Why do you choose air rifle over rimfire?

I wanted to practice offhand with the same Anschutz 1827F Biathlon 22rf rifle I use for XFT here in AZ so I dug out the low noise low velocity ammo which is a CCI brand that looks like a 22 short. I did a quick sight in and was hitting the 2.5" steel at 26Y but was missing sometimes in offhand when I called a good shot. So I shot some groups off the bench. Darn 1.75" at that distance. With the normal standard velocity ammo I use it'd be a ragged hole off the bench.
I remember in the past that other brand low noise low velocity 22rf ammo wasn't very precise either. Then I watched some youtube videos and saw this was a common issue.
Minute of rabbit chest maybe but that doesn't cut it for my purposes and I don't want to shoot standard velocity 22rf ammo on my property for various reasons.

I have a 6 fpe PCP trainer for that Anschutz called a Steyr LBG1 biathlon but even with a cantilever mount the scope is too far backwards using the same type of scope I have on the Anschutz, lol??? This gun does a tad more than a ragged hole at 25Y but that is more of a wind related thing.

The Thomas PCP is a ragged hole but doesn't feel like my Anschutz in offhand so I'd rather not practice with it for now because I won't be shooting a FT match for a few months so I'm working on some other solutions for my more pressing situation.

There you have it - my current first world AG and RF problems, I feel better now that I've vented 🙃

Thankfully I have the freedom right now to choose to use AG's of various power levels and PB's!
 
I wanted to practice offhand with the same Anschutz 1827F Biathlon 22rf rifle I use for XFT here in AZ so I dug out the low noise low velocity ammo which is a CCI brand that looks like a 22 short. I did a quick sight in and was hitting the 2.5" steel at 26Y but was missing sometimes in offhand when I called a good shot. So I shot some groups off the bench. Darn 1.75" at that distance. With the normal standard velocity ammo I use it'd be a ragged hole off the bench.
I remember in the past that other brand low noise low velocity 22rf ammo wasn't very precise either. Then I watched some youtube videos and saw this was a common issue.
Minute of rabbit chest maybe but that doesn't cut it for my purposes and I don't want to shoot standard velocity 22rf ammo on my property for various reasons.

I have a 6 fpe PCP trainer for that Anschutz called a Steyr LBG1 biathlon but even with a cantilever mount the scope is too far backwards using the same type of scope I have on the Anschutz, lol??? This gun does a tad more than a ragged hole at 25Y but that is more of a wind related thing.

The Thomas PCP is a ragged hole but doesn't feel like my Anschutz in offhand so I'd rather not practice with it for now because I won't be shooting a FT match for a few months so I'm working on some other solutions for my more pressing situation.

There you have it - my current first world AG and RF problems, I feel better now that I've vented 🙃

Thankfully I have the freedom right now to choose to use AG's of various power levels and PB's!
I'm guessing you are talking about CCI Quiet-22. That stuff would be incapable of shooting well in standard twist rate 22 barrels. It is the same 40 grain bullet used in CCI standard velocity ammo at an advertised velocity of 710 fps, it can't be stabilized in 1-16 twist. I tried it since I have two 22's with a 1-14 twist barrel and I use a suppressor. It sure is quiet in a 16" bolt action 22 with a suppressor, but even with the slightly faster twist I have in one of my bolt actions, it plain sucks for accuracy, although just a smidge better than out of a 1-16 barrel.

edited: Forgot to add CCI also makes the same round slightly hotter but still much quieter than standard 22lr that is supposed to cycle some semi-autos, it is advertised at 910 fps. I never tried it since I never saw it locally.


With your Anschutz, you don't want to try what I did; using 22 shorts in a bolt action loading singles. Much quieter than standard velocity 22, and shoots decently with it's 26 grain bullet. But, shooting the shorts in a 22 chamber you have more cleaning to do, you will get a ring building up in the chamber necessatating a good clean before shooting 22lr in it again. 22lr probably won't chamber without cleaning afterwards, mine wouldn't after sending 100 shorts downrange. I wish my old Winchester gallery gun was a 22 short only and was threaded. The shorts cycle great through that rifle, and shoot very good. Mine is older than 1915, and yes they did thread some of them back then. I know someone with an original silencer that came with his grandfathers winchester 22 pump made in the teens, in the late 60's someone in the family had the sense to amnesty register knowing it was illegal heck, since his grandad didn't do that with the NFA passing in the 30's. No way am I having mine threaded, it stays original.
 
I wanted to practice offhand with the same Anschutz 1827F Biathlon 22rf rifle I use for XFT here in AZ so I dug out the low noise low velocity ammo which is a CCI brand that looks like a 22 short. I did a quick sight in and was hitting the 2.5" steel at 26Y but was missing sometimes in offhand when I called a good shot. So I shot some groups off the bench. Darn 1.75" at that distance. With the normal standard velocity ammo I use it'd be a ragged hole off the bench.
I remember in the past that other brand low noise low velocity 22rf ammo wasn't very precise either. Then I watched some youtube videos and saw this was a common issue.
Minute of rabbit chest maybe but that doesn't cut it for my purposes and I don't want to shoot standard velocity 22rf ammo on my property for various reasons.
The CCI CB cap and CB long ammo is NOT accurate, That type of ammo was originally developed in the 19th century for short distance indoor shooting galleries. CCI resurrected it and still sells it.
 
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I'm guessing you are talking about CCI Quiet-22. That stuff would be incapable of shooting well in standard twist rate 22 barrels. It is the same 40 grain bullet used in CCI standard velocity ammo at an advertised velocity of 710 fps, it can't be stabilized in 1-16 twist. I tried it since I have two 22's with a 1-14 twist barrel and I use a suppressor. It sure is quiet in a 16" bolt action 22 with a suppressor, but even with the slightly faster twist I have in one of my bolt actions, it plain sucks for accuracy, although just a smidge better than out of a 1-16 barrel.

edited: Forgot to add CCI also makes the same round slightly hotter but still much quieter than standard 22lr that is supposed to cycle some semi-autos, it is advertised at 910 fps. I never tried it since I never saw it locally.


With your Anschutz, you don't want to try what I did; using 22 shorts in a bolt action loading singles. Much quieter than standard velocity 22, and shoots decently with it's 26 grain bullet. But, shooting the shorts in a 22 chamber you have more cleaning to do, you will get a ring building up in the chamber necessatating a good clean before shooting 22lr in it again. 22lr probably won't chamber without cleaning afterwards, mine wouldn't after sending 100 shorts downrange. I wish my old Winchester gallery gun was a 22 short only and was threaded. The shorts cycle great through that rifle, and shoot very good. Mine is older than 1915, and yes they did thread some of them back then. I know someone with an original silencer that came with his grandfathers winchester 22 pump made in the teens, in the late 60's someone in the family had the sense to amnesty register knowing it was illegal heck, since his grandad didn't do that with the NFA passing in the 30's. No way am I having mine threaded, it stays original.
Thanks, I hear yuh!

I inherited my Granpa's Remington M12 but its pretty much a wall hanger relic because its in such poor condition.

That's interesting about the amnesty and silencers back then, I didn't know of it until this morning.
 
The CCI CB cap and CB long ammo is NOT accurate, That type of ammo was originally developed in the 19th century for short distance indoor shooting galleries. CCI resurrected it and still sells it.
Not accurate.

I bet the manufacturers could make a precise match grade low noise low velocity ammo but there's little demand for it.

Thankfully we have very precise air guns!
 
I still prefer powder burners in almost all circumstances to air rifles. Shooting squirrels in the tree's surrounding my home is the one exception.

I go back and forth in preference, PB's vs AG's, but shooting at squirrels up in trees the airguns are about perfect.

Because I like to shoot long range I tend to attempt pushing the limits of air and powder in certain platforms to see what happens. Its interesting finding the limits of distance where, Precision, BC, and velocity, don't satisfy that itch anymore.
 
Rifling twist is set by bullet length in calibers not velocity, so ammunition with 40 frain bullets loaded to lower speeds isn't handicapped by the rifling twists while the loads with the 29 grain bullets are somewhat. The main problem is the quality of the ammo. Even at reduced speeds the CB and Quiet type .22 rimfire loads aren't as safe as most airguns over distances as the bullets have higher ballistic coefficients and carry the velocities to much further range.

Some of the airguns shooting slug projectiles are getting out of the safer at a distance envelope as they carry much higher energy further. The shooter would need to take the same caution as a firearms shooter.
 
Rifling twist is set by bullet length in calibers not velocity, so ammunition with 40 frain bullets loaded to lower speeds isn't handicapped by the rifling twists while the loads with the 29 grain bullets are somewhat. The main problem is the quality of the ammo. Even at reduced speeds the CB and Quiet type .22 rimfire loads aren't as safe as most airguns over distances as the bullets have higher ballistic coefficients and carry the velocities to much further range.

Some of the airguns shooting slug projectiles are getting out of the safer at a distance envelope as they carry much higher energy further. The shooter would need to take the same caution as a firearms shooter.
Twist and velocity are absolutely related. Bullets, not pellets, are stabilized by spin. The quiet 22 is running just about 32 thousand RPM, standard velocity CCI is running just over 47 thousand RPM. Bullets are mostly stabilized by gyroscopic effect more than aerodynamics: the longer they are the faster they need to spin, send them significantly slower, especially when they are on the low end of stability already, and the twist must be faster. Huge difference between 32k and 47k RPM.

Edited to add: I was going off memory for below numbers, thought better and went and re-ran them and it was a few years ago I tried the quiet-22. Both show marginal stability but the 710 FPS is just a tick above unstable where the 1050 is on the high side of bergers marginal numbers.

Using Berger's twist rate calculator, at 710 FPS, 16 twist, the bullet is calculated as marginally stable, it is way above stable at 1050 FPS. Twist rate calculators don't always work and 22lr bullets are heeled bullets which are different from flat base/boattail/etc.. centerfire bullets twist rate calculators are meant to be used with, have to test real world. I have never heard of anyone having any accuracy at all with CCI quiet-22 in any 16 twist gun, and they are horrible in my two 14 twist guns, one a rifle the other an 11" pistol. I recall someone trying them in their 9 twist competition 22 and it was ok but not great.
 
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I've tried the CB Longs and Shorts and the Quiets in two different rifles and they were unusable past fifteen yards. I have not tried the Segmented Quiets buts I doubt they are any better. Remington at one time made a segmented truncated cone bullet low velocity load; I bought a couple of boxes to test and they were fairly accurate but the ones that I got later were not.
 
I get more opportunities to shoot airguns. Simple as that.

Initial post seems unconvinced of cost on airguns. Up 2 u.

Like I said, I get more opportunities with airguns. The cost makes the difference between those 2. It may not for you and bit I won't judge you for any such trivial decisions. I shoot powder burners, fling arrows, trap etc
 
That is about how the pellet costs average out. I buy mainly from Airgun Depot and they are about 75-80% JSB's and H&N's. The rest are budget CPHP and similar. Many of the higher end pellets I order are also 200 or 250 per tin which raises the unit cost. Yes, they are also 0.177 and 0.22.
Holy Christ, I must say I haven't bought pellets in over a couple years because I stocked up hard when I bought my first few AG's. I still remember going to Wal-Mart and buying packs of crosman premier .22 's for like $7 a tin of 500. I'd scoop up a 8-10 tins each time I'd go. I also remember buying bulks from pyramid air for around $17 or so for tin of 500 .22 JSB's, buy 3 get 1 free.

I just checked again to see how much pellets are nowadays and was completely shocked to see a tin of 500 JSB's go for $25 - $28 a tin....Just Wow....

I get that airguns are getting more popular, but I don't really understand how the cost of pellets has gone up, yet the cost of ammo has actually gone back down a bit. I'm sure it's basic economics, but my jaw just dropped to see how much pellets cost nowadays... Might as well be shooting .22lr at that point.
 
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I think here in Texas there are laws prohibiting the discharge of firearms in populated areas. I live just outside town in a subdivision with rather large lots, mine about 1 3/4 acre. I have paving stones set into the lawn at roughly 10 yard intervals out from my patio to 50 yards, rarely use the 40 and 50, just too far to walk. My airguns are quiet enough and just do not sound like a firearm.
I did try some of the Aquila Colabri(sp) ammo, very light .22 bullet, no powder just priming compound in my revolver and found it rather dirty, The other downside is that it is much more expensive than pellets.

I do have a membership in a fairly nice range, but it is 50 miles one way, so do not make it over there that often.

I can step out my back door and shoot for 5 minutes or two hours, and still have less time expended than a trip to the range.
 
Holy Christ, I must say I haven't bought pellets in over a couple years because I stocked up hard when I bought my first few AG's. I still remember going to Wal-Mart and buying packs of crosman premier .22 's for like $7 a tin of 500. I'd scoop up a 8-10 tins each time I'd go. I also remember buying bulks from pyramid air for around $17 or so for tin of 500 .22 JSB's, buy 3 get 1 free.

I just checked again to see how much pellets are nowadays and was completely shocked to see a tin of 500 JSB's go for $25 - $28 a tin....Just Wow....

I get that airguns are getting more popular, but I don't really understand how the cost of pellets has gone up, yet the cost of ammo has actually gone back down a bit. I'm sure it's basic economics, but my jaw just dropped to see how much pellets cost nowadays... Might as well be shooting .22lr at that point.
Most likely because of the manufacturing companies locations in Europe.
 
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You can shoot just as quite just as accurate with no chance of ricochet from a 100 dollar 22lr than you can with any pcp. When you listen to what is being said here it's clear my and your investments into pcp are safe for now. But sooner or later others will become aware of what I know and it will hurt small caliber pcp sales and value. Think you all should know that.
 
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Holy Christ, I must say I haven't bought pellets in over a couple years because I stocked up hard when I bought my first few AG's. I still remember going to Wal-Mart and buying packs of crosman premier .22 's for like $7 a tin of 500. I'd scoop up a 8-10 tins each time I'd go. I also remember buying bulks from pyramid air for around $17 or so for tin of 500 .22 JSB's, buy 3 get 1 free.

I just checked again to see how much pellets are nowadays and was completely shocked to see a tin of 500 JSB's go for $25 - $28 a tin....Just Wow....

I get that airguns are getting more popular, but I don't really understand how the cost of pellets has gone up, yet the cost of ammo has actually gone back down a bit. I'm sure it's basic economics, but my jaw just dropped to see how much pellets cost nowadays... Might as well be shooting .22lr at that point.
You can still get great deals on the Crosman stuff. If you sort by diameter you can tighten up the groups decently. The "big name" brands are the ones getting north of 5-6 cents a pellet. This is especially true if you can't get 500 pellet tins and have to but 200-250 per tin.