.177 or .22 for first air rifle?

[TTv2]

I imagine this question has been asked for decades, but with the shortages for regular shooting stuff I'm circling back to my interest in air rifles after a friend introduced me to them years ago. He had a .177 and it was fun to shoot, but I didn't care for the accuracy I was seeing at 10-15 yds. I figured the light pellets were easily affected by wind and thought a .22 would be better for longer distances.

I guess something I should mention is that I'd like the rifle to be 25 yards capable. IDK what the effective distances are for air rifles, all I can say is for an inexpensive .177, I doubt it could hit anything that far.

And that's another thing, the rifle I'd be looking at getting would not be more than $200. If I were to spend more than that, I'd get a .30 caliber.

So, besides the pellets being cheaper, is there any reason to choose .177 over a .22?

 

[IMAhobbyist]

.177 is good for ringing bells .22 is good for gophers and chipmunks, guess it depends on your needs.

 

[sparkyv]

Nope. The .22 is the right choice for your stated application. And it's likely to be quieter as well.

 

[TTv2]

.177 is good for ringing bells .22 is good for gophers and chipmunks, guess it depends on your needs.

My needs are I want something cheaper to shoot than what .22 LR costs right now, but capable of being both fun and challenging and capably accurate at 25 yards.

My range hangs steel plates out at 50 yards, but my idea was to shoot paper at 25, however if the .22's are capable of hitting a 10-12 inch plate at 50 and hard enough I can hear it hit them, I'm happy.

 

[TTv2]

Nope. The .22 is the right choice for your stated application. And it's likely to be quieter as well.

That's kind of how I've felt, but I have zero knowledge of air rifles and needed to ask. I figure that the double the weight of the pellet, it's worth double the price given that .22's have more ability to take small game should I ever need to do that.

I looked into prices of the rifles and pellets and figured that if I took a liking to air rifles, I would step up to a .30 caliber as there were options for under $300 and the pellets weigh ~50 grains and to shoot them would cost about what my cheapest .32 handloads do. Actually cheaper if the cost of primers never goes back to $40/1000 or less.

 

[HankC]

Springer, CO2 or PCP? .22 is more efficient if CO2 or PCP. Springer pushes .177 to higher velocity and less drop at 25 yds, still hits hard enough to knock a squirrel down if you hit the right place.

 

[TTv2]

Springer, CO2 or PCP? .22 is more efficient if CO2 or PCP. Springer pushes .177 to higher velocity and less drop at 25 yds, still hits hard enough to knock a squirrel down if you hit the right place.

Doesn't matter, whatever is under $200 and shoots best.

Sounds like .22 has a larger kill window for a squirrel and bigger game than .177, yet is equally affordable.

 

[chicharrones]

That's kind of how I've felt, but I have zero knowledge of air rifles and needed to ask. I figure that the double the weight of the pellet, it's worth double the price given that .22's have more ability to take small game should I ever need to do that.

The thing is, for a given air rifle model with the same "power plant" that is offered in either .177 or .22, the .177 will have more muzzle velocity than the .22.

Which means .22 pellets fired from the "same air gun" will have more pellet drop at distance. Even with the lower muzzle velocity, the .22s hit a bit harder than the .177s out of the same power plant.

I have .177s and .22s. I like the .177s for shooting paper. I like the .22s for hitting plinking targets and small rodent control. Sure, I could use the .22 for paper, I just don't.

 

[Bacon buster]

My experience is 177 fly flatter and get there faster and are usually a little more accurate. The 22 is more hit on target all other things being equal. 25 yards isn’t much for a good air gun. I’ve shot turtles in the head out to 160 plus yards with 177 and 22. I ultimately went to a pcp in 22 cal with a custom valve and love it. It’s probably my favorite gun to shoot. Match trigger super quiet extremely accurate. I’ve dropped a lot of varmints with it out to 50 yards and uncountable head shots beyond 50 on dove turtles snakes rabbits n such. For the money hatsan is a good buy

 

[THEWELSHM]

I used to shoot.22 as a kid..

Thewelshm

 

[TTv2]

I will admit that one reason I'm leaning towards .22 is because I plan to buy a black powder North American Arms revolver in the future and I could shoot it with just a cap and the pellet.

 

[HankC]

I will admit that one reason I'm leaning towards .22 is because I plan to buy a black powder North American Arms revolver in the future and I could shoot it with just a cap and the pellet.

Which model? Link? You got me interested!

 

[TTv2]

Which model? Link? You got me interested!

They should work with any of the NAA Companions

 

[Sniper66]

I have a RWS Diana which is a break-barrel .177. It will do everything you listed as priorities. I found it used for about $200 as I recall, which included a tin of pellets. It's good on 25yd targets and hell on rabbits, squirrels, grackles, starlings, sparrows, etc. To stay in your budget you'll have to buy used if you want one like mine.

 

[pairof44sp]

View attachment 981358 View attachment 981359 My experience is 177 fly flatter and get there faster and are usually a little more accurate. The 22 is more hit on target all other things being equal. 25 yards isn’t much for a good air gun. I’ve shot turtles in the head out to 160 plus yards with 177 and 22. I ultimately went to a pcp in 22 cal with a custom valve and love it. It’s probably my favorite gun to shoot. Match trigger super quiet extremely accurate. I’ve dropped a lot of varmints with it out to 50 yards and uncountable head shots beyond 50 on dove turtles snakes rabbits n such. For the money hatsan is a good buy

Wow. So I had to look up Hatsan.

Here is an Airrifledepot customer review on the $300 Hatsan model, a breakbarrel that comes in up to .30 cal.

Do these things really shoot as good as this “customer” says?

“This is one amazing hard hitting air rifle. I installed the UTG 4-16X44 30mm Scope, AO, 36-color Mil-dot on the gun. Then tested a lot of different pellet brands and gr weights to finally settle with the most deadly accurate pellet out to 80 yrds. That pellet is the Exact King Heavy Diabolo 33.95 gr. 42fpe. After shooting about 50 pellets through the new gun "I call the break in period" I then cleaned the barrel very well to dislodge any lead deposites to then truly start to site the gun in. I placed my gun in a rifle lock to ensure no movment. At 25 yards / 5 shot test cover all 5 with a dime: At 35 yards / 5 shot test cover all 5 with a nickle: At 35 yards / 5 shot test cover with quarter and so on....At 80 yards which I stopped at because after that I do not beleive I would shoot anything past that I noted my grouping was still very impressive with an average 2" x 2" pattern. Every gun is different keep the barrel clean and try lots of different pellets. Have Fun & Happy Shooting!”

not sure I got it in me to crank on that breakbarrel a hundred times in a row, but if this is how airguns shoot these days, I want in!

 

[George P]

.177 will kill rabbits and squirrels at 25 yards WITH THE RIGHT PELLET; the 22 air rifle is good for 45 yards

 

[Bacon buster]

44sp. The hatsan are excellent buys for the money. I bought the $100 dollar edge in .22 caliber a few years ago and have shot a few thousand pellets through it. I can hit a three inch circle out to 75 yards with the factory sights which are plastic but have held up. It doesn’t have the Quattro trigger or anything special. My brother bought one of the nicer ones and the trigger is great accuracy is great and it is very powerful. I will warm you scoping a nitro piston or springer air gun is troublesome to say the least. Holds zero for five shots n moves. Zero it again same result. At 25 yards I can stack pellets with factory plastic sights. With a scope it’s a half inch group. If you want to scope an air rifle and it function reliably go pcp or co2 or pump up. I’ve tried just about every trick and so many scopes I can’t remember on break barrels. 1 out of ten might hold together. I know everybody hypes it up and they have you tube videos showing it works and this mount and that mount. Bologna! If it’s a break barrel get iron sights.

 

[Bacon buster]

Also the clean barrel comment is a wash as well in my experience. I get a new one I clean it out like a regular firearm lube what needs lined with proper lubricants and shoot it til it wears out. Never clean the barrel on any of them after initial clean and inspect

 

[BigBlue 94]

Shot .177, .20, and. 22 as a kid. The .20 was my most accurate, but it was a classic old Benjamin pump. The RWS (Diana) 34 in .22 served me well out to about 50 yards. They are the only air guns I still have, along with the Red Ryder.

 

[readyeddy]

Wow. So I had to look up Hatsan.

Here is an Airrifledepot customer review on the $300 Hatsan model, a breakbarrel that comes in up to .30 cal.

Do these things really shoot as good as this “customer” says?

“This is one amazing hard hitting air rifle. I installed the UTG 4-16X44 30mm Scope, AO, 36-color Mil-dot on the gun. Then tested a lot of different pellet brands and gr weights to finally settle with the most deadly accurate pellet out to 80 yrds. That pellet is the Exact King Heavy Diabolo 33.95 gr. 42fpe. After shooting about 50 pellets through the new gun "I call the break in period" I then cleaned the barrel very well to dislodge any lead deposites to then truly start to site the gun in. I placed my gun in a rifle lock to ensure no movment. At 25 yards / 5 shot test cover all 5 with a dime: At 35 yards / 5 shot test cover all 5 with a nickle: At 35 yards / 5 shot test cover with quarter and so on....At 80 yards which I stopped at because after that I do not beleive I would shoot anything past that I noted my grouping was still very impressive with an average 2" x 2" pattern. Every gun is different keep the barrel clean and try lots of different pellets. Have Fun & Happy Shooting!”

not sure I got it in me to crank on that breakbarrel a hundred times in a row, but if this is how airguns shoot these days, I want in!

That would be the Hatsan 135. It is a very good rifle, but with a scope it will weigh about 12 pounds and it's 4 feet long.

 

[Bacon buster]

For best accuracy I’d try to stay around 900 FPS with pellet of choice. Any more than that and they have a tendency to spiral

 

[Bacon buster]

Example. I tuned my pcp to push 18.3 gr pellets at 930 FPS. I can push them close to 1200 FPS but accuracy suffers and it gets loud. At 930 I can shoot match heads at 50 yards

 

[Meeks36]

Had a springer a few years back that had both barrel's.22 & .177. Can't remember make but it was decent. Beeman maybe?

 

[TTv2]

Been looking and I've decided on a sping/gas piston .22 rifle. CO2 seems unreliable and PCP is out of my price range.

So, that being that I've been looking and one that jumped out to me is the Ruger Air Magnum and the reason why is it's being advertised as 1200 fps capable. IDK with what weight pellet, but it's faster than the typical 1000 fps I'm seeing.

Other than that, the only other that caught my eye is a Gamo multi shot that uses a magazine, but one video shows it gets 900 fps with 10gr pellets. That seems pretty anemic, but lets say the Ruger can get, IDK, say 300 fps more with a 16 grain pellet vs another air rifle what effect would that have?

 

[Bacon buster]

If you look at my above post it tells you what velocity to target for best accuracy. Only a few companies publish velocity using a lead pellet. Hatsan uses lead for their testing. You can typically expect significantly lower velocity than advertised. You’ll need a chronograph to really get down to the fine tuning. Again if it is a break barrel make sure it comes with iron sights