.22 JSB .22/28.55 Grands

[Franklink]

My phone's been telling me that my storage is full for a few weeks and I've been slowly going through it, trying to clean up old images. In that process I found some images that reminded me that I never shared much about my experience with the Monster Grands last summer.

With most event's scheduling, I don't get many chances to play in the 100 yard benchrest game. BUT, Martin's EFT/EBR event near Williams, AZ last summer gave me that opportunity. In the weeks leading up to that match I spent a bunch of time practicing and comparing set-ups to optimize my chances of doing well. Ultimately I landed on the .22/28.55 Grands as my best option for the benchrest portion of his events.

With the .22/28.55s at 960-965fps I was averaging EBR scores of 225-235 at 100 yards, over the course of 6 or so weeks when I was really shooting a lot. I had a couple cards in the high 230s, but most were in that 225-235 range. This was of course on home court advantage in my backyard, where I feel like I've got a good handle on the wind.

Gun used was a BRK Ghost with the LW 1:30, 6 groove polygonal barrel.

In the competition I was practicing for, the Ghost and the .22/28.55s combined to shoot a 211 and a 218. The 218 from the Grands was the 4th highest of 33 overall cards (all were shot at 100 yards).

EFT (GP) BR and Silhouette - Williams, AZ -More Pics

OK, Let's try this again. I have attached the registration form again. In order to make sure I order enough food and T-shirts, email registration will close June 30th. We may be able to take registrations after that date, but probably not get a shirt. I would appreciate if you would...

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In multiple instances of measuring the BCs of the Grands I found them to be in the 0.056-0.062 range, from this particular barrel and at these speeds. So, pretty similar to the 25.4gr Monster RDs.

I also tried them from an RTI 1:32, 5 groove polygonal rifled barrel (RTI's "LR" designation), in the 925-935range. They were good here, but not quite as good as they were from the 1:30 @ 960ish.

With the Grands I did not deal with the prevalent flyer issue seen from most batches of the .22/25.4gr Monster RDs.

The Grands seemed to do best in this particular barrel when lubed with Gunzilla.

Here the images I found on my phone that prompted this post, the 237 is one of the better examples, the other two were pretty typical.

So why DIDN'T the .22/28.55 Grands take off and become a commonly used pellet in the 100 yard product showcase/EBR/RMAC/PA type bench-rest matches?
In my opinion the answer is two fold:

1. The .30 options from the Chinese companies hit shortly thereafter, with BCs in the 0.07+ range, and the ever forward march of progress stepped right past the JSB .22/28.55 Grands.
2. Not everybody had the minimal flyer Grands experience that I enjoy from this particular barrel.

As for why they also don't seem to have been picked up much by the plinkers and hunter and non-competition guys,,,,I think the answer there is squarely because JSB priced themselves out of a lot of sales, (same as they did with the .22/20.83grain Lights). The Grands are some of highest priced small-bore (.22 and under) pellets on the market. Or at least they were the last time I did a market analysis. They're more expensive than the .20 NSA slugs I've been primarily using for my long range/small-bore fun, and so I mostly shoot the .20 NSA slugs when throwing the long bomb.

With my personal hard line in the sand of the power wars not exceeding .22, they offer a slight advantage over the MRDs, mostly in the reduced incidence of flyers. I've been wanting to try the Grands in the pellet class/full monty of one of Ben's Ultimate Field Target matches. It just hasn't happened yet (too many guns, not enough time).

If you're a staunch .22 guy, have a gun with the oomph necessary for 28.44grains, and aren't scared away by the price/shot, the 28.55grain Grands are worth looking into.

 

[Danman]

Thanks for the write-up! Got my tin to try in my Ghost, but it's been well below zero ever since they showed up here
Excited to try em, cost is pretty high indeed, Cdn prices; JSB Beasts(33.9gr) are $15 for 150, and 200 K02 slugs are $19.99. Grands are in at $19.99 for 150....?! If they don't beat Mrds these won't be hot sellers. Only .22 pellet more expensive? The new JSB Monster Hades which mostly failed to expand in my testing unless shot point blank range.

 

[Franklink]

Thanks for the write-up! Got my tin to try in my Ghost, but it's been well below zero ever since they showed up here
Excited to try em, cost is pretty high indeed, Cdn prices; JSB Beasts(33.9gr) are $15 for 150, and 200 K02 slugs are $19.99. Grands are in at $19.99 for 150....?! If they don't beat Mrds these won't be hot sellers. Only .22 pellet more expensive? The new JSB Monster Hades which mostly failed to expand in my testing unless shot point blank range.

Yeah I can't wrap my brain around JSB's pricing decision on them. I sure can't imagine they're moving very many of them. I've not seen anybody talk about using them for the long range benchrest matches. Hardly any talk about them at all.
Had they been the next big long range benchrest pellet of choice, I could maybe see some rationale to the price...but in the current market...nope.

Some of the smaller pellet retailers have awesome websites that will show you how many tins they've presumably got on-hand. The one I just checked has lots and lots of tins of Grands. And for comparison, much fewer of some of the more reasonably priced popular pellets.

Laws of supply and demand I suppose. An item is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

[Danman]

Completely agree. I feel the future of Airgunning & Ammo will look like this: Slug guns will be common place, and every pellet manufacturer will also be making slugs. Anyone shooting 100Y plus will just reach for their slugs & slug guns. Shorter distances esp 75Y and in pellets will still rule. Personally I love both! All the slugs in my collection (NSA/Jsb/H&N) are a better $$ deal. The Mrd deeps and shallows for me and (others) have also failed to impress vs regular Mrds.

 

[Franklink]

Two 5 shot groups on the same 100 yard card like this aren't frequent, so yes, very cherry picked. But, some more Grands from the Ghost from earlier today.

The top one MIGHT be a 49, depending on plugging. Bottom one is dang sure a 50- 3 sharing the same hole.

 

[Danman]

Two 5 shot groups on the same 100 yard card like this aren't frequent, so yes, very cherry picked. But, some more Grands from the Ghost from earlier today.

The top one MIGHT be a 49, depending on plugging. Bottom one is dang sure a 50- 3 sharing the same hole.
View attachment 14466View attachment 14467

Nice! So its currently in .22 form?! Or different Ghost? Share your settings?
So far the grands were not good outta mine.

 

[Franklink]

Up until this last weekend I had Ghost barrels in .177, .20, and .22. Just sold the .177 barrel but these particular results are from a different Ghost.

This is with an OEM 1:30, 6 groove LW polygonal. Reg at 150bar, averaging 950fps. At one point I was shooting them @ 960 with a reg pressure of 160bar for similar accuracy results. MAX on the wheel for both.

The Grands seem to want to be 950+. I've gone as high as 980-985 and they're still good. They shoot pretty poorly down around 910-915, at least from the two slow twist polygonal barrels (one this 1:30 6 groove, the other a 1:32, 5 groove) that I've tried them from. At 925-930 they start to get better, but best seems to be 950+, again, at least from the barrels that's I've tried.

 

[Danman]

Up until this last weekend I had Ghost barrels in .177, .20, and .22. Just sold the .177 barrel but these particular results are from a different Ghost.

This is with an OEM 1:30, 6 groove LW polygonal. Reg at 150bar, averaging 950fps. At one point I was shooting them @ 960 with a reg pressure of 160bar for similar accuracy results. MAX on the wheel for both.

The Grands seem to want to be 950+. I've gone as high as 980-985 and they're still good. They shoot pretty poorly down around 910-915, at least from the two slow twist polygonal barrels (one this 1:30 6 groove, the other a 1:32, 5 groove) that I've tried them from. At 925-930 they start to get better, but best seems to be 950+, again, at least from the barrels that's I've tried.

Have my reg at 150 currently and I tried various H.W. settings just last weekend shooting the grands and just terrible. I've never had such an ammo fussy gun and that was just 30Y, lol....It does really well with ordinary Mrds & Deeps. The grands tail end is similar to the shallows and the JTS 25.39 and I've had no luck with any of the 3 to date.