Panthera I Jumped In!

[Pumacarl]

I tried the ELRs in my M4 and DRS - both .22. I never got them to group consistently. The M4 has a 600mm heavy barrel and the DRS has a 700mm heavy barrel. They both shoot uncoated slugs very well. I bought a couple of boxes of the different weights and haven't finished any of them. I put them in other .22s and had the same experience. I was hoping to use them for hunting and see some of my shots better but I won't risk the more than occasional "stray" shots. I'll keep watching to see if you get some that are performing better.

Damn! I was hoping it was just me. I don't want to confuse anyone reading this so I will reiterate that the ZAN "all lead" ELR, and regular, slugs shoot great. It is the Hyper Line ELR that have shot all over the place for me, and now it seems @pfddi. I have not read yet about anybody's results with the regular Hyper Line slugs. I wonder if those are shooting well?

 

[pfddi]

That's for clarifying me @Pumacarl. I forgot (which I seem to do a lot) to mention I got both ,217 and .218s and still did not find a gun that shot them consistently. I hope they work out as I did see the yellow streak much better - especially at further distance. And they really show up if you record them! Cleaning the barrel, well I didn't put enough through one gun to see if got cleaned.

 

[pfddi]

I don't know if it's just me, but I seemed to have more trouble determining which was the front and which was the back of the yellow slugs versus a traditional lead slug. Maybe it's because the hollow point is filled in!

 

[Pumacarl]

I don't know if it's just me, but I seemed to have more trouble determining which was the front and which was the back of the yellow slugs versus a traditional lead slug. Maybe it's because the hollow point is filled in!

These slugs are not hollow points. The hollow point ELR is 33gr and you'll see it. You are right though, you've got to pay attention putting them in the magazine.

 

[Billm]

Besides its construction and being glued together with thread locker, how’re you liking it as a shooter?

 

[Pumacarl]

Besides its construction and being glued together with thread locker, how’re you liking it as a shooter?

I don't really think of it as a gun, like all my other airguns. I think of it as part of a system, a crew served weapon but with a crew of only one. When I shoot it, I first set the tripod up, place the gun on it, attach the chronograph, check the parralax, scope power, open the action, insert the magazine, level the scope on target, check wind, laser range it, consult Strelok, click in the scope adjustments, get comfortable on the gun, load a slug in, fire and try to see round, repeat. It's a lot more of a process because I'm trying to keep track of everything. It is a lot like what I have been doing with my 250z but I have to pay more attention to my reg refresh and the chrony. The further out you go the more precise everything needs to be, and I'm always standing. I have to purposely slow myself down to shoot. If I rush anything, I'm going to miss.

The gun itself is one accurate sob, that's for sure, and I haven't even shot at any paper targets yet, for groups, to figure that out. I was shooting at old expired spray paint cans on two separate days at 222y and 242y and on a few cans the wind stopped and the shots were exactly on target. Super fun and very satisfying. I even started to be able to figure for the wind on the fly a few times and really had enjoyable runs that never would have happened if the gun wasn't a tack driver. And remember this is all from me standing using a tripod. If I would have been on a concrete benchrest using front and rear bags 10 years ago doing this with an airgun, I would have been over the moon. I still am as it is.

It's not spontaneous fun, like grabbing a springer and some pellets and plinking, it's a planned coordinated event and when it all comes together it is very rewarding, because it's not a fluke or a surprise, it's a plan coming together. I haven't had this kind of fun since I got my .22LR Volquartsan Mossad Sniper back when they started making them in the late 80's I think. I would shoot clay pidgeons at 250y back then and I never imagined doing it with air.

Anyways, has a shooter, I really like it. What's not to like about shooting a really accurate powerful gun? To me, being long makes it more stable and easier to shoot. Bullpups are fine from a bench or sitting with a tripod, but when I'm standing I want a long gun. Since I moved the cocking lever, I like that I can see everything on one side and don't need to remove my hand from the grip. It is hard getting used to it, but I realise it is better and makes more sense, so I'm adjusting myself to it. I know if the gun develops a problem, it will be involved , but nothing worthwhile is easy is it? As long as the gun itself can hold up to being worked on w/o breaking I'll be happy with it. It is doing what I set out to achieve so it's held up its end.

 

[Billm]

I don't really think of it as a gun, like all my other airguns. I think of it as part of a system, a crew served weapon but with a crew of only one. When I shoot it, I first set the tripod up, place the gun on it, attach the chronograph, check the parralax, scope power, open the action, insert the magazine, level the scope on target, check wind, laser range it, consult Strelok, click in the scope adjustments, get comfortable on the gun, load a slug in, fire and try to see round, repeat. It's a lot more of a process because I'm trying to keep track of everything. It is a lot like what I have been doing with my 250z but I have to pay more attention to my reg refresh and the chrony. The further out you go the more precise everything needs to be, and I'm always standing. I have to purposely slow myself down to shoot. If I rush anything, I'm going to miss.

The gun itself is one accurate sob, that's for sure, and I haven't even shot at any paper targets yet, for groups, to figure that out. I was shooting at old expired spray paint cans on two separate days at 222y and 242y and on a few cans the wind stopped and the shots were exactly on target. Super fun and very satisfying. I even started to be able to figure for the wind on the fly a few times and really had enjoyable runs that never would have happened if the gun wasn't a tack driver. And remember this is all from me standing using a tripod. If I would have been on a concrete benchrest using front and rear bags 10 years ago doing this with an airgun, I would have been over the moon. I still am as it is.

It's not spontaneous fun, like grabbing a springer and some pellets and plinking, it's a planned coordinated event and when it all comes together it is very rewarding, because it's not a fluke or a surprise, it's a plan coming together. I haven't had this kind of fun since I got my .22LR Volquartsan Mossad Sniper back when they started making them in the late 80's I think. I would shoot clay pidgeons at 250y back then and I never imagined doing it with air.

Anyways, has a shooter, I really like it. What's not to like about shooting a really accurate powerful gun? To me, being long makes it more stable and easier to shoot. Bullpups are fine from a bench or sitting with a tripod, but when I'm standing I want a long gun. Since I moved the cocking lever, I like that I can see everything on one side and don't need to remove my hand from the grip. It is hard getting used to it, but I realise it is better and makes more sense, so I'm adjusting myself to it. I know if the gun develops a problem, it will be involved , but nothing worthwhile is easy is it? As long as the gun itself can hold up to being worked on w/o breaking I'll be happy with it. It is doing what I set out to achieve so it's held up its end.

I’m glad it has worked out. It’s too nice to cover up with a lampshade.

 

[Pumacarl]

I’m glad it has worked out. It’s too nice to cover up with a lampshade.

I mostly just wanted extreme accuracy at distance, and considering how it shoots everything but coated slugs accurately, it won't be made into a lamp any time soon.

 

[Pumacarl]

Today I shot tethered, 53y, at paper, again from my tripod, standing. My purpose was just to determine which slugs actually group the best, so I can buy a comfortable amount. I do OK shooting from my tripod but it is not as good as being benched for sure, but I know what's on me and what's on the gun. I find sitting at a bench, shooting, to be very uncomfortable, so I rarely do it.

What I determined is that my gun absolutely loves H&N .218 slugs 33gr and up. Any of them, doesn't matter. A totally solid performing line. This will certainly be my go to ammo for general shooting, and it can be found for good prices. Right now, until April 27th, Hatsan is having a sale, using the code "ammo20" gets you at least free shipping. I bought four more tins of H&N slugs and the price to my door came out to be about 7.5 cents a slug. Not bad for slugs lately. So, H&N takes care of 200y and under.

For over 200y I want a .2 B.C. (or higher) slug, and there are not a lot of choices here that I would buy. Alteros are too expensive to mindlessly be goofing off with, so they're out of contention. I will buy some eventually to experiment with, but they would not be something that I would want to maintain a supply of. If I was competing, sure, but I'm not. AirMarksman and ZAN are expensive enough as it is, and easy to get. I don't know of any other commercially produced and available +.2 B.C. slugs at this time.

For the AirMarksman slugs the 40.1gr .2175 out grouped the 42gr .218 handily. These were the winners for the day for sure.

The ZANs surprised me. Usually, and I don't really know if it's my own bias making me try harder or not, I shoot the best with ZANs. Not today. The regular 42.3gr ELR (uncoated) slug has been shooting well over 200y but it's actual accuracy was not equal to the 40.1gr AM slug today. The AM slugs, that I have been shooting against the ZANs at over 200y with, have been the 42gr ones, which I found out today aren't half as accurate as the 40.1gr version. So, the 40.1gr AM slug sneeks in for the win. But I'm not done talking about ZAN yet.

40.7gr Hyper Line ELR, WTH! I tried shooting these again, and again, they were all over the place. I literally don't know where most of them were even going, yellow color or not! I have an IA1350 on my gun which I took off and unscrewed each baffle to see if they were being hit, and there was no sign of any clipping. I have shot them before with no moderator on and they shot just as badly. And yes, I tried placing them in the chamber with my fingers, with no moderator on the gun, and they still shotgunned. I finally had one reading of velocity on them from my D1 chrony and it said 987fps. To be fair, thinking on it now, I never did try shooting them slow, but honestly I'm not interested in shooting them slow either. So, there's that. I would turn down the speed if others find that works, but I wouldn't buy them again either. I definately got a bad box. At least I think that's the case, until I hear how everyone else is getting along with them. The only other person that I know tried them, @pfddi, said his were all over the place too. They've been out for a while now, I'm surprised that I'm not seeing more reports on them. I know that a lot of YouTubers won't do a review for a product that's bad and I'm thinking that's the case here, until I get a reason to think differently.

The only other thing to note on todays shooting with the FX is that I am going to have to do something differently with the D1 chrongraph. I'm going to try mounting it straight under the gun, instead of off to the side, and see if reliability goes up.

 

[pfddi]

@Pumacarl - Thanks for the discount code! My DRS 700mm loves those slugs and I also shoot them out of my Skout EVO compact with the 28" LW slug barrel.

I took my Epic One 550mm out the other day and tried the Hyperline on it. I tried both the .217s and the .218s in both 34.6g and 40.7g. The Epic has an unchoked CZ barrel. 30 yards were a quarter to cover the shots. 50 yards was over a silver dollar. 100 yards I don't have any coinage that big to cover the spread.

 

[Pumacarl]

@Pumacarl - Thanks for the discount code! My DRS 700mm loves those slugs and I also shoot them out of my Skout EVO compact with the 28" LW slug barrel.

I took my Epic One 550mm out the other day and tried the Hyperline on it. I tried both the .217s and the .218s in both 34.6g and 40.7g. The Epic has an unchoked CZ barrel. 30 yards were a quarter to cover the shots. 50 yards was over a silver dollar. 100 yards I don't have any coinage that big to cover the spread.

Good to know! I really didn't know where half my shots were going, they were off target a full 6-8" (or more?)at only 53y! That's why I checked for clipping. The crickets will stop chirping and someone will address this eventually.

 

[Danman]

Good to know! I really didn't know where half my shots were going, they were off target a full 6-8" (or more?)at only 53y! That's why I checked for clipping. The crickets will stop chirping and someone will address this eventually.

Sounds like your having fun, My 0.02....try shooting the Hyperlines between 850 and 925fps just to see if they tighten up.
Gerhard uses the H&Ns in his FX rifles frequently in his pesting videos, so they must be pretty good! Hoping they will do good in my Ghost slug barrel whenever that shows up. Im getting jealous of all you slug shooters.