There is an old debate about which airgun calibre is best:
.177 or .22 hopefully this post will help you decide between the two
A .177 pellet travels at a greater velocity than the heavier
.22 when fired from guns of identical power, but this does not mean that .177
is more powerful. For example:
.177 pellet weighing 8.4 grains, fired at 802 fps (244mps) =
12 foot pounds of kinetic energy.
.22 pellet weighing 16 grains, fired at 581 fps (177mps) =
12 foot pounds of kinetic energy.
The lighter .177 pellet has a flatter trajectory which means
that hold over is less and more forgiving with range estimation than with the
.22 over normal airgun ranges. The benefit of this is that targets are easier
to hit with a .177 even if there are slight inaccuracies in range estimation;
this is why .177 is the calibre of choice in Field Target and paper target
disciplines.
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.177 tradactory from 0-50 yards, the pellets in a 1 inch
zone from 7.3 yards to 39.3
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.22 tradactory from 0-50 yards, the pellets in a inch zone
from 5.5 to 30.4 yards
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Pellets also have alot to do with it; the accuracy of the
pellet means you can hit in the kill zone which is need for both calibres for a
clean kill but more forgiving with the .22, the weight of the pellet also has a
big effect as the lighter the pellet the flatter the trajectory for both but if
the airgun is used for hunting you still need a heavy pellet so it has enough
stopping power to kill.
Heavy pellets will also be affected by wind less. There is
also a phrase: .177 for feather .22 for fur which you could also take into
account
At the UK power level of 12ft/lbs the difference is fairly
small, but as the power increases, the trajectory of both calibres flattens out
so reducing the advantage that .177 would have over .22 at lower velocity.
However, when a pellet approaches the speed of sound (which is about 1100 feet
per second), it can become unstable, resulting in poor accuracy. This problem
is almost exclusively confined to .177. The .22 really comes into its own as
the velocity increases, when it’s heavier weight means that the pellets retain
greatly superior down range-energy, and do not suffer from the loss of accuracy
that can affect high velocity .177 pellets.
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summary of the information presented in a table |