Pellet puzzle

[DoolinDalton]

Hi guys and gals, long time since posting. Have / had a bit of a puzzle on Saturday and today. Let me explain. On Saturday I was out at a permission to shoot rabbits. At first I was using my SE Ultra and after a few hours, with no luck, I may add, I decided to try my 1980’s HW35 as it’s not been used for a good few years, I reckon.  I set up a target against a manure heap, paced 30 yards and fired!  ?????? Nowhere near! After 3 shots I decided to give up as I thought that the scope was off. Today, at home, I decided to try once more. Again, no sign of any hit!  For some reason, I looked down the barrel and couldn’t see daylight!  With a piece of steel rod, I gently pushed it down the barrel from the muzzle end and lo and behold or, FIVE pellets came out! I only assumed that the first one stuck (on Saturday) then held up the others. I tried  again with the same brand of pellet and, again, it didn’t exit the barrel. I then tried with a different type, which did exit and after an adjustment of the horizontal knob it was somewhere near.  The pellet in question is H&N Baracuda Power in .177,  10.65 grains, copper plated.  I can see (with the aid of a magnifying glass) a series of grooves around one of the pellets that were stuck in the barrel. Are these pellets 5.56 / 5.6 or is it the copper (hardness?) causing the blockage?  Reading a previous thread about a dog being shot, UltraStu seemed to be on the ball, which made me wonder about the pellet sizes.  Looking forward to any replies. 

[Ultrastu]

Hi .

I've not shot the power version of the h+n pellets .

Barracuda and ftt .

I'd suspect the copper coating to make the pellets a tighter fit in your bore ..

Out of interest what was the other pellet that did exit the barrel  ok  ? 

[DoolinDalton]

Hi Ultrastu, thanks for replying. The other pellet was, believe it or not, a BSA Elite, 7.87 grain dome head.  The strange thing is that the copper pellet seemed to go in the barrel ok, with no resistance.  Maybe I should do a test of all the .177 pellets that I have, in order to get some idea of the difference a 100’th of a millimetre can make!   

[Mice!]

The pellet might load and fell ok but the barrel choke most probably tightens up, have you chrono'd the gun? Chances are its down on power so the copper pellet didn't exit, have you tried pushing a pellet through and feeling for tight spots?

But you might be better just using normal pellets rather than the copper ones.

[London Best]

I had a similar experience with an HW35E which had stood for a year or ten. It had been a superb performer but after standing years it was pathetic. A strip down revealed the buffer behind the leather piston washer had swelled and made the piston tight in the cylinder.

[GingerCat]

My money would be it being low in power and not the pellets. A check on a crono will tell you.