H&N Slug HP Review .217 Cal., 25 Grain

VALUE FOR MONEY

German manufacturer H&N Sport has entered the burgeoning airgun slug market with a wide range of slugs, first in .22 caliber, very recently in .25 cal. This H&N HP Slug review covers the 25 Grain, .22 caliber slugs in .217 diameter.

The company offers a very wide range of weights and actual body diameters. The 25 Grain weight is right in the middle of H&N’s range for this caliber.

Selling at a Street Price of $15.75 for a tin of 200, H&N slugs are well-priced at 7.9 Cents each. They can be even cheaper if purchased in the “buy four, get one free” deals offered by Pyramyd Air and Airgun Depot.

TEST DATA SUMMARY

BUY FROM PYRAMYD AIR
H&N Slug HP, .217 Cal., 25 Grains, Hollowpoint, 200ct 0.22

BUY FROM AIRGUN DEPOT
H&N Airgun Slugs

COMPARISON TO MAKERS CLAIMS

The manufacturer recommends that these slugs are best used with a high-powered PCP air rifle producing around 30 to 45 Ft/Lbs of Muzzle Energy.  The company suggests they are suitable for hunting medium game at long ranges – out to 100 Yards. HAM agrees with this and feels it’s very appropriate positioning for the product.

In this H&N HP Slug review, we found that there were – indeed – precisely 200 slugs packed in the tin. This exactly matched the claim.

Also, the average weight of the 50 sample slugs weighed by HAM Tester Doug Wall was 25.02 Grains. This is incredibly close to H&N’s specification of 25.0 Grains.

In addition, the average head diameter of the slugs tested by HAM was 5.50 mm. That’s 0.2165+ Inches. Again, practically identical to the manufacturer’s specification of .217 Inches.

The only area where HAM testing did not match H&N’s specs was in Ballistic Coefficient. The manufacturer gives a BC of 0.100. HAM testing showed a BC of 0.076.

Yes, this is a fair difference. However the huge range of variables involved in establishing BC figures means that it may not be at all significant. H&N’s BC testing will have a completely different protocol from the one used by HAM (different air rifle, Muzzle Energy. measuring range, temperature, elevation, humidity, the list goes on…)

The only thing certain about slug BCs is that the ones you find will be different from either the H&N or HAM figures. However both BCs will serve as an useful guide as you undertake your own testing.

CONSISTENCY

All 200 slugs in the tin were in perfect condition. There was no evidence of any manufacturing defects or shipping damage.

With an average diameter of 5.55 mm, the results of this H&N HP Slug review show that the overwhelming majority – 80% of the tested slugs – had a body diameter of 5.55 or 5.56 mm. This is good consistency, particularly when combined with the variation of just 0.54% between the smallest and largest slugs measured.

As usual, we see a “bell curve” distribution of slug weights. This H&N HP Slug review used HAM’s incredibly-precise, laboratory-grade, milligram balance for weighing. This gives precise, accurate and consistent measurements.

25.03 Grains was both the average weight and the most common among the H&N slugs tested in this review. The difference between lightest and heaviest slugs was just 0.44%.

Fully 88% of the slugs weighed by HAM Tester Doug Wall weighed between 25.0 and 25.3 Grains each, as we can see below. This is outstanding manufacturing consistency!

As many HAM tests have proved, length is almost always the most variable parameter in pellet and slug manufacturing. It’s true here with these H&N slugs. However, the variation we measured was actually not too bad at all…

Looking at the chart below we can see that 36 slugs – 72% of the total – varied in length between 7.77 and 7.82 mm. That’s just 2 Thou!!!

DIRTINESS

Using our standard washing protocol, this H&N HP Slug review found 1.31 Grains of lead dirt and junk per 100 slugs.

Of course, such dirt is inevitable in the manufacture of lead airgun ammunition. However, this level of dirt is above average for lead pellet manufacture. Mostly it appears to be made-up of small slivers of lead, as can be seen in the photograph below.

DOWNRANGE PERFORMANCE

Ballistic Coefficients – BCs – are the big selling point for slugs. And the higher the better!

As discussed above, the BC determined in HAM testing for this H&N HP Slug review was 0.076 when fired using an FX Impact Mk II. So we used this value – together with the average actual weight of the slugs we measured to create the following graph using Chairgun.

As you would expect, the retained energy downrange is outstanding, with no less than 27.3 Ft/Lbs – 71% of the original Muzzle Energy – still retained at 100 Yards downrange. That’s one of the prime reasons slugs are favored for long range hunting.

Another interesting effect is the long “point blank range” with just a 1-Inch drop all the way from 10 to 46 Yards. That’s a big attraction for shorter-range use as well.

HUNTING USE

In the standard HAM soap block impact test, the H&N 25 Grain slug penetrated 70 mm when fired using the Impact.

Compared with an unfired slug, there’s a strong mushrooming effect. This would create a devastating wound, however it’s not as large as that we’ve found with some other slugs.

In fact, the slug mushroomed to 7.15 mm diameter from its pre-fired 5.55mm size.

BUYING AND OWNING

In spite of the challenges imposed on all businesses by the Coronavirus pandemic, H&N is steadily filling the supply chain with increasing numbers of slug weight/diameter combinations. You can find the 25 Grain .217 caliber slugs available at both Pyramyd Air and Airgun Depot at the time of writing.

As most airgunners are aware, minor changes in both slug weight and diameter can result in significant differences in downrange accuracy. That makes the Slug Sampler packages produced by H&N a compelling purchase.

Each sampler package provides sufficient slugs of each weight in a single caliber for testing. It avoids the need to buy many tins of slugs which may turn-out to be unsuitable for your specific air rifle. It’s a recommended way to get into the world of slug shooting!

TEST DATA

BUY FROM PYRAMYD AIR
H&N Slug HP, .217 Cal., 25 Grains, Hollowpoint, 200ct 0.22

BUY FROM AIRGUN DEPOT
H&N Airgun Slugs

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.