.25 vs .30

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ImpactX

ImpactX

Member
May 4, 2019
802
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Minnesota, United States
Is .30 cal better than .25? I mean better as in more accurate. Ted use shoot only .25 cal. Now he got his hands on the .30 cal impact, all he shoots now is .30. this is coming from a guy who have tune the .25 to shoot the best. I've watch his video and his .30 cal is doing one single hole. I mean one single hole at 50 yards. And at 100 yards he is putting 10 pellets in under .60 inch. Not 3 shots groups like most people do..wow. even slugs isn't that accurate. Temping to switch over to 30 cal.
 
Don't have .30 but do have .25 and at times its just to much , i have seven acres and have neighbor's in most directions so when shooting game from trees i really have to consider down range trajectory and impact and my .25 blows the hell out of pest birds...kinda like elephant gun for whitetail deer. I really was wanting a .30 but after reconsidering what I use my .22 is my go to 90% of the time , anything from pest birds to raccoons no prob Bob.

You may be only range shooting and my point would be moot.
 
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I agree with Lemensd, it really depends on your realistic usage. .30 will be too much power if you have neighbors close by and likely too much for what you're shooting to begin with. Ammo choices are very limited vs .25. If you're just punching paper, .25 will get your more shots/practice time for the money and .25 is easy to shoot one hole groups at 50 yards with a dialed in gun off a bipod. If this is your very first gun, I'd start with a .22. PCP .22s are crazy powerful compared to just 8 - 10 years ago now or can be. 
 
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I am blown away by the accuracy of the .30 cal Crown, my .25 is awesome too. But that .30 is incredible. AZ power tuned mine, and it gulps air. It definitely has more recoil now and is a little more difficult to shoot, it seems just as accurate though. My problem with it is cost of pellets and the impact noise. I had to stop shooting the steel plate because it sounds like a hard hammer blow and people start to notice that. I wanted massive power for skunks, but this is too much! Going to slow it down again. It really is as good as Teds videos, it’ll just keep doing the exact same thing shot after shot. That smooth twist X barrel liner system is genius. 
 
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If you are a hunter, research your states hunting laws to define what caliber you want. For example in Arizona, the three key calibers (and one special case) are .357 (minimum for big game (deer, javelina, bear, mountain lion, but makes you obtain permission of property owners if you are hunting within 1/4 mile of their home). The next tier is .22 caliber, which is required for fur bearers such as Coyotes and Bobcats, it is allowed to be used without permission for hunting within 1/4 mile of a structure. And finally for birds/squirrel/rabbit/etc, you are allowed to use less than .22 caliber, with no restrictions on distances from a structure. The special case is .40 caliber or larger with a minimum of 500 FPE required for Elk and Bison.

I would suggest you consult your state laws, and make sure your distance to adjacent structures does not preclude you from your desired caliber. 
 
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I have the Wildcat .30 which I purchased form Ken Hicks (his recommendation). It is my first PCP so I don't have a comparison to .25. It is very accurate. I shoot out to 100yds and it is essentially as accurate at 100 as 75. Most days I seem to be the clear the rate limiting step. My best group has been 7 shots at 75 yards within .6" or so. I don't seem to be able to do that consistently though. I expect to be within 1.25 or 1.5" at 75 and 100 yards on any given day unless there is a lot of gusty wind. I can shoot 7 shots into a ragged hole at 50 yards about half of the time. I shoot with a chair and tripod and don't really have any experience with precision rifle shooting other than my PCP.

As for the wildcat itself it seems very good though I don't have a lot to compare it to. I like the bullpup configuration with 700mm barrel- it would be very long in standard rifle configuration. With DonnyFL Sumo it is extremely quiet. Without the moderator at all it sounds somewhat similar to 22lr. The floating barrel is attached at one additional point and looks stronger than the Crown but is still surprisingly flexible (which annoys me). Overall the gun strikes me as very delicate (compared to powder burners I suppose). I get 3 mags of 7 shots per fill. The Impact and Crown are more adjustable but I don't see why I would want to adjust it- Ken tuned it to shoot 44.75s at 860fps and there it is.

As for the .30 itself- It is a lot of thump. I know it doesn't deliver as much energy as 22lr but I think it warrants similar respect. I would never shoot it at something elevated for fear of hurting something inadvertently. I'll only shoot it in a downward trajectory with an earthen bank in the background. An errant .30 could be a serious problem. The gun itself is very quiet but the pellet impact into the target can be very loud depending on what you are shooting. I shoot into a pellet trap with rubber mulch and it sounds like catching a baseball.

The .30 is fairly expensive to shoot. I am tempted to purchase a second PCP in .22 though it doesn't really make sense to spend $1400-2000 in order to save $.06 per round. Or does it? Everyone says getting started in PCPs is an addiction and I am starting to see why!
 
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It seems to me when you go from .30 and up, the guns seems to use allot of air. .25 doeas not use that much more compared to a .22. (a litle longer barrel compensate some for that). But when you step up to .30 it goes "downhill". It is probably not that big of an issue if you have your own compressor, but the expence of pellets also increase. 

I personally would not choose a .30 only for accuracy, and if you are mostly doing target shooting. Ted is not a "normal" guy, as he use his guns for competition (extreme benchrest), so he will use watever gun which gives him the edge. He also probably is sponsored, so he might get pellets cheap.
 
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I've had a few PCPs to date and this far, .30 has given me the best results (700mm Impact X) - more so than anything I've had in .25. This is especially true for longer range shooting in what I'd consider "real world" conditions with wind. 

Don't get me wrong, I've been successful shooting out to 100y with a .25, I've even had a couple of relatively tight groups past 200y with my Leshiy .25. I'm just going all in with .30 since they fly better for me
 
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