From left to right, flat, round nose, hollow point and pointed pellets. Top row .22 caliber, bottom .177 caliber.

A pellet is the term for a non-spherical projectile designed to be fired from an air gun. Pellets differ from bullets used in firearms because of the pressures encountered; firearms operate at pressures of thousands of atmospheres, while airguns operate at pressures as low as 50 atmospheres. Firearms have sufficient pressure to swage a slightly oversized bullet to fit the bore to form a tight seal, while airguns generally use a slightly undersized projectile that is designed to obturate upon firing to seal the bore and engage the rifling. Since pellets may be fired through a smoothbore BB gun, they are often designed to be inherently stable, much like the Foster slugs used in smoothbore shotguns. Image File history File links Air-gun-pellets. ... Image File history File links Air-gun-pellets. ... Air guns are weapons that propel a bullet using compressed air or another gas, possibly liquefied. ... .357 Magnum cartridges, containing bullets A bullet is a solid projectile propelled by a firearm and is normally made from metal (usually lead). ... An assortment of modern handheld firearms using fixed ammunition, including military assault rifles, a sporting shotgun (fourth from bottom), and a tactical shotgun (third from bottom). ... Swaging is a metal forming technique in which the metal is plastically deformed to its final shape using high pressures. ... Obturate means to block or obstruct. ... A 35 caliber Remington, with a microgrove rifled barrel with a right hand twist. ... Smoothbore refers to a firearm which does not have a rifled barrel. ... Steel BBs BB guns are guns that fire small bore projectiles called BBs. ... A Foster slug, invented by Karl Foster in 1931, is a type of shotgun slug designed to be fired through a smoothbore shotgun barrel. ...

The "diabolo", sometimes called wasp waist, pellet is the most common design found today. The diablo pellet can have a flat, round, hollow or pointed tip, followed by a taper to a thin waist. From the waist back, the pellet is hollow, and flares out to full diameter. The head, or solid part in front of the waist, is usually sized to fit the bore just touching the rifling. This keeps the pellet centered in the bore, while keeping the friction low. The skirt is thin and made of a soft, deformable material, usually lead, although some pellets use tin or even plastic. When fired, the skirt will obturate to fit the bore and provide a good seal, and engaging the rifling to provide spin. In a smoothbore barrel, the skirt will still flare to provide a tight seal, but since there is no rifling the pellet will not spin. In this case, the solid head in the front and hollow skirt in back will prevent the pellet from tumbling and provide some accuracy. The diabolo (commonly misspelled as diablo, formerly also known as the devil on two sticks) is a juggling prop consisting of a spool which is whirled and tossed on a string tied to two sticks held one in each hand. ... The waist is the part of the abdomen between the ribcage and hips. ... Bore may refer to: A wave in a river caused by an incoming tide - see tidal bore The diameter of a pipe or tube, or the caliber of a gun The diameter of a cylinder and piston in a piston engine (See also: Stroke) A person who is boring The... A 35 caliber Remington, with a microgrove rifled barrel with a right hand twist. ...

Pellets are designed to travel at subsonic speeds. High velocities can cause light pellets to deform or even break apart and the transition from supersonic to subsonic will cause most pellets to tumble. The closer a pellet gets to the speed of sound the more unstable it becomes. A few companies have addressed this issue by manufacturing heavier than normal pellets for use in high powered air guns. These pellets travel at a reduced speed because of their weight and can be more accurate.

A pellet is also one of numerous small, dense spherical projectiles fired from a shotgun shell. Collectively, they are called shot. A pump-action and two semi-automatic action shotguns, 20 boxes of shotgun shells, a clay trap, and three boxes of clay pigeons. ... A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with shot or a slug designed to be fired from a shotgun. ... The term shot may refer to: Look up shot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...