The .177 pellet

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rangur1

rangur1

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Jan 4, 2018
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peoples republic of New York
Now there is a definite following with this caliber , which I am not one of. Hence the post. Me shying away has nothing to do with any monty python "biggest dicchus" attitude, in fact it is my arthritis making handling and loading said projectiles a challenge- thereby minimizing enjoyment in my desired hobby. Putting that aside, why is the 177 cal prefered over the 22 by such a good portion of shooters? Cost is virtually the same that I had observed. Ok , I give the flatter trajectory, cool. I have yet to see this appeal specifically, but there is obviously, just look at all the varied weights you can get today. JSB even came out with a 16g, the 177 version of the monster redesign. The 177 field has expanded big time, the primary benefit looks to be target shooting, or hunting / pesting applications to really test ones skill. I know almost nothing about this caliber, so 177 folks, fill me in.
 
I live in a low power world. I bought my first 22 two years ago.

My 1720 mounted in a wood stock runs about 9fpe. Stacks RWS Supermags. Hammers, wad cutters are hammers on small pests.

HW30 177, the most fun a guy can have? Maybe some days, but such a sweet shooter at 7fpe. No small pests safe. Doubles as one of my 10m guns.

It’s about what one does with airguns. Sure I have 30fpe 22, but it’s not for shooting around the house.
 
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For close range target shooting at 50 yd or less, I believe the .177 cal is inherently more accurate than the .22. Don't forget that in low power countries like the UK and Germany, these guys have tweaked these things for years to get the most performance out of them. Why is it that Olympians use only .177? I'll give you one guess. We Americans have our brains tuned to bigger, heavier, and more powerful. .177 cal rifles, by nature, work best under 20 fpe. I've tried pushing .177 rifles up in power and it didn't work for me.
 
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I have a small backyard with nosy neighbors so only caliber is 177, I have more guns and barrels for 177 than any other caliber by a country mile. Plus it's a lot more fun to have a challenge when taking care of a tree rats as supposed to just plain execution with 25 cal, I hardly get a tree rat these days so gotta make everyone of them count!
 
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.177 slugs penetrate domes easier than any other caliber, it really takes 30fpe+ to get any range, but it is proven effective for anything up to hogs and coyote at 75 yds and under. I tend to use the 13.4g jsb knockouts for long range plinking or hunting and the 21g piledrivers for larger varmints that need a hole in thick bone.

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Me being mostly a pester, i've been exterminating vermin for a looong time with .177 until i was told that you can't do that. It's just not effective they said, not enough power. I still trod on though. I do have some great shooting .22 cal. that i do use often but the flatter shooting .177 will do most of the work. To me, accuracy trumps thumping power all day.
 
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Hi Rangur1,
The humble little .177 pellet has been around for a very long time, and there must be a reason for that 😉

In my opinion these are some reasons why:
It is the most cost effective to shoot, a tin of 500 .177pellets costs about the same as a tin of 250 or even 200 .22pellets.
Pound for pound they have the flattest trajectories, makes range estimation “easier”.
More than adequate for plinking.
Perfect for teaching with.
Perfectly adequate for pest control as long as u know your rifle and its abilities. (if you didn’t manage to kill that moose at 80meters, it’s not the rifles fault! Everything has its limits, Be responsible enough to use the right tool for the right job).
Deadly accurate (I’m not saying other calibers aren’t accurate, just saying .177 is).
Back yard friendly, in low to mid power they are quiet and still deadly accurate.
So many people think bigger must be better, faster and stronger is the only way to go, but honestly, overkill is not always necessary.
I love my 12fpe .177! It is quiet, accurate, and knocks the snot out of rabbits (maybe I should say it knocks the brains out of rabbits) at 40-50m (55y).
I’ve never been restricted to 12fpe rifles, I own springers, PCP’s, Rimfire, shotgun, and various calibers of powder burners. My work rifle was a .458Lott and I’ve shot 1000’s of rounds through it, but my favorite rifle…
.177 AirArms S510 😉
Light, accurate, so much fun, and if used within its capabilities, a pure delight to shoot and hunt with. 👍🏻

Pete.
 
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Lots of good answers here, I own three 177 PCP , 15 years ago I was told the 177 was a dieing caliber , Was they ever wrong , I waited about 10 years in the PCP world before jumping into the 177 game, Yea the little burgers are hard to load sometimes more so , But I may set down and shoot 200 times and have been known to shoot the whole tin of 500 pellets at one setting , I do not do that with my 22 , Not even my Huben , Or my 25 and 30 caliber guns , That says a lot to me, I got an iron butt, LOL. I been know to shoot fly's for hours with my secret fly target, (egg busted on white paper) . My brother looked at the white target paper once and said, Your grouping in not so good, I said I was shooting fly's at 48 yards , He just smiled...
Mike
I really got to proof read before I hit post, DUH,
 
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Quality .22 pellets are more expensive than the same in .177.

.177 does what I need it to do for pesting in an urban area and does it better than .22+ could do it.

BUT, that is ONLY because I work very hard to be accurate and precise with my shots and I know exactly where to hit my quarry... from any angle... to make a clean kill.

Rarely do I even see blood. In fact, I have a hard time finding the entry wound most of the time.

No, I am not a perfect shot, but I know my limitations and only take the shots I am sure of making a DRT.

Depending on higher calibers to make up for any lack of precision/accuracy is a fool's errand.
 
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airgunmike56 said:
Lots of good answers here, I own three 177 PCP , 15 years ago I was told the 177 was a dieing caliber , Was they ever wrong , I waited about 10 years in the PCP world before jumping into the 177 game, Yea the little burgers are had to load sometimes more so , But I may set down and shoot 200 times and have been known to shoot the whole tin of 500 pellets at one setting , I do not do that with my 22 , Not even my Huben , Or my 25 and 30 caliber guns , That says a lot to me, I got an iron butt, LOL. I been know to shoot fly's for hours with my secret fly target, (egg busted on white paper) . My brother looked at the white target paper once and said, Your grouping in not so good, I said I was shooting fly's at 48 yards , He just smiled...
Mike
Click to expand...
Hi Mike,
Tell me more about how u set up eggs for flys? Sounds like it could be a good way to pass some time😉
Pete.
 
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That's a good ? I think it started out as way for the Europeans ( Germans ) to have some fun shooting matches. It was simply easier and more practical to shoot a mini caliber lite little gun. I was in your mind set as well and all my air rifles were 22cal. But I did finally buy a HW50 .177 and wow. I was really surprised at how much faster it reached the targets. It also hit respectably hard and is very accurate. It also opened my eyes to how much more the wind affected the POI. I got use to the smaller size pellets and it doesn't bother me hardly at all now. Get yourself a tube of that arthritus cream if you have too " Diclofenac Sodium Tropical Gel " The stores sell it now.You don't need a prescription anymore. I take a prescription anti-inflamatory capsule called Celecoxib that works very well.I'm telling you,Your missing out by not shooting a nice .177 rifle.
 
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Ok, that's it.
I was wavering, doubting — but thoroughly reading this thread clarified it for me. Thanks, my friends.


I'm buying a .30cal PCP.
With at least 100FPE.

Even I as a non-American have finally understood that:
Bigger IS really Better.



For me anyways. In my current location. With my type of shooting.

Matthias 😉
 
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Pete and you guys FYI
Get your back stop set up with cardboard I like to use some white paper, put a 4x4 or a brick about one foot in front of paper make sure height is about 1/2 of the paper or even lower , Place a large egg on the 4x4 or brick back up and shoot the egg and it will splatter all over the paper, Now wait for the flys, A hot egg works better than a cold one..
Oh remove the brick or 4x4 , Works great for me. I do have a horse pen about 30 yards off so that helps.

Mike
 
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