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ugh Fart of Landon gun shop H: ceyeheshianee: sears and eyen note thousands Stpounas on te quest to mnprove the standard of airgur ammo. ‘His target has been to produce more accurate and consistent pellets which fren't barrel fussy — and whick aren't made of lead. Hugh's experiments first led to the spment af Promethevs pellets — {or rifles with unchoked barrels oper- sting below the 11 Fe. lbs. legal limit, ‘And now he's taken another giant leap inte the future by producing tro ‘new-pellets-— the Paragon Zt with a tine head and dhe Paragon Cl wit hend made from copper. Im each case the tail consisis of a ‘green plastic cup — not unlike the cape ‘of a rimfire bullei — complete with a small flange at the back, This tail fits tightly om to the Ca eee ans snough to engage the ri ‘the whole projectile eomeentzie in bagel. Amazing new high-speed ammo on test In both instances, tie pellets? heads are lathe turned from solid rod to ‘gNerantee perfect concentricity. and: therefore balance. The 14.4 grain Paragon Zl is intended for use in tifles with amuzzle energy of between 14 and 20 It Ibs, — while the 17.3 grain Cl is for guns with f power of over 20 ft bs wren't many airguns in that bracket, you might say — but the potential of such powerful pelleta isn't ‘actually as limited as you might think. ‘Hugh Barl has one eye on « future ‘where airguns will be the standard tool for vermin control — and where lead will be a5 unfashionable as CFCs! In short, Hugh's new pellets ate intended a5 serfous hunting ammo — fot for plinking at Coke cans in the back garden. 8) aun GUNNER "Thr new Parngon 2 highperlormance om reason for Hugh's apparently eurioas choice of materials is that conventional lead pellets tend to become very erratic at high powers This is chiefly because |the ale pressure needed to accelerate them up ‘the barrel cistorts thelr tally as they ‘move up the bore. ‘And-if-only-ane_side.of the_pellet happens to become distorted, then the pellet will soon lose its balance and head off in the wrong direction. “There's no chance of this happening to the new Paragons, of course — and there's also fond. rear portions ceparai Is because of theie igh! join and + that the air pressure is appl the whole ates of Uke. plastic "The new pellets certainly seem to ike speed! Amazingly, the faster they're fired, the more accurate they become! ‘Shooting over my 30-yard range, the 71 produced groups af just under an inch at 20-ft. Ibs. Meanwhile, the Cl's groups mosgured three-quarters of wn finch at 0 {0 tbs.! ‘Lead pellets would stroggleto mate that level of accuracy at those powers and equally impressive, there wasn't ‘a single flyer to spoil my groups. During may tests, I also ased two chronos — ene at the muzzle and one at the target to check whether the Poragons retained their energy-as well, i the Promathvns] people ‘or better, than standard diabolo ammo. ‘The rosalts wore interesting. ‘The power of an Eley Wasp hat Neft the muzale pt 21.6 ft ths. had fallen to 14.2. Ths, hy the time It hed ‘travelled 30-yards — a ost 0F 34.3 por cont of ls original energy. ‘Meanwhile, a Paragon 21 with identical initial energy hhad fest just big adven ‘tage of both, Paragons 1s that they're not fussy what ber- rele you shoot them through — 50 Tong as. it's not a BSA! ButLothar Walther, Weihrauch ‘or Apschutz barrels, choked or otherwise, the Paragons perform equally well in all of them, One ip heres that s4pot of ol tiner in the barrel or on the. pelete themselver, “guarantees optintamn fecuraey — and minteium group sical Why shoulda't you use them in BSA barrele? Wolly the barre fitted to BSRs new rifles are fractionally fidersce — and while this sneans they reduce ood goups. with ordinary [eed pellets the Pavagons are too tght fit in che bree. Toes” oe nogument that. polite fund from metecals harder than lead Ere prone us slothets ut Tn|oot fonvineed by thet Let's face Ie eon? projectiles ll tehound whatever theyre mae of, {Speciny they strike surfece a a mie "Texpeet most of wshave deliberately fied at botles hoping tht the pallet tilt off cenereandfiy ey witha thing reminiscent of 8 shootout a So to leat the Paropons, I fred them st aheavy sea pater exactly square othe piles tight —and ean peaped to ee that they seucely robeutded at Eh [Thole energy went in. Aatiening | bee nonce eaviog thee aot | Teed lpblote Wee fender id tds feelaeh Srehit eiacaatt eas cen completely fatenei spraying {iC Fordcon edewnss aa ees {iy angerousconsequoncen, feet ey goede polo ro thaas Gphetnaniabeeane to oah| dice five thats capable of the esormoualy high povere figured, ievavaderdies e pellt Tally smoothly! ~ at lost compared to a ering te Thole elle that they've alo tested the new Paagona ts thle poo eo oiigd sed ote chee ty [extremely eutcemal [PSciemy! he Parngon'e vate. ana |tseac ha doc dstort, kes It Well emecol fee kip rato becslerba in Toco mietaevene thet idetessal problems the oviginl Prenietieca The faster they're fired, the more accurate they become! {pellets because the plastic from: their | tails adhered to the bore — gradually Duilding up until there was enough te spoil aceu ‘But that’s not a problem with the Paragons. They're guided and by « thin fin machined onto ‘the hond. This acta like the driving band at the back of an artillery shell — fond the rifling is prensed onto It to arm a seal between the pellet and the bore. More importantly, os the pellet moves up the barrel, the fia scrapes out any dirt — carrying it along. wit ‘and leaving the "barrel in” perfect condition for the next shot. Pushing a zine Paragon through deliberately fouled Lothar Walthes pleased to. seo that it cleared ovt every scrap of dint leaving a bright, clean surface behind ‘The fin et the front hed done its job tq perfection, TC id @ deep eet ot ‘roowesimgrnied on it ara ager St guge ot the fro The rim at the rear hed also phyed ic part guiding the pellet nthe ame ime leasing out dhe rest-of the bra |""Betore signing off. let me emphasise Jonce ayain' thet these: Parayone are [soecificlly denned for high peor etce, overthel |piacrie pasos pt Maybe they're abead of thet time btontos there aren oo many 40 hillessround yet.Or maybe, now that bbe bs pana designing rome high-power rifles to soot sige wll at & Aur Gownes 20

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