Birdshooter007
04-01-2012, 09:43 PM
The differences between .177 & .22 - and which jobs they do best.
By B.B Pelletier
There are two other smallbore pellet calibers, but in terms of sales and recognition, .177 and .22 are the major ones. For three-quarters of a century, .22 was the sales leader in America, while .177 lead in Europe nearly all that time. In the 1970s, when many British and European models started being imported to this country in large numbers, the preference for .177 came along with them and now the U.S. is in line with the rest of the airgun world. But newcomers often ask, "What are the significant differences between these two calibers, and why should I care?"
. In any airgun, .22 is always more powerful.
This is true irrespective of the type of powerplant, length of barrel or anything else. Twenty-two delivers about 20% more punch in any given airgun. The technical specifications for the Air Arms Pro Sport illustrate that.
The same difference holds true for all other models of air rifles and pistols. When the velocity is given, the .22 is always slower, but we should not fail to appreciate that it shoots a pellet weighing twice as much. That's where the extra power comes from.
. .177 is the caliber for 10-meter target guns - period!
Only .177 is the caliber accepted by all international 10-meter shooting organizations. That means all target guns are made in that caliber and no other. The extra care given to the construction of target guns ensures that .177 target airguns are the most accurate. There are no .22-caliber equivalents.
. .22 caliber dominates the hunting scene
While is is possible to hunt with a .177, .22 caliber is by far the favorite. Sometimes, a .177 pellet will pass through the game animal without doing enough severe damage to stop the animal. Hunters who have had their quarry run away after a solid hit often switch to .22 immediately thereafter.
Even a .22 pellet is no guarantee of a humane kill. The pellet still has to hit a vital spot, and even then there may be some running or thrashing after the hit - but hunters notice a decided advantage when they use .22 caliber.
. .177 pellets are cheaper
There is a big advantage to the smaller caliber here. Not only are there more pellets to choose from in .177, they also come more to a box and cost a significant amount less. Look at Crosman Premiers in .177 compared to Premiers in .22 for a comparison. If you look at the pellet count per box, you'll see that you get exactly twice as many .177s as .22s for the same price. That's a dramatic example, for sure, because the usual price difference is more like 30%, or so. If you plan on doing a lot of target shooting and general plinking, .177 is your best bet.
I hope this short discussion helps some people make the choice between calibers. In the end, of course, either caliber can satisfy most shooting needs.
^ Link: http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2005/04/differences-between-177-22-and-which.html
Being a hunter and not punching much paper, I have, and always will prefer .22 over the .177 in small-bore airguns. The points are stated above.
Some may argue that the .25cal delivers more energy for a cleaner kill of small sized game like rabbits, squirrel, etc, than the .22, but then the trajectory intervenes.. .22 has a relatively flat trajectory especially in the more powerful air rifles, and this is almost the same as the .177s trajectory. The .25 is a much heavier pellet and thus the pellet starts dropping after say half the distance as of a .22 or .177. We can conclude that it has a RAINBOW-LIKE trajectory and thus many will prefer the .22 over the .25 in this aspect.
Edit: And folks, newer .177 airguns, specially Magnum Springers produce velocities over 1200fps. At this speed, the pellet will swirl on the way (as it crosses the sound barrier and thus moves around), resulting in poor accuracy.
By B.B Pelletier
There are two other smallbore pellet calibers, but in terms of sales and recognition, .177 and .22 are the major ones. For three-quarters of a century, .22 was the sales leader in America, while .177 lead in Europe nearly all that time. In the 1970s, when many British and European models started being imported to this country in large numbers, the preference for .177 came along with them and now the U.S. is in line with the rest of the airgun world. But newcomers often ask, "What are the significant differences between these two calibers, and why should I care?"
. In any airgun, .22 is always more powerful.
This is true irrespective of the type of powerplant, length of barrel or anything else. Twenty-two delivers about 20% more punch in any given airgun. The technical specifications for the Air Arms Pro Sport illustrate that.
The same difference holds true for all other models of air rifles and pistols. When the velocity is given, the .22 is always slower, but we should not fail to appreciate that it shoots a pellet weighing twice as much. That's where the extra power comes from.
. .177 is the caliber for 10-meter target guns - period!
Only .177 is the caliber accepted by all international 10-meter shooting organizations. That means all target guns are made in that caliber and no other. The extra care given to the construction of target guns ensures that .177 target airguns are the most accurate. There are no .22-caliber equivalents.
. .22 caliber dominates the hunting scene
While is is possible to hunt with a .177, .22 caliber is by far the favorite. Sometimes, a .177 pellet will pass through the game animal without doing enough severe damage to stop the animal. Hunters who have had their quarry run away after a solid hit often switch to .22 immediately thereafter.
Even a .22 pellet is no guarantee of a humane kill. The pellet still has to hit a vital spot, and even then there may be some running or thrashing after the hit - but hunters notice a decided advantage when they use .22 caliber.
. .177 pellets are cheaper
There is a big advantage to the smaller caliber here. Not only are there more pellets to choose from in .177, they also come more to a box and cost a significant amount less. Look at Crosman Premiers in .177 compared to Premiers in .22 for a comparison. If you look at the pellet count per box, you'll see that you get exactly twice as many .177s as .22s for the same price. That's a dramatic example, for sure, because the usual price difference is more like 30%, or so. If you plan on doing a lot of target shooting and general plinking, .177 is your best bet.
I hope this short discussion helps some people make the choice between calibers. In the end, of course, either caliber can satisfy most shooting needs.
^ Link: http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2005/04/differences-between-177-22-and-which.html
Being a hunter and not punching much paper, I have, and always will prefer .22 over the .177 in small-bore airguns. The points are stated above.
Some may argue that the .25cal delivers more energy for a cleaner kill of small sized game like rabbits, squirrel, etc, than the .22, but then the trajectory intervenes.. .22 has a relatively flat trajectory especially in the more powerful air rifles, and this is almost the same as the .177s trajectory. The .25 is a much heavier pellet and thus the pellet starts dropping after say half the distance as of a .22 or .177. We can conclude that it has a RAINBOW-LIKE trajectory and thus many will prefer the .22 over the .25 in this aspect.
Edit: And folks, newer .177 airguns, specially Magnum Springers produce velocities over 1200fps. At this speed, the pellet will swirl on the way (as it crosses the sound barrier and thus moves around), resulting in poor accuracy.