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.22 or .177

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I shoot bench at targets and plink in my backyard. Occasionally I will light up a rat, squirrel, or pigeon, and I'm in my mid sixties. I don't shoot competitively, and shooting good air rifles is a great way to relax and center myself. 

So, I shoot .22 almost exclusively. If a rifle that interests me isn't available in that caliber, I'll pass. For instance, I really like the Diana 430, but I've not yet found one in .22. So I bought the 460 magnum, really liked it, but wanted a smoother, milder shooting experience, so Motorhead tuned it, it's probably better than a stock 430 would be. 

To me, handling the larger .22 pellets is easier than dealing with the smaller ones. The caliber is as accurate as I need it to be...the alleged "rainbow trajectory " doest worry me at the ranges I shoot at, and I'm accustomed to larger, slower bullets in my carry weapons , so the .22 is a natural fit.
 
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If FT agree on the .177 tho the greater trajectory of the .22 does make it even more fun to shoot ( but "12fpe" in .177 is about the same drop as 20fpe in .22) .

The 3/8" Kill Zone reguire a full hit, glancing the pellet off the side a bit or a "spilt" and the pellet wont have the required fpe left to trigger the target to fall.



#1 recommendation would be just get to an FT shoot! Friendliest people in the world (well 99 out of 100 anyway). Everyone happy to let you shoot what they have, you'll learn a lot and have a much better idea what YOU might actually want/need. Call/contact your local club even if you don't (esp. if you dont) have an FT legal rig and tell them your interested, someone will have a loaner you can shoot with once ( maybe purchase for a fair price, happens often). 

It's been just a couple of years but I've shot with several of the Bayou airgun folks, all great people ready willing and able to get you started off right first try. And while it's a bit of a drive for you the GOB and Invicta clubs would both be well worth your trip.



Keep us posted.





John
 
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D12bn, split the difference between the .177 and .22. Consider the .20. Motorhead a well known tuner and shooter won 4 championships with that caliber. Just saying.
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Thanks for the shout out .... to further clarify my sentiments for the .20 caliber and whats it has done for my FT successes beyond club shooting is 4 State FT Championships, a Nationals win along with High score shot being the first "Hunter class" shooter in AAFTA history to ever beat all other classes followed the next year by the Gran Prix high score in hunter PCP.

This ALL accomplished once i started shooting .20 caliber. FWIW at the > 20 ft lb classes will NEVER shoot a .177 caliber PCP again in Field target ! I'm that sold on the caliber.

Humbly,

Scott S
 
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D12bn, split the difference between the .177 and .22. Consider the .20. Motorhead a well known tuner and shooter won 4 championships with that caliber. Just saying.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the shout out .... to further clarify my sentiments for the .20 caliber and whats it has done for my FT successes beyond club shooting is 4 State FT Championships, a Nationals win along with High score shot being the first "Hunter class" shooter in AAFTA history to ever beat all other classes followed the next year by the Gran Prix high score in hunter PCP.

This ALL accomplished once i started shooting .20 caliber. FWIW at the > 20 ft lb classes will NEVER shoot a .177 caliber PCP again in Field target ! I'm that sold on the caliber.

Humbly,

Scott S
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Can't argue with such a stellar record and cannot even argue the point that .20 might well have advantages for specific FT use. I'll still believe that .177 with it's wider range of available pellet weights/types MIGHT be better for many people who are not shooting FT regularly. As an aside, I had a .20 Sheridan many many years ago and it was a very good rifle.
 
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For Field Target and additionally shooting 25 Meter Benchrest you definitely need a .177...For 50 Meter Benchrest the .22 will be better, but not so for Field Target...The .20 caliber is a good caliber but you are very limited in pellet selection. 

The .177 has been the king of the hill for FT at both power levels: 12 ft./lb (800 ft./sec. with 8.4's) and 20 ft./lb (915 ft. sec with 10.34's)...I started FT with a .177 Steyr LG-110 and used this very same gun for Benchrest 25 M for 2 years....Today I still use the same Steyr for FT but I use a RAW TM-1000 for 25 BR...I recently acquired an Impact MK II with .22 and .30 barrels and with the .22 I intend to shoot the EBR in all classes (FT, 50 Meter BR and 75/100 Meter BR)...

Somebody mentioned a Sheridan .20 cal....Oh man!, that name generated a lot of good memories...I bought a Sheridan Silver Streak back in 1966 ($27.50) and used it for 6-8 years at our ranch in Texas, I rebuilt the entire gun last summer and it looks like it just came out of the box but the stock finish is much nicer as I used oil finish, I didn't need to adjust the rear sight after rebuilding it and it shoots like a dream! 😃

Best regards,

AZ
 
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I'm not certain that the .22 would hold a major advantage over the .177 even at some distance beyond 25 yards due to vastly improved and heavier .177 pellets now available (and now slugs as well). At 50 yards and beyond I would think that a .22 could begin to show advantage. I do shoot both calibers-a .177 Condor and a .22 M10 SPA. I have a hard time seeing an advantage to the .22 in my case (at the ranges that I shoot) but I don't shoot at ranges beyond 50 yards with air guns with any regularity. If I were shooting longer ranges with an air gun then a larger than .177 caliber would probably be used more. I'd bet that there is no single answer for most-it depends on what and how one wants to shoot.
 
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.177 no question! IT has the flattest trajectory and more accurate that .22s. I've shot FT with 8.44 gr pellets for years. There's plenty of energy with these to knock down targets at 55 yards. 10.3 gr are good too. Lately, I've seen some folks using 13.4 grainers, but in order to keep energy below the 20 fpe limit, you have to keep velocity below 800 fps. Trajectory is too loopy with these IMO.
 
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I shot the 10.3's last year and the 13.4's this year in FT Open class and I'm doing better with the heavier pellets. I thought the trajectory would be very loopy, but it's not as bad as I thought. Some guys in our club are even using the 10.3's for WFTF! It always comes down to what works for a particular person and rifle. I can't imagine shooting FT with a .22.

And, as others have said, .177 out to 25 yards is better for BR. I always have better scores in 25 yard BR shooting the .177 monsters as compared to the .22 heavies. 

Chas
 
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