BUDGET SUB 12FTLBS .25 AIR RIFLE OPTIONS.

[Chaz25]

I have tryed the springers with JSB king heavys (34grn's) hard hitting but you have to shrink the range quite a bit say 20yards and under so if you want to try heavy I would say keep it 30grn's and under

[B B]

On 18/08/2022 at 20:01, Chaz25 said:

I have tryed the springers with JSB king heavys (34grn's) hard hitting but you have to shrink the range quite a bit say 20yards and under so if you want to try heavy I would say keep it 30grn's and under

I might try some marksman no3 are light like the H&N FTTs i have been using. Getting over 500FPS and downrange up to around 40 yards only loosing around 100fps so still retaining between 7-10 ftlbs (Range dependent) which surprised me rather a lot. If i were to go much heavier i think i would run into other unwanted  complexities like mounts and click adjustment etc too much faffing around. i might try  some Bisley pest controls and see if they A.. group and B.. zero roughly at the base of the plex on my cheapo scope. All sounds a lot to expect. Any pellet advice welcomed.

[Chaz25]

8 hours ago, B B said:

I might try some marksman no3 are light like the H&N FTTs i have been using. Getting over 500FPS and downrange up to around 40 yards only loosing around 100fps so still retaining between 7-10 ftlbs (Range dependent) which surprised me rather a lot. If i were to go much heavier i think i would run into other unwanted  complexities like mounts and click adjustment etc too much faffing around. i might try  some Bisley pest controls and see if they A.. group and B.. zero roughly at the base of the plex on my cheapo scope. All sounds a lot to expect. Any pellet advice welcomed.

No3's should be good, I have found the H&N FTT's  and barracuda's good in all 3 of my .25's and use H&N grizzly's in the stealth for a short range hard hitter, keep a weight around 19grns -28grns if possible less is more with springers in .25

[B B]

Wildfowling season  has sort of got in the way of time with this air rifle.

 But its got over a thousand H&N  FTT through it now and its nicely settled down and  running the top side of 11.5 ft lbs a little hot but its legal and well settled down now.

  Accuracy was good out of the box and it is still is. I have not found any marksman pellets to try, but i have not looked that hard to be fair.

Nor have i tried any bisley pest controls, i am set on the H&NFTTs they work and i can get them local.

Off the chrono and targets, its efficient on rats out to 20  yards and a bit more if i do my part properly.

From a lethality point of view, it is very decisive and hard hitting and loving time spent with this thing. so much so i am going to invest in a better scope in the not too distant future, the 4x32 is working but its the weak link in the equation and i am going to address that soon.

[Chaz25]

Nice to know its working for you, good hunting to you!

[happyshooter]

Big Dan of BD airguns , , i recently was over at Dans shooting a Cometa

B/B in .25 cal, it was very accurate,very hard hitting, handles well,

very little recoil. i will be getting one when funds allow.

atb brian

[B B]

The Hatsan 1000X .25 is over 18 months old now over 2k pellets through it and its working perfectly well, i am now very used to the some what lobby trajectory of the .25 and i am connecting reliably into the 30/35 yard area now on rats which are a small target at that range for me that rifle and a 4x scope.

 But familiarity is good in my opinion and i know this set ups capabilities well, its consistent and  sticking with the Gun scope and h&N FTTs is paying dividends.

 I am Liking the .25 and was considering buying a NP02 in.25, But slow deliverey had me give up on a .25 PCP and i just persevered with the springer, and indeed purchased a Hatsan 900X.177 just to add to the hatsan brand thing and down to just how impresed i am with the budget spring powered .25s accuracy levels, the 900x.177 is again a keeper and accurate and all for £90, i mean what do you want on such a low budget.

[oldypigeonpopper]

22 hours ago, B B said:

The Hatsan 1000X .25 is over 18 months old now over 2k pellets through it and its working perfectly well, i am now very used to the some what lobby trajectory of the .25 and i am connecting reliably into the 30/35 yard area now on rats which are a small target at that range for me that rifle and a 4x scope.

 But familiarity is good in my opinion and i know this set ups capabilities well, its consistent and  sticking with the Gun scope and h&N FTTs is paying dividends.

 I am Liking the .25 and was considering buying a NP02 in.25, But slow deliverey had me give up on a .25 PCP and i just persevered with the springer, and indeed purchased a Hatsan 900X.177 just to add to the hatsan brand thing and down to just how impresed i am with the budget spring powered .25s accuracy levels, the 900x.177 is again a keeper and accurate and all for £90, i mean what do you want on such a low budget.

Hello, have you thought of a scope using 6 to 8 X magnification ? 

[B B]

4 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, have you thought of a scope using 6 to 8 X magnification ? 

I have thought about a bigger mag possibly a 3_9 x  scope but the 4x is fine on rats out to the 35 yards i have been shooting this .25.

 Not sure i will gain anything i think the 4x works adequately for what i am doing and i have no intentions of using this rifle at longer ranges to be fair.

[oldypigeonpopper]

11 hours ago, B B said:

I have thought about a bigger mag possibly a 3_9 x  scope but the 4x is fine on rats out to the 35 yards i have been shooting this .25.

 Not sure i will gain anything i think the 4x works adequately for what i am doing and i have no intentions of using this rifle at longer ranges to be fair.

Hello, 35 yards is a long way for the size of a rat shooting a sub 12 ft llb air rifle, both my 22 PCPs are zero at 20 yards and 25 yards, I do not shoot over 25 yards, I've never thought of .25 but I know many on the AGF have had success with this calibre, but it is like .20 the range sold will not be as good as 22, the .25 spring rifle seems to have a more forgiving nature than 177 or 22

Edited August 2, 2023 by oldypigeonpopper

[B B]

On 02/08/2023 at 10:41, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, 35 yards is a long way for the size of a rat shooting a sub 12 ft llb air rifle, both my 22 PCPs are zero at 20 yards and 25 yards, I do not shoot over 25 yards, I've never thought of .25 but I know many on the AGF have had success with this calibre, but it is like .20 the range sold will not be as good as 22, the .25 spring rifle seems to have a more forgiving nature than 177 or 22

The thing is with the .25 its slow and by the time  it gets to 30/35 yards its only in the 5 to 6ftlbs area, yet its still enough to kill a rat if you can actually hit it, to go over this range in a 12ftlbs format anyway would be beyond my abilities i believe the guns abilities and just not worth attempting .

 Hitting is the decider if you can at 30 yards fine go with that, but really 25 yards is a much more reasonable range for practical purposes everything taken into account and if you are running any pellets over the 20.06grains  of the H&Nftts sure you will retain a bit more ftlbs of energy at 25 to 30 yards say but the lighter pellets have that bit more speed at the closer ranges say20 to 25  yards you typically use the rifle at.

 the longer range shots are achievable on rats the power is there and .25s are accurate but the trajectory aspect needs attention and perfecting to hit reliable, and again past say a max of 35yards its out there in my opinion. The charts posted on page one show this clearly.

Edited August 3, 2023 by B B

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, I've always used superdomes in springers, but not sure if can get in .25, 

Edited August 5, 2023 by oldypigeonpopper

[B B]

4 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, I've always used superdomes in springers, but not sure if can get in .25, 

They do them  they are 31 grain.

[oldypigeonpopper]

4 hours ago, B B said:

They do them  they are 31 grain.

Hello, bit on the heavy side🤔

[B B]

16 hours ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

Hello, bit on the heavy side🤔

That is my opinion too but it depends on the ranges you want to shoot at. Keep Range in the 20s or get used to the trajectory they will retain  more energy  than the lighter20.06 grain  ftts i use.

  The heavier .25s are slow compared to .22s and certainly .177s but at 30/35 or more yards the pellets weight holds onto more ftlbs its just a matter of learning the trajectory at various ranges in that curve. Fathom that by reticule plex or milldots etc and you have an effective rifle.

[.357shooter]

good to see you were not put off by the na sayers..25 is a great caliber for a sub 12ft.lb air rifle.lots of fun and hits like nothing else,spinners do not stop at least it seems like forever for them to stop.had a bsa .25 superstar years ago and learnt how to shoot it.naff trigger and rattled my fillings but i could shoot that aswell as my pcp.it did take 6 months of practice though and that was 3 times a week for at least an hour at a time.my latest .25 is hw80 a bit out of your budget but again a lot of fun to shoot.i use the h&n 20.06gr pellets and it does seem to like them.as for range finding it is easy for me as i only shoot at my club with range markings every 5yards but even so i could hit the knock downs from 15y to 50y standing at least as accurately as my mate with his .22.did one day have a go with 5 of us shooting at 50y standing and i was hitting more than my mates with their pcp,s.only porblem with the 80 is it seems to creep up a little and does need keeping an eye on the power but apart from that it is a blast.

[B B]

14 hours ago, .357shooter said:

good to see you were not put off by the na sayers..25 is a great caliber for a sub 12ft.lb air rifle.lots of fun and hits like nothing else,spinners do not stop at least it seems like forever for them to stop.had a bsa .25 superstar years ago and learnt how to shoot it.naff trigger and rattled my fillings but i could shoot that aswell as my pcp.it did take 6 months of practice though and that was 3 times a week for at least an hour at a time.my latest .25 is hw80 a bit out of your budget but again a lot of fun to shoot.i use the h&n 20.06gr pellets and it does seem to like them.as for range finding it is easy for me as i only shoot at my club with range markings every 5yards but even so i could hit the knock downs from 15y to 50y standing at least as accurately as my mate with his .22.did one day have a go with 5 of us shooting at 50y standing and i was hitting more than my mates with their pcp,s.only porblem with the 80 is it seems to creep up a little and does need keeping an eye on the power but apart from that it is a blast.

Yes "The nay Sayers" . it is strange how actively biased some peoples attitude to the sub 12 .25s can be, and just ringing around trying to find a .25 especially a Cheapo hatsan a brand many dealers dont stock and even those that did very few had a .25 .  I firmly believe if i had not had a long history of firearms ownership and use and had a good idea of how such a sub12 .25 would perform, the biass against sub 12 .25s was so prevalent i would have probably given up.

 Just look back in this thread  its there to see,  I have had a great many .177 and .22s and even a .20 sheridan back in the day all worked and guess what so dose the sub 12 .25.   

  In use the only suprising thing was the hatsan 1000x itself its accuracy/consistancy is good. 

  I consider that .25s trajectory akin to a sub 12 .22 shooting a heavier pellet  i consider shooting the H&N FTTs lighter pellet helps with the trajectory problems so many seem to get hung up on when .25s are debated especially sub 12s and a springer too a cheap springer" sacrilege"  On closing remember the old elmer keith quote " Big holes let lots of cold air in"   Well thats as may be but it kills decisively that much i do know.  More of less than a well placed .177 or .22 ?the doubters may ask. Well I will add this, i have never had any air rifle stop rats so reliably with barely a kick in my life that bigger pellet works decisively IMO.

 .

 

 

[.357shooter]

another plus is not having to fiddle about with those tiny little pellets.