Caliber of choice or follow the crowd? .....

[PumaCarl]

You have to take into account, from the advice given, that half of the crowd still only has "normal power" airguns designed to shoot pellets. The 120fpe .22's are a fairly recent development and not many have them, but those coming into airgunning from firearms are going that way quite a bit. If that's "the crowd" your in, and you think that you're going to be a slug shooter, than your choice is more obvious. You didn't say if you're currently shooting slugs, or not, in your question, just that you have some .25s already. You didn't state your intended purpose either. Follow whatever crowd you want to be in. Cost, seems to be driving most of the opinions on choice here, but if you are buying a newer high power platform then that's going to mean a lot less to you. I will say that there is nothing casual about the high power slug shooting guns in any caliber, or the +75fpe pellet guns, I personally, for this reason, shoot them less, not because of cost, but conditions. You just need to determine what you want to do, and where, under what conditions and restrictions, and how often and how much, and if any frugality is involved, and there's your answer.

 

[Dairyboy]

I only shoot .22s anymore the last few years. Minus the occasional .177 from my HW30S. I pest/hunt birds on our dairy. Largest target are pigeons, then collared dove, starlings and sparrows. I have a 30fpe .22 for shooting out to 100yds, and a 15fpe for shooting up close in our barn. While I was kicking around a .25 for shooting in windy conditions the excess in power just seems too much to me to be safe around the farm so I ultimately decided against it.

 

[rwsmike]

I feel the best cal for plinking and small game is the 25 then 22 second

 

[Firewalker]

My impression (could be way off) is 25 kind of sucks for slugs. Much finikier to get to shoot well. I’ve tried them very little myself to no avail. .22 seems to be where the slugs shine and they are the hype now. People seem to get good accuracy and cost isn’t ridiculous. I just shoots pellets and .25 is my favorite caliber. I can shoot 25.39 or 33.95 for around 7-8 cents a round I believe? That is a good range of hitting power at an economical cost. 30 cal is a bit of a pointless dead zone for me. The cost is nearly double of 25 and what can’t I ethically dispatch with a 33.95 but can with a 44.75? I get maybe shooting competition to buck the wind but for hunting purposes I just don’t see 30 fitting in for me. Personally I love 25. I have three of them and am thinking of selling my 22’s.

I can get .25 slugs to work in my Varmint but it's a no-go in my Sniper. I'd love it if a good barrel was made for .25 FX guns but nothing so far.

I adopted the .30 for medium game, it's does pretty well for me.

 

[Scott.t]

I like .22 for plinking and small game but I’ve always liked the .25 cal and seem to keep going back to it for my main all purpose round.

 

[JungleShooter]

I found myself heavily invested in .22 cal. When I decided to experiment with a larger calibre PCP, I went for .30 cal, because .25 is just a bit too close and .35 was getting just a bit too pricey.

You describe my situation very well:
I have amassed an assortment of over 50 different pellets/ sizes in just .22cal — "in order to find the perfect pellet for each barrel" (which is a thinly veiled rationalization for my horder disorder ).
(Don't you dare asking me how many models and diameters of slugs I collected — I'm NOT telling!!)



➠ After having saved up for a new gun, I was .03" away from buying a .25cal.
➠ But @mtnGhost wasn't spooky at all when he asked me for a reality check — with .25cal not really being all that different than .22cal.
➠ So, that's what's on the way now.


Another advantage of .30cal —
especially for hoarders & collectors like me:
There are not that many pellet options out there — so... — I won't have to buy 50+ pellets makes/sizes to feel I have at least one of each — and to feel that I am whole and in harmony with the airgun universe.


Matthias

 

[air-hunter_canyon]

I enjoy my .22 impact because the cost of pellets are for more reasonable. You can adjust your rifle to shoot 14gr pellets all the way up to 40 grain slugs. It’s very versatile and the ammo is inexpensive. On days with severe weather conditions I used my .30 caliber air rifle. The .30 cal is great at knocking down more than medium size game, but ammo is more expensive. .22 for hunting / plinking and .30 for benchrest/hunting in my opinion

 

[JayDee24ca]

I prefer to shoot 22 cal, but I have to admit I have a bit of everything.

 

[rigbymauser]

I started out with .177cal in various of springpowered airguns. Later went for the quarterbore for a long time. Today I returned to the love for the .177cal particular with the array of hq pellets and slugs. Lots of shots for a silly money and very lethal for small game and very informal. With lightweight pellets its a perfect gardenplinker even in tight urban areas.

 

[Arkansas_Airgunner]

I was just looking to see different opinions on caliber choices. I for one do a lot of paper punching and plinking. I have THOUSANDS of pellets/slugs of various weights and makers. Now and again there are a few targets of opportunity for me to dispatch quite easily. The quarter bores I own are such:

1. Armada
2. Crown Continuuum MKii
3. SK-19
4. Evanix Cloud Ultra

I'm in Central Arkansas so any "Airgun" competitions are just too far away for me to actually justify going to. Not to mention my jacked up work schedule/week (10+ hr days and 50+ hr weeks). I have to work Saturdays no if's and's or buts about it. Kinda limits my time to Sun and Mon.

The only .22 I own is a P-Rod

I also own 2 Big Bores in .457 which are the CF Texan, and an AEA Challenger BP

 

[CharlieF]

Shoot what ever your wallet can afford! I shoot .177 and .22 because they are cheaper and get the job done on the varmints I terminate. I am sure that a .25 or .30 will kill them just as well but the .177 and .22 are, for my wallet, more appealing.

 

[Long_Gun_Dallas]

It is a good medium. Very good stopping power. Bucks the wind well. But for a lot of instances, it's overkill for me. And it is a bit more spendy.

 

[delooper]

I also think .25 is probably the most popular, it surely skyrocketed in the past several years and most gun manufacturers really started making .25s by the boatload.

If you search around there was a poll recently. .22 was by far the most popular calibre in airguns.

Suspect .25 cal is mostly just over-represented in the "enthusiastic gearhead talker" crowd.

 

[Sawney Bean]

This is something that has been on my mind since I got into PCP Air Rifles.... All of my smaller caliber rifles are in the .25 Caliber, but seeing reviews, and reading different forums, it seems like the .25 is the Redheaded Step Child out there. Lots of folks talking about and owning the .22 and the .30 cals but not many .25's. Just curious about WTF am I missing here? Seems like IMO, the .25 is a real happy medium for this range. What are your thoughts about this? Thanx guys.

The real redheaded step child is .20. Not many rifles and very few pellets are made for it these days.

 

[Franklink]

The real redheaded step child is .20. Not many rifles and very few pellets are made for it these days.

Oh man, here we go....

Don't tell that dead prairie dog my redheaded child (not step) killed him with the readheaded step child .20 caliber. Don't remember the distance om this one but this son was killing em out to 85 yards with the .20 pretty easily this summer. The other sons furthest was 105 or so, also with a .20. And I pushed it out to 220ish with the .20 slugs-witnessed by an adult airgun friend. Pretty worthless caliber if you ask me.

Found another photo, same redheaded kid, and same redheaded .20 cal gun. Same outcome, dead dogs.

3 shots, 3 dead dogs. These were only 50-65yards but Cabe and the .20 took care of em.

 

[MysticalDragon]

Oh man, here we go....

View attachment 401541

Don't tell that dead prairie dog my redheaded child (not step) killed him with the readheaded step child .20 caliber. Don't remember the distance om this one but this son was killing em out to 85 yards with the .20 pretty easily this summer. The other sons furthest was 105 or so, also with a .20. And I pushed it out to 220ish with the .20 slugs-witnessed by an adult airgun friend. Pretty worthless caliber if you ask me.

Found another photo, same redheaded kid, and same redheaded .20 cal gun. Same outcome, dead dogs.

3 shots, 3 dead dogs. These were only 50-65yards but Cabe and the .20 took care of em.
View attachment 401546

Nice pics.

Sighs your writeups regarding the 20 are making me look into it some and maybe get a rifle in it. As if I needed any more help spending money on airguns lols.

 

[EncoreUneFois]

.20 is actually my favourite calibre by a good margin. My RAW in .20 is the only rifle I have ever regretted moving on. Pellet choice is not an issue - Field Target Trophies are all you’ll ever need.

.177 are grains of rice in my huge hands and .22 have almost all of the downsides of .25 without that massive grin factor. .20 for precision at low powers and .25 for pesting where you want the job just done. Larger cals? Great if shot count isn’t a concern.

 

[MysticalDragon]

.20 is actually my favourite calibre by a good margin. My RAW in .20 is the only rifle I have ever regretted moving on. Pellet choice is not an issue - Field Target Trophies are all you’ll ever need.

.177 are grains of rice in my huge hands and .22 have almost all of the downsides of .25 without that massive grin factor. .20 for precision at low powers and .25 for pesting where you want the job just done. Larger cals? Great if shot count isn’t a concern.

Sadly from their site they dont show any rifles in 20cal now. Maybe if you had a custom one built but still.

 

[Jlowe]

I shoot .25cal because in TN it is the largest caliber you can shoot small game with. TN law allows for 25cal air guns and below on small game and .35cal and above air guns on large game. No .30cal.

 

[JDGriz]

There is significantly more choice in .22 than .25. You can always find pellets or slugs that work well in a specific barrel for .22; not so easy for .25.
For example, none of the JSBs ever worked for me in Crosman .22 barrels; but the 5.55mm versions of the H&N Field Target Trophy and the Piledrivers (while they were available) worked quite well.