Switching from 22 to 177

[Seanw226]

Ok I'm interested to hear from people who switched from 22 to 177 for hunting. Being a staunch 22 man I got fed up with the loopy trajectory of 22 and heard how accurate and how flat the trajectory of 177 is, so I bought a 177. Personally I'm finding it difficult, I don't think the accuracy is any better. 177 pellets also have a loopy trajectory. Ok they go further but when they hit home the power has gone. People have mentioned heavier pellets like bisley mags and logun penetrators, is this the answer to getting more kills? With such a small kill zone, a smaller lighter pellet and add in the wind etc I'm beginning to think the switch was big mistake.

[Rickenbacker]

I empathise with you... although I don't hunt anything anymore (except tin chickens), a well matched .22 rifle & pellet takes some beating.

BisMags in .177 can be a sort-of answer, but for longer ranges their traj' is loopy, they still retain less energy than .22s, and have a habit of blowing all over the place in wind past 45 yards.

Depends on which gun, and your barrel - but I'd be inclined to keep trying with light - medium .177s, or go back to .22...

Just for the .20 zealots - 'they' say .20 JSBs have the best of both... faster than .22 with (slightly) more retained energy. But I don't personally care about that.

[Brian.Samson]

There's a really simple answer to this, but I don't think you're going to like it much

Spend more time practicing and then restrict your hunting range to the distance you're confident at making a clean headshot at.
If you do that, there's plenty of power in any calibre to make a clean kill. If you don't do that, there isn't a calibre or brand of pellet that will solve the problem for you.

[PCPShooter]

I empathise with you... although I don't hunt anything anymore (except tin chickens), a well matched .22 rifle & pellet takes some beating.

BisMags in .177 can be a sort-of answer, but for longer ranges their traj' is loopy, they still retain less energy than .22s, and have a habit of blowing all over the place in wind past 45 yards.

My uk level limit is 35 yards, I'm sure people can shoot further, humanely, with absolute confidence, but all the people I know personally who shoot, choose fac air or rimfire past the 35 yardish range.
In 177, in pcp, I have had good results with barracuda match and jsb heavies especially, though am currently trying h&n hunter extreme, which group just as tight as barra match in my Brocock, but not so in my BSA. I much prefer heavies in a 177 pcp to 22 at 12ftlb, though much prefer 22 on ticket, when the trajectory flattens out. All round, 20 cal ftt give a very similar trajectory to 177 heavies, and only drops more beyond a range I'd shoot at anyway, imo 20 cal the best choice, all round -

[keithy]

Hi I am currently experimenting with .177 after years of using a .22, its definitely easier as far as target cards go but for hunting the first question you need to ask yourself is how far aways is the rabbit/pidgeon as both calibres drop. if you get to know the drop at all normal ranges then the tragectory curve is not such a problem with either calibre. A range finder is a great help

[Rickenbacker]

My uk level limit is 35 yards [...]

Fair one, I'm not suggesting the OP would hunt at over 45 yds, I just mention the traits I've found with BisMags

To me, the difference between .177 vs .22 is say, at 50 yds, 2 mildots at 10 mag vs 2 mildots at 6 mag.

Again, I don't shoot wild things at 50 yds either.

[Seanw226]

Hi I am currently experimenting with .177 after years of using a .22, its definitely easier as far as target cards go but for hunting the first question you need to ask yourself is how far aways is the rabbit/pidgeon as both calibres drop. if you get to know the drop at all normal ranges then the tragectory curve is not such a problem with either calibre. A range finder is a great help

This is exactly what I'm on about, I have a range finder and I can't really go wrong in daylight but when it comes to night shooting using nightvision, which is where I do most of my shooting, it's difficult to range find using the mk1 eyeball. Which is the reason why I thought 177 would be better but it's not the case as my accuracy and kill rate has plummeted overnight.

[timmytree]

This is exactly what I'm on about, I have a range finder and I can't really go wrong in daylight but when it comes to night shooting using nightvision, which is where I do most of my shooting, it's difficult to range find using the mk1 eyeball. Which is the reason why I thought 177 would be better but it's not the case as my accuracy and kill rate has plummeted overnight.

No offence Sean, but if you can do it during the day without problems then maybe it's your night time rangefinding and the MK1 eyeball that are letting you down rather than the .177 calibre.
I changed from .22 to .177 4 years ago and would never go back, shot placement is slightly more critical but with a 35 yard zero I can aim dead on from 15 to 39 yards and be inside a 1 inch killzone.
Neither calibre is better, just different.
Regards
Tim

[NiceNeil]

I've never used night vision, but I know that sometimes rabbits can look further away than they really are at night when lamping. Could this be part of the problem? Range estimation?

[gsxrman]

Dude
I think ya probably reverting to .22 estimation of hold over/under thats why ya missing
.177 is so the best calibre for everything from from FT to rats licking peanut butter off a stick
I use 7.9 grain premiers for FT and HFT and now hunting
YEAH as some will say they over penetrate.... they drill a hole straight through the kill zone ... therefore the quarry is killed
They dont run away ,sometimes jump high , sometimes kick abit with nerves ... chemical reaction in blood
Stick with it man ,like ya already been advised ,practice practice practice
Get bigger bags than an Asda shopping trolley
Good luck
Steve

[HandyAndy]

This is exactly what I'm on about, I have a range finder and I can't really go wrong in daylight but when it comes to night shooting using nightvision, which is where I do most of my shooting, it's difficult to range find using the mk1 eyeball. Which is the reason why I thought 177 would be better but it's not the case as my accuracy and kill rate has plummeted overnight.

Sean. As Tim said above your nighttime shooting is the issue here. The .177 or .22 debate is a separate issue. I do not have a .177 cal airgun for hunting, just a trusty .22 and some FAC others. I have in the past had a .177 and I did use it in the field, only a few of the rabbits shot were retrieved, most went into the bush or cover never to be seen. I know they were all good shots but not good enough to drop bugs instantly on the spot. Of them that were retreived the pellets had drilled through and through causing a very narrow wound channel that was not debilitating enough to do an instant drop on the spot kill. With this in mind I sold it soon after and got a hmr with the money.

Also as mentioned above. Practice. Practice and practice some more. But if your using NV, can you use your NV during the day or is it a tubed NV? If its a digital such as a NE500LR or a NS50 etc then practice in daylight. Set your targets, preferably rabbit life sized ones at your normally encountered ranges and see how you get on.

NV is a separate issue totally when if comes to ranging at night. Ths very flat 2D image you see with NV is sooooooo much more difficult to range accurately on such a small kill zone. On a fox at 50 to 150 yards with a suitable center fire its a different thing completely and much easier to make the shot. Even under lamp light at night you still will find it much more difficult to accurately range with the Mk1 eyeball, this leads me on to the next point. During the daytime get out on your ground and pace out some of the misses from memory. Then go to ambush points, pace out or use a range finder to accurately set the mental picture in your head to recall later when your out with the NV.

Happy hunting and may your bags improve.

[gsxrman]

Sean. As Tim said above your nighttime shooting is the issue here. The .177 or .22 debate is a separate issue. I do not have a .177 cal airgun for hunting, just a trusty .22 and some FAC others. I have in the past had a .177 and I did use it in the field, only a few of the rabbits shot were retrieved, most went into the bush or cover never to be seen. I know they were all good shots but not good enough to drop bugs instantly on the spot. Of them that were retreived the pellets had drilled through and through causing a very narrow wound channel that was not debilitating enough to do an instant drop on the spot kill. With this in mind I sold it soon after and got a hmr with the money.

Also as mentioned above. Practice. Practice and practice some more. But if your using NV, can you use your NV during the day or is it a tubed NV? If its a digital such as a NE500LR or a NS50 etc then practice in daylight. Set your targets, preferably rabbit life sized ones at your normally encountered ranges and see how you get on.

NV is a separate issue totally when if comes to ranging at night. Ths very flat 2D image you see with NV is sooooooo much more difficult to range accurately on such a small kill zone. On a fox at 50 to 150 yards with a suitable center fire its a different thing completely and much easier to make the shot. Even under lamp light at night you still will find it much more difficult to accurately range with the Mk1 eyeball, this leads me on to the next point. During the daytime get out on your ground and pace out some of the misses from memory. Then go to ambush points, pace out or use a range finder to accurately set the mental picture in your head to recall later when your out with the NV.

Happy hunting and may your bags improve.

Hi man ..... Just to jump in again, Have used only .177 for last 10 years now,previously used both. My favourite .22 was a Taunus using HN Field Target Trophy ,very accurate
But the flatter trajectory beyond 35yds is a massive bonus, like having extra 10ftlbs. If you experienced bunnies running away i suggest it was an accuracy issue as a .100 calibre pellet(theoretically) would more than do the job. A .22 calibre bullet would drop a human stone dead shot through the brain. Like i said before either of the calibres is adequate if ya hit the spot .

[Russ6357]

I'm moving back from .177 to .22 for legal limit hunting.

The thing to remember is that wind is more complex than gravity - which is a constant.

With a range finder (not tried one at night mind) you can get a measurement to a rabbit or some spots near where rabbits are going to appear that is accurate to a yard or two.

Wind however, that varies all the time and I don't know about you but I find it hard to judge 5mph from 8mph with gusts up to 10 mph but that margin of error will make a big difference in where the pellet lands, especially over 35 odd yards and with little meaningful difference between .177 and .22 all other things being equal.

So if I'm limiting my rang to 35 yards I think I might as well use my .22.

Just a thought.

[Brian.Samson]

Rangefinding at night especially with NV is really difficult.

The solution that I found worked well for me was to use an IR laser sight. I used to set the laser to meet my crosshairs at 30 yards, then when I looked through the scope at night if the laser dot and the crosshairs were the same I knew it was around 30 yards. It worked a treat! I'd recommend doing that - in either .177 or .22.

What I also found when using NV for stalking rabbits was that very often I could get much closer than I could in the daytime. Quite often I could easily just walk up to rabbits - a 15 yard shot was actually quite common and getting to sub 30 yards was extremely common.

Also, when shooting at night the wind is less of a factor - very often the wind drops to almost nothing at night.

[Arai]

At the extremes of 12 ft/lbs hunting range, I've found .177 more able than .22 to deliver its energy to one's quarry's vital zones, (heart/lungs etc), especially on crows.

.22 must require more energy than .177 to allow its mass to pass through their bodies to their vital organs, and at range, I've found it simply does not have it, where a .177 JSB Exact Express that left at 810fps still has.