VALUE FOR MONEY
Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets are manufactured in the Czech Republic specifically for Daystate.
These dome head pellets have been selected and tested to work reliably in Daystate PCP air rifles without further selection. This obviously indicates that they are intended for use in high-powered, long range PCP air rifles fitted with Lothar Walther barrels. However, as you would expect, they also work well in many other air rifles, too.
The Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets are priced at $16.95 for a tin of 500. This makes the cost of each pellet 3.4 cents.
As a heavy domed pellet, these Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign pellets are normally used for hunting and other general shooting. Of course, JSB has an outstanding reputation for producing quality pellets. So – combined with the Daystate name – expectations are high for the Rangemasters…
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Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 Cal Pellets
TEST DATA SUMMARY
| Price per Pellet | 3.4 cents |
| Most Common Weight | 15.91 Grains |
| Pellets at That Common Weight | 10% |
| Variation in Pellet Weight (Smallest to Largest) | 2.7% |
| Most Common Head Diameter | 5.52 mm |
| Pellet at That Common Head Diameter | 88% |
| Variation in Head Diameter (Smallest to Largest) | 0.5% |
| Most Common Length | 7.46 mm |
| Pellets at That Common Length | 20% |
| Variation in Length (Smallest to Largest) | 2.4% |
COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS
The manufacturer says that there are 500 Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets in one tin. The tin tested by HAM contained 504 pellets, which is good.
The actual average weight of the pellets tested by HAM was 15.88 Grains. This is within 0.02% of the claimed weight of 15.9 Grains. Very close indeed!
The other claim made is that these pellets have been specifically selected to work reliably in Daystate air rifles. As these pellets are used to test guns at the Daystate factory, that would clearly seem to be true, also.
CONSISTENCY
There were no damaged or deformed pellets found in the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets tested by HAM.
Head size was extremely well controlled. No less than 88% of the tested pellets had a head diameter of 5.52 mm, with a very few outliers – only 0.01 mm (that’s less than 4 Thou) smaller or larger – on either side of this as you can see from the chart below.
The individual pellet weights recorded in HAM testing were somewhat less consistent.
The average weight of the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets tested by HAM was very, very close to the claim at 15.88 Grains. However, only 6% of the tested pellets actually weighed 15.90 Grains. Ten percent of the tested pellets weighed 15.91 Grains. This was the most common weight, as we can see from the chart below.
The lightest pellets tested on the HAM “laboratory grade” milligram balance weighed 15.65 Grains. The heaviest 16.07 Grains. That’s a variation of 2.7%.
Twenty percent of the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets tested by HAM measured 7.46 mm in length. The shortest pellets measured 7.41 mm, the longest 7.59 mm, that’s a spread of 2.4%.
We should also note that the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets showed excellent consistency in Standard Deviation – the measurement of shot-to-shot variation across the pellets fired in one 10-shot string. When shot from the HAM-standard Beeman 1074 air rifle, the Standard Deviation was just 2.62 FPS, one of the lowest measured in HAM testing to date.
DIRTINESS
As a standard part of our comprehensive HAM pellet-testing procedure, we weigh the amount of dust that’s an inevitable by-product in the manufacture of lead pellets.
The tin of Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets tested by HAM contained 0.23 Grains of dirt. That’s 0.046 Grains per 100 pellets, or 0.00266% of the pellet weight.
DOWNRANGE PERFORMANCE
As always, downrange performance of the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets has been charted using the ChairGun ballistics program. We used the Ballistic Coefficient of 0.029, as supplied by Daystate Ltd.
Again, it’s fair to say that the typical user of these pellets with a Daystate air rifle will see considerably greater power and, hence, a flatter trajectory than shown here. However, HAM pellet testing is undertaken on an “apples to apples” basis, so these results can be compared directly to the results from other HAM pellet tests.
With a Muzzle Velocity of 640 FPS, and sighted-in at 29 Yards, the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets would have a [point of impact within plus or minus half an inch from 9 to 33 Yards. That’s 22 Yards of effectively “flat” shooting.
Range POI Drift Time Vel. Vel. Energy Energy Drop
(Yard) (In) (In) (sec) (Ft/s) (%) (FtLbf) (%) (In)
10 -0.25 -0.17 0.048 615.0 96.1 15.25 92.33 -0.4
15 0.17 -0.38 0.072 602.9 94.2 14.65 88.74 -1.0
20 0.34 -0.68 0.098 591.1 92.4 14.09 85.30 -1.8
25 0.26 -1.06 0.123 579.5 90.6 13.54 82.00 -2.8
30 -0.07 -1.54 0.149 568.3 88.8 13.02 78.84 -4.1
35 -0.68 -2.10 0.176 557.2 87.1 12.52 75.80 -5.7
40 -1.56 -2.76 0.203 546.3 85.4 12.03 72.88 -7.6
45 -2.73 -3.52 0.231 535.7 83.7 11.57 70.06 -9.7
50 -4.21 -4.37 0.259 525.2 82.1 11.12 67.34 -12.2
55 -6.00 -5.32 0.288 514.9 80.5 10.69 64.73 -14.9
60 -8.12 -6.38 0.318 504.8 78.9 10.27 62.21 -18.0
HUNTING USE
As usual, the HAM team tested Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets by firing into a standardized bar of soap from a standard Beeman 1074 air rifle. This combination gave a Muzzle Energy of 14.44 Ft/Lbs. It must be noted, however, that these pellets are intended to be fired from a much higher-powered PCP air rifle than the “1,000 FPS” springer used in HAM testing.
The photograph below shows that the pellet penetrated 50 mm into the soap. The wound channel was 6 mm in diameter and penetration into the target was straight.
Thanks to HAM tester Doug Wall’s initiative, we can also compare the shape of the pellet recovered from the soap block and compare it to an unfired pellet.
Here we can see that there’s relatively little deformity of the pellet – at least at this Muzzle Energy – although the head and skirt of the pellet both have expanded upon impact. The initial pellet diameter was 5.52 mm, the diameter when recovered from the soap was 5.62mm.
Due to the domed head design of these pellets, they retain 70% of that initial Muzzle Energy – 11.57 Ft/Lbs – out at 45 Yards. So, it’s clear that the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets are suitable for hunting at long ranges, especially when fired from a powerful PCP air rifle, as intended.
BUYING AND OWNING
Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets are packed in a push top tin. There’s a disk of foam inside the tin so provide protective padding during transport. The large diameter tin matches the volume of the pellets and padding well, so no rattling is heard when the full tin is shaken.
The HAM Team will go on record as saying that we much prefer screw-top pellet tins. We tend to have unintended disasters when opening push-top tins and one happened to HAM Publisher Stephen Archer during this test! However, the Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 caliber pellets are, of course, very far from the only ones that ship in push-top tins…
As with other Daystate products, availability of these pellets is to be found from Airguns of Arizona and Precision Airgun Distribution dealers across the U.S..
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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Daystate Rangemaster Sovereign 15.9 Grain .22 Cal Pellets
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