Hw97k .177 or .22 pest control

[Rs2 springer]

I have a permission that only allow rabbits pigeons crows jays rooks magpies to be hunted i just want some advice a lot of land is very flat loads of trees I'm also looking to do some hft as well but i have a .22 beeman currently and .22 mercury is there much difference

[team tractor]

HFT relies on .177 to be competitive as no range finding is allowed. Fixed mag also .

A .22 on a 30 yard zero will drop 6" at 55 yard

.177 will drop 3 to 4"

[chrisjpainter]

Hey mate, where abouts in Oxon are you from? I'd say .177 is the cal to go for as well - if you're only going to get one. It's still an excellent hunting cal and will be far more suited to HFT than .22

[Alycidon]

12 ft lbs then 177 is so much easier to shoot accurately due to the slower rate of drop.

 

A

[kent]

Zeroed at something like 28 yards (depending on scope to bore) a .22 cal is useable to 35 yards. Zeroed at 32 yards (with similar provision) the .177 is useable to 40 yards. So 5 yards but the factors are then wind and making a clean first shot into a small target. not hitting a whopping great 40mm disc at 48-55 yards were trajectory get harder in competitive shooting

In the field under hunting conditions I have yet to meet the guy that can exceed these limitations of 35 and 40 yards and act humanely and I include world champs and other team sponsored FT shots within that bracket.

Some go .25 (something I have never tried, though I have shot .20 and .177 in the field) The fact that some choose .25 I think says a lot in favour of the easy to obtain .22 cal. Now here is a forgotten one some spring piston guns are a lot smoother shooting in .22 as the bigger cals are more air efficient. One of my airguns is a BSA lightning that I have worked on to improve the firing cycle and don't half fancy seeing the difference a .25 barrel might make to it in this regards.

 

In recent times (ok they are recent to me) .177 has risen in popularity due to the growth of FT from the early 80s (when .22 was a common FT choice at club level). This has lead to a following in the field, I also founded my rifle shooting back then and have switched about some but suffice to say .22 is my choice and 35 yards is "good conditions" shooting for me with 12 ft lb airgun. There are far better tools for the job after that mostly sub 12 ft lb vermin means 25 yards

[Hamster]

The OP would be better off with .177 but I totally agree with Kent, I used to practically live with two .177 guns when much younger but once I tried .22 for hunting and all round use I have rarely bought the smaller calibre. Yes of course they have less pronounced trajectories but for hunting use 35 yards is a long way in the field and it doesn't take much to learn to live with the .22 perfectly well, if you can't hit a rabbit's head inside that range, off hand you really need more practice not a flatter trajectory.

 

PS. got bored with my BSA Lightning so just today traded it in and now waiting for a new HW95 combo to arrive next week.

[KFC]

Only my opinion but, having used both, at 12ftlb .177 is so fast and flat shooting that I don't see any point in .22. Once the aim points are learned then there's no reason why a .22 would be any less effective though.

[bullet boy]

.177 in non FAC and .22 in FAC is my preference.

[kent]

Only my opinion but, having used both, at 12ftlb .177 is so fast and flat shooting that I don't see any point in .22. Once the aim points are learned then there's no reason why a .22 would be any less effective though.

 

My point was and is you shouldn't generally need to apply very much in the way of hold at the ranges spoken of with either 48-55 yards serious advantage .177 in slightly mis ranging 40mm steel discs ( the relevance of a massive 1 1/2" kill zone and such ranges hunting small vermin is ?)