25 caliber - why it's best for me

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rangur1

rangur1

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Jan 4, 2018
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peoples republic of New York
Why would I say such a thing? To provoke clicks? Pick a fight? Be manly? No, no, not at all. I just felt ever since I first used this caliber of pellet, it was the most comforting. With it's diameter, some error in shooting live targets was compensated for by the additional diameter and increased wound channel which gave more leeway in ensuring ethical kills. Secondly - for me, the larger pellets and slugs were substantially easier to handle and load making my shooting sessions more enjoyable. Now 22 caliber is expanding in both weight and versatility and taking back some advantages that 25 cal had over them. But I believe 25 cal has it's place between 22 and 30.
 
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I too prefer 25 cal to all other calibers. For similar reason to you. I also like that their cost is not too bad compared to 22cal, but still cheaper than 30cal.
also, may favorite pellet (the jsb 33.95 king heavy) happens to be 25 cal, and with its awesome bc, and good weight, has great knock down power, and bucks the wind almost as good as a slug. They’re also stupid accurate from 800fps, almost all the way to 1000fps.
 
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Hi Rangur1,
I’ve just replied to one of your other threads explaining what the allure of the .177 is for me, and how much I love my little .177.
So taking nothing away from the .177, there is a part of me that is curious to try a “big bore” air rifle…
In air rifles I currently shoot .177 and .22, and for many years I owned a .20cal.
I think .35cal might be an overkill (and very expensive to shoot) for the available pesting and hunting around where I live, so that leaves .30 or .25.
I think there are better calibers for plinking and bench work, so I’d be getting a big bore purely for pest control and hunting.
Do you have any experience with the .30, and in your opinion is one (.25 or .30) preferable to the other and why, pros and cons?

Thanks,
Pete.
 
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I have two 25s (Avenger and P35) and two 22s (Prod and P35) and one 177 (P35). I like them all. The 25s have been problem free on small game taking one squirrel with a head shot that definitely missed the brain but crushed the skull. The Prod and 177 are not completely dependable for DRT on body shots. The only two body shots that ran when shot with a 25 were front of the chest shots. The pellet went full length but did not exit and the squirrel went at most 15 feet but it was not DRT. My 22 caliber P35 is tuned to the same energy as the 25 caliber brother. It has only taken 5 squirrels (and one raccoon) so far but they've all been DRT and at least a couple were body shots. All had exit holes as did 17 of the 20 squirrels shot with my 25s. I cannot complain at all about the performance of my 25s but I want to shoot more with the 22 caliber P35 before deciding there is a significant advantage of a 25 over a 22 when they are at similar power levels. I also think for squirrels and probably other small game, low 30s fpe is plenty - since the shots almost always exit. More power would seem to have no effect on the animal unless you switch to an expanding projectile. That isn't necessary in my opinion but should have the same advantage, bacically, as going to a large caliber. I have no plans to try and argue a 22 at 30+ fpe is as good or better than a 25 at this power level, I just want to see if I can see a difference. A 22 might be "good enough" there is not a lot of difference. But I will need to shoot ~10 more to be confident of that. With similar moderators and fpe I do not measure my 25s as louder than the smaller calibers.

So basically my message is I think they are all good but I agree 25s are very likely to be the most dependable killers of small game. 177s and lower powered 22s work fine but require better shot placement (like brain shots) if DRT is the goal. 25s and possibly higher powered 22s can and usually will give DRT results with well placed body shots.
 
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I think that .25 may be the most balanced round for small critters for its power, forgiveness of shot placement and cost. You can say the same for 30 cal except the pellet cost. Of course the picture is somewhat blurry nowadays for all the variety of pellets and slugs. For common weights of high quality pellets, I say .25 is the best for small games. I completely skipped .25 until I bought a used gun here, FX DreamPup. It was in .25. I bought it with a plan to change it to a .22 but kept .25 after shooting it a few times. It just felt right against squirrels and chipmunks. I still shoot a lot more 177 and 22. But I guess 25 has replaced 30 cal for me. I too think JSB King Heavy is the ammo for 25.
 
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RangerPete said:
Hi Rangur1,
I’ve just replied to one of your other threads explaining what the allure of the .177 is for me, and how much I love my little .177.
So taking nothing away from the .177, there is a part of me that is curious to try a “big bore” air rifle…
In air rifles I currently shoot .177 and .22, and for many years I owned a .20cal.
I think .35cal might be an overkill (and very expensive to shoot) for the available pesting and hunting around where I live, so that leaves .30 or .25.
I think there are better calibers for plinking and bench work, so I’d be getting a big bore purely for pest control and hunting.
Do you have any experience with the .30, and in your opinion is one (.25 or .30) preferable to the other and why, pros and cons?

Thanks,
Pete.
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I find 25 has plenty of flexibility and sufficient power to handle your pesting needs. Now , granted, I'm not aware of the specific pest you are dealing with. However , if it is not feral hog or other similar size targets, 25 will be plenty adaquite. More cost effective as well.
 
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Since my first comment in this thread I have taken 4 more squirrels with my P35-22 and re-tuned my P35-25 to almost 50 fpe shooting JSB MkII 33.95 pellets. I remain confident in my 22 but I did have a Baracuda Match pellet from it remain in a squirrel - it's first. It was an odd shot, went up a front leg through the shoulder and spine and stopped under the hide. Dropped immediately just like the other 8. So I'm still not detecting a significant difference between my P35-22 and my P35-25 when both are at 32 fpe. I think a 22 caliber hole is big enough to drop a squirrel on the spot with reasonable placement and 32 fpe is enough to shoot through a squirrel usually. I do not plan to shoot my retuned P35-25 up into the trees in my yard, it will carry too far and it's power is just not needed. Really my P35-177 and Prod are better backyard guns. I'll reserve the P35-25 to more wide open spaces squirrel hunting and for bigger quarry like racoons. My P35-22 killed a little one (8 lbs) but it took several shots. I think the P35-25 would do noticably better. With a brain shot it should take even larger game if I ever have to.
 
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Losmeister said:
not to be argumentative but i am pretty sure i saw over in the hunting section where one poster had taken some decent size porcine with .25 head shots...
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Nah, not at all. I personally was implying that unless your target was big, like feral hog for example, 25 cal would be plenty effective. I believe my response was to another poster talking 35 cal being overkill for small to average size game / pests. 22 can be quite effective as well, I just prefer the extra insurance with 25 cal. But opinions vary of course.
 
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