.22 or .25 Best hunting caliber?

Hunting for what?

.25. 

You get a lot more "smack" from a .25cal and if it is going to be pretty much a hunting rifle the difference in cost of ammo is negligible.

Both will do the job. The main issue in hunting is SHOT PLACEMENT. A well placed shot to the brain, or heart /lung will do the job. Note: Don't sleep on the .177 caliber for medium size animals. Penetration is the game.

That all depends on what you are hunting and where. Penetration is a big choice for me. Hunting birds .177 or .22. .25 is kind of overkill to me. My 22 pellets all pass right through a pidgeon so I have to be watchful as to what is behind the critter being shot. 

When you watch the hunting videos pay attention to where the pellts hit the ground and bounce. 

I think the question needs to be cleared up because in each case depending on what you are hunting 177,22,25,30, all have a place in hunting anything bigger then a coyote you would need 30cal plus an less you are kip from AoA a professional hunter who can place a shot anytime anywhere he can use smaller calibers. Birds 177,22, rats 177,22 squirrels 177, 22 is better though. Red fox 25, 30 coyotes smaller one 25,30 up to med to larger 30cal. That's what I was told and that's how I hunt but as I said it's tuff to just ask what's the best caliber to hunt with out knowing what you will be hunting. Am sure they will be lots of hunters who will give you there opinion. John

Anthony, OK based on your last post....

I have a Daystate Regal XL in .22. I use it for backyard pest control, primarily for squirrels. Has plenty of punch and agree with all, that shot placement is critical. Therefore, accuracy of the gun is extremely important as well. I hunt 35 yards or less, with many shots being taken at 20 yards. I like the JSB 15.89 and 18.1 grain pellets. 15.98 are a bit more accurate for me, but not by much. This gun is extremely accurate for me up to 35 or 40 yards, IF...I do my job right. I also know it is capable of shooting accurate at longer distances, but for hunting in my backyard, that does not apply.

If I think I am going to take a raccoon or possum at night, I use the 18.1 grain pellets. I will say that I agree with others, that .25 caliber will have better penetration and "smack down" capability so I don't risk accidentally wounding an animal and having him run off. I do not own a .25 yet, but I am definitely getting one in the fall or early next year. Looking at the new FX Dreamline in .25, DS Wolverine R, FX Crown and possibly RAW 1000X. May even go to RS in .25. I want a regulated .25 caliber mid to high end PCP for my next air gun so I can shoot at longer distances for both target and pest control. Main reason - I want to try insure ( or at least minimize) having to shoot any follow-up shots for pest control. And, I want a .25 and another air gun.. Ha ha.

So, the reason you are getting varied opinions is because they are trying to find out what you will be hunting, how far in terms of distance and it would be nice to know if you are/will be using a PCP vs. Break barrel or not. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here, and depending on your application either a .22 or .25 would suffice. One other mention is that some of the brands have quite a bit of power in .22 in terms of going up to 40-50 FPE, which is plenty enough for everything I mentioned here. In that case, you could make an argument for staying with a .22 caliber possibly. See what I mean - it all depends is not a bad answer for your question.

My opinion is that if this is your first air gun, go for a .22. If this is not your first gun and you have a few .22 calibers, then get a .25 if you have some of the same wants/needs as I do for pest control and small game hunting.

I think Ted answers this question pretty well in either of these videos.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xozspecsYE



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DImiWYmrGsk



I personally go for .22, quieter, more shots, but i'm doing a lot more plinking and target shooting than hunting at the moment. Were I exclusively hunting, small game I would be sorely in need of the .25 Warcat, I think. I've said it before when it comes to any gun or tool: there is what you Want, what you Can get, and most importantly what you Will use/carry.



As of the moment I have the Ataman AP16 compact .22, because its what I Will carry on the trail and the .22 is a capable round, but you do need to put it where it counts. I also have the Evaniz Rex P in .357 because if you want to take game of any consequence you need that larger caliber. Then I have on back order the FAS 6004 .177 for plinking fun.

I started on a 25, and it does the job. My hunting buddy went back to his Weirauch H110 and was dropping squirrels just with less fall back. When I had the opportunity to get a Steyr Hunting 5 in .22, I was worried about the smaller caliber. The German variety doesn’t come in anything bigger than .22. But it has been just as deadly for squirrels anyway. I’m getting more shots and the plus is it’s an automatic. Point being the .22 surprised me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VcwTkDLpkJw



apparently .177 will have no trouble ??



pcpfan37 

I grew up shooting .177 Daisy's & pump up Crossmans. I got a Daisy springer about 20 years ago to play with, too.

When I got back into airguns a few years ago, I bought the gun I always wanted, Diana 34 in .22. I was able to shoot a lot of rabbits out to around 50 yards max. When I later chronographed the gun it was shooting around 680fps.

I spent a bunch of money on pcp get and got a Hatsan Nova in .22. There was a lot more power and I was able to make a lot of head shots off-hand at greater distances. I took a rabbit at 94 yards (quite the hold over!).

So, more accurate at farther distance, due to the increased velocity. However, on my non-head shots I didn't think there was enough velocity and pellet weight for the shock effect that I wanted. A better expanding pellet than a JSB might have done the trick, but I opted to sell the gun and get a .25 Wildcat. We shall see, but I would expect the extra knock down shock will improve those not quite perfect head shots (shoulder /chest)

The greater the caliber, ceteris paribus, the less important shot placement is.

They might be sleeping.

It is challenging finding a good hunting round (read "hollowpoint") beyond .25 cal. Never use a domed for hunting. They dump virtually no energy into the animal. They tend to simply pass through and dump their energy into the backdrop. Speed thrills, but energy kills.

I use H&N Sport Baracuda Hunter Exrtemes .25 cal. (28.24 gr) in my FX Wildcat .25 MK1; synthetic stock; Sightron 4-16x42 mil-dot, second focal plane scope with a DonnyFL SUMO moderator. Best small game hunting rig I ever had, including 22lr and shotguns. The Hunter Extremes have the same ballistic coefficient at 878 fps muzzle velocity (the average muzzle velocity of my Wildcat) as do the JSB domed (0.350). I almost always recover the pellet from game, fully mushroomed in the brain or vitals.

https://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=HN-25-Baracuda-Hunter-Extreme-Pellets&i=282336&CAWELAID=120030620000202932&s_kwcid=adwords__&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzK_bBRDDARIsAFQF7zNf0gqNQzgOery24-OPgvqczRxv114Ge04qjzFEIRj92v6os6-4P08aAkQYEALw_wcB

The greater the caliber, ceteris paribus, the less important shot placement is.

Click to expand...

Probably the WORST post in reference to hunting, especially with an air rifle. It's not a hand grenade, close doesn't count. No ethical hunter would EVER think this way.



Posts like this are why YOU got so many negative accuracy points when you used to post as marcella69



https://www.airgunnation.com/members/marcella69/accuracy/

.25 for sure. Just ask this armadillo.