H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber Pellet Test Review
Overview
Testers: Doug Wall
Caliber: .177
Model Number: 92104500005
Test Date: June 1, 2017
Source of Supply: Purchased anonymously at retail.
Condition: New
We Like
Accurate in many air rifles.
Not expensive.
Great reputation with serious shooters.
We Don't Like
Very little.
HAM RATING
- Comparison to Makers Claims:90%
- Most Common Head Diameter 80%
- Variation in Head Diameter 60%
- Most Common Weight 60%
- Variation in Weight 60%
- Most Common Length 50%
- Variation in Length 80%
- Dirtiness 80%
69%
HARD AIR MAGAZINE TEST CONCLUSIONS
H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 caliber pellets have a great reputation for working well in many air rifles. They’re not too heavy for springers and not too light for PCPs.
In many cases they give very accurate results in HAM air rifle tests.
These pellets earn a coveted Gold HAM Award for their combination of price and performance.
VALUE FOR MONEY
H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber Pellets have a great reputation for consistency and accuracy. “Field Target Trophies” shoot well in many airguns. They are also one of the standard test pellets in the HAM airgun reviews.
A typical Street Price for the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber Pellets tested by HAM is $11.99 per tin of 500 pellets. Note that this test refers to the 4.50mm head size pellets. The same pellet with a head size of 4.52mm is more expensive…
As the bores in air rifle barrels will vary in diameter from one gun to another, airgunners wanting the utmost in accuracy will find the head diameter that best matches the barrel of their rifle. This is why H&N provides Field Target Trophy pellets in different head sizes.
The price of the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber Pellets tested by HAM is 2.4 cents each. Of course, as leading retailers can offer “buy four tins, get one free” offers, the actual price per pellet can be lower than that.
BUY FROM PYRAMYD AIR
H&N Field Target Trophy .177 Cal, 8.64 Grains, Domed, 500ct
BUY FROM AIRGUN DEPOT
H&N Field Target Trophy Pellets .177 Cal 500 Ct
TEST DATA SUMMARY
| Price per Pellet | 2.4 cents |
| Most Common Weight | 8.60 Grains |
| Pellets at That Common Weight | 16% |
| Variation in Pellet Weight (Smallest to Largest) | 2.5% |
| Most Common Head Diameter | 4.51 mm |
| Pellet at That Common Head Diameter | 84% |
| Variation in Head Diameter (Smallest to Largest) | 0.4% |
| Most Common Length | 5.78 mm |
| Pellets at That Common Length | 20% |
| Variation in Length (Smallest to Largest) | 1.2% |
COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS
The manufacturer says that H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets are supplied in tins of 500. The tin tested by HAM contained 507 pellets, a handy over count!
The average weight of the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested by HAM was 8.58 Grains. This might sound like a big difference, but it’s actually only 0.7% lighter than the claimed weight on the tin.
The head diameter of 4.50mm was shown on the label on the base of the tin. However, 84% of the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested by HAM had a head size of 4.51mm.
The manufacturer says that H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets are “extremely accurate competition pellets with flat trajectory for medium ranges”. It’s also claimed that they have an” exceptional aerodynamic design for high impact and penetration”.
HAM Pellet Tests do not measure accuracy as this is a combination of pellet, gun, optics, shooter and atmospheric conditions – not of just the pellet itself. But “FTTs” do have a strong reputation for accuracy and the trajectory calculated by Chairgun is, indeed, pretty flat at 31 yards.
H&N’s claims for high impact and penetration are supported by the penetration of 51mm into our standard “ballistic soap”.
The manufacturer also claims that H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets “give the tightest shot groups and that they provide the lowest rate of lead fouling and consistent shot spreads thanks to special alloy”. Tightest shot groups can be read as another claim for accuracy and may be supported by the very consistent head sizes measured in HAM testing. But HAM has no way to measure the rate of head fouling with pellets.
CONSISTENCY
No damaged or malformed pellets were found in the tin of H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested by HAM.
Head diameters were tightly controlled, with 84% of the pellets sampled by HAM having a head diameter of 4.51mm. This matches the calculated average head diameter, of course. Only 4% of the tested pellets showed a head size of 4.50mm, while 14% had a head size of 4.52mm.
The variation from 4.50mm to 4.52mm head diameter for the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets represents less than 0.5%.
Weight variation for the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested by HAM varied from 8.47 Grains to 8.69 Grains.
The average weight calculated to be 8.58 Grains. Only 6% of the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested weighed exactly 8.64 Grains. The heaviest pellet weighed 2.5% more than the lightest.
The average length of the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested by HAM was 5.80mm. However, the most common length was 5.78mm. 20% of the pellets tested were of that length. This means that the 5.85mm pellets were approximately 1% longer than the shortest.
DIRTINESS
A small amount of lead dust and particles is to be expected with any lead airgun pellets. The H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets tested by HAM included a total of 0.063 Grains of dirt in the tin. That’s 0.0126 Grains per 100 pellets. The photograph below shows what this looks like when washed onto our standard cloth.
DOWNRANGE PERFORMANCE
Downrange performance of the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets has been charted using the ChairGun ballistics program. The Ballistic Coefficient used was 0.021, as supplied by H&N.
With a muzzle velocity averaging 878 FPS in the standard “1,000 FPS” Beeman 1074 air rifle used for all pellets tests in .177 and .22 calibers, Muzzle Energy was 14.68 Ft/Lbs.
As we can see from the ChairGun graph below, if this “1,000 FPS” air rifle was sighted-in at 27.5 Yards, the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets will have a point of impact within plus or minus half an inch from 11.6 to 42.4 Yards. That’s 31 Yards of effectively “flat” shooting.
Below we have the data generated by ChairGun from which the graph was generated.
Range POI Drift Time Vel. Vel. Energy Energy Drop
(Yard) (In) (In) (sec) (Ft/s) (%) (FtLbf) (%) (In)
10 -0.52 -0.20 0.035 824.5 93.9 12.95 88.17 -0.2
15 -0.09 -0.44 0.054 800.4 91.2 12.20 83.11 -0.5
20 0.20 -0.78 0.073 777.8 88.6 11.52 78.48 -1.0
25 0.35 -1.21 0.092 756.1 86.1 10.89 74.17 -1.6
30 0.34 -1.75 0.112 735.3 83.8 10.30 70.14 -2.3
35 0.18 -2.38 0.133 715.3 81.5 9.75 66.38 -3.2
40 -0.16 -3.12 0.154 696.1 79.3 9.23 62.86 -4.3
45 -0.67 -3.95 0.176 677.6 77.2 8.75 59.57 -5.5
50 -1.37 -4.90 0.199 659.7 75.1 8.29 56.46 -7.0
55 -2.27 -5.94 0.222 642.3 73.1 7.86 53.51 -8.6
60 -3.39 -7.10 0.245 625.3 71.2 7.45 50.72 -10.4
HUNTING USE
Domed-head pellets like the H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets are typically used for both Field Target shooting and hunting. This is because they often combine flat shooting characteristics with good energy retention at range.
The Chairgun data above shows that H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets do give a flat trajectory and that the retained energy holds up well. At 30 Yards, these “FTTs” still retain 70% of their original Muzzle Energy. This means 10.3 Ft/Lbs at 30 Yards, which would probably be considered a maximum hunting range with these pellets.
The soap block photograph – above – shows a penetration of 51mm into the block. The entry diameter of the wound channel was 8 mm.
The H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellet had a head diameter of 4.51mm before shooting. When extracted from the soap, the diameter was 4.65mm. That’s an expansion of 3%.
BUYING AND OWNING
H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets ship in a screw top tin that works very well. Unlike push top tins, there’s no concern that the top will somehow part from the bottom of the tin at an inconvenient moment!
There’s no padding in the tin, but no damage from shipping was found in the pellets tested by HAM.
As with all lead airgun pellets, all appropriate precautions associated with any lead product must be taken when using H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 Grain .177 Caliber pellets.
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 Field Target Trophy .177 Cal, 8.64 Grains, Domed, 500ct
BUY FROM AIRGUN DEPOT
H&N Field Target Trophy Pellets .177 Cal 500 Ct
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.
