Streamline your ammo

Posted on 26/09/2019 by towens — No Comments ↓

QYS has followed the success of its initial Domed diabolo with the Streamlined, but how does it compare? Mike Morton finds out…

Qiang Yuan Sports made a big impact on the airgun scene in the UK last year with its Domed pellets, and has now released a new design called the Streamlined. But what’s different about them – and more importantly, are they any good?

While these two .177 pellets seem very alike – both are standard pinched-waist domehead diabolos that appear to be made of the same lead alloy – there are enough differences to make them a viable alternative to each other. In terms of overall size and shape, both types are similar in length, but the skirt is more sharply angled and the head slightly more pointed on the Streamlined.

The differences don’t end there though, because the Streamlined is available in two head sizes, 4.49 and 4.50, and in two weights, 8.48 grains and 9.56 grains. Comparing the two weights would involve a separate test in its own right, so I elected to test just the heavier type.

Key specs

Pellet: QYS Streamlined
Manufacturer: Qiang Yuan Sports (www.qiang-yuan.eu)
UK Distributor: The Shooting Party (www.shootingparty.uk)
Type: Roundhead diabolo
Calibre tested: .177 (4.50mm)
Head size: 4.49mm and 4.50mm (tested)
Supplied in: Plastic tub of 500
Price: £14.99
Advertised weight: 9.56 grains
Measured weight: 9.50 grains
Uses: Target shooting, hunting, precision plinking

The pellet seen here is the 9.56gr Streamlined, with the 4.50mm head size coming in QYS’s now familiar clear plastic tub of 500. There is no foam padding in these tubs, but only a single pellet had been damaged in transit, suffering a partially crushed skirt, and was therefore discarded.

As for the remaining pellets, the quality of manufacture was excellent, with the shiny pellets being clean and fully formed, and only two flakes of swarf being found in the plastic tub.

I ran my usual sample of 50 pellets over my electronic scales to check the consistency of their weight. Twenty-eight came in at 9.4 grains, 19 at 9.6 grains and three at 9.8 grains, giving an average measured weight of 9.50 grains, compared with Qiang Yuan Sport’s stated 9.56 grains, although while my scales are consistent, they may not be perfectly calibrated.

Test conditions

This shoot was conducted outdoors from a covered firing point on a totally windless, muggy and overcast day – near-perfect conditions for testing.

Manufacturing tolerances were very good, with 47 of the 50 pellets that Mike weighed showing a variation of just 0.2 grains

As usual, all shots were taken at the centre of a 1” Birchwood Casey Target Spot, regardless of distance, to chart their flightpath at three different distances, with the rifle zeroed at 30 yards.

The pellets were taken straight from the tub, and five shots were taken at each of the three targets.

Downrange

I used a Daystate Red Wolf for this test, with the rifle supported up front by a heavyweight Dog-Gone-Good shooting bag under the forend (I haven’t plucked up the courage to drill the stock for a bipod fitting just yet!) and a DGG wedge bag at the rear, with everything rested on a table.

With the Wolf’s barrel properly leaded, the pellets were shot over the chrono at an average velocity of 751 feet per second, with a variation of nine feet per second over a 10-shot string.

At 20 yards, the QYS Streamlined delivered a tiny five-shot group measuring 3mm centre-to-centre. The group showed a negligible drop of 3.5mm below point of aim, due to the height of the scope and the Red Wolf’s set zero of 30 yards.

The 30-yard group was a similarly tight cluster measuring 3.6mm centre-to-centre. I thought I had zeroed the rifle correctly, but when examining the target close up, I should probably have gone down a click, as the group was very slightly high of centre.

While it would have been fantastic to have got a nice, round group at 40 yards, my hopes were confounded, with a ragged five-shot, two-hole group appearing 13.5mm below point of aim. But while we all aspire to achieve the Holy Grail of pellet testing – a one-hole group at every distance – the Streamlined still delivered a pleasing cluster measuring just 8.5mm centre-to-centre at this much greater distance.

With these high-end pellets being shot in controlled conditions from a stable position, it’s only natural to expect them to perform well – and that’s exactly what they did, with all three groups easily passing the 18mm five pence piece test.

This is proof that QYS was more than a one-hit wonder with the Domed. The Streamlined isn’t just a good follow-up, it’s an excellent pellet in its own right.