22. vs 25. for long range accuracy
- Thread starter WyoAirguns
- Start date
Here’s something you might find interesting also. It only 22gr but very enlightening
https://youtu.be/7C3dhqUEVeo
https://youtu.be/7C3dhqUEVeo
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For those that say .25 slugs aren’t accurate or can’t be properly tuned, I present exhibit 1, shot a few hours ago. 100 yards, 5 shots, .25 Impact X PP 43.5 NSA at 895 FPS. 3/4 inch C2C. Fairly windy. Shot prone with bipod and rear mono pod. Wind pushed that last one a hair...
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For those that say .25 slugs aren’t accurate or can’t be properly tuned, I present exhibit 1, shot a few hours ago. 100 yards, 5 shots, .25 Impact X PP 43.5 NSA at 895 FPS. 3/4 inch C2C. Fairly windy. Shot prone with bipod and rear mono pod. Wind pushed that last one a hair...
Thats an incredible group, one that makes me go “ehh maybe I should go with the 25”. I’m going to use the gun for target shooting, maybe 20-30% of the time, hunting pests/small game (praire dogs, starlings, pigeons,) probably 60% of the time, and then game like raccoon, skunks, etc.... maybe 10% of the time if that, then coyote. This would probably be a once or twice kind of deal, i’ve had them on my property once or twice. I know of places nearby that have some problems with them so it would be nice to have an airgun capable of hunting them but not necessary. My taipan veteran long in 25. packed a punch, when shooting slugs out of it the damage was devastating and it definitely had enough power for my needs. Now that gun was producing 45-50 fpe so to think a 22. could produce 80+ makes me think that I can get plenty of power, cheaper ammo, more shots per fill, and better long range accuracy with a 22. And in the end if I decide I do need the 25, I can just purchase a 25. barrel.
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In theory a 25 will be better for long range accuracy. The way I see it though if you have a 22 and 25 next to each other with the same power and weight of projectile I would take the 22 with a better BC. Just my 2 cents.
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Twistrate of barrels is the biggest limiting factor when it comes to standard airgun calibers. Other than that there is no limitations you can always take 224cal bullet and downsize or 257bullet and do the same and get as high as 0.2+ BC values. Easy route is to choose firearm caliber barrel with enough fast twist and fit it on your gun. There is no certainty what is actually best for air but most long trackrecord slug shooters agree its somewhere in .22, 6mm, 257, to 7mm range. It all comes down to point where your projectile weights too much to be pushed with our fairly low chamber pressures vs BC it has and somewhere in that range there is certain optimal sweetspot for it and I personally think 6mm might be pretty darn close. If you want to stick with standard barrels and fairly low twistrates I would say 22cal is probably easiest and cheapest.
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The thing is tho pushing same weight projectile as 22 and 25 requires more pressure and/or longer barrel for 22 but if you can have it its really np.
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I shoot coyotes all the time with a .17 HMR and a rabbit call in. I lived on the rift of Idaho and there are literally thousands of them.
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I watched the same video where Matt talked about the ballistics being better on the .22 and I have also heard him mention on several videos that he is restricted to a .22 caliber in South Africa. I have seen other videos where he says he would shoot the .30 if he were allowed. When he comes to the USA to shoot benchrest competitions he uses a .30 and he uses the same in the States when he is shooting ground squirrels at long range. I have never seen him make a 300 yard kill shot with a .22 but I have seen the guys from 68 Whiskey make kill shots past 300 yards with both .25 and .30 calibers but not in .22. These are just things I have noticed and may be coincidence.
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If you are limited by mag lenght like in case of FX 22cal will be better when it comes to BC. You can almost fit 22lr like 40gr+ bullet in 22 but you cant fit anything amazing in neather of bigger ones.
You should not see 300yd killshots with any of airgun calibers not even 457. No matter what airgun you will have 1sec+ flight times and too big environmental effects to accurately make killshots. Its just idiotism and leap of fate to try to solidly deliver killshot. Maybe Matt is responsible guy where most of them youtube heros aint.....
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Yes, most of the shots in the powder burner videos below are also 1 sec+ shots.
The first video shows 54 long range hunting shots: The ranges start out like this:
1025y | 631y | 805y | 405y | 675y | 975y | 605y | 635y | 1100y etc. etc.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rSeauypoUms
Ranges in the second video, just the beginning:
511y | 652y | 725y | 485y | 720y | 870y | 525y | 760y | 910y etc. etc.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=taRMw9NN8CU
Just thought this was interesting.
Some of these PB ranges must have projectile drops and wind drifts somewhat similar as what airguns experience at say 15% of the PB ranges.Matthias
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Yep and that is just irresponsible and even more so than airgun pesting on birds those are actually relatively large game animals. Thing is those videos never show what happens when you miss or when your target start to move when you pull trigger = poop ton of wounded animals that hopefully gets tracked down atleast. You can go and buy best PB rifle and set up 10inch kongs at 500yd and beyond all the way to those distances and start shoot and see do you have 100% connect rate I bet no one has and yet that kong dosent even move randomly. According to that you can estimate how many wounded it takes to have one solid drop like that at 1000yds.. its alot.. But yeah this topic is about 22 vs 25cal airgun ballistics so lets not hijack this thread.
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"But yeah this topic is about 22 vs 25cal airgun ballistics so lets not hijack this thread."
You could have just said that at the start.
You could have just said that at the start.
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There is a far easier answer to this question....get both! 
that being said I do happen to have both and here is my take.
- for long range performance accuracy and damage the one with better BC wins hands down because of higher retained energy
- bigger caliber of slugs of same weight and design certainly will creat bigger wound channel at closer range that is physics but down range performance won’t be as good when retained energy drop below higher BC smaller caliber slugs at same distance
- hybrid slugs has much nastier damage thanks to the super hollow point but not as good ballistic or long range accuracy compared to heavier slugs with much higher BC. Also or penetration on larger games will be limited, it’s designed for small games and birds.
Matt dubber’s specialty is to shoot birds at very long range so highest BC is his goal and he is limited to .22. Will a longer .25 slug have better BC? Very possible but they won’t fit in FX mags that’s for sure. If I want to do max damage at under 100 yards on bigger games like coyote then I would pick .25. Keep in mind that to shoot .25 slugs well in FX guns you will need superior heavy or slug A liners.
Ar the end of the day it’s about right tool for the right job.
that being said I do happen to have both and here is my take.- for long range performance accuracy and damage the one with better BC wins hands down because of higher retained energy
- bigger caliber of slugs of same weight and design certainly will creat bigger wound channel at closer range that is physics but down range performance won’t be as good when retained energy drop below higher BC smaller caliber slugs at same distance
- hybrid slugs has much nastier damage thanks to the super hollow point but not as good ballistic or long range accuracy compared to heavier slugs with much higher BC. Also or penetration on larger games will be limited, it’s designed for small games and birds.
Matt dubber’s specialty is to shoot birds at very long range so highest BC is his goal and he is limited to .22. Will a longer .25 slug have better BC? Very possible but they won’t fit in FX mags that’s for sure. If I want to do max damage at under 100 yards on bigger games like coyote then I would pick .25. Keep in mind that to shoot .25 slugs well in FX guns you will need superior heavy or slug A liners.
Ar the end of the day it’s about right tool for the right job.
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All depends on gun and ammo combo. There's a huge advantage if you can make your own custom slugs with a Corbin set up for adjustable size and weight and shape to experiment.
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I have both and my advise is go with the 22 if you are shooting slugs. It’s more easy to tune 22 caliber slug to group well compared with the 25. Thank me later
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When I bought my used Impact X with PP it was a .30. I was told by numerous reputable shooters to stick with .30 and get a Superior Heavy or Slug A and shoot 61.5 grain NSAs. Then I was told by numerous others to stick with .22 since that’s what MD recommends. And I was told by just about everyone that gave an opinion NOT to go with .25 since it was by far the worst of the three and generally couldn’t get good accuracy with them...
So me being me, I decided on .25. Slug A liner, .25 NSA 43.5. See my post above for accuracy. I went hunting yesterday with @socaloldman @pesty3782 and @gerry52 . We set up targets at 50 and 100 yards for sight in. I did 50, and good to go with a couple of clicks (it is after all an Impact.
). Went to 100 yards on dirt road with bipod and ripped off 10 quick shots that could be covered by a quarter. Next shot was a grackle at 180 yards. So yep, .25 can be as good as the other two...
So me being me, I decided on .25. Slug A liner, .25 NSA 43.5. See my post above for accuracy. I went hunting yesterday with @socaloldman @pesty3782 and @gerry52 . We set up targets at 50 and 100 yards for sight in. I did 50, and good to go with a couple of clicks (it is after all an Impact.
). Went to 100 yards on dirt road with bipod and ripped off 10 quick shots that could be covered by a quarter. Next shot was a grackle at 180 yards. So yep, .25 can be as good as the other two...Upvote 0
I'd love to see this 3 (three!) years old thread revived — with new input now
after the high BC slugs have came out (Altaros ATP, then ZAN ELR and Scout Sniper).
Matthias
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true. i would shoot my notos at 50 yards instead of my .25 huben k1 simply because i know i can get that headshot on a bird. i know i can get that shot because i’m more familiar with the guns setup at that range.
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