.177-.20-or .22

[Ithaca Gunner]

Which caliber do you like and why?

So far, all my airguns have been .22, however I'm beginning to open my mind to the others, .177 and .20. From what I've seen and read, .177 is the choice for target shooters and plinkers, .22 more for hunting and pest elimination, the .20...a compromise? I'm thinking about an HW-97 with laminated stock, but I may choose something other than a .22 this time. 99% of my shooting will be punching paper at 25yds, the other 1% will be starlings at various distances out to around 40yds.

What do you like about the .177? The .20? The .22?

[Greg S]

Well, i prefer 177 fo a majority of my shooting in the basement where I've got 10m dedicated. Outside, 177 for plinking and 22 for hunting. The side cockers are pretty accurate out to 50m but as anything the flies, the wind can affect them. With your stable of 22s your covered. I looked at the 20s myself and for the price of fodder, you might as well go 22.

[GhostHawk]

.20 5mm fan here, with .22 as my second choice. .177 gets short shrift at my house. Yes .177 is faster, better for punching paper.

But IMO lacks the foot pounds for serious killing.

I'm a Sheridan Blue streak freak, I bought mine new back in the mid 70's. All my friends were buying .22 LR's. I already had a perfectly good Ruger 10/22, but I lived in a small village, could not shoot .22 in town.

But no one ever said a word about my airgun. And I was dang careful to be sure of my targets. So one of my pellets never went through a window.

Birds on the power line 45 yards away however were free targets. Mostly Starlings and Grackles. Add to that the odd squirrel or cottontail in Ma's garden. Funny all these years later and it still shoots straight.

Your truck might rust away in that time, your dog would die, twice, your wife might leave you for another man. But your Sheridan will be there through it all. Just needs a drop of oil every decade. True Blue, you can depend on it.

[Doc Highwall]

My vote goes for the 177-4.5mm. I also have a 10 meter range in the basement and .177 is where the match pellets are to be found with lots of choices. I have even shot pellets from Champion's Choice made by H&N in both 4.48 mm and 4.49 mm, and we know here that bullet size matters.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Maybe I'm wrong, correct me if I am, but I'm looking at the .20 more seriously now that I've looked at the pellets. Seems as though they have a longer sectional density than either the .177, or the .22 as per normal. I know you can get some heavy .177 and .22 pellets, but the normal range of .20 seems like they have a better sectional density, if that matters in the air gun world.

I'd like fine accuracy, but also the power and pellet weight to make quick clean kills on those blasted starlings at 40yds range too.

[Mauser48]

If you are hunting get the .22. I have shot a good amount of stuff with a .177 and shot placement is everything. If you do get the .177 and hunt with it my best results were with the gamo hollow point pellets that had a steel bb in the tip. Those were great for rabbits.

[Doc Highwall]

You said 99% of your shooting will be at paper so .177 is what I would choose.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Yes, probably 99% will be at paper for accuracy and practice. Cost aside, you're saying the .177 is more accurate than the .20 or .22?

[Hawks Feather]

While I don't have a .177 and .22 in the same identical rifle or pistol, I can shoot the .177 more accurately and use it for target. It will also work very well on small pests should the need arise. The .22 with the extra weight of the pellet seem to do a better job on larger pests. I have never fired a .20 so I can't really tell you about it.

[jmorris]

I have more .22 pellet guns than the others but the .177 is cheaper to shoot. I don't have any .20's but do have a .25 PCP that is pretty impressive out to 100 yards or so.

[Doc Highwall]

At the Olympics they only shoot .177 - 4.5mm, so the match pellets are available.

[jmorris]

At the Olympics they only shoot .177

At 10 meters.

[dkf]

Don't care for .177 though I have a couple. Small for my fingers to handle, low power, not so great for hunting. Pellet availability and selection with .20 is not near what .177 or .22 so I never bothered with it. I mostly own and shoot .22cal airguns, just a better fit for me. Though if you are really into hunting say rabbit or squirrel with an airgun, there are for sure advantages to .25cal or larger airguns over all 3.

[Larry Gibson]

....... I'm thinking about an HW-97 with laminated stock, but I may choose something other than a .22 this time. 99% of my shooting will be punching paper at 25yds, the other 1% will be starlings at various distances out to around 40yds......

I own springers in all 3 calibers and have used numerous other air rifles of such over the years. You've answered your own question quite nicely; the .177 caliber will suit your need/desire very well.

Larry Gibson

[MT Chambers]

For a springer I'd opt for the .177, you'll find that with small game, humane kills will require a head shot from either cal.........when I hunt gophers or ground squirrels any body hits from either the .22 or .177 finds the gopher able to make it down his hole to die, not so with head shots.

[fiberoptik]

I like my Sheridan 5mm. Has taken plenty of stray pest critters up to good sized cats chewing on mine. Aim 4 head=dead. My .177 is fun only for plinking/paper.

[Black Beard]

I like .22 but .177 is easier for long range pellet drop estimation. .22 is better in windy conditions.

If you have a power limit like the UK then .177 works better for target shooting. I have been told that the US field target shooters tend to use .22 as they can match the .177 velocities but be less effected by wind. PCPs also work better in the bigger calibre.

If you do short range targets, I’d go .177. For long range stuff, particularly hunting, go .22. For what you want, .177.

[9.3X62AL]

First time in the airgun forum, IIRC.......my current pair are at the extremes of spring-piston diameters, an RWS 45 in .177 and an RWS 52 in .25 that is a hunting hammer. I'm pondering a .22 springer, one of the higher-velocity RWS offerings is likely.

My interests don't run to esoteric extremes like PCP or even glass sights for these rigs. I did fine work on ground squirrels with both the 177 and the 25 for the year we lived on a parcel over-run with the plague-carrying little diggers, and in recent years my state has opened resident game bird species to airgun take with arms .20 caliber and above. I cannot count the assorted vermin numbers I have whacked with the .177, that rifle has been with me for close to 30 years. Beeman Meisterkugeln and Superpoints are its best fodder, whether the target is paper--feathered--or furred. Beeman Crow Magnums in the 25 hit with an impressive THWOCK on rats and jackrabbits to 35 yards, which is my range limit using the irons on the rifle.

The guy I bought the RWS 52 from told me he had the rifle "tuned up", to include a re-springing/upgrade that meant to get pellets running to 800 FPS. Working that side-lever is an iron-clad vale madre, but I did some chronography with it and found the Crow Magnums hitting more like 710-725 FPS. The seller (a 70+ year old engineer retired from Rohr in Riverside) admitted to me that he went "a bridge too far" with the upgrades, so a sale was indicated. The performance is impressive, but obnoxious. The cost was a fraction of MSRP, and the 25s seem out of print with RWS now.

[jmorris]

I did fine work on ground squirrels with both the 177 and the 25 for the year we lived on a parcel over-run with the plague-carrying little diggers

I don't know if they are like pocket gophers but I built this device that drops 5-6 poisoned seeds every 3 feet into a "tunnel" it makes. You can get rid of hundreds (if not a few thousand) over many acres in just a few hours (faster than you could mow the same area).














[img]http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/farm/gopher%20plow/5.jpg[/img

[Rustyleee]

In my area I can buy .22 cal pellets at the local hardware store or at Wally World. .20's I would have to order. I do target shoot with mine but the .22 will do whatever a .177 will do except maybe have as flat a trajectory.
If I were to change to anything else it would be a .25 cal.