Why shooting velocity for an airgun should be under 900fps?

There is a lot of hype for new airgun owners to buy airguns solely based on velocity. "1600fps" may impress many new person into the sport because they are talking some firearm talk! In reality as much as many veteran airgunners like to talk velocity, it is the only common jargen that a new person into the sport can understand.

So why is the Title say UNDER 900fps? In a simple explanation, airgun pellets are NOT designed to go faster than that speed! Just like .22lr rimfire bullet is DESIGNED to go 1000-1400 fps! Above it's designed limit, airgun pellets just performs miserably. And always, this translate to poor accuracy and you miss your mark.

What most people need to know is that relative to firearms, airguns are still low in power....and if it is used for hunting, a more precise placement of the pellet to the quarry's vital area is more important than it's dismal power transfered to the quarry. Airgun pellets do not "vaporize" quarry like some high velocity centerfire ammunition...they basically just make a hole.

So it's better to "place" the pellet than to blast the pellet..ACCURACY is more critical than power (because there really isn't any relative to a firearm).

Second is...well...NOISE! If you stay below the speed of sound, the report signature is not going to alert many around you! Why would you want an airgun breaking the sound barrier? Why draw the attention?

So rough general rule for pellet's best performance is this:

Flat heads....up to 600 fps

Round heads....up to 850fps

Hollow Point and Pointed....somewhere in between.