Surprised by Performance .30 vs. .25

[JimD]

I've killed the grand total of 1 raccoon, a young one that weighed 8 lbs on my fish scale. I shot it three times with my 32 fpe P35-22 using 21 grain H&N Baracuda pellets. The first time was into the body and caused it to sit down and hiss at me and my dog. The next one was right between the eyes and effectively killed it. There was a little brain matter coming out of the hole. But it's heart was still beating, possibly from the brain stem and I shot it again in the neck and watch blood spurt out several times. So I agree a reasonably powerful 22 can kill at least a small raccoon but if I see another one I'm planning to use my almost 50 fpe 25 caliber.

 

[dizzums]

depends on the size of the victim .. if all you need is .22 for said critter bigger wont do much for ya ... when big daddy comes around the corner your gonna wish you had a .50 lol .. i had a big coon run off from multiple .22 hits and another one run off from a .25 ... going to .35 ended that scenario, hasnt happened since ..

 

[redsqnm]

My thoughts have always been the 30 costs two times more to shoot but doesnt give twice the performance when compared to the 25 .

 

[chip78]

I've killed the grand total of 1 raccoon, a young one that weighed 8 lbs on my fish scale. I shot it three times with my 32 fpe P35-22 using 21 grain H&N Baracuda pellets. The first time was into the body and caused it to sit down and hiss at me and my dog. The next one was right between the eyes and effectively killed it. There was a little brain matter coming out of the hole. But it's heart was still beating, possibly from the brain stem and I shot it again in the neck and watch blood spurt out several times. So I agree a reasonably powerful 22 can kill at least a small raccoon but if I see another one I'm planning to use my almost 50 fpe 25 caliber.

I did better with twice as many raccoon kills! I know they are around but have not acquired night vision scopes for them. Both my kills were adults. One was an one pellet instant kill and the other took 5 shots. The funny thing is the caliber: the single shot was a 22 with a cheap rifle while the 25 took multiple rounds from a premium gun! Shot placement is more important than the size of the pellet.

 

[PumaCarl]

I planned to limit myself to 3 calibers: 177, 22 and 30. Bought a gun last year for its stock. It was in 25. My intention was to change it to 22. The seller was kind enough to include a tin of ammo and it changed things for me. I really liked 25! Now I have not shot 30 cal ever since. My backyard activities: Plinking in 177 or 22, chipmunks in 177 or 22, squirrels or raccoons or possums in 22 or 25. I really don't have the need for 30.

I have often thought that I could, or should, just limit myself to certain calibers but it never pans out, they are all good for something. You may not have the need right now for .30 but you will eventually get bored and want to play further out, and you will be glad you have the .30 then.

 

[Huncowboy]

For coons I am talking headshots strictly for the .22 pellets. I had some misses turning into body shots with the .22 31 grain Nielsen slug at 880 FPS from an M3 if I remember correctly... maybe 850. The rifle was maxed out. That is the most energy I personally have shot a PCP at a raccoon. It did not stop it. It limped away. I have the video somewhere. I am sure it expired shortly but it did walk. To instantly kill a raccoon with a body shot you would need something real big, flying fast. I shoot them very close (15-20y) so a headshot is easy to achieve.

 

[PumaCarl]

I've killed the grand total of 1 raccoon, a young one that weighed 8 lbs on my fish scale. I shot it three times with my 32 fpe P35-22 using 21 grain H&N Baracuda pellets. The first time was into the body and caused it to sit down and hiss at me and my dog. The next one was right between the eyes and effectively killed it. There was a little brain matter coming out of the hole. But it's heart was still beating, possibly from the brain stem and I shot it again in the neck and watch blood spurt out several times. So I agree a reasonably powerful 22 can kill at least a small raccoon but if I see another one I'm planning to use my almost 50 fpe 25 caliber.

I have a .25 P15 that I put a 23" unchoked LW barrel on that is shooting 28g Zan slugs at 887fps(49fpe) and the ballistics advantage is really impressive. It actually gives me 35fpe out to 105y, which my 58fpe mrod shooting 34gr JSB MKII only does at 90y. Just mentioning this if you haven't tried these slugs in your P35.

 

[chip78]

For coons I am talking headshots strictly for the .22 pellets. I had some misses turning into body shots with the .22 31 grain Nielsen slug at 880 FPS from an M3 if I remember correctly... maybe 850. The rifle was maxed out. That is the most energy I personally have shot a PCP at a raccoon. It did not stop it. It limped away. I have the video somewhere. I am sure it expired shortly but it did walk. To instantly kill a raccoon with a body shot you would need something real big, flying fast. I shoot them very close (15-20y) so a headshot is easy to achieve.

My only single shot kill of a coon was a headshot at a close range of 20 yards. The pellet was a cheap 22 Crosman 14.3gr with low 900 FPS speed. The other coon I shot was about 30 yards. The pellet was JSB 25.39gr going 900 FPS, much more powerful. It took five shots because I didn't want it to walk away. There were two kill shots: a head and a heart-lung. The other 3 made sure it stayed in place since it was moving even after the bloody lung shot. Tough pests!

 

[Huncowboy]

My only single shot kill of a coon was a headshot at a close range of 20 yards. The pellet was a cheap 22 Crosman 14.3gr with low 900 FPS speed. The other coon I shot was about 30 yards. The pellet was JSB 25.39gr going 900 FPS, much more powerful. It took five shots because I didn't want it to walk away. There were two kill shots: a head and a heart-lung. The other 3 made sure it stayed in place since it was moving even after the bloody lung shot. Tough pests!

They are tough. I have never shot a coyote but just watching videos it almost seams like they go down much faster than a raccoon.

 

[gendoc]

i have shot a few with my .25 talon-p using hybrids and my uragan .30 using KO slugs.
the .25 produces 60fpe while the .30 does over 100fpe
i cant compare the two together....i try to get heart/lung shots and the difference between
the damage is substantial. the .25 has walk offs, while the .30 just opens the critter up nicely !
power and placement means alot to me.

 

[chip78]

i have shot a few with my .25 talon-p using hybrids and my uragan .30 using KO slugs.
the .25 produces 60fpe while the .30 does over 100fpe
i cant compare the two together....i try to get heart/lung shots and the difference between
the damage is substantial. the .25 has walk offs, while the .30 just opens the critter up nicely !
power and placement means alot to me.

No doubt 30 can easily be much more powerful than 25. I agree 30 is a better choice for coons, they are simply too tough. If I had coons to shoot regularly, my setup would be using 30 cal JSB 50gr and some night vision scope.

 

[JimD]

I started looking at essentially "how big a hole is big enough" based upon a review of a three letter agency concerning handgun stopping power. They state that animals (including humans) expire either because their central nervous system is damaged or because their central nervous system does not have blood to power it. As we have probably all observed brain shots are very effective and shut the prey down immediately. But on a body shot we need to cause enough bleeding that the blood flow to the brain effectively stops. It makes sense to me that bigger holes cause more bleeding at the wound site removing the flow to the brain quicker. Most of the animals I've killed with powder or airguns have been squirrels. Recently it has been exclusively airguns. I keep notes on each kill to help my limited memory. I've taken dozens of squirrels with body shots with more with 22 and 25 caliber than 177 but some of all three. Based upon this experience I believe 177 work fine but 22s and 25s kill squirrels a bit quicker with body shots.

I started looking at the percent of area damaged by the projectile as a way to possibly extend my limited but non-trivial level of experience to animals like raccoons where my experience is close to trivial or woodchucks where I have no experience. I'm not sure this technique works but if it does, the 30 caliber doesn't add enough to the hole size to result in DRT body shot results on a woodchuck. To possibly get there, the 30 caliber would need to drive a projectile that expands to around 40 caliber AND drive that projectile through the vitals. It takes a lot more fpe to expand a projectile and have it still penetrate well,

 

[gendoc]

I started looking at essentially "how big a hole is big enough" based upon a review of a three letter agency concerning handgun stopping power. They state that animals (including humans) expire either because their central nervous system is damaged or because their central nervous system does not have blood to power it. As we have probably all observed brain shots are very effective and shut the prey down immediately. But on a body shot we need to cause enough bleeding that the blood flow to the brain effectively stops. It makes sense to me that bigger holes cause more bleeding at the wound site removing the flow to the brain quicker. Most of the animals I've killed with powder or airguns have been squirrels. Recently it has been exclusively airguns. I keep notes on each kill to help my limited memory. I've taken dozens of squirrels with body shots with more with 22 and 25 caliber than 177 but some of all three. Based upon this experience I believe 177 work fine but 22s and 25s kill squirrels a bit quicker with body shots.

I started looking at the percent of area damaged by the projectile as a way to possibly extend my limited but non-trivial level of experience to animals like raccoons where my experience is close to trivial or woodchucks where I have no experience. I'm not sure this technique works but if it does, the 30 caliber doesn't add enough to the hole size to result in DRT body shot results on a woodchuck. To possibly get there, the 30 caliber would need to drive a projectile that expands to around 40 caliber AND drive that projectile through the vitals. It takes a lot more fpe to expand a projectile and have it still penetrate well,

yes, thats why i prefer my U1 & KO's with better than 100fpe for coons.
they might roll around, but if the placement of my choice is hit.....they dont go far.

 

[Deathwizard]

I’ve killed hundreds of raccoons with between the eyes shots with 30 fpe 18.1, 40 fpe .25 cal 25.4 gr and 30 cal 44 gr pellets. Most of the time when cleaning them I cut the head off and find the pellet in the neck. All 3 calibers same penetration. Crazy. The .30 with 44 gr was king before the 34 gr 25 came out and of course slugs. Now .22 slugs way out do the average 30 cal.

 

[L.Leon]

I’ve only killed one raccoon in my life and the memory isn’t pleasant. Still a teen, shooting CB caps out of a Ruger 10/22 hate the memory of it suffering because I did not achieve a one shot kill. My takeaway? If i ever decided to draw a bead on a racoon again, head shot or a hard pass.

 

[chip78]

I’ve only killed one raccoon in my life and the memory isn’t pleasant. Still a teen, shooting CB caps out of a Ruger 10/22 hate the memory of it suffering because I did not achieve a one shot kill. My takeaway? If i ever decided to draw a bead on a racoon again, head shot or a hard pass.

And min muzzle energy of 25 ft-lbs. Of course, the distance is a factor too. More power is needed further away.

 

[chip78]

I started looking at essentially "how big a hole is big enough" based upon a review of a three letter agency concerning handgun stopping power. They state that animals (including humans) expire either because their central nervous system is damaged or because their central nervous system does not have blood to power it. As we have probably all observed brain shots are very effective and shut the prey down immediately. But on a body shot we need to cause enough bleeding that the blood flow to the brain effectively stops. It makes sense to me that bigger holes cause more bleeding at the wound site removing the flow to the brain quicker. Most of the animals I've killed with powder or airguns have been squirrels. Recently it has been exclusively airguns. I keep notes on each kill to help my limited memory. I've taken dozens of squirrels with body shots with more with 22 and 25 caliber than 177 but some of all three. Based upon this experience I believe 177 work fine but 22s and 25s kill squirrels a bit quicker with body shots.

I started looking at the percent of area damaged by the projectile as a way to possibly extend my limited but non-trivial level of experience to animals like raccoons where my experience is close to trivial or woodchucks where I have no experience. I'm not sure this technique works but if it does, the 30 caliber doesn't add enough to the hole size to result in DRT body shot results on a woodchuck. To possibly get there, the 30 caliber would need to drive a projectile that expands to around 40 caliber AND drive that projectile through the vitals. It takes a lot more fpe to expand a projectile and have it still penetrate well,

Shot placement and power. My pesting experience is almost all squirrels and chipmunks. I only shoot pellets. 177 at about 19FPE, 22 from 24 to 31 FPE, 25 at 46 FPE. Distance is 10-50 yards. For chipmunks, all instant kills with any caliber. For squirrels, 177 headshots only, 22 well placed body shots work, 25 a hit is a kill.

 

[sasquatch]

Between 25 and 30 it's going to depend on the power levels and the ammo.

I have a 25 that only does 40 fpe. I also own a 30 that does over 100 fpe. Huge difference in power and noise levels. That power difference is definitely not something to dismiss between those 2 rifles.

 

[MEC17670]

Good shot placement, you can kill anything.

 

[qball]

It all depends on shot placement, if going for vital shots on big critters like coons then bigger the better. Ammo selection makes a big difference also, slugs seems to really tear them up vs pellets are mere passthrough. I dropped a 19lb coon that tore up my yard and ate all my goldfish with a 22fpe 22 cal pellet, but I don't have to shoot far since my yard is relatively small.