Maximum effective range for the .177

[Corvid_hunter]

I normally shoot a .22cal air rifle, but recently purchased one in .177cal. It's shooting the JSB Exact Heavy 10.34gr pellets at 905fps and I'm thinking this rifle should be good out to 50 yards or so. I have seen videos from the UK where 12fpe rifles are taking game a lot farther than 50 yards. Obviously it comes down to skill and shot placement at the longer distances. Not much for game around here so it's mainly paper, crows and magpies for me.

 

[ImpactX]

100 yard is max I would go for .177

 

[tsakula]

at leaset 150 yards. i have seen duck hunt at that distance. 

 

[airgunmike56]

I shoot the little 8 gr Polymag at about 940 FPS with My Vulcan # 2 , On the 177 it depends on the wind, Any wind at all and its never past 50 yards, I have pushed it a little but not much, I think there is NO wind in the UK. LOL.

Mike

 

[SorenDrost]

If you shoot slugs, you can go further with more retained power 

 

[Corvid_hunter]

What is the lowest fps you have tried slugs?

 

[0akhonor]

Just to share from my hunting experience, 80 yards on ground squirrels with light winds- 800 fps, 10.3 grain and rested. Lots of magnification

Turkey- nothing beyond 30 yards if you are going for a neck shot.

These were w pellets- slugs and velocity re writes the limits .

Love the .177!

 

[SorenDrost]

What is the lowest fps you have tried slugs?

 

[SorenDrost]

http://youtu.be/6xYmoK_LcMI

 

[SorenDrost]

I also make lighter slugs !

 

[Corvid_hunter]

Very nice. My Red Wolf is the regular version. If you were willing to sell me some of your 13.4gr slugs (and ship to Canada) I would sure like to try them out.

 

[Motorhead]

.17 cal with pellets ... REALISTIC @ 80 yards or so. That with heavier 10+ grains.

Slugs no clue ... have tried but the pressure required to get the weight a .17 slug has up to speed makes it not very practical and IMO more a specialty thing to do.

 

[JWilson]

I have posted this before, but it seems appropriate here. Below is some ballistics data on two guns I own and adore. One is a .25 shooting the JSB 25.39 the other year s a .177 shooting 15.5 grn slugs. Look at the holdover and retained energy beyond 100. Its nuts how much BC rules. Both of these guns are at about 130 BAR reg pressure. The .177 does have a plenum though. .25 on the left, .177 on the right. Another interesting topic would be the relationship between momentum, energy and terminal performance of an airgun projectile. From what I have seen, the .25 is far more potent at 100+ even with lower retained energy.

That said, I am a real fan of .177 with both pellets and slugs. 

 

[Corvid_hunter]

When you see the data for 100 yards and beyond it's quite interesting. I think the .25cal has the edge in potency due to dumping the energy over a larger surface area. Kind of off topic but....my favorite center fire rifle is a 17 Remington Fireball. 20gr V-Max at approx 4200fps. Reloading is kind of a pain though with the small bullet and case mouth.

 

[aa_limited]

for paper// I have no problem out to 125 yards with a raw bm500 in 177....groups are very small at that rage

pop cans out to 150 pose no probmen

 

[Emu]

Without wind my Bantam 4.5 is very, very accurate at 70 yards. 

 

[cmatera]

.17 cal with pellets ... REALISTIC @ 80 yards or so. That with heavier 10+ grains.

Slugs no clue ... have tried but the pressure required to get the weight a .17 slug has up to speed makes it not very practical and IMO more a specialty thing to do.

What he said.

 

[DanielL]

Wind is a big problem with .177 vs. larger calibers. If you have enough power and your gun like them, slugs help equalize, but of course, you could also use slugs in the larger caliber.