H&N Baracuda 15 Pellet Test Review .22 Caliber

VALUE FOR MONEY

.22 caliber H&N Baracuda 15 airgun pellets are priced at 4.0 Cents each when purchased in a 250-count tin. This is exactly the Median price for pellets in the U.S.A.

Note that this price is calculated – as always – before accounting for the “buy four, pay for three” and similar offers offered by Pyramyd Air and other major online airgun dealers.

Given the outstanding consistency demonstrated in this HAM review, this means that the Baracuda 15s represent outstanding value for a general-purpose domed pellet.

BUY FROM PYRAMYD AIR
H&N Baracuda 15, .22 Cal, 15.89 Grains, Round Nose, 250ct 0.22

TEST DATA SUMMARY

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

The manufacturer recommends .22 caliber H&N Baracuda 15 airgun pellets for use in air rifles with a Muzzle Energy exceeding 12 Ft/Lbs and at ranges out to 50 Meters (55 Yards). At 950 FPS – approximately the maximum Muzzle Velocity generally recommended for best accuracy – they will deliver around 32 Ft/Lbs of Muzzle Energy.

That positions them as a mid-weight pellet that matches well with the overwhelming majority of break-barrel and medium power PCPs currently in use in the U.S.A. It also matches well with H&N’s recommendation of these pellets for hunting Medium Game.

H&N Baracuda 15 pellets have a manufacturer’s specified weight of 15.89 Grains. The sample tested by HAM had an average weigh per pellet of 16.06 Grains. That’s 1.2% above the manufacturer’s specification.

The Baracuda 15s have a head diameter specification of 5.52 mm (it’s printed on the label on the underside of the tin). The samples tested by HAM gave an average of 5.54 mm. That’s 0.4% above the spec.

And yes, there were precisely 250 pellets in the tin we tested – exactly as claimed.

CONSISTENCY

As we can see from the chart below, the H&N Baracuda 15 pellets tested by HAM have been held to a far above-average level of manufacturing consistency for head diameter.

In fact, 52% of the tested pellets had a head diameter of 5.54mm, when measured using a PelletGage. The remaining 48% measured 5.55 mm. That’s outstanding consistency!

What was even better was the very limited variability of just 0.01 mm – that’s less than 4 Thousandths of an Inch – between the largest and smallest pellets tested. That diameter variation of just 0.18% is among the best we’ve ever encountered in HAM testing. Well done H&N Sport!!!

As always, the H&N Baracuda 15 pellets were weighed using HAM’s ultra-sensitive, laboratory-grade milligram balance. Here we found a typical “bell curve” distribution, such as is usually found in our testing.

As can be seen from the graph above, all the pellets tested by HAM weighed more than the 15.89 Grain specification. As remarked above, the average pellet weight was 16.06 Grains, even though no single pellet actually weighed that much!

The variation in weight between lightest and heaviest pellets measured by HAM was just 1.25%. Again, this is better than average and demonstrates excellent quality control in manufacturing.

HAM testing usually shows length to have the largest variability in airgun pellet manufacture. This is reflected in the Baracuda 15 measurements, as we see in the chart below.

However, again the variation between shortest and longest – at 1.42% – is well-controlled and less than we normally find in HAM’s structured measurement protocol.

DIRTINESS

HAM Tester Doug Wall washed 0.0.284 Grains of lead dust and junk from the H&N Baracuda 15 pellets during his testing. Yet again, this is better than average and continues the story of excellent manufacturing quality we have seen already.

DOWNRANGE PERFORMANCE

In HAM testing, we found a Ballistic Coefficient of 0.026. This is very close to the value published by the manufacturer and gives decent performance downrange, as we can see from the chart below.

The result is that the Baracuda 18s retain about 64% of their Muzzle Energy at 50 Yards. That figure falls to 54% out at 70 Yards.

HUNTING USE

When fired into the standard HAM ballistic soap test block using a Beeman 1074 air rifle, the Baracuda 15 pellet penetrated a total of 44 mm into the target. The entry wound was 8 mm in diameter.

When retrieved from the soap, it could be seen that the 5.54 mm head diameter had expanded only slightly to 5.62 mm after impact. The length was reduced from an un-fired 7.81 mm to 7.42 mm.

The fired pellet is shown on the right of the photograph below. Note the rifling marks in head and skirt.

So it’s clear that H&N Baracuda 15 pellets are most suitable for hunting where penetration in the target is required, rather than expansion.

If we accept the general rule (proven by HAM) that best accuracy is achieved at 800 to 950 FPS, that means that the Baracuda 18s would be ideally-suited for hunting with air rifles having a Muzzle Energy in the 25 to 32 Ft/Lbs range.

BUYING AND OWNING

Baracuda 18 pellets are widely available online from the usual outlets such as Pyramyd Air. They’re packed in tins with H&N’s “best in class” screw-top lid. That lid is not too hard to unscrew, yet it stays in place well when carried in a range bag.

There’s no foam disk to cushion impacts in transit. However, none of the pellets in the tin tested by HAM showed any damage from their journey to us.

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

BUY FROM PYRAMYD AIR
H&N Baracuda 15, .22 Cal, 15.89 Grains, Round Nose, 250ct 0.22

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.