I am currently working on completing my FX impact for pest control. I have both .25 & .30 barrels. I just think .30 is going to be way to much punch. Everything I see on the web is devastating...Now mind you I am not worried about making the little grey bastards take a dirt nap. However I am worried about pass through, and that the .30 will not expand, not to mention the limited pellet selection. The .25 seems to me to be the better choice, and has a higher pellet selection for various expansion results. I could be wrong, I would love to hear everyone’s take on this.
.25 vrs .30 for pesting
- Thread starter AAC9888
- Start date
Depends on the size of the pests. Pass thrus and energy levels are the reasons I’m staying with the .22 IMHO, once you start generating .22 rimfire short ballistics/energy you are limited to where you can shoot. Seems like you’ll get pass thrus with either caliber. Good luck with your choices.
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I’ve been shooting my Crown with the .30 barrel liner and it is just as accurate as the .25 barrel. Mostly I went to the .30 cal to insure quick humane skunk kills. But the regular pellets pass through the skunks without dumping the energy into the target. I’ve ordered poly mags and will pull the tips out so they fit the magazine. Hopefully it’ll be just the ticket. I also have to rethink my targets because of the noise of impact being WAY too loud. When I shoot my steel plate at 100 yards it sounds like someone pounding it with a hammer. I’ll make some rubber starlings out of mud flap material and hang them out there by the plate. Yeah if I was going to be pesting on a farm I’d be really careful about pass throughs!
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Collateral damage is a big concern depending on where you are shooting. I follow a lot of the pesting guys and seems that most are using a 22cal but I could be wrong. 25cal will hit hard for sure but again that collateral damage is a big concern. If you are pesting in wide open areas and barns, equipment and animals are not a concern I think the 25 would be great.
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So currently I own the FX Crown with the .30 caliber barrel. Here are my thoughts in no particular order as it relates to the .30:
1. I live on a fairly exposed hill... there is ALWAYS wind... it is rarely dead calm... as a result I have gone towards .25 and .30 to buck the wind better. I know-why not slugs? Well currently for the distances I shoot 25-100yards slugs are (at the present time) too expensive to justify killing pest birds... but as Matt Dubber pointed out in his last video, that is quickly changing... I don’t expect them to be as expensive in the next year or two.
2. Pass through is a valid concern but I think the concern is valid for .22 as well... I own a .22 Daystate Airwolf MCT and at 29ft lbs on low power I have had pass through with round nosed jsb 18.13 pellets...That being said, the risk is much greater with .30 as it is retaining more energy at 100y than .22 has at the muzzle.
3. Shot count- .30 GULPS air...I get 35shots before I have to refill. .22 and .25 are much more economical... If you’re looking for a gun that you can fill on Sunday and shoot all week, a .22 or .25 might be a better choice.
4. I like the flexibility .30 gives me... I can shoot anything from a starling to a Coyote at reasonable ranges and not have to worry about an ethical kill as long as I put the shot in the right spot. Now, as high power .22 slug guns begin to sweep the market, I’m sure there will come a time where a 60ft lb .22 slug gun will cover the range of starling to coyote but as I said before... until I shoot farther (more than 100+) and the price drops on slugs, the .30 will be my go to gun. Note: in many states a .22 (slugs or not) is not allowable for certain game, so make sure you check your laws first.
Just my thoughts... .25 is probably the sweet spot... but the .30 is damn accurate and man does it pack a punch. Good luck with your choice!!
Sharkman
1. I live on a fairly exposed hill... there is ALWAYS wind... it is rarely dead calm... as a result I have gone towards .25 and .30 to buck the wind better. I know-why not slugs? Well currently for the distances I shoot 25-100yards slugs are (at the present time) too expensive to justify killing pest birds... but as Matt Dubber pointed out in his last video, that is quickly changing... I don’t expect them to be as expensive in the next year or two.
2. Pass through is a valid concern but I think the concern is valid for .22 as well... I own a .22 Daystate Airwolf MCT and at 29ft lbs on low power I have had pass through with round nosed jsb 18.13 pellets...That being said, the risk is much greater with .30 as it is retaining more energy at 100y than .22 has at the muzzle.
3. Shot count- .30 GULPS air...I get 35shots before I have to refill. .22 and .25 are much more economical... If you’re looking for a gun that you can fill on Sunday and shoot all week, a .22 or .25 might be a better choice.
4. I like the flexibility .30 gives me... I can shoot anything from a starling to a Coyote at reasonable ranges and not have to worry about an ethical kill as long as I put the shot in the right spot. Now, as high power .22 slug guns begin to sweep the market, I’m sure there will come a time where a 60ft lb .22 slug gun will cover the range of starling to coyote but as I said before... until I shoot farther (more than 100+) and the price drops on slugs, the .30 will be my go to gun. Note: in many states a .22 (slugs or not) is not allowable for certain game, so make sure you check your laws first.
Just my thoughts... .25 is probably the sweet spot... but the .30 is damn accurate and man does it pack a punch. Good luck with your choice!!
Sharkman
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I want to be like you when I grow up! You have not one, but TWO awesome guns to play with (Crown and Wolf). I would never use .30 cal for pesting. That round simply packs too much energy. If rats are on the menu, .177 is the ticket. just an opinion, of course. I am trying to hold out for the new Crown Mk2. I think that slugs are indeed the future. and FX is ahead of the game. I am concerned over the QC of FX guns though as I have heard many horror stories. Im thinking that MK2 versions of the Impact and Crown will be better. (I hope)
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Slugs are a game-changer for the .177 as well. A 30 FtLb .177 shooting 15.5 grn slugs is flat, quiet, efficient and terminal performance is quite effective. I don’t think folks need to rule out .177 at all for pesting. Of course it is light for a versatile varmint gun, but for pesting up to coon size it has proven effective.
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We just had a post demonstrating the 25 at 148 yards, with the intelligence of others and some practical experience it does not take much energy drop pests. Tflatts has demonstrated many lower energy shots using precision rather than power. I have days I hit the grounds and several Hawks have 100 plus acres under view, there is not a chirp or spec of fur to be found. I enjoy the more cost efficient ammo at that time.
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I have a Edgun R5 Matador .30 and a R5M Matador Standard .25....one of the reasons why i got the R5M in .25 was because the .30 cal was a bit to much for my pesting needs....i was shoots 47 grain NSA slugs but the was blasting straight through Possums at 70 yards...So i tried 44.75 grain Predator poly mags for crows and they was Devastating... Literally blasting huge holes through them...i got some awesome footage buy was Concerned about the pass through as live in a Residential neighborhood....no houses in back of me but its a used car lot and i didnt want a pass through to Damage anything other then what I was shooting that....So i thought the .25 was my best bet...My R5M Matador Standard shoots Predator poly mags Extremely well out to 70 yards....but its good to have the good old dirty 30 when I'm in the hood to blow up some poop!!
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It all depends on where you're shooting. If its wide open and you don't have to worry about pass through, I'd go with the .30. You're more likely to make a clean kill on a misplaced shot. If you are in a somewhat congested area, go with the .25. I have an Impact with both .25 and .30 barrels. Try polymags in the .25. Mine is lights out at 50 yards with them and you don't have to worry about passing through.
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I have 2 .25’s and a .30 (skunks, fox, and coyote) but fear of pass thru’s is the reason I bought a .22 Streamline with a power wheel.
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