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The Best Air Rifle Hunting Pellets of 2024 - The Ultimate Pellet Shootout

Mar 24, 2024

Ever Wonder How Your Hunting Pellets Perform in the Real World? We Thoroughly Test Them for Performance

We’re going to test velocity, calculate pellet energy, and perform some ballistic testing to see which pellets offer the best expansion and penetration. 

the ultimate hunting pellet test H&N benjamin gamo JSB umarex daisy pcp break barrel

Okay, maybe you followed some of our advice in the article we recently published on how to pick out a good air rifle. Or not. Either way, how do you know which hunting pellets are best for varmint hunting or pest control? Follow along as we test them.


We’re not going to be testing accuracy, since that factor is subjective, every air rifle and shooter may find a totally different pellet to be most accurate in their air rifle.


On the topic of accuracy, it’s worth noting that at the end of the day, the pellets that your air rifle shoots most accurately are probably going to be the best choice for hunting, even if it doesn’t offer the best expansion. Expansion is a non-issue if you miss! Let’s get started.


For our testing, we’ve picked some of the most popular pellets out there, although I did goof a bit on the selection. Although we did get about a dozen pellets to test, in my haste to get this party started I did unfortunately overlook a handful of good ones that should have been included. Comment below to remind me which ones I should have tested. 


We’ll be using a chronograph to test pellet velocity, I got this one on amazon and it’s proven to be reliable for air rifles, as well as being inexpensive. 

The Popular Hunting Pellets We'll be Testing Include:

Crosman Premiere Hollow Points - 14.3 Grain

Gamo Red Fire - 15.4 Grain

Gamo Rocket - 14.5 Grain

Crosman Destroyer - 14.3 Grain

H&N Baracuda Hunter - 18.21 Grain

H&N Crow Magnum - 18.21 Grain

H&N Baracuda Power - 21.14 Grain

H&N Hornet - 16.2 Grain

H&N Baracuda Green - 12.96 Grain

JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo Heavy - 18.1 Grain

JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo Monster - 25.4 Grain

JSB Diabolo Exact Jumbo RS - 13.4 Grain

JSB Diabolo Straton Jumbo - 15.9 Grain

Crosman Premier Hollow point 14.3 grain pellet
Benjamin destroyer AKS Crosman Destroyer hunting pellets 14.3 grain

The First Pellet Test: Velocity & Energy Calculation

Hunting pellet velocity testing & energy calculation

Our first test will be velocity. We shot a string of 5 of each pellet through our chronograph and took an average of the 5. Then we calculated the muzzle energy based on that average velocity. There were some surprising results.


In order to interpret this pellet velocity and energy data, let’s put it on a visual graph. I’m definitely no expert in excel, but it’s not terribly difficult to make a simple graph. (See below)


Here you can see we’ve got the pellets listed from 1 through 13. 1 being the lightest and 13 being the heaviest. In the first graph illustration you can see that the lightest isn’t necessarily the fastest in my rifle. 


That has a lot to do with the way the pellets fit in the breach. The higher quality pellets tend to fit a bit more snug, where as the crosman premier hollow points in particular have a noticeably looser fit. 


The other thing you’ll notice is the heaviest 25.4gr JSB Monsters are actually faster than the H&N Barracuda powers. I do believe that can be attributed to the H&N barracuda power having a harder copper coating vs the traditional lead construction of the JSB Monsters. Either way, you can see the velocity trending down as the pellet weight goes up generally speaking.


Things really get interesting when you graph the pellet weight vs muzzle energy. As you can see, the trend line is going down once again, however, keep in mind we’re measuring muzzle energy here, not downrange energy. A heavier pellet will maintain more downrange energy and generally be more accurate, but the caveat is, with less velocity.


If you’re trying to deliver the maximum shock-effect for hunting purposes you need that velocity to facilitate the energy-dump caused by pellet expansion. There’s a sweet spot here in the middle section of the graph where you’ll get a nice flat-shooting pellet that carries plenty of thump for medium-range small game hunting, which most airgun hunters participate in. 


Even in the world of powder-burning rifles, a 150 grain hunting projectile with great expansion properties will struggle to maintain accuracy at 1000 yards, and the guys who do ELR shooting (extreme long range) shoot 400 grain projectiles out to 4000+ yards with no concern about anything other than hitting the target. The same principles hold true for air rifle pellet ballistics. Hitting a paper target at 100 or more yards requires a different pellet than trying to deliver max shock effect on small game at 25 yards. Choose accordingly


(Hover over image to pause slider)
Pellet velocity test graph from lightest to heaviest

Hunting Pellet Expansion & Penetration Testing

Hunting pellet testing for penetration and expansion

This was the most fun and interesting part of the test. Although I don’t have any super-high speed cameras for impressive slow-motion captures, I was still interested in testing these pellets as far as expansion and their ability to create wound channels. The high speed cameras we’ve all seen do a great job of capturing wound channels being created upon impact with ballistic gelatin, however the wound channel collapses just as fast as it’s created in ballistic gel. 


I wanted a different way to test ballistic performance and leave the wound channel behind. I settled on plasticine, which is basically a form of modeling clay. The benefit of using plasticine is, not only does it leave the wound channel in tact, but the pellet is easily recovered, and the clay can be molded back into shape quickly. Win-win. Let’s get started. 

Benjamin (Crosman) Destroyer Ballistic Test Results

Up first is the Benjamin (Crosman) destroyer. Not going to lie I was kinda excited to try this one. With its tipped hollow point design and fast velocity I wasn’t disappointed. It created a nice big wound channel but didn’t penetrate too far, which was expected with a lighter hollow point pellet. It dumped it’s energy quickly with rapid and very uniform expansion. Max shock effect for small game at short to medium range. 

benjamin AKA crosman destroyer hunting pellet ballistic test results
crosman destroyer hunting pellet wound channel test
crosman destroyer hunting pellet expansion

Gamo Red Fire Ballistic Test Results

Next is the gamo red fire. I wasn’t sure what to expect with these, but they performed adequately. The penetration was about the same as the destroyer, but the wound channel was ever so slightly smaller. The plastic ballistic tip became dislodged from the main pellet body during expansion, but it was still right there in front of the pellet upon recovery. The expansion wasn’t as impressive as the destroyer, but I’d imagine it would perform fairly well on small game. 

Gamo Red fire hunting pellet penetration and expansion test
Gamo red fire wound channel test
Gamo red fire pellet expansion

Crosman Premier Hollow Point Ballistic Test Results

With one of the fastest average velocity of all the pellets we tested, and the reputation of being one of the best bang-for-the-buck pellets out there, I was very interested to see these results. While the CPHP left a pretty decent wound channel and penetrated deep into our clay, it didn’t expand or deform much, if at all. I think the velocity alone is responsible for the good wound channel, and it leaves me thinking these would be a good choice if penetration was more important than shock effect to you in a hunting application.

crosman premier hollow points pellet testing
Crosman Premier hollow point pellet penetration test wound channel
crosman premier hollow point pellet expansion

Gamo Rocket Ballistic Test Results

The gamo rocket is a cool design which integrates a copper BB into the tip. It looks like it’s built for max penetration. When shot into our clay, the gamo rocket produced a pretty good-sized wound channel, and it did indeed penetrate deep. In fact, the wound channel looked disproportionately big considering the rocket hardly deformed at all. Gamo Rocket is a solid hunting choice. 

Gamo rocket pellet testing
gamo rocket penetration test wound channel
gamo rocket hunting pellet expansion

H&N Baracuda Power Ballistic Test Result

Although the literature from H&N states the copper-coated Barracuda Power pellets are for PCP rifles only, we still shot them out of our Trail NP2 break barrel. The copper coated pellets are 20% harder when compared to traditional lead, and that combined with their heavier 21gr weight made for a slow projectile. It did penetrate fairly deep into our clay, but not with an impressive wound channel. These are probably better-suited for long range target shooting with the recommended PCP air rifle. 

H&N baracuda power pellet testing
H&N baracuda power wound channel penetration test
H&N baracuda power pellet expansion

JSB Jumbo Heavy Ballistic Test Results

While not particularly profiled for hunting, the JSB jumbo heavy produced decent velocity and energy in our preliminary tests. In the clay, it blasted right through with only slight deformation. If you’re looking for penetration and a slightly heavier pellet to shoot accurately at mid-range, this should be a good one. 

jsb diabolo jumbo heavy pellet testing
jsb match diabolo jumbo heavy penetration test
JSB match diabolo jumbo heavy pellet expansion

H&N Baracuda Hunter Ballistic Test Results

A heavier pellet that does indeed have a hunting profile, the Barracuda Hunter has a fairly large hollow point design. A bit lower on the velocity and energy end of the spectrum, although it left a great wound channel, penetrated deep, and expanded very nicely. A great choice for hunting overall.

H&N baracuda hunter pellet testing
H&N baracuda hunter pellet wound channel penetration test
H&N baracuda hunter pellet expansion

H&N Crow Magnum Ballistic Test Results

At first glance, the Crow Magnum pellet is indistinguishable from the Barracuda Hunter, although if you look closely you can see the tip is slightly flatter, and the hollow point design is bigger, or more open looking although it weighs in at the same 18.21grains. What’s interesting is that even though the Crow Magnum demonstrated one of the best examples of expansion out of all the pellets tested, you wouldn’t think it by looking at the wound channel, and it penetrated quite deep. I’d honestly say it’s almost toss up between the Crow Magnum and the Barracuda Hunter save for the fact that the Crow Magnum wins by over 1lb/ft of energy in preliminary testing. A very solid hunting choice. 

H&N crow magnum pellet test
H&N crow magnum pellet wound channel test
H&N crow magnum pellet expansion

H&N Hornet Ballistic Test Results

The H&N Hornet looks like a more pro version of the gamo red fire. Weighing in at 16.2gr and producing 16lb/ft of muzzle energy, it packed a real wallop into our clay block with an impressive wound channel and good expansion. I was really impressed by the ballistic tip remaining firmly attached upon recovery from the clay. The quality of this pellet is undeniable. I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt with it. 

H&N Hornet hunting pellet test
H&N hornet wound channel penetration
H&N hornet pellet expansion

H&N Baracuda Green Ballistic Test Results

This is the lightest weight of all the pellets tested coming in at 12.96gr with its lead-free alloy construction. Although not the fastest of the group, (barely) it was very consistent during velocity testing, every reading was within a few feet per second of the last. It made a great wound channel in the clay block considering it didn’t visibly deform at all. It almost looks like it could be loaded and shot again, and it penetrated quite deep considering how light it is. It may not deliver best-in-class shock effect, but if you’re looking for lead free laser beams, these are a fantastic choice. 

H&N baracuda green lead free alloy hunting pellet test
H&N baracuda green lead free alloy penetration test
H&N baracuda green alloy pellet test result

Sorry, That's Where the Pellet Testing Stopped

Unfortunately I ran out of time and didn’t get a chance to do the ballistic test with the other 3 JSB pellets, but in all honesty, they’re not hunting pellets anyway. There was no significant expansion or even deformation in the domed pellets we tested, I’m just glad I found the time to do as much testing as I did. 

Final hunting pellet test results, which pellets are the best?

I stand by my previous statement that everyone’s “best” will be different. It depends on your budget, your hunting goals, and which ones shoot best in your air rifle. That being said, I will offer some take-aways from this particular round of testing, although I can already hear the complaints about how I didn’t test this-or that pellet. Perhaps round 2 of pellet testing is in order.


While I can honestly say that I find redeeming qualities in every pellet tested here, the Benjamin (Crosman) Destroyer really impressed me with its great wound channel and killer uniform expansion. I haven’t shot enough of them at distance to be able to tell if they’re a great choice for my rifle, but I hope they are.


Gamo Rocket also gets a nod from me. It was produced very consistent velocities, great muzzle energy, and great wound channel in the clay, even with basically no expansion.


I was also really impressed by the H&N lineup, most notably the Hornet, barracuda hunter, and Crow Magnum. While all the H&N pellets had incredible consistency in the velocity tests, those three in particular really impressed me with their uniform expansion, and in the case of the Hornet, the really impressive build quality with the alloy tip. My hat’s off to H&N, they make great pellets. 

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