clean. I did indeed have a lot of lead glitter on the patches, but it only took 6 tight Gunzilla saturated patches to get to a clean one on the 7th.

Card # 4 below, MRDs again.

Summary:
Card 1 with AEA 21.9 = 232 (5x5 average group size of 1.3")
Card 2 with AEA 21.9 = 224 (5x5 average group size of 1.275")
Card 3 with JSB 25.4 = 232 (5x5 average group size of 1.3125")
Card 4 with JSB 25.4 = 225 (6x5 average group size of 1.3125")

That's a four card average score of 228.25, with two different pellets.
That's 21, 5 shot groups at 100 yards that average 1.3" or 1.24MOA. Again, that's an AVERAGE of 21, 5 shot groups.

Blackwolf + 1:22 SubMOA barrel was firing on all cylinders for this shooting session. These four cards, and this shooting session, is the first time I've thought that the BW might nudge out one of my personal long range pellet shooters. And I've got some GOOD ones, one of which took 7 rebarrels to find an exceptional barrel. For a .22 pellet gun, THIS is approaching the best I own and/or am capable of shooting with my abilities and lack of true benchrest gear or desires.

The big question: Why, what changed to make it seem like I've turned the corner on the 100 yard BW pellet project? I feel it's because we finally got the excess air tamed down, via the plenum stuffer and the transfer port reducer. The only other factor changed is that I shot these dry, versus much of what I've shot prior being liberally lubed. This is an easy rule out,...simply shoot some really lubed up and see how they do, with all the horsepower reducers in play like they are now.

Finally...this tin of MRDs is completely unvetted. I save the good ones for competitions, and/or guns/barrels that are worthy. And I use the known lesser batches, or unproved batches, as practice/testing ammo. The results tonight were promising enough to make me want to break out the good Monster RDs.

This is the most optimistic and excited that I've been about the Blackwolf project.

What speed were the 2 pellets running?

 

[Franklink]

What speed were the 2 pellets running?

AEA 21.9s @ 965-970
JSB 25.4 MRD Shallows @ 930-935.

 

[Centercut]

I can tell you that the AEA 21.9 grain and JTS 22.07 grain (same pellet, different tins) is a very good consistent pellet with a BC (0.055 to 0.058 GA) that is as good or even slightly better than the JSB Monster RDs.
I shot the AEA 21.9 at about 965 fps and did well with it at EBR 2025, coming in 10/112 at 50Y BR and also shooting a 229 in howling winds at my first 75Y EBR Pro qualifier tied 2/38 - against shooters mostly using .30 caliber pellets. I shot from a .22 cal 28 inch 1:15.75 LW poly barrel that week.

 

[Franklink]

Tried out two more flavors of pellet, and it seems to like them both. 100 yards still.

First was the non-"Shallow" designated MRDs. All the same settings as was doing 935ish with the Shallows, so I assume roughly that speed for the non-Shallows.

First shot hit the nail and splattered a bit (upper left). Gave it a few more clicks of elevation and then shot the 6x5 shot groups.

First three, 5 shot groups were pretty good: 1.25", 1.25" 1.5", then shot a 0.875" group. And then the bottom two groups weren't so great, 2.25" and 2.25". Overall average group size was 1.56".



Then I tried the JSB Lights on a second card, also @ 100.
First couple shots were all over the place (upper left bull). Decided I better figure out how fast they were going so I turned on the radar. And they were going over 1000fps. That was with 12 on the wheel. Turned it down to 8 (upper right) and they were 990, and grouped better. Turned it down to 6 (middle right) and they were 970fps, and much better. That group measured right at an inch, so MOA. First two shots of the next group (bottom left) were looking good, then my velocity started dropping, as I was off the reg. Final 5 shot group (bottom right) I was holding up there where I drew the aim point with pen. That was just the account for being lower than reg pressure.

Overall, the 1:22 barrel and power-limited BW (TP restriction and plenum reduction ) seems to like these two varieties of pellet as well as the first two. So we're up to four, heavy weight, high BC (relatively) long range .22 options that are printing decent 100 yard groups.

As an FYI, all 60 shots above (both cards) were on one fill. Of course the last 8 or so of them were off the reg.

(Interesting to note how much easier the JSB 20.83 gets to 970 than the AEA 21.9. They're very similar in weight, but the AEA needed a "10" on the wheel to get to 965-970, and the JSB only needs a "6." That hard lead, and maybe slightly larger head size, of the AEA robs some of the potential fpe.)

 

[Solo1]

Tried out two more flavors of pellet, and it seems to like them both. 100 yards still.

First was the non-"Shallow" designated MRDs. All the same settings as was doing 935ish with the Shallows, so I assume roughly that speed for the non-Shallows.

First shot hit the nail and splattered a bit (upper left). Gave it a few more clicks of elevation and then shot the 6x5 shot groups.

First three, 5 shot groups were pretty good: 1.25", 1.25" 1.5", then shot a 0.875" group. And then the bottom two groups weren't so great, 2.25" and 2.25". Overall average group size was 1.56".



Then I tried the JSB Lights on a second card, also @ 100.
First couple shots were all over the place (upper left bull). Decided I better figure out how fast they were going so I turned on the radar. And they were going over 1000fps. That was with 12 on the wheel. Turned it down to 8 (upper right) and they were 990, and grouped better. Turned it down to 6 (middle right) and they were 970fps, and much better. That group measured right at an inch, so MOA. First two shots of the next group (bottom left) were looking good, then my velocity started dropping, as I was off the reg. Final 5 shot group (bottom right) I was holding up there where I drew the aim point with pen. That was just the account for being lower than reg pressure.

Overall, the 1:22 barrel and power-limited BW (TP restriction and plenum reduction ) seems to like these two varieties of pellet as well as the first two. So we're up to four, heavy weight, high BC (relatively) long range .22 options that are printing decent 100 yard groups.

As an FYI, all 60 shots above (both cards) were on one fill. Of course the last 8 or so of them were off the reg.

(Interesting to note how much easier the JSB 20.83 gets to 970 than the AEA 21.9. They're very similar in weight, but the AEA needed a "10" on the wheel to get to 965-970, and the JSB only needs a "6." That hard lead, and maybe slightly larger head size, of the AEA robs some of the potential fpe.)

Cole would it be difficult for you to remove the plenum restriction and repeat this? I think that might be interesting

 

[Franklink]

Cole would it be difficult for you to remove the plenum restriction and repeat this? I think that might be interesting

Not horribly convenient. It require a degas, and then pulling the block that the bottle screws to.

Please remind me again in the future when I go back to slug shooting and pull the plenum stuffer and tp restrictor.

 

[Billm]

I can tell you that the AEA 21.9 grain and JTS 22.07 grain (same pellet, different tins) is a very good consistent pellet with a BC (0.055 to 0.058 GA) that is as good or even slightly better than the JSB Monster RDs.
I shot the AEA 21.9 at about 965 fps and did well with it at EBR 2025, coming in 10/112 at 50Y BR and also shooting a 229 in howling winds at my first 75Y EBR Pro qualifier tied 2/38 - against shooters mostly using .30 caliber pellets. I shot from a .22 cal 28 inch 1:15.75 LW poly barrel that week.

How do you measure/determine your BC? I’m not questioning your BC data. I’m trying to improve my own data. I’ve been using the Garmin near the muzzle and then downrange at about 90yds. But, I don’t really know if that is the best way to do it. I would really like to determine the correct BC for my conditions. I’ve thought about buying an FX True Ballistic, but I’m not sure if the data would be so much better to justify buying another Chrono.

 

[Franklink]

How do you measure/determine your BC? I’m not questioning your BC data. I’m trying to improve my own data. I’ve been using the Garmin near the muzzle and then downrange at about 90yds. But, I don’t really know if that is the best way to do it. I would really like to determine the correct BC for my conditions. I’ve thought about buying an FX True Ballistic, but I’m not sure if the data would be so much better to justify buying another Chrono.

Here's a link to the two Chrono method in action...

F

JSB .22/20.83 ballistic coefficient and first impressions

Jun 25, 2024

Had a few hrs this morning to collect some data on the JSB .22/20.83, aka the “JSB Jumbo Exact Light.” I’m thinking that I’ll just refer to them as “Lights” b/c I can’t think of any other JSB that uses that nomenclature (off the top of my head).


Ballistic Coefficient
Test bed is this BRK Ghost.

Reg pressure of 150 b/c it’s set up for .22 Monster Grands and I didn’t feel like lowering the reg pressure for this short test of the Lights. Power wheel on MIN. Barrel is an OEM Ghost barrel. 5 groove...

• Franklink
• Replies: 21
• Forum: JSB Airgun Ammo

• 
• 

But an FX True Ballistics or LabRadar are the "easier" ways to go about collecting true down-range speeds.

 

[Centercut]

How do you measure/determine your BC? I’m not questioning your BC data. I’m trying to improve my own data. I’ve been using the Garmin near the muzzle and then downrange at about 90yds. But, I don’t really know if that is the best way to do it. I would really like to determine the correct BC for my conditions. I’ve thought about buying an FX True Ballistic, but I’m not sure if the data would be so much better to justify buying another Chrono.

I use the FX Outdoors True Ballistic chrony. For pellets I use the GA profile.

 

[Franklink]

JTS Dead Center Pellets

Shot two cards last night, one each with JTS 21.53 and 22.07. Very good wind conditions (hardly any).

Here's the first card.

That bottom left 5 shot group is 1/2" CTC, so 0.48moa.
Took the photo before I measured each group but the 5x5 average group size was 1.3inches. Roughly 1/5 of these 21.53s was a very minimal flyer, hitting in the 8 ring versus being a 9 or a 10.

And this is how they looked over the chrono, 31 shots cuz the first one was in the dirt. Not quite as consistent as higher quality pellets.

And then on to the 22.07. In the sighter group you can see that they were hitting slightly lower and left of where the 21.53s were going, so I dialed in a couple clicks right and up. Went too far with both of them, evidenced by top right group, so I took a click off off, correcting my overcorrection.

Last 8-10 shots were off the reg. Score would have likely been a couple points higher if I'd been willing to refill the gun somewhere around shot 50-52. This graph shows the 30 shots from the 22.07, so the back half of the 61 shot string.

Those 61 shots were off one fill of the gun. This is still using the plenum stuffer and TP reducer and blue spring. Reg pressure of 150 bar. Hammer spring at "8" for all of this shooting. Barrel is still the 1:22 SubMOA,

100 yard cards averaging around 230 is quite respectable for .22 pellets, especially in the setting of my benchrest mentality and equipment. For accuracy assessment like this, I'm not the type that shoots a bunch of sighters throughout the card. And you guys have seen my plastic table, knockoff clone bipod, homemade denim shooting bags, etc. These are also not the new .30 pellets with BCs up into the 0.07+ range, just typical .22 pellets with BCs in the 0.05ish area, maybe 0.045-0.055 if we're being realistic on the low end of that range and generous on the high end. Finally, these aren't screened results, where I'm only showing good cards. I shot two cards last night, 61 shots, and they're all on the paper above, minus the first shot into the dirt as explained prior.

So that's 6 varieties of .22 pellet that the 1:22 and muzzled BW are shooting quite well at 100 yards.

• AEA 21.9gr
• JSB MRD 25.4gr Shallows
• JSB MRD 25.4gr OG (not labeled as "shallow" or "deep")
• JSB Lights 20.83gr
• JTS 21.53gr
• JTS 22.07gr

(Could maybe be argued that the JTS 22.07 and the AEA 21.9 are the same pellet).

Those 6 varieties of pellet are consistently shooting 5 shot, 100 yard groups averaging 1.2-1.4inches, with some being as good as 0.5." Again, for .22 pellets in real-world conditions, and not whitewashing the results, pretty damn good.

Don't know if it has any bearing on results but I'm still shooting these dry/straight from the tin, versus heavily lubed like I was doing prior. I plan on adding back some lubed pellets at some point, just as a comparison.

I'm finding myself much more excited to spend time shooting the BW, now that we've figured out how to make it shoot .22 pellets. Pretty dang fun to shoot now.

 

[cavedweller]

is that tearing in the paper from tumbling pellets?

 

[Franklink]

is that tearing in the paper from tumbling pellets?

No, nice round holes. Just cheap thin printer paper, and when it's not pushed back tight against the cardboard backer it rips even worse.

 

[Franklink]

is that tearing in the paper from tumbling pellets?

Just realized something Rudy, the majority of the ripped holes are made by the 21.53. They have a small meplat, that is apparently carrying paper with it instead of cutting a nice clean hole as it goes through. That meplat is likely the primary difference responsible for the slight weight difference between it and the 22.07s.

 

[cavedweller]

Just realized something Rudy, the majority of the ripped holes are made by the 21.53. They have a small meplat, that is apparently carrying paper with it instead of cutting a nice clean hole as it goes through. That meplat is likely the primary difference responsible for the slight weight difference between it and the 22.07s.

Cavedweller learned a new word today: Meplat : Meplat - Wikipedia

 

[Franklink]

Cavedweller learned a new word today: Meplat : Meplat - Wikipedia

Super interesting story about meplats....
Lots of self-proclaimed experts on the airgun forums, most of which profess to be bigger experts than they really are. Lots of them dealing with theoretical versus reality. Anyway, the other end of that spectrum was Bob Sterne.

Prior to getting mad about something and bowing out (don't know the story there) he was quite active in the online airgun communities. Cool thing about Bob is that his airgun knowledge was based on actual testing he himself was doing. He would build guns, design molds, test ballistics, chart out the results, etc. A true source of factual, evidence-based ballistic information. Anyway, I digress, but the point here is that shortly before bowing out, he had started comparing pellets with meplats to those without, and the results indicated that a pellet with a slight meplat might have a slightly better BC than a comparable (weight/shape) pellet without one.

 

[Franklink]

Well, I'm this far into it...

(1.11gr b/c that field has to have something.)
(Can't take much from the average SD either, since some of the strings have been me dinking with the power wheel.)

This radar Chrono has been dedicated to the Blackwolf.
I'd estimate that 75% of the time the Chrono is on and catching shots, however I took quite a few shots @19fpe prepping for field target, without the Chrono running. So I'd estimate that I'm between 3000 and 3500 shots out of the BW since I received it.

Had a new high score 100 yard card from it yesterday, with some fairly interesting related info. Will try to get that posted up soon.

 

[cavedweller]

Super interesting story about meplats....
Lots of self-proclaimed experts on the airgun forums, most of which profess to be bigger experts than they really are. Lots of them dealing with theoretical versus reality. Anyway, the other end of that spectrum was Bob Sterne.

Prior to getting mad about something and bowing out (don't know the story there) he was quite active in the online airgun communities. Cool thing about Bob is that his airgun knowledge was based on actual testing he himself was doing. He would build guns, design molds, test ballistics, chart out the results, etc. A true source of factual, evidence-based ballistic information. Anyway, I digress, but the point here is that shortly before bowing out, he had started comparing pellets with meplats to those without, and the results indicated that a pellet with a slight meplat might have a slightly better BC than a comparable (weight/shape) pellet without one.

Bob Sterne, Author at Hard Air Magazine

hardairmagazine.com

 

[Franklink]

Bob Sterne, Author at Hard Air Magazine

hardairmagazine.com

That's the guy Rudy. I'm not sure what happened, but he disappeared from the Internet. Unfortunately.