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Thread: Why did you choose

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by angrybear View Post
    Well I'd say sub12 air is not much use at those ranges full stop.
    indeed.... only takes a gnat's fart to push your pellet 6" off...
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by gsxrman View Post
    .177 as it is accuracy that kills and not calibre. If you upscale the ".177 to rabbit ratio" to human size then the calibre equivalent is about an "inch". So .177 is more than big enough, does enough damage but is naturally more accurate simply because of its dimensions.
    I don't like the explanation "if I'm a bit off the larger calibre still does the job", only my opinion mind but you shouldn't accept being "a bit off" when it comes to live quarry. Paper or metal targets don't suffer.
    Accuracy is king, full stop, so the best hunting pellet is the tightest grouping pellet in real world conditions in the most accurate calibre.
    Of course, if the mark can be hit every time then calibre is irrelevant from .177 to .30 and beyond but generally at varying ranges and at sub 12 most people will shoot tighter groups with a .177 than the other calibres.
    This again, and again, and again. ^
    Why my reach for rifles are .177. When I do use a .22 then its farmyard ranges only, and in truth closer than that. If you are well familiar with any calibre and can hit perfectly then it really doesn't matter what calibre.

    All that matters with 12ft/lbs air rifles is pellet placement. Heck, 10ft/lbs rifles will be as lethal to normal effective hunting ranges. Your effective range is to hit a polo mint sized target in all positions and conditions on the day. Normal critters just aren't big, nor tough, though vitals to hit are tiny.
    Last edited by Muskett; 02-12-2022 at 05:06 PM.

  3. #18
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    I tend to buy any gun I'm offered at the right price, and I never worry about what caliber it is.

    Being in the farming community I do tend to get offered far more old .22" guns than .177" ones as .22" seems to have always been bought by farmers for pest control --- .177" being for bell targets and ladies.

    I still prefer .22" as it's easier to get a .22" springer upto 12ftlbs, and to be honest at the short distances I tend to shoot at now there's little advantage in a .177's flatter trajectory.




    All the best Mick

  4. #19
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    Air Rifles used to be used around the farmyard, often with open/iron sights. Most of those old air rifles are very able at farmyard ranges, and the .22 does fine delivering a decent wallop at those short ranges. No one were much bothered to do 35m shots.
    With the new fangled modest priced optics that started arriving in quantity in the late 1970's, shooters could "see" 35m and started tuning rifles to be accurate at that range. That is where the .177 has the advantage. The rest is history.

    There was a lot more wildlife around farm buildings where I grew up than today. The legal quarry list was longer too. Modern agricultural practices have made a desert in much of the land; just removed all the food stuffs from burnt grain and all those insects. Most farms had a dairy too, but long gone now.

  5. #20
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    I use .177 now as I like the flatter trajectory so for our power it find it suits well.

    If I could have 20ftlb without the hassel of fac then it would be .22 for sure as that would then be the most suited.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by T 20 View Post
    I tend to buy any gun I'm offered at the right price, and I never worry about what caliber it is.

    Being in the farming community I do tend to get offered far more old .22" guns than .177" ones as .22" seems to have always been bought by farmers for pest control --- .177" being for bell targets and ladies.

    I still prefer .22" as it's easier to get a .22" springer upto 12ftlbs, and to be honest at the short distances I tend to shoot at now there's little advantage in a .177's flatter trajectory.




    All the best Mick
    What short distances do you shoot at Mick?

  7. #22
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    I didn't choose, .22 chose me. Back then when I started it was springers only & every rifle I shot was .22 nowadays I shoot either by prefer my comfortable old friend.
    Rabbit Stew, no artificial additives except lead.
    IF THE MUD REACHES YOUR KNEES GET OUT OF THE FIELD QUICK.
    WANTED. UNF MOD.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by where's it gone View Post
    I think that many years ago most shooting was done with open sights and .22 gave more near instant deaths and therefore became first choice to hunt with.
    Perhaps you've nailed it here? Back in the days where scopes on air rifles were a rarity and open sights were the norm, most shooters would be unlikely to shoot at live quarry beyond, say, 35 yards, so the added drop of .22 was not such an issue. We are also talking about pre-myxmatosis days when rabbits were everywhere and a lot easier to hunt.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by knightrider View Post
    What short distances do you shoot at Mick?
    I normally set my scopes up at 35 yards indoors off a bench, but when shooting with less support I only shoot quarry out to about 25 yards, but if I have good support I'll shoot out to the full 35 yards.

    That's not to say I can't shoot further on targets, which is why I put the Quigley bucket out at 75 yards at the Boinger Bashes.




    All the best Mick

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by bill57 View Post
    Perhaps you've nailed it here? Back in the days where scopes on air rifles were a rarity and open sights were the norm, most shooters would be unlikely to shoot at live quarry beyond, say, 35 yards, so the added drop of .22 was not such an issue. We are also talking about pre-myxmatosis days when rabbits were everywhere and a lot easier to hunt.
    I'd tend to agree, and also it's much easier to get the power out of a .22. Back in the day, most .22 were barely capable of making over 11, .177s about 9 FP.

    Then the fwb sport, diana/originals and HW 80/77/85 came along... .177s at 11 FP, and accuracy coupled with optics actually made the trajectory argument relevant.

    More recently, huge advances in pellet production methods stretch those ranges even further, once again strengthening the trajectory advantages for those "now accurate" longer ranges.

    (OK, I know the rather lively BSFs were around a bit earlier and made the power in .177, they were just too tough to shoot accurately)
    Last edited by Shed tuner; 03-12-2022 at 10:47 AM.
    Always looking for any cheap, interesting, knackered "project" guns. Thanks, JB.

  11. #26
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    I eventually bought a BSF 54 and S70. The former was as heavy as a HW77 but without such a nice trigger or really the power in .177. The S70 was more akin to a Vulcan MKI, so lively and a pretty tough trigger. They really didn't suit a scope, and long range accuracy, being more suited to the farmyard and not beyond.
    All the makes were really just farmyard rifles. For bell target then there was no reason for power as 8ft/lbs was plenty to ring that bell.
    It took tuning to get a HW35E to keep the group together at anything beyond the farmyard. A FWB Sport had the power but was sporter weight. I think it was the Original 45 that first had it all out of the box, the Original 50 didn't. Thats power, trigger, and great barrel.
    And then the mighty HW77 blew everything away.

    Gunshops were still pushing .22's because thats what they had always sold. In truth most rifles were still just farmyard rifles out of the box. Heck, few had stocks for scope heights.
    It was the time of the custom tuners, that searched for ways to get rifles out of the yard and accuracy beyond.
    And now we have PCP's. The first PCP's like the Gamekeeper weren't that clever, but did show the way forward. Even pellet design started improving as the demand and enthusiasm was there.

    What hasn't changed is that your hunting range is what you can hit a Polo Mint at every time. Using every aid possible, including range finders, .177, are what makes longer shots possible. Double heck, often the rifles chosen that can do the longer shots now aren't ideal for shooting standing around a farmyard.
    Progress? Different? Its still fun.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by knightrider View Post
    Not a caliber debate...just interested to know why you decided to choose either .177 or .22 for general pest control
    Probably to do with time, when you started airgun shooting. Years ago, airguns weren't looked upon as ' weapon's of mass destruction ', and was a natural progression from a catapult for the pre teens youngster. Often you would shoot with a mate and if you had a different calibre to his, it could if been down to who had most kills. This alone would influence your choice of your next gun. Also, as time goes by, practice takes a part in tuning to skills. Imagine a coke can as the target. Shoot it with a .177 and more often than not, the pellet would go through the front and back, with a tiny hole in it. Now shoot a coke can with a .22 The rumpled can show what a .22 will do. Isn't that enough persuasion to the upcoming shooter ?
    And so your calibre debate starts.
    Last edited by where's it gone; 08-12-2022 at 05:25 PM.

  13. #28
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    .20 never gets a look in because most people have never tried this cal and the economics of this pellet means it's limited in pellet choice and only H&N hold the key to a better choice of pellets.

    JSB for some strange reason are 5.1 mm and a tad to heavy

    Yet a 10 grain or there about's .20 pellet which has been made by H&N in the pass really is the dogs
    Hw77+7

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