.357 cal NOE Pellet Comparison

I forgot my BiPod, so I had the forestock sitting on a block of wood, not the best for accuracy, but fine for the velocity testing…. and IMO good enough to show valid comparisons between the various pellets tested…. I processed the LabRadar data through a spreadsheet I wrote for that purpose, and during that processing I made a few changes, and will continue to develop it as I get more experience…. I double checked the BC results using ChairGun, and the results are corrected to ICAO conditions, because I was testing at 2800 ft. on a 78*F day…. Here is a table showing the results…. V 50 is the velocity at 50 yards, E 50 the energy at 50 yards, and 5/50 is the size of the 5 shot group at 50 yards…. same notation at 100 yards…. The BC is calculated using the GA model for the pellets and the G1 model for the 83 gr. HP slug…. but at these velocities there is almost no difference between the two drag models (about 0.001)….. The velocities I used to calculate the BC’s were at 10 yards (to avoid the extrapolation done by the LabRadar to calculate the MV), and 50 yards…. The SD for the 75 yard data was generally increasing, and that for 100 yards was always over 10, so I considered that unreliable….

You will note that the Muzzle Energy increases slightly with pellet weight, as expected, from 142 FPE at 80 gr. to 150 FPE at 90 gr…. Once you get to 50 yards, the JSB pellet is falling behind, and by the time you get to 100 yards, it is 10 FPE less than the lightest NOE Magnum pellet, which is actually lighter…. The NOE HP slug, while only weighing 83 gr., has the most energy, and by far the most velocity and flattest trajectory at 100 yards…. Despite starting out 5 fps slower than the JSB pellet, it was travelling 91 fps faster at 100…. The biggest surprise, for me, during this testing, was the low BC recorded for the JSB 81 gr. pellet…. I have seen significantly higher numbers, but the velocity was not specified, and if they were tested at much lower velocity, they may show a higher BC…. However, there is no question that in this testing the NOE cast pellets have a significantly higher BC than the JSB, despite having a 50% Meplat on the nose…. The heavier NOE pellets had a higher BC than the lighter ones, as expected, because of their increased Sectional Density…. The 83 gr. Hollowpoint slug had more energy at 100 yards than the JSB pellet did at 50….  😮

In terms of accuracy, the gusty wind, even though it never got to 10 mph, didn’t help…. nor did shooting off a wooden block instead of a proper BiPod…. However, even at 50 yards the NOE pellets more than held their own with the JSB’s, with the lightest NOE having the best group of all tested at that range…. Once I stretched out to 100 yards, however, the best pellet was the middle weight NOE, but it was beaten out by the 83 gr. NOE Hollowpoint slug…. At the end of the day, I shot a N.U.A.H. target with the HPs, and other than one a bit wide to the right (which could have been me, or the wind), it was a pretty good group…. Even with that flier, it only measures 1.63″, with 4 shots within 1.15″ C-T-C…. 

I am very pleased with the results, not only because I learned a lot about using the LabRadar, and it’s limitations, but because the NOE Magnum pellets faired well in their comparison to the JSB’s, both for having a superior BC and better accuracy…. However, the star of the show, without ANY doubt, is that little 83 gr. NOE Hollowpoint slug…. It was the most accurate, and had a far superior BC than any of the pellets…. In the future I plan to try some different sizes to see if there is even more accuracy lurking, but I’m delighted with the results…. With the cost of casting, and no disadvantages, I won’t be using pellets in this gun any more…. 

Bob