Umarex Octane .22 Pellet Testing

I've had a Umarex Octane 22 pellet rifle for quite some time.  I initially purchased it during the Winter of 2013-2014 when I was going full tilt with centerfire ammunition gel testing on my other blog and YouTube channel.  That winter was pretty brutal for this area and I didn't get a chance to test very much so I thought I could bring my testing indoors and run some pellet tests in my basement.  I got a couple tests done and must have gotten distracted by something else, or maybe the weather got better.  Regardless, I've been sitting on a small tote of several varieties of pellets that I've never tested in my rifle.

Spin the clock ahead to a couple weeks ago when a friend posts on Facebook that he recently purchased a Umarex Octane 22 for pest control around his home.  I said, "Hey I have one too".  He says "What pellets does it like"?  I suddenly realized I had no idea. With that casual reminder, I thought I better get the old Octane out the range and get some testing done.

The mission was pretty simple.  .22 pellets come in many grain weights ranging from about 10 to 25 grains.  I had bunch of different pellets that fell in the middle of that range so my initial focus was on pellets in the 14 to 16 grain range.  I initially had a red dot optic installed on the rifle, but the stock on the Octane allows for a great cheek weld for the iron sights.  Add an optic and your cheek weld becomes a jawline weld.  I opted to go with the excellent fiber optic open sights with targets set at 25 yards.  Shooting was done seated behind a table with the just the forward elbow on the table.

I slowly worked my way though 7 different varieties of pellets I had available.  The targets appear in the order they were shot.  For each page of targets, I started with the upper left target and moved around the page clockwise.

In my specific rifle, the Crosman Piranha turned in the best group.  Crosman Powershot Penetrators weren't too bad either.  I guess my Octane is a cheap date because she seemed to prefer the mass retail pellets over the specialty brands from abroad.  She really didn't like the Gamo round balls based on my group size.  If you want the specifics on the pellets tested, you will have to click on the pictures so they enlarge.  At full-size you can see most of the details on the label of each pellet tin.    

With a clear winner in the Piranha, I wanted to make sure my group wasn't a fluke or just some lucky shooting.  Using one of the target holder clothespins as my skill shot target, I took one more 25 yard shot and broke the clothespin.  It's not a fluke.  My rifle likes Piranhas.  So I'll be getting a few more tins in case I ever have the chance to get the rifle into the field for some small game hunting.

Hey Billy, my Octane likes Crosman Piranhas.  You can get them just about anywhere.