# .177 vs. .22



## shotgunwill (May 16, 2008)

I am considering buying an air rifle for some "urban" pest removal. There are lots of guns to choose from, each advertising how fast their guns can push a pellet. My observation has been, that the .177 achieve a higher velocity than a .22, but a .22 pellet weighs more.

So, my question is this, and this is probably the age old ballistics problem, but is it better killing wise, to push a lighter grained pellet at higher velocities, or to push a heavier pellet, at a slower velocity? What do you think?

For my air rifle fans, what are the pro's and con's of the .177 and the .22? What have you killed with your rifles? Thanks.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I dont have any of these new fancy Gamo rifles that push pellets 1300 fps, so my thoughts may not be applicable to a new rifle that you buy. But I will tell you what I have learned with my rifles.

I own a Benjamin .22 and a Crossman .177
They are both fun to shoot, and quiet enough to pop a round off in the neighborhood. BUT my experience has been that the .177 only scared pests off. I shot countless birds as a boy with my .177, and killed every one. But when it came to shooting farm cats at Bateman Dairy, I once chased a cat up a tree and unloaded 10+ pellets in that cat with my .177 and the pellets wouldnt penetrate the fur, then he finally jumped down and ran off.

In contrast, I started using the .22 and shot muskrats, birds, squirrels, and cats. All of which were clean kills. So my suggestion would be to buy the .22 because I had more kills, AND could shoot longer ranges. At one point I even started shooting darts out of it, and those penetrated deep.

One side note is that I have even seen .25 caliber airguns out there, dont know how those perform though. (I think those are what guys are claiming to have used on wild pigs).


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

I bought my son a Remington Airmaster .177 last year. I killed a rockchuck that was causing some damage in my back yard. He made a home in some large boulders. One shot with a game point pellet between the eyes and he only went three feet before running out of gas. Shot distance was about 35 feet.

Ten pumps and this little air rifle is pretty deadly.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

One other thing to consider is weight. I just looked on Cheaperthandirt.com and saw that their Gamo rifles weighed as much as 12 pounds!!! :shock:


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## shotgunwill (May 16, 2008)

A lot of them are very heavy, as you have noticed. Another place to look, if I've got you curious is pyramydair.com It's a good site, that has lots of comparisons, suggestions, and reviews. They of course offered no substantial debate on ballistics or actual knock down power. You guys are way better at that.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Side note: Check your local laws.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Bax* said:


> I dont have any of these new fancy Gamo rifles that push pellets 1300 fps, so my thoughts may not be applicable to a new rifle that you buy. But I will tell you what I have learned with my rifles.
> 
> I own a Benjamin .22 and a Crossman .177
> They are both fun to shoot, and quiet enough to pop a round off in the neighborhood. BUT my experience has been that the .177 only scared pests off. I shot countless birds as a boy with my .177, and killed every one. But when it came to shooting farm cats at Bateman Dairy, I once chased a cat up a tree and unloaded 10+ pellets in that cat with my .177 and the pellets wouldnt penetrate the fur, then he finally jumped down and ran off.
> ...


+1 on this. 
Also, with the Benjamin and Sheraton (5mm) you can lower the velocity with fewer pumps and still have good killing power...why...the lower velocity means less noise. But when pumped up to top velocity the .22 have darn near the killing power of a .22 rim fire. 
For hunting anything larger than small birds...get the 5mm or .22!


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

I have killed cats and skunks with my .177 Gamo at 1200 fps...btw, it doesn't weigh anywhere near 12 lbs.


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## Lycan (Sep 22, 2008)

Bax* said:


> One side note is that I have even seen .25 caliber airguns out there, dont know how those perform though. (I think those are what guys are claiming to have used on wild pigs).


I've seen .50 caliber airguns out there! :shock: I think they use them on safari.

There are a few .22 caliber guns out there that push the pellets past 1000 fps. I thought I even saw a Gamo that will do 1200 for a .22, not bad. Personally, I have big hands so the .22 calibers are a little easier for me to load. I tried those .177 polymer tipped pellets and they didn't work. I shot some starlings with them and they don't expand or penetrate much. In fact, a lot of them bounced off.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

shotgunwill said:


> A lot of them are very heavy, as you have noticed. Another place to look, if I've got you curious is pyramydair.com It's a good site, that has lots of comparisons, suggestions, and reviews. They of course offered no substantial debate on ballistics or actual knock down power. You guys are way better at that.


That is a very interesting website. I didnt know they made pellet guns in 9mm, .45, and .50. I thought it was just the .177, 5mm, .22, and .25. Pretty neat website you found


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## deadicatedweim (Dec 18, 2007)

I bought a gammo .177 and it was too loud for my neighboorhood and would pass completely through any bird I shot. So I like using my crossman pump the black with silver barrel for birds and a benjamin 5mm for the bigger stuff. I killed 9 skunks at payson lakes one night with the crossman just loading 2bbs at a time but when I replaced it after 5 years the new crossman doesnt patttern well with the 2 or 3 bb special. so I gotta stick with 1bb or pellets.


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

The Gamo is loud...even the Whisper version.


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