N/A 💢 Talk me into KEEPING a .25cal PCP! — What does .25cal do that .22cal can't?

[JungleShooter]

Seriously:

Talk me into KEEPING a .25cal PCP!​

What does .25cal do that .22cal can't?​

I wanted a gun that trashes the feral pigeons in a spectacular manner.
But no hollow point or slug I have tried — even at 60+ FPE — could accomplish that.


So, now I have a .25cal P2
Prophet II Compact Performance
with 500mm RPB [slug] barrel—
and I wonder what I should use this gun for....
What does my .25cal do that my .22cal P1
Prophet I Compact Performance
with 400mm CZ barrel
does not...?


Help me out — am I missing something?

Maybe I AM missing something — because I have noted a lot of airgunners that buy
compact .25cal PCPs.

➊
Pigeons out to 100y:
Both P1 and P2 shoot with precision, and they shoot slugs. Dead is dead.

➋
Bigger game:
In Peru we don't get to shoot much bigger game than ducks, hares, and vizcachas:
Both P1 and P2 would kill them fine. Dead is dead.

➌
Long range shooting — say 200y:
The P1 will do OK out to 100y.
On my first try the P2 did a pretty good group with ATP Smooth slugs.
But the 500 compact barrel seems a limitation....

➍
Better BC:
What surprised me is that .25cal pellets usually don't have a better BC than .22cal pellets (the .25 Heavy dome at 33.95gr being the exception).
So, no big advantage there....

➎
What am I forgetting?



What does my .25cal do that my .22cal does not...?

Thanks,

Matthias

 

[Emu]

More weight better fight with wind.

More diameter more damage in tissue.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

25 cal are easier to pick up and load a mag! They're also easier to see if you drop them on the ground while reloading!

 

[Vetmx]

A .25 slug gun can generally make you more angry than a .22. Your 500mm barrel is not limiting you to just 100 yards. Trust me. But the ATP while a great slug, will definitely not give you the flying bird parts that you seem to desire.

 

[Florida_Man]

25 cal are easier to pick up and load a mag! They're also easier to see if you drop them on the ground while reloading!

To add to this. I shoot 177, 22, and 25. The tins of 25 historically have been the least damaged from shipping and overall more consistent.

 

[Ranchibi]

Matthias, all I own is .22 in PCP's for said reasons but I did own an AF Escape UL in .25 and that thing was a CANNON...LOL! But for my needs, a .22 PCP is all I need. If I was not living in the city, a larger cal would be wanted.

 

[Ta-Ta Toothie]

"spectacular manner"
.22, 34gr H&N HP Heavy

 

[Dairyboy]

Cost more and get less shots per fill? Lol I've never seen the .25 hype personally for my uses. Others love them and that's great but for shooting pigeons, starlings and sparrows usually 85yds and in? My 30ish fpe .22s are hard to beat.

 

[LDP]

Unless you are going to use really heavy slugs in .25 and have a barrel twist that stabilizes them you are not getting much advantage with a .25 over a .22. The only advantage is .030 increased OD and thats not much of a difference. If both calibers are shooting 40 gr. or under you can match velocity with the two calibers nullifying any real advantage. A .22 cal slug that weighs the same as a .25 cal slug will have a higher BC if the same design and shape. So you are losing BC using .25 cal in slug weights you can get in .22 cal.

As far as talking you into keeping the .25. I will say I personally like variety so I have .177, .22, .25 and .30 cal airguns because I like anything that shoots accurately.

 

[jerryd]

More weight better fight with wind.

Speaking specifically of pellets;

More diameter equals more surface area for the wind to act on; However, more weight in any one caliber should do better in the wind, IF ran at the same velocity.

Jungle Shooter, For ground squirrels I feel the 25 puts them down like a hammer compared to the 22.

Jerry

 

[Florida_Man]

Cost more and get less shots per fill? Lol I've never seen the .25 hype personally for my uses. Others love them and that's great but for shooting pigeons, starlings and sparrows usually 85yds and in? My 30ish fpe .22s are hard to beat.

100%. My Concept Lite is 30 fpe right now with 18gr. I used that same pellet and energy to kill a lot of raccoons with a Royale 400. But back then it didn’t bother me much if they went a few yards to die. Now I like to keep everything in my yard if it’s going to die. So I’ve found if it’s an opossum or bigger I prefer a 25 cal 34 grain to the noggin.

 

[N2 Shooter]

Sell the .25cal and get a .30cal. When I shoot starlings at 50 yards, I'm literally ripping their limbs off.

One thing to note: High velocity and a projectile with a large meplat are what gets things to ripping to pieces. Check out my .25cal starling shot with my thermal scope, and you see pieces flying as it's head got ripped off.

 

[Impact701]

"spectacular manner"
.22, 34gr H&N HP Heavy View attachment 463977

H&N Heavy Slugs in either 22 or 25 caliber is the answer !

 

[Spartan]

I've used 22 and 25 off and on for small game for years. I completely abandoned 177 long ago. For most small game hunting/pesting I've started to gravitate more to 22 for MOST scenarios. Because like you said, dead is dead. However, a situation I've found the 25 to be superior is when I do "woods walking" hunts, often on public land. So not over a feeder in a nice little blind resting comfortably on a tripod or similar (usually well placed head shots here). For these walking hunts I mostly have to move around and take quick shots of opportunity and often free hand unless there is a tree to prop against when a squirrel does show itself. Body shots exclusively in this scenario. The 25s just have that extra bit of knock down power if (when) the shot placement is not perfect in this type of hunt. My experience here is that an imperfect shot with 22 has many more instances of the squirrel having the opportunity to dive into thick brush cover or get up in a tree, whereas the 25 knocks them down harder for them to expire without running off or to give me several seconds to get another shot off before they recover.

Clean kills are ideal, of course, and that is what I get most of the time. But the 25 does seem to earn it's pay when the shots aren't perfect. Just my experience.

 

[JungleShooter]

I have read most of your comments at least twice.
THANK YOU!

I need a bit more time to mull this over.
And I invite more opinions — it is very helpful to get different perspectives of the issue.

Matthias

 

[PasadenaMike]

Low and slow .25 makes eye balls bulge out on ground squirrel headshots.

 

[Dairyboy]

100%. My Concept Lite is 30 fpe right now with 18gr. I used that same pellet and energy to kill a lot of raccoons with a Royale 400. But back then it didn’t bother me much if they went a few yards to die. Now I like to keep everything in my yard if it’s going to die. So I’ve found if it’s an opossum or bigger I prefer a 25 cal 34 grain to the noggin.

I agree. If you got bigger pest definitely go bigger. Heck I'd go .30 just because there so much fun to shoot. But since I don't .22 it is for me.

 

[coastal drifter]

I owned an Impact mk1 in .25 that shot the 34s extremely well in the wind, now I'm shooting the M3 in .22 The .22s are very accurate until the wind picks up. I'm talking pellets not slugs. I'm shooting the 18gr I haven't tuned for the monsters...Yet!

 

[Esab]

The .25 cal does more tissue damage and you get way better shot count because it way more air efficient than a .22 cal

 

[Justaguy]

Why buy a .22 when you can have a .25? Price difference in ammo is insignificant. Unless you need low power for a specific reason (shooting in/around buildings) stick with the .25.
As someone previously stated, the .25 are easier to load/handle/sort. When you get older and you can't see bleep without reading glasses, you will appreciate the .25.