Why did you choose

[knightrider]

Not a caliber debate...just interested to know why you decided to choose either .177 or .22 for general pest control

[angrybear]

Well, I dropped .177 after the number of rabbits cleanly head shot with it that still had a heartbeat when collected.
I did hunt with .22 for a bit but then bought a .20 which is the perfect sub 12 general hunting calibre, backed up with both .22 & .25 sub-12 for close range ratting/barns.

[foby75]

.22 as that was the calibre most people used in my developmental years. My pal got a new BSA Mercury in .177 early 80s and we all had .22 so we all shared experience of the two calibres prevalent at the time. Never had a bias but have tended to buy and use .22 for pest control. If you know the capabilities and and limitations of the pellet and what pushes it, combined with being able to consistently hit the humane kill area, those are the critical considerations. Used a .177 Theoben for rabbit control on a farm a while back and that was exceptional. Have never had the opportunity to learn and try .20 or .25.

[barrel]

Not a caliber debate...just interested to know why you decided to choose either .177 or .22 for general pest control

Sounds like a caliber debate to me

Kindest regards

Barrel

[madcarlos]

For me its distance shooting , Normally shoot between 50 and 90 yards so .22 not much use for my shooting.

[TonyL]

.22 as that was the calibre most people used in my developmental years. My pal got a new BSA Mercury in .177 early 80s and we all had .22 so we all shared experience of the two calibres prevalent at the time. Never had a bias but have tended to buy and use .22 for pest control. If you know the capabilities and and limitations of the pellet and what pushes it, combined with being able to consistently hit the humane kill area, those are the critical considerations. Used a .177 Theoben for rabbit control on a farm a while back and that was exceptional. Have never had the opportunity to learn and try .20 or .25.

I haven't hunted for years now but when I did, I mainly used .22 for the same reasons. These days, if I were to hunt again, I'd be more than happy to use any of the four calibres mentioned and accuracy / shot placement is king. Affordability and choice would probably steer me more towards the two longer established favourites.

[Neil54]

I use both. Mostly .22 at the moment.
I use .25 in barns for pigeons sometimes.

[rapidresponse1]

i use 22 mainly because i was getting fly offs with 177

[gsxrman]

.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.

[where's it gone]

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. We've all heard about the hydraulic impact effect of the pellet in relation to size, ie, what is going to hurt more, being hit by a push bike or a car both travelling at 15 mph or, a grain of sand hitting you at 90 mph or a house brick at 2mph ? More so nowadays, it's what is more commonly available and your success at the target. I love .22 for hunting and .177 for target. This is not totally true as I sometimes hunt fly's around the paper target holder with a .177, less of an overkill.

[angrybear]

For me its distance shooting , Normally shoot between 50 and 90 yards so .22 not much use for my shooting.

Well I'd say sub12 air is not much use at those ranges full stop.

[nuggs]

.177 for me .Hunting as it is more forgiven if you have the range slightly out but still in your PBR
I often have to thread a pellet through gaps in branches and twigs and is much easier with the less curved trajectory of the .177 .
But this isn’t a calibre debate , is it !!

[Murphy]

My first ever air rifle was .177 my last air rifle was .177.

[Phil Russell]

Nowt to do with pest control as I just 'plinked'. All those years ago I chose .177 because they were cheaper.
Cheers, Phil

[Murphy]

Nowt to do with pest control as I just 'plinked'. All those years ago I chose .177 because they were cheaper.
Cheers, Phil

Similar story I chose my first air rifle when I was about 10.

Didn't know anything about them I just chose .177 because it was faster than .22 in the specs.