Why .22 and why .30

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I live in a very arid area. It's pretty wild to watch what happens to even a 19fpe projectile after it goes through a prairie dogs skull at 70, 80, 90 yards and keeps skipping across the ground. Sometimes they even change directions drastically, but the skips in the dirt and the little dust clouds are like skipping rocks on water, bounce, bounce, bounce.

What's downrange is something we all need to consider, more seriously and with greater gravity as the caliber and fpe go up.
 
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SDellinger said:
My situation is I only shoot at daries. I started shooting 25 cal in 2011 and killed many, many birds. I don't think I have shot a cow point blank but it is possible I have hit one on a ricochet. I got a 22 cal in 2014 and feel better about shooting around cows now. I kill the same number of birds. I have a lot more choices in pellets and are cheaper than 25 cal. I can reduce my velocity and shoot inside at night and not shoot holes in the roof. I have video of a pellet going through a dove at 40 yards and making a big dent in a trailer 10 feet behind the dove. I have seen people shoot 30 cal airgung at dairies. You don't realize the power difference or the extra carry they have. It depends on your application. The 25 cal has more energy than a 22 that I don't need at a dairy.
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For dairys I would assume a slug shooting .177 would probably suit you better.
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
You're not confusing crows for ravens right? Ravens get twice the size of crows, literally.
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Here's a few, which is it?
IMG_20230317_122239.jpg
 
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25 was my second venture into PCP’s and I still have that gun. Maverick Compact and it has always shot pellets. It has been my go to truck and tractor gun. I can shoot that thing in hunting situations like no other gun I own. I keep distance to inside 70 yards and it handles the job as long as I don’t ask too much of it.
My other 25 is a Panthera 600mm and it is strictly a slug gun. Accuracy is no issue with it. I can regularly hit ground squirrels out to 150 yards when using my bipod, shooting pad and get a solid prone position.
My M3 .22 can shoot with the Panthera out to 120 yards or so. But it is a more complex gun and is more sensitive to wind tHan the 25 is.
I have a 30 Panthera Compact Hunter that is gaining favor as the truck gun for the ranch as it shoots hard and develops tons of power in a nice short and fairly light set up. Down side is it eats air. Lots of air. It was a purpose bought gun so the air consumption is not an issue. Plus I have two big tanks and good compressor.
Basically it is darned tough to beat a 25 pellet shooter or slug gun. If I ever had to let go of one of my guns it would be the M3 .22. Definitely not one of my 25’s.
 
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There seems to be all covered. It's nice to see people actually explaining their point of view.

I'm with everyone on this.
I have always shot.25 and it's also because it's the largest caliber we have in Finland without firearms license. That's not to say I would even want to go bigger. I have around 120fpe at my disposal and it rocks alright. That is for distances more than 100 yards.

Now I am possibly in the process of getting something for close combat quarters. That would be something in the form of Taipan Veteran 2 standard in .22cal.
Less noise, less air consumption, better trajectory.

There's no reason to even try to have both rifles in the same caliber if they shoot totally different weight slugs. They can't be mixed anyhow. That's just a reminder to myself because I find myself hanging on to the .25.
Weird, right?
 
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Will74 said:
There seems to be all covered. It's nice to see people actually explaining their point of view.

I'm with everyone on this.
I have always shot.25 and it's also because it's the largest caliber we have in Finland without firearms license. That's not to say I would even want to go bigger. I have around 120fpe at my disposal and it rocks alright. That is for distances more than 100 yards.

Now I am possibly in the process of getting something for close combat quarters. That would be something in the form of Taipan Veteran 2 standard in .22cal.
Less noise, less air consumption, better trajectory.

There's no reason to even try to have both rifles in the same caliber if they shoot totally different weight slugs. They can't be mixed anyhow. That's just a reminder to myself because I find myself hanging on to the .25.
Weird, right?
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Right? When I posted, I thought maybe I'd get one or two replies...this has really turned into really a great discussion. As I mentioned, I started with .25, (for no other reason than it was the dawn of the PCP), with a Maruader, thinking that the .25 would have a bit more umph. I have a .22 Diana 52 which is a very accurate gun and a lot of fun to shoot. Perhaps a I should venture in to the realm of .22? Old dog new tricj syndrome for me. I'm looking for a new gun and have three on the short list: RTI Mora; Skout Evo, and Epic 2. I believe all of those are caliber exchangeable. So there's that.
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
Based on the size comparison I want to say those are young ravens, but they could just be fully matured crows.


View attachment 510035

View attachment 510036
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Calls definitely are crow, pictured are end of campaign victims, didn't even own Vulcan 3 in the beginning. FX Wildcat MK3 .30 Sniper and WestHunter scope accounted for most, Big Momma and Big Daddy were huge, no pictures, sad to say. Here's Wildcat. WM
IMG_20220410_162301.jpg
 
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Franklink said:
Cost and ease of use.

.22 ammo is cheaper than .30, note the number of projectiles per tin and you'll see what I mean.

It takes more air to keep a .30 shooting than it does to keep a .22 shooting. High volume .30 will drain your air tanks fast.

Safety. .22 is a much more versatile caliber. You can tune down and shoot lighter .22s in most back yards. BUT .30 is the same caliber as a .30/06. And even tuning down a .30, you're throwing s big heavy chunk of lead.

If you're intent is to chase EBR/RMAC/PA Cup glory, or whack big stuff like coyotes, then the .30 might be the more competitive choice. Otherwise, the .22 is better in every regard.
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Agreeing with Franklink as a plinker in my yard.

I get 3 mags of 13, or 39 shots per fill. With the .30cal. I just bought a .22cal change kit for it so with a retune I may get 200 rounds per fill.

The .30 cal is also too much for my 75-yard range. It collapses my spinner targets and destroys things. Tuning the .22 down will be perfect for my 75-yard range and targets

Although the .30cal is the same diameter of a 30/06, 30 30, or 300 Win Mag, etc. its power is more like a .22 short, or .22 long.
On the other hand, it will out shoot any of my rimfires, inside 100 yards in light wind.

I would like to hunt some long range fox squirrels with the .30 cal, but it would require propper ranging and turret twisting.

20230529_181818.jpg
 
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WorriedMan said:
Calls definitely are crow, pictured are end of campaign victims, didn't even own Vulcan 3 in the beginning. FX Wildcat MK3 .30 Sniper and WestHunter scope accounted for most, Big Momma and Big Daddy were huge, no pictures, sad to say. Here's Wildcat. WMView attachment 510123
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Yeah those are definitely some big crows. I spotted a few this morning and they ranged from small to what seems fully matured and they certainly look like small ravens just on size alone.
 
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.20calguy said:
Agreeing with Franklink as a plinker in my yard.

I get 3 mags of 13, or 39 shots per fill. With the .30cal. I just bought a .22cal change kit for it so with a retune I may get 200 rounds per fill.

The .30 cal is also too much for my 75-yard range. It collapses my spinner targets and destroys things. Tuning the .22 down will be perfect for my 75-yard range and targets

Although the .30cal is the same diameter of a 30/06, 30 30, or 300 Win Mag, etc. its power is more like a .22 short, or .22 long.
On the other hand, it will out shoot any of my rimfires, inside 100 yards in light wind.

I would like to hunt some long range fox squirrels with the .30 cal, but it would require propper ranging and turret twisting.

View attachment 510129
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That's a fantastic group with the 30s!
 
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Two .177 PCPs, eight .22 PCPs and one .25 PCP.

I definitely have a strong preference for the .22, as from the cost, power and range it's ideal for my applications. Most of my plinking, pesting and hunting is done at less that 50 yards though recently I've been target shooting out to 100 yards. I like the extra challenge of the .22 at longer ranges.

That being said, I'm half considering a RAW HM1000X in .25 caliber.

Cheers!
 
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My highest squirrel kill count is with my P35-25 (18). It was tuned to 32 fpe at that point shooting H&N FTT pellets that only weigh 20 grains. It was very deadly at short range. It now sports an after market plenum and is shooting 34 grain JSBs at 800 fps or a bit less. I haven't even shot it at a squirrel since the retune but if another raccoon shows up... I've killed one crow and I am pretty sure it was with a 22 but it could have been with my 177. I hit it in the chest and it dropped immediately. I find shot placement on birds trickier, however. If I hit them square in the chest they drop. But a hit a little off even if I see feathers fly off does not consistently drop the bird. My second highest squirrel count is with my Prod (17) which is an under 20 fpe 22 caliber. I lost a couple with it tuned to 13 fpe but since I retuned it up to upper teens it works great.

I like all my airguns but I think the 22s are the most versatile. I even took a small raccoon with my P35-22 tuned to about 32 fpe. It took three shots including one right between the eyes but it got it done. I am pretty sure the P35-25 would have been more convincing, however.
 
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The simple and obvious answer is that caliber size is just a continuum. Smaller sizes get more shots per fill, are less expensive, have less backstop considerations, etc... .177 is cheaper and uses less air than .22 which is cheaper and uses less than .25, etc...

Larger calibers can carry more energy, hit harder and will tend to have better BC's.

The real question in my opinion is how come we don't have 27, 32 and 15 calibers? We go straight from .25 to .30 and from .30 to .35 and no one's ever seriously marketed anything smaller than .177.
 
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Sawney Bean said:
The real question in my opinion is how come we don't have 27, 32 and 15 calibers? We go straight from .25 to .30 and from .30 to .35 and no one's ever seriously marketed anything smaller than .177.
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You mean like half way between two existing calibers? I imagine a .20 would be pretty sweet. 😂
 
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