PCP vs Rimfire

Accuracy wise most likely about the same. I have a Ruger bolt gun with a Lilja barrel that will most likely give you about the same range. But the sound difference is a biggie for me, with a moderator on the airgun I can shoot in the back yard. Have about the same gun in 17HMR and it will out shoot the airgun and it will be a 200 yard and better hunter but the ammo is more in the $9 range and the sound level.

You're not going to get comparable 50 yard accuracy with $5 a box rimfire ammo, compared to the best PCP rifles. If you double that cost, the rimfire will, on average, begin to out perform the PCP. With the rimfire, after you buy a precision quality rifle, it is then all in the ammo. With the PCP, you pay a comparable cost for the rifle, but then the time and expense is in maintaining the rifle. Both fun and expensive hobbies. If hunting is in the mix, then my preference is strongly in favor if the rimfire, as the rifles are tanks compared to the relatively fragile air rifles.

Don't bet the farm on a comparable (price wise) .22LR vs a PCP of any caliber. I shoot 12" long silhouette "buffalos" (20 are a set, and they MUST fall to score) at 300 yards with a Ruger precision .22LR, (around $400) and average over 18/20, with off the shelf ammo. Premium ammo such as RWS R100 is a 20/20 if I read the wind OK.

I have an Impact X in .22 and I probably shoot a tin (500) a week with it. Once you have a tank and a compressor, all you need are pellets. It's quiet, accurate, and can be shot almost anywhere. I have several firearms and airguns, if I had to choose only ONE... _right now_ I may just choose the Impact X. It's that good.

I would take my cz 452 17hmr over my other rim fires. On a good day it is stupid accurate to the point of if I don’t get a hit it’s me. But honestly I love my Airguns because of how quiet they are and they are a ton of fun. My 3cz 452 are my most accurate rimfires I own and all three will give my pcps a run for their money at 50yards. But at 100 they will outshoot the pcps. 

Air rifle. There is no substitute for farmyard pest control.

This is my chaneke.22 lr bullpup full suppressed 

I am addicted to both...is there a successful 12 step program?

Cast your own ammo and the AG sport gets a little cheaper or stay with the small bore calibers.

Once you have all the gear, including the compressor you will be able to shoot quietly and cheaply if you choose .25 caliber or smaller. And in my opinion you can have the same accuracy as the .30 cal. Maybe not as consistent in the wind, but definitely incredibly accurate. This group is at 130 yards with a .20 cal. Theoben. My lifetime best group so far, but if there’s ANY wind it’s impossible.

I love rimfire's. if I still lived in the country. I can't see me owning a Airgun. But quite and limited range and penetration make the airguns a winner for my lifestyle.

My opinion the rimfire is a much smarter move. So many rifles to choose from and much cheaper. So easy and convienant. Just grab a pocket full of 22's and go shoot. I just don't care to go thru the trouble and expense of an air rifle shooting at 22lr levels when I can just use a 22lr. Who cares if the bullet is propelled by air or powder. Air makes perfect sense for its nitch of pushing light projectiles at close ranges. For example I could make, and they have been made, a rifle that shoots a pellet using a shotgun primer. But why? It would be more expensive and more trouble. Air works better for this. Just like, at some point, gun powder makes more sense.

One thing I like about PCP air rifles, they are fun to tinker with. What I don't like about them, you have to tinker with them! With a high quality rimfire, you get it right once, and you're done. You might have some stock bedding to get right, but it is usually a matter of ammo selection. Whether heading to the range for targets, or getting up before dawn to go hunting, you know how the rifle is going to shoot. The air rifle can be deadly accurate, but it seems there is too often some issue at hand, maybe regarding an O ring, a valve, a magazine, shroud, moderator, barrel attachment, etc. For these reasons, I have evolved to shooting air rifles mostly at the range and in the yard, where I have the time and equipment to fiddle with them if needed. But, if I'm going to fumble around in the woods in pre-dawn darkness, I want to know, for sure, where that first shot is going. I have a few very high quality air rifles, and I love to shoot them. But, if I slightly bump one on a tree limb, or lean it against a fence post a bit too hard, I don't have the same sure confidence in any of them as I do with my rimfire rifles. So, in response to the OP's question of which I would choose, it's purely a matter of function, and for my purposes, one or the other is clearly the answer, and I can't see either one replacing the other. 

I have a cz 452 that will shoot half to one inch groups at a hundred yards if I feed it the ammo it likes. That ammo is .20 a round. My .25 Impact also shoots half to one inch groups at 100 yards if I feed it the ammo it likes which is .06 a round. I can shoot paint cans at 200 yards with my cz. The Impact will do the same. The Impact has a moderator the cz does not. So, I shoot the Impact most of the time.

Guess it depends on your intended use more than anything. I came from precision 22lr shooting. I have had several PCPs so far with my current Impact MKII being the most accurate followed but the Red Wolf I had, but they can’t hold a candle to my 22lr. I play paper games with guys here locally, and the scores with my PCPs have never been close to my 22lr. 

That being said, just like PCP, you can tune your 22lr, and like said above, ammo makes a major difference. My two most accurate 22lrs have been a Vudoo, which was actually more than my Impact or Red Wolf, and my current CZ 455 with Lilja barrel and custom trigger. It is very, very nearly the match of the Vudoo but at less than half the cost. Purchased used so, I only have around $900 in it. I can shoot bulk ammo, but bulk is not precision accurate for more than small samples. When you pay more for ammo, you get consistency, and that extreme consistency is what I have not found in the PCP. 

When I shoot my 22lr, I know without a doubt that the 1/4” targets are going to be hit every time at 50yds (obviously not every single time, but darn close). I don’t know that with the PCP. I shot one of the games today, and definitely did better than I have ever done with a PCP and did not come close to a winning score, but I feel like I’ll win when I shoot it with the 22lr. I will shoot it again with the Impact, because I am getting it dialed in. This isn’t just me. Ask the guys with ranges that have competitions with 22lr and PCP, and I bet the best top scores are better with the 22lr.

The 22lr is cheaper all around because I feel like the cheaper options are better than in PCP, and even though I am out in the country with few neighbors, I love the quietness of the PCP. That is what got me into it. That and I hoped to save money on ammo, but .30 is more expensive than I planned, but still cheaper than my match 22lr ammo. I am just getting used to adjusting my expectations, and being happy with what I can do. Sort of like bow hunting. I know I won’t be as accurate, but I find that range where I know what to expect, and the challenge makes it fun. 

I can absolutely see the advantages to air guns for those needing quiet shooting in areas that demand such. I have springers, pumpers, and PCP's and enjoy them all. But they are all more complicated and/or more difficult to shoot than my rimfires. Necessary PCP equipment sure seems to make that type more expensive in general as well. Have to have the rimfires but I enjoy all the air guns as well and I'd hate to have to choose one type over the other. It's good to have choices available that allow everyone to shoot.

If I was only into 100 yard + shooting then I'd have to drive to a local range anyways so I'd get some good hearing protection and a 17 HMR and not concern myself with the cost of ammo or the rifle(s). The local range is free and out in the National Forest near my house and I happen to be free when it is least crowded. The reality is that if I'm free to go to the National Forest to shoot I'd rather use that time to go hiking anyways. 

I thought about getting a 22LR set up to be a backpack gun and shoot quiet/subsonic loads but I just wasn't finding an option that really stood out to me. And even though I can shoot a bow legally on my property I can't shoot a 22 LR legally so I'd still want a pesting option.

Ultimately what drew me to PCP is the combination of accurate, quiet and compact as well as legal to shoot at home. That is priceless to me. 

For the record, what is the ultimate 22 LR backpack gun? And if semi-auto do they work with the quiet or sub-sonic rounds? 

Maybe, just make it simple. If the .22 LR gun is high quality and accurate, and you are willing to spend good money on ammo, you'll be accurate. If you spend some good money on a good .22 Air Rifle, you'll be accurate for around a nickel a round ($.05 US).

Difference is that the .22LR packs about 135 to 150 FPE energy where the .22 air rifle usually packs less than 30. More energy of course equates to the ability to shoot farther.

Now, Matt Dubber is shooting an Impact in .22 that's hopped up a touch with an external plenum and other goodies, and gets around 70FPE with slugs. Lots of money and slugs cost danged near as much as good .22LR ammunition.

Ignoring all the advantages of the air rifle over the rimfire, the rimfire will simply shoot with more energy so has the capability to shoot further accurately. But at least in the US you do have to register rimfires as firearms, and all that other stuff where the air rifle is unregulated here.

It's all a balancing act, so whatever is most important to you should determine what you use.

My choice is Air Rifle most of the time, but there are times when a PB is the superior weapon. I like both.

In Texas the only Game you can hunt with rimfire is squirrel but I can take my .308 Texan with the 44 gr and hunt squirrel or anything small, and use that same rifle with the bigger hollowpoint and hunt deer legally 

Air rifle. There is no substitute for farmyard pest control.

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I'm with You,Bob!

Mike

Saltlake58.... I don't know about Utah, but

Not a single one of my guns, air or powder powered is registered. 2 Deer rifles, 6 shoguns, 3 pistols and 6 rimfire rifles and 4 airguns. All in America.