Why some prefer high power .22 over .30 vice versa

Im no expert by any means but in my opinion a .22 you should get more ahots per fill and can tune it down with a .30 you can shoot up to 60ish grain effectivly but a .30 it tough to get down to a light pellet or slug mainly just personal preference and critter size .22 has a better pellet ,slug selection just depends on gun use and how many shots per fill wanted i have a vulcan 3 hp .30 and get about 12 shots but alot of fpe with 60isg grain slugs at 950 to 1000 fps .really it just boils down to you might as well buy both and have fun

Like said above, I shoot .22 slugs because the largest pest I shoot are ground squirrels. If my quarry were yotes or for hunting purposes of larger game then yes, .30 . .22 just fits my needs and is much less costly to shoot paper with.

Also i live out in the country and have no concerns about pass through sometimes more is not always better but i like pushing over sandcastles with bulldozers. In my opinion with a critter there is no such thing as too dead lol as i dont eat the vermin to find thier fate with lead

Hi, in terms of BC
BC ~ Mass * ff/ (cal)^2
BC decrease with the square of the caliber.

If you want the same BC as th 38gr NSA 22cal slugs (0.13) you need to use the 65.5gr 30cal slugs or 1.72 times the mass.

Higher BC reduces wind drift and drop making it easier to shoot accurately at longer ranges. IMHO, the main reason to shoot slugs.

22cal can achieve high BCs at a significantly lower Mass than 30cal. That mean less air consumption and lower FPE.
As 22cal slugs get heavier the added length will require faster twist rates (only way to add weight for the same design is to increase length). At some point 22cal slug may reach a maximum and 25cal slug design could permanently surpass 22cal?

Sorry, if this overkill. It's an interesting question...

Then there’s the obvious thats hidden in a man’s subconscious. Many probably don’t even notice it but their body and nerves do. A .22 is easier and more pleasant to shoot accurately. It already takes a month of Sunday's for the projectile to leave the barrel after the trigger is squeezed on an airgun. When your guns nickname is Ole Jumpy because its using lots of air to push a heavy projectile, sometimes the only way to see what your gun is capable of is adding lots of weight. But make no mistake, when it comes to hunting, a .30 is a wrecking ball compared to even a fast .22.

zerochance said:

Yeah, all that information makes sense but is something I considered already but failed to put in my post. But if cost and ammo selection wasn't an issue, wouldn't you go with a .30? At greater grain, it'll have better BC? I'm just trying to understand why some folks use a high power .22 instead of a .30 or vice versa, other than cost and bullet selection. Unless those two are the main reasons and I'm over thinking.

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Certainly! A .30. cals BC is so much better especially @ longer distances plus the impact sounds they make is well, special!

Choosing .30 over .22 was result of real-world experience dealing with neighborhood crow infestation. With perfect ground blind in woods behind house, where misses and pass-thrus landed in swamp, still had to assure crows dropped quickly since carcasses around neighborhood was no option. While .22 and .25 did drop crows, found more likely to allow fly-offs. JSB 44.75s @ 850 fps out of Wildcat MK3 Sniper .30 settled matters promptly. To this day neighbors credit bird flu for resolving the problem. WM

I believe South Africa doesn't permit or makes difficult calibers larger than 22. So several prominent youtubers consistently use 22s in their country. They can get power like a 22LR but not for many shots. A 30 caliber at that fpe would give more shots. BC also tends to be better for bigger calibers so winning bench rest gunners use 30 or at least 25. Not 22. Better bc means less wind drift. For hunting in my opinion it is a question of what you are hunting. I use 177, 22, or 25 for small game. Animals bigger than about 5 lbs I prefer the 25. A Coyote I would like a 30 or bigger. The hole in the target is larger with bigger caliber and it's easier to get to higher fpe.

To be clear, a bigger caliber projectile will have to be much heavier to achieve the same BC as the smaller caliber. So the larger caliber does NOT make it a better BC. Larger caliber = more power AND more air consumption = fewer shots per fill. (and MUCH louder)

The advantages of the smaller caliber = cheaper ammo, less air consumption (more shots per fill), higher BC achieved with lighter pellets, less noise (more stealth)

The advantages of the larger caliber = higher energy levels - harder hit on animals. No advantage on targets (beyond higher energy levels at longer ranges)

Having shot 100yd Benchrest at the PA cup last year and making the finals; the competitors report that a .30 rig benefits from accuracy of available pellets - 30 cal ZAN BR100 pellets are VERY consistent - therefore VERY accurate - therefore 30 cal preference.

Also note that BC alone determines wind drift - regardless of pellet weight. (heavier is not better by definition).
2 pellets with the same BC but one is 2x the weight of the other will perform the same in the wind.

WorriedMan said:

JSB 44.75s out of Wildcat .30 settled matters promptly.
To this day neighbors credit bird flu for resolving the problem.

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Yeah, I'm working on spreading a little bit of bird flu virus around my neck of the desert....

No worries, WorriedMan!

Matthias

It is correct to say the bc controls wind drift but saying that without also saying that the bcs of larger calibers tend to be higher is misleading in my opinion. There is overlap but a casual examination of pellet or slug data will show clearly that 22s do not have as high a bc as the best 30 caliber projectiles. The best 22s may have a bc as high as the lowest bc 30s but the trend is clearly that larger calibers have higher bcs.

The Hard Air data shows a 50 grain JSB 30 caliber has a bc over .05 and the highest 22 caliber JSB at .039. There are, of course many fewer 30 caliber projectiles but still I think the trend is clear. A better comparison might be to compare at equivalent sectional density.

JimD said:

It is correct to say the bc controls wind drift but saying that without also saying that the bcs of larger calibers tend to be higher is misleading in my opinion. There is overlap but a casual examination of pellet or slug data will show clearly that 22s do not have as high a bc as the best 30 caliber projectiles. The best 22s may have a bc as high as the lowest bc 30s but the trend is clearly that larger calibers have higher bcs.

The Hard Air data shows a 50 grain JSB 30 caliber has a bc over .05 and the highest 22 caliber JSB at .039. There are, of course many fewer 30 caliber projectiles but still I think the trend is clear. A better comparison might be to compare at equivalent sectional density.

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Jim,
You are right that BC varies greatly from pellet to pellet, but that comes down to individual pellet design.
Given the same weight, a short fat (larger Dia.) pellet will have a lower BC than a smaller dia, longer pellet. A tight waisted pellet = lower BC than a broad waisted pellet. You can see this within a given calibers pellets; as weight increases and length increases, so does the BC (generally). Also seen with slugs in any caliber, heavier = longer = higher BC.

With the popularity growth of 100yd Benchrest, I think pellet design is following the 30 cal trend of BR usage; as evidenced by the superior Zan .30 100BR design over older designs from other brands. Previously, the big calibers were all about hunting and retained energy and killing quickly. Now there has developed a market for high BC, very consistent pellets, and designs are filling that need. - Higher BC = less wind deflection = easier to hit the 10 ring = more pellet sales. Zan is now coming out with a .25 cal BR100 pellet with a high BC for benchrest.

.22 cal Benchrest guns were largely abandoned because the existing high BC pellet - JSB Monster redesign 25.4gn, were inconsistent and threw fliers fairly regularly. In stepped the .25 and .30 cal guns and the instinctive but wrong belief that heavier = less wind deflection.

I won't be surprised to see more .22s shooting JTS and AEA pills on the benchrest line in the future where consistency is king and high BC is queen. I'll be one them. Wish me luck (and copious practice time)!

Curtis

Curtis,

It's clear you really like 22s. I do too, I have 3 and only 2 25s and one 177. I hope somebody comes out with a good high bc consistent pellet for guys like you who want to shoot br with your 22s. But you are fighting an uphill battle. It will be harder to make 22 pellets with a bc as high as the bigger calibers. If the 25s and 30s continue to improve the 22s will always have lower bcs. The larger caliber pellets will be heavier as you note but that is natural for a larger diameter pellet. As you note, it is not the weight that helps it is the higher bc of the heavier pellet.

Jim

Cost is my biggest issue and the target. I hunt with mine. Right now I am on a dairy farm shooting birds and in a few weeks I will be in Nevada on ground squirrels. On the dairy I feel 30 cal would be way too much energy for birds. I am shooting 25 gn 22 cal slugs at generally 50-100 yards. I shoot for 1 hour on the dairy generally about 30 shots. Now ground squirrel, a 30 would definitely roll them, but air and cost would be a factor. On squirrels I shoot 31-33grn slugs. They are wonderful out to 150 yards. Anything over is possible, but ranging becomes so critical and the wind. I go to NV twice a year and shoot 1000-1500 shots with the pellet rifle. 3 days. I bring 2, 9 liter bottles and have enough air. i do not think. A 30cal could do that. And no I do not bring a compressor.
So it really is what you plan on doing with the rifle. 22 is optimal for me. Tried 25, but ultimately 22 is the ticket for what I do. If I was a competitor in bench rest shooting, well I’d be looking at a 30 cal.
Have fun and be safe.

You, sir, appear to have entirely too much fun:
That gun/fun-mobile you showed on the photo — you've got this down to a science.


I whole-heartedly congratulate you. Cool!

Carry on!!

Matthias

Ah ... Surprise valley Belding trips .... Too dang cold now, but by April or so I'm on it !!
Those Warner mountains with snow on em, some wind and Burrrrrrrrr

Wind is the most critical factor. Yes I enjoy warm sunny days, but 45 degrees and little wind is just fine. Watching the weather closely. Either 2 1/2 weeks, or 3 and 1/2 weeks I will be in NV depending on Weather. My second trip will be towards the end of April. By mid May, the grass is tall enough that it is difficult to see the small Beldings.