VALUE FOR MONEY
12.35 Grain .22 caliber H&N Baracuda Green pellets offer very fair value for money. At 10.5 cents per shot, they are just a little above the average price for .22 caliber alloy pellets – although, of course – that’s much more expensive than traditional lead pellets.
The manufacturer says that these pellets are manufactured from a special tin alloy. They certainly have a very bright, shiny appearance compared to some other lead-free pellets.
The design is a member of the popular Baracuda family, with a sharply-pointed domed head.
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H&N Baracuda Green .22 Cal, 12.35 Grains, Domed, Lead-Free, 200ct 0.22![]()
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H&N Baracuda Green Pellets .22 Cal 12.35 Grain
TEST DATA SUMMARY
| Price per Pellet | 10.50 cents |
| Most Common Weight | 13.18 Grains |
| Pellets at That Common Weight | 26% |
| Variation in Pellet Weight (Smallest to Largest) | 1.14% |
| Most Common Head Diameter | 5.56 mm |
| Pellet at That Common Head Diameter | 90% |
| Variation in Head Diameter (Smallest to Largest) | 0.36% |
| Most Common Length | 8.36 mm |
| Pellets at That Common Length | 20% |
| Variation in Length (Smallest to Largest) | 1.44% |
COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS
The H&N Baracuda Green pellets tested by HAM offered excellent consistency of manufacture. However, they did not conform well to the manufacturer’s published specifications.
Let’s start with the good news. There were no less than 209 pellets in the tin of “200 pcs” tested by HAM. Thank you H&N for the 4.5% overage 
The average weight per pellet for the sample tested by HAM was 13.19 Grains. This was no less than 11.6% greater than the manufacturer’s specification of 12.35 Grains.
The impressively-consistent head diameter of these .22 caliber H&N Baracuda Green pellets tested by HAM was 5.56 mm. This was a great performance. Unfortunately it did not correspond to the head diameter of 5.50 mm marked on the label on the base of the tin.
H&N is to be commended for publishing Ballistic Coefficients for their pellets. The value the give for these Baracuda Greens is 0.029 in .22 caliber. HAM testing gave a BC of 0.023, although the differences found in weight and head diameter could account for that variation.
CONSISTENCY
Manufacturing consistency was a very strong suit for the H&N Baracuda Green pellets tested by HAM!
These are one of the very few pellets to achieve a 100% HAM score in head diameter measurements. No less than 90% of the pellets tested had a head diameter of 5.56 mm, with just a few outliers 0.01 mm smaller or larger. That’s a difference of under plus or minus 4 thousandths of an inch!
Weight was very well controlled, too, in the sample of H&N Baracuda Green pellets tested by HAM.
26% of the tested pellets had a common weight of 13.18 Grains. The variation between the lightest and heaviest pellets weighed was just 1.14%. This is excellent performance for manufacturing consistency, even if the 12.35 Grain weight specification was nowhere in sight.
Overall length is an area where many pellets show a large variation in manufacturing consistency. However, the H&N Baracuda Green pellets also performed well here.
20% of the tested pellets had a length of 8.36 mm – that’s about average. However the variation between the longest and shortest pellets measured was just 1.44%, which is very good.
As you would expect with the hard alloy material, no damaged or malformed pellets were found in the tin tested by HAM.
DIRTINESS
The H&N Baracuda Green pellets tested by HAM were very clean. Only 0.108 Grains of manufacturing-related dust and other junk was found. This was an almost imperceptible amount.
Of course, being manufactured from tin alloy, there was no potentially-harmful lead dust.
DOWNRANGE PERFORMANCE
Fired from HAM’s standard Beeman 1074 air rifle, the H&N Baracuda Green pellets achieved an average Muzzle Velocity of 781.9 FPS.
This gives an effectively flat trajectory between 12 and 43 Yards when sighted-in at 38.5 Yards, as the Chairgun chart below shows.
Being light pellets with a relatively low Ballistic Coefficient, the Baracuda Green pellets lose Kinetic Energy quite rapidly.
No less than 40% of the initial Muzzle Energy has already been lost at 42 Yards, according to Chairgun. This matches the specs published by H&N which recommend an optimum range of 30 Meters (33 Yards) as an optimum range for these pellets.
HUNTING USE
The .22 caliber H&N Baracuda Green pellet showed strong penetration of 56 mm into the standard HAM soap block. This created an 8 mm diameter hole in the soap.
When retrieved from the ballistic soap, the pellet was found to be almost unchanged from its unfired state.
The head diameter was identical, although rifling marks can be seen around the head of the fired pellet (below, right). Unusually, the fired pellet was actually longer than in its unfired state. The increase from 8.36 mm to 8.41 mm length was due to the skirt stretching.
This performance indicates that H&N Baracuda Green pellets would be best used for hunting on relatively tough targets at ranges of 30 Yards or less.
BUYING AND OWNING
Most customers will buy H&N Baracuda Green pellets online as they’re not likely to be found in big box shooting goods stores or gun shops.
As always, H&N’s screw top tins provide easy, convenient access to their contents when required. The dark blue tape proves that they have been untouched since leaving the manufacturer’s facility.
There’s no foam padding in the tin. However the hard tin alloy pellets obviously do not need this protection to avoid damage in transit.
TEST DATA
For background details on HAM’s Pellet Test Review methodology, check out this link.
Chairgun is a product of Hawke Sports Optics LLC and is used with permission. Check out http://www.hawkeoptics.com
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H&N Baracuda Green .22 Cal, 12.35 Grains, Domed, Lead-Free, 200ct 0.22![]()
BUY FROM AIRGUN DEPOT
H&N Baracuda Green Pellets .22 Cal 12.35 Grain
Understanding HAM Pellet Awards
HAM Pellet Awards come from the most rigorous, professional and comprehensive pellet testing by any independent publication. They are the result of much precise measurement and analysis using high precision measuring devices and highly-experienced testers.
Note that accuracy is a product of the complete “system” of airgun, scope, atmospheric conditions and shooter ability – not the pellet alone.
This means that no pellet test review can predict the accuracy of a particular pellet with YOUR individual air rifle. That’s why we do not measure accuracy in these pellet tests.
What HAM Pellet Awards do recognize is manufacturing consistency. Inconsistent pellets definitely will be inaccurate, consistent pellets are much more likely to be accurate.
HAM Awards also recognize value. There’s considerable variation in the price of airgun pellets. This means that an 8 cent pellet needs to score higher than a 2 cent pellet to achieve an award.
For full details of the HAM Pellet Award scoring methodology, please check out our Pellet Testing page.
For a full listing of HAM-tested Ballistic Coefficients, please see our Ballistic Coefficients page.
This entire article including scoring, data etc is Copyright Hard Air Magazine and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the publisher.
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