Review: Airgun pellets by Quang Yuan Sports

Can this Chinese company take on the might of Air Arms and JSB? Phill Price asks

In recent years, just about everybody I know who is serious about airgun accuracy is using pellets made by JSB, either in JSB tins or the ones they make specially for Air Arms. I use the Air Arms Field Diablo for just about everything, in .177 and .22, at 12 ft.lbs., and in high-power applications. It almost seems like it’s the only pellet there is, so when the Shooting Party invited me to test a new .177 roundhead I wasn’t all that excited. The manufacturer is QYS, or ‘Quang Yuan Sports’, to give them their full name and they have a great reputation for supplying match-grade wadcutters of the highest quality, with lots of gold medals to their name. I figured that if they can make flat-heads to the highest standards, then they should be able to make round-heads just as well.

Unsurprisingly, they look just like a JSB with a long body, its waist well toward the head and a completely smooth exterior. They weigh a claimed 8.48 grains, almost identical to the JSB Exact 8.44, so they’re hardly breaking any new ground. Where they do differ is on the edge of the skirt , which is noticeably thicker, but this could be a case of swings and roundabouts. The extra metal at the edge could resist damage better, but the thin lip is thought to open up and make an air seal more easily. I sat and weighed a batch, and on my digital scales they varied between 8.3 and 8.6 grains, the large majority showing 8.5 on the digital readout. The finish was very clean and neat and I saw no sign of swarf or debris in the plastic container.

Ultimate accuracy

Of course, what we care about most is accuracy, so I took my Weihrauch HW110, a rifle I know to be accurate and consistent, to my 50-yard range to see how the pellets performed. I set a base line of three groups with the Air Arms Field Diablo which was just around the 1” mark and then shot plenty of the QYS Sports Diablo to allow the barrel to lead up with their alloy. This is the point when I have to declare that my ambivalence towards the new pellet stopped. It matched the accuracy of the best pellet I know, and I was genuinely shocked. It seems that, at last, JSB has some competition. Now, I know that result was just one gun on one day, but it makes clear that these are a worthy competitor and well worth experimenting with in your own rifle, if you’re looking to extract the ultimate accuracy.

£9.99 per 500

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