FX FX M4 700mm in .22 or .25

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Enriquec

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Sep 14, 2024
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Hi all

I am thinking about getting a FX M4 in 700 mm, but can not decide what caliber to get. Having already owned a AdvengerX in .25, should I stay with .25? Or shouldI go with .22 instead. I will used it mainly for hunting, pest control and a little plinkin. I am using mainly pellets, not sure if will go into slugs. All advices will be welcome. Thanks all!
 
Less expense, greater variety in .22 ammo, better stopping power with .25. Experience with crows revealed .22 body mass hits allowed out-of-sight fly-offs, .25 shorter distance fly-offs, .30 dead-right-there. Urban setting didn't support dead carcasses around neighborhood so .30 was the answer. Use my .22 for medium to small, feathered pests, .25 or .30 for the rest. WM
 
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Enriquec said:
Hi all

I am thinking about getting a FX M4 in 700 mm, but can not decide what caliber to get. Having already owned a AdvengerX in .25, should I stay with .25? Or shouldI go with .22 instead. I will used it mainly for hunting, pest control and a little plinkin. I am using mainly pellets, not sure if will go into slugs. All advices will be welcome. Thanks all!
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If shooting pellets, .25 if shooting slugs, .22
 
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Enriquec said:
Hi all

I am thinking about getting a FX M4 in 700 mm, but can not decide what caliber to get. Having already owned a AdvengerX in .25, should I stay with .25? Or shouldI go with .22 instead. I will used it mainly for hunting, pest control and a little plinkin. I am using mainly pellets, not sure if will go into slugs. All advices will be welcome. Thanks all!
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What are you hunting and how far away do expect your average shot to be?

Regardless, I'd lean towards the 22 cal in a shorter barrel option (500 or 600).
 
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Longer barrels = heavier projectiles. .22s are cheaper to shoot and use less air, .25 generally shoot better in the wind, at least that's been my experience. YMMV my experience is based on owning 2 impacts , one in each caliber. Both 600mm barrels. the 25 loved the 34gr JSBs an on a windy day would out shoot my .22. As I said your milage may very.
 
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coastal drifter said:
Longer barrels = heavier projectiles. .22s are cheaper to shoot and use less air, .25 generally shoot better in the wind, at least that's been my experience. YMMV
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In my experience in shooting 100 yd BR, I rarely see a .25 on the firing line. They are either .22s or .30s for the most part.
 
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Ok, I’ll weigh in, lol…

As your use case is hunting, plinking and pesting with pellets…

I’d recommend .25 - and a 600mm barrel for your M4.

Rationale:

Pellets don’t require the amount of power slugs do - M4 has huge power potential for pellets.

M4 will require a significant amount of “tuning down” power (especially 700mm) to shoot .22 18.13g pellets at reasonable velocity (850-925fps range).

So, if shooting 25g (or heavier) pellets, my opinion is .25 has the advantage over .22. The reason is that the 25g .25 pellet is wider - giving the air more area to push against. This results in a milder tune (less hammer spring and lower reg pressure) than .22 25g would require.

As per jps2486 comments, I agree regarding you see mostly .30 with a few .22 shooters at 100 yard competitions. However, benchrest is not one of your use cases. Also, these .22 benchrest shooters are using 25g MRDs (high ballistic coefficient) and shooting them at 960-970 fps to maximize their performance. That is a huge air hog tune. I’ve had some excellent results shooting 100 yard benchrest targets for fun with .25 - with 25.4g, 34g and even 30g (H&N) pellets.

The cost of .22 and .25 pellets in 25g weight is the same (tins of 350). The .25 would give you the option of going to 34g (300 count tins) for hunting and/or bucking the wind at 100 yards and further. The 34g is also an excellent pellet accuracy wise.

So, I believe your cost advantage and pellet variety for .22 is lost once you go into high powered PCPs like the M4. The rifle was designed for heavier pellets. You will likely wind up using a very low reg pressure to shoot 18.13g (and lighter) pellets effectively out of an M4 700mm. The huge difference between reg pressure and bottle pressure will put unnecessary strain on your regulator. The cost advantage for .22 is when using 18.13 and lighter pellets.

600 vs 700 - if you will shoot .22 25.4g MRDs at 965fps, then I’d go 700mm to allow more modest reg pressure and hammer spring preload. If going .25, then 600mm as 700 is a really long thin FX tube (liner) as 600 will be plenty to use a reasonable (130 bar) reg pressure and reasonable hammer spring to shoot 25g and 34g pellets effectively without dealing with as many potential barrel harmonic issues as a 700mm.

Wow, I got into this more than I intended, lol. Just opinions based on my experience with .22 .25 and .30 - and with FX rifles.

-Ed
 
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Enriquec said:
Hi all

I am thinking about getting a FX M4 in 700 mm, but can not decide what caliber to get. Having already owned a AdvengerX in .25, should I stay with .25? Or shouldI go with .22 instead. I will used it mainly for hunting, pest control and a little plinkin. I am using mainly pellets, not sure if will go into slugs. All advices will be welcome. Thanks all!
Click to expand...
Stay with the .25. It's simple the 25 grain .22 cost the same as the 25 grain .25. For pellets the 25 grain .25 is the best between the two calibers. They both cost the same. You can go heavier with .25. With.22 pellets 25 grain is good all the way out to 100 yards. The lighter .22 are really iffy out past 50ish yards without perfect weather. .25 is actually the most perfect caliber from 0 to 100 yards given the cost, accuracy and shot count. If in a competiton it's gonna be .30 50 grain, if it's allowed, hunting larger games or going out past 100 yards. The only reason i would purchase a .22 is if the only way i could get pellets is from walmart.
 
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EPG said:
Ok, I’ll weigh in, lol…

As your use case is hunting, plinking and pesting with pellets…

I’d recommend .25 - and a 600mm barrel for your M4.

Rationale:

Pellets don’t require the amount of power slugs do - M4 has huge power potential for pellets.

M4 will require a significant amount of “tuning down” power (especially 700mm) to shoot .22 18.13g pellets at reasonable velocity (850-925fps range).

So, if shooting 25g (or heavier) pellets, my opinion is .25 has the advantage over .22. The reason is that the 25g .25 pellet is wider - giving the air more area to push against. This results in a milder tune (less hammer spring and lower reg pressure) than .22 25g would require.

As per jps2486 comments, I agree regarding you see mostly .30 with a few .22 shooters at 100 yard competitions. However, benchrest is not one of your use cases. Also, these .22 benchrest shooters are using 25g MRDs (high ballistic coefficient) and shooting them at 960-970 fps to maximize their performance. That is a huge air hog tune. I’ve had some excellent results shooting 100 yard benchrest targets for fun with .25 - with 25.4g, 34g and even 30g (H&N) pellets.

The cost of .22 and .25 pellets in 25g weight is the same (tins of 350). The .25 would give you the option of going to 34g (300 count tins) for hunting and/or bucking the wind at 100 yards and further. The 34g is also an excellent pellet accuracy wise.

So, I believe your cost advantage and pellet variety for .22 is lost once you go into high powered PCPs like the M4. The rifle was designed for heavier pellets. You will likely wind up using a very low reg pressure to shoot 18.13g (and lighter) pellets effectively out of an M4 700mm. The huge difference between reg pressure and bottle pressure will put unnecessary strain on your regulator. The cost advantage for .22 is when using 18.13 and lighter pellets.

600 vs 700 - if you will shoot .22 25.4g MRDs at 965fps, then I’d go 700mm to allow more modest reg pressure and hammer spring preload. If going .25, then 600mm as 700 is a really long thin FX tube (liner) as 600 will be plenty to use a reasonable (130 bar) reg pressure and reasonable hammer spring to shoot 25g and 34g pellets effectively without dealing with as many potential barrel harmonic issues as a 700mm.

Wow, I got into this more than I intended, lol. Just opinions based on my experience with .22 .25 and .30 - and with FX rifles.

-Ed
Click to expand...
i agree with most except the .22s come 500 in a tin... correction the heavier pellets do come 350 per tin . My mistake
 
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EPG said:
Ok, I’ll weigh in, lol…

As your use case is hunting, plinking and pesting with pellets…

I’d recommend .25 - and a 600mm barrel for your M4.

Rationale:

Pellets don’t require the amount of power slugs do - M4 has huge power potential for pellets.

M4 will require a significant amount of “tuning down” power (especially 700mm) to shoot .22 18.13g pellets at reasonable velocity (850-925fps range).

So, if shooting 25g (or heavier) pellets, my opinion is .25 has the advantage over .22. The reason is that the 25g .25 pellet is wider - giving the air more area to push against. This results in a milder tune (less hammer spring and lower reg pressure) than .22 25g would require.

As per jps2486 comments, I agree regarding you see mostly .30 with a few .22 shooters at 100 yard competitions. However, benchrest is not one of your use cases. Also, these .22 benchrest shooters are using 25g MRDs (high ballistic coefficient) and shooting them at 960-970 fps to maximize their performance. That is a huge air hog tune. I’ve had some excellent results shooting 100 yard benchrest targets for fun with .25 - with 25.4g, 34g and even 30g (H&N) pellets.

The cost of .22 and .25 pellets in 25g weight is the same (tins of 350). The .25 would give you the option of going to 34g (300 count tins) for hunting and/or bucking the wind at 100 yards and further. The 34g is also an excellent pellet accuracy wise.

So, I believe your cost advantage and pellet variety for .22 is lost once you go into high powered PCPs like the M4. The rifle was designed for heavier pellets. You will likely wind up using a very low reg pressure to shoot 18.13g (and lighter) pellets effectively out of an M4 700mm. The huge difference between reg pressure and bottle pressure will put unnecessary strain on your regulator. The cost advantage for .22 is when using 18.13 and lighter pellets.

600 vs 700 - if you will shoot .22 25.4g MRDs at 965fps, then I’d go 700mm to allow more modest reg pressure and hammer spring preload. If going .25, then 600mm as 700 is a really long thin FX tube (liner) as 600 will be plenty to use a reasonable (130 bar) reg pressure and reasonable hammer spring to shoot 25g and 34g pellets effectively without dealing with as many potential barrel harmonic issues as a 700mm.

Wow, I got into this more than I intended, lol. Just opinions based on my experience with .22 .25 and .30 - and with FX rifles.

-Ed
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Thanks for taking time replying in such fine and informative detail. Very grateful for the advice.
 
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In my experience the 22 Cal is the most versatile and can do everything a 25 Cal can do, with the addition of added safety. If you have to worry about property damage a light 22 Cal pellet at moderate speeds slows down and sheds energy waaaaay faster than a comparable 25 Cal pellet. But really they are super close in most regards unless you need to take down big pests like a coyote. My advice is to just pick one and dont stress over it too much. You can always buy/trade for a barrel kit and swap Calibers with the FX's. And your AvengeX has really cheap conversion kits too. For slugs specifically I think you will have better results with the 22 Cal and light slugs. I love having both a 25 Cal and a 22 Cal, as do most pcp hunters and plinkers. In my mind the choice is obvious but everyone has different goals and situations.
 
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Hi all
went to the shop, saw the last black .25 600mm in the inventory, knew then got to have it to stop the itch!!, anyway, have the shop to tune the speed to 920ft/s for the JSB king heavy 33.95gr that I am going to run in the meanwhile. Thank you all for all your helpful advices.

IMG_1256.jpeg
 
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Enriquec said:
Hi all
went to the shop, saw the last black .25 600mm in the inventory, knew then got to have it to stop the itch!!, anyway, have the shop to tune the speed to 920ft/s for the JSB king heavy 33.95gr that I am going to run in the meanwhile. Thank you all for all your helpful advices.

View attachment 496701
Click to expand...
nice!
 
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