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whats best for vermin .177 or .22


shawn9914
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Hi All

 

Still looking for a pre charged air rifle for my son to do some target shooting with and also some close range rabbits, pigeon rats etc etc

 

been looking at .22 calibre but before I buy is it worth me looking at rifles in the 177 range to shoot vermin

 

I am suppose to be going to look at a Airarms s410f in a .22 tomorrow so thought I would get some help off here before I commit

 

cheers shawn

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Can of worms time is it?

I wouldn't use anything other than a .177 :) The only real downside is a slight risk of over-penetration at real close range. Rabbits, rats, pigeons, corvids, squirrels etc all fall victim to a .177. If I was going to have an FAC gun, it'd be .22, but at sub 12 levels, I much prefer the .177 trajectory and higher velocity over the loopy and slower .22.

 

Personal choice and all that, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one - and they're always .177!

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Hi All

 

Still looking for a pre charged air rifle for my son to do some target shooting with and also some close range rabbits, pigeon rats etc etc

 

been looking at .22 calibre but before I buy is it worth me looking at rifles in the 177 range to shoot vermin

 

I am suppose to be going to look at a Airarms s410f in a .22 tomorrow so thought I would get some help off here before I commit

 

cheers shawn

sorry chris but this is rare,,i disagree with you for once,,as the op said in red above,, then I think a .22 would be better suited as even you said a .177 can over penetrate at close range,

 

if it was me get a s410 in .22 and if looked after will last your son a lifetime but I would defo choose .22 caliber

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sorry chris but this is rare,,i disagree with you for once,,as the op said in red above,, then I think a .22 would be better suited as even you said a .177 can over penetrate at close range,

 

if it was me get a s410 in .22 and if looked after will last your son a lifetime but I would defo choose .22 caliber

Scandal! Outrageous behaviour. Call in the mods!

hehe. I know what you mean. I did think twice about the range, and you're right the 'short range' factor is the thing. Also slightly aware that the other day i posted about the benefits of a .22 where over penetration could damage farm buildings :whistling:

Then I thought what the OP meant by short range. someone used to shooting deer @ 200yds might say 60yds is short range. So, as i didn't know what was meant, I scurried back to my default position ;)

 

'Short range' air gunning? then yeah a .22 is probably better. anything regularly over 30yds and it's .177 for me, as the over-penetration becomes less of a factor.

Edited by chrisjpainter
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Yeah have to agree with simon here .its like the military two common calibers used 5.56 and 7.62 .both will kill you but when given the choice ide go 7.62 its gonna stop you end of.

Ive got both calibers in my air rifles and my 22 kills pigeons stone dead with heart lung shots anywhere from 10 yds to 35 yds but my 177 cal unless head shot just goes right through and they fly off . And all of my shooting is done in the woods so more often its heart ,lung shots cos a pigeon swaying ,bobbing about inbetween branches is a hard target to hit in the head .i personally dont shoot at live quarry over 35 yds with 12 ftbls rifle .

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Can of worms time is it?

I wouldn't use anything other than a .177 :) The only real downside is a slight risk of over-penetration at real close range. Rabbits, rats, pigeons, corvids, squirrels etc all fall victim to a .177. If I was going to have an FAC gun, it'd be .22, but at sub 12 levels, I much prefer the .177 trajectory and higher velocity over the loopy and slower .22.

 

Personal choice and all that, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one - and they're always .177!

What he said

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At 35 yds there is no trajectory gain in either it comes down to pellet of choice and scope to bore height more than calibre. .22 hits harder and is more capable of achieving clean kills with shots to the heart lungs or even slightly mis placed brain shots. In a spring rifle the bigger cal is usually just a tad sweeter to shoot in many guns it has reduced firing movement. If you get yourself outside and measure out 35 yds you will have a better idea and you still have to hit relatively small targets 1st shot no sighter in truth few can get out much further in the field with real reliability at 12 ft lb. Even though I have shot competitively with success along the way with air and centre fire I cannot, I can like any take an odd long range flukey shot and can certainly do better once I know the exact trajectory and windage required on a range.

 

.177, .22, .20, .25 all kill if you put it in the right spot

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hi all

 

thanks for all the great advise, well I have bought a rifle some will agree some wont :lol:

 

I got him a air arms S410F 10 shot in a .22 second hand it is in fantastic condition and has a green tint too the stock which is nice

 

scope is a nikko sterling 6-24 x 50 which is plenty good enough for what he needs

 

3 lts charging bottle with 3 years left on it before test

 

leather gun sling, nice fur line gun bag and 2 new tins of air arms pellets

 

just been playing with it in my workshop and at 20 yds it groups in a circle the size of a 5 pence piece so chuffed at this

 

very queit and very light cant wait to give it him on xmas morning

 

now saving some tins for him to shoot at :)

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hi all

 

thanks for all the great advise, well I have bought a rifle some will agree some wont :lol:

 

I got him a air arms S410F 10 shot in a .22 second hand it is in fantastic condition and has a green tint too the stock which is nice

Burn the heathen! chuck him off PW!

hehe,

Sounds like a good deal though, and is a gun that will last for years. There's a reason why the S410 is so popular, they're pretty darn good. He should be well chuffed with it. If he's not, I'll have it. (even if it is the evil cal. ;) )

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  • 4 weeks later...

I hunted with my .22 springer for two years to good success using the relatively flattish tradjectory Falcon Accuracy Plus pellets, they are hollow and only 14.3gr but hit hard and dropped rabbits and pigeons no problem. For me, it's downfall was a lack of accuracy (with me on the blunt end) past 30 yards. Your .22 pcp should be a lot more consistant though.

 

I bought a .177 AA s400 carbine last April and haven't looked back since. Close range over penetration through the head or heart hasn't seen any quarry walk off yet, plus with a bipod I can now confidently take headshots on rabbits and pigeons out to 40 yards in fair conditions.

 

Great present though, you have one very lucky boy...... :good:

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