QYS Magnum pellet test

Light pellets fly faster. But heavier pellets have a better ballistic coefficient and retain more energy. Lighter pellets are less affected by wind because there’s less flight time for them to be affected. Heavy pellets hit harder.

Whatever argument you listen to, and whichever camp you fall into, one thing’s for sure: airgun shooters have plenty of choice. And that choice has just got wider thanks to the introduction of the new Magnum from Qiang Yuan Sports.

Like QYS’s other pellets, the QYS Magnum is available in .177 calibre only, although I understand this manufacturer is seeking to move into .22 as well. Back to the .177 Magnum, and this pellet is so new that the samples I was sent did not arrive in dedicated tins! UK distributor The Shooting Party says they should be available in both 4.49 and 4.50 head sizes, being packed 400 to a tin and weighing around 13 grains.

The ones I was sent had a head size of 4.50mm, according to my Pelletgage, and their average weight was 13.54 grains, which is certainly very heavy for this calibre.

At first glance, the QYS Magnum looks like it’s a copy of the JSB Exact Heavy, but their visual similarity is only superficial. Not only is the JSB offering more than three grains lighter, weighing just 10.34 grains, the construction of the two pellets is different too.

Both pellets have a cylindrical body in order to increase their mass, but the Magnum’s is longer, while having a far thicker and shorter skirt.

And while the JSB Heavy has a squashed domehead, a head style that’s extremely popular these days, the QYS Magnum has a conical head that ends in a small, but perfectly flat tip.

The QYS pellet is also a lot longer overall, measuring 7.04mm compared with the 6.14mm of a JSB Heavy.

So I think we can agree that while these two pellets do have similarities, they are actually very different.

It’s sometimes easy to dismiss Chinese-made products, but QYS produces extremely high quality airgun ammunition, and as usual with this brand, the Magnums were perfectly formed and perfectly clean, with no pellets damaged in transit.

I weighed a sample of 50 pellets, with 19 coming in at 13.4 grains, 27 measuring 13.6 grains and just four weighing 13.8 grains, giving me an average weight of 13.54 grains.

QYS Magnum – key specs

Pellet: Magnum
Manufacturer: Qiang Yuan Sports (qiang-yuan.eu)
Supplied by: The Shooting Party (shootingparty.uk)
Type: Domehead diabolo
Calibre tested: .177
Head size: 4.50mm
Supplied in: Tin of 400
Price: £17.99
Measured weight: 13.54 grains
Pellet length: 7.04mm
Suggested uses: Hunting

Test conditions

The day chosen for my test shoot was almost perfect, being warm, but not too hot, sunny, but not too bright, and most important of all, there being no wind. All shots were taken at 1” Birchwood Casey Target Spots, and the pellets were plucked straight from the tin, with five shots being taken at 20, 30 and 40 yards, with the rifle having been zeroed at my regular distance of 30 yards.

Mike hasn’t carried out any impact or penetration tests, but is confident the Magnum will perform well as a pest control round

Downrange

QYS tends to make pellets with slightly smaller head sizes, and I know from experience that my Daystate Red Wolf tends to prefer a head size of 4.51mm.

The 4.50 QYS Magnums chambered easily, confirming my suspicions that they were a tad too small for the bore, but used this rifle as it’s a wonderfully consistent shooter. As usual, the Wolf was shot off the bench, supported by Dog-Gone-Good shooting bags front and rear.

My Shooting Chrony F1 was used to test muzzle velocity, which averaged 615.1 feet per second over a 10-shot string, with the Red Wolf having a muzzle energy of 11.38 foot pounds. The variation in velocity over the string was just 6.1 feet per second, and with one rogue reading being taken out of the equation this figure dipped to a minuscule 2.7 feet per second. So far, so very good.

At 20 yards, and requiring 7mm of holdunder, the Magnum/Wolf combo delivered a five-shot group size measuring 5.8mm centre-to-centre. Back at the set zero distance of 30 yards, group size expanded to 10.9mm centre-to-centre.

A cylindrical body adds weight and increases mass, and the Magnums have a conical head with a flattened tip

Three of the shots appeared to have gone through the same hole, and a fourth was touching, while a fifth shot was out on its own. With this removed, the group measured just 3.3mm

At 40 yards, and with me using around 43mm of holdover, group size was now 15.7mm centre-to-centre, although it’s worth mentioning that the diameter of a five pence piece is just 18mm.

So while the Magnums may not have been a perfect match to the bore of my specific test rifle, they still performed well, with a decent level of accuracy.

And one thing’s for sure: at over 13 grains in .177, they’ll certainly hit their targets very hard indeed.

QYS is known for its Olympic medal-winning match ammo, and these pellets were similarly clean and beautifully manufactured