.22 or .177 for rats & magpies??

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Apr 7, 2002
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I'm looking to buy a Weirhauch air rifle, maybe a HW90k or a HW80. Do you have experience of these guns?
For longer ranges and where its safe I have .22lr rifles. But I want an air rifle for its quietness and lack of over-penetration/ricochet problems.
The game will be mainly rats and magpies.
Do you recommend .22 or .177. I have a feeling you'll mostly say .22 - but in which circumstances will the .177 prove superior?

I'm in Jersey, UK.
 
I have been checking out air rifles and it seems that in the UK they have alot more air rifles because they dont fall within some of there strict gun laws. Here is a couple of links for some pretty cool rifles.http://www.boysstuff.co.uk/product.asp?id=1073 and http://f4bscale.worldonline.co.uk/pest.htm shipping from there would be alot more but as far as the rifles go you can get the silencers and most of the bells and whistles that you cant find here......Good luck,RB (the second link has alot of gun reviews and pellet penetration tests and all around interesting stuff)
 
I don't know whether the .177 would outperform the .22 in anything. I also don't know if rhe .22 would outperform the .177 either for the application you mentione.

When I was a youngster, I killed a bunch of birds, rabbits, and squirrels with a Crossman 766 American Classic in .177. Then when I turned 12, I got to hunt alone with my.22 LR whenever I wanted, so the pellet gun went into retirement.:)

There used to be a fair price difference between .177 pellets and .22 pellets. That might be a criteria to look at, because performance wise, I doubt that you will be able to tell much difference on rats and magpies. But then, I am not acquainted with some of the more sophisticated air rifles being made now, so I could be mistaken.

Happy hunting.;)
 
Steven - I always used a .22 Webley Mark II rifle (better figured walnut stock than you get on a 5k shotgun these days) for shooting pigeons that would cra*p on a flat roof bit of a house I used to live in and cause the dreains to block up and overflow into the house loft - oh what fun

Magpies are a bit bigger than pigeons generally so I am not sure if a 177 is going to be up to it.

Rats are better taken with a 410 shotgun cause the little bast**ds dont normally site still long enought for you to get them with an air gun :D
 
Not familiar with that brands, but I have a Beeman R10 in .177.

I have bagged numerous crows with this item, although it is a bit marginal for that. Also effective on ground squirrels.

I've never used a .22 airgun, but I like the higher velocity of the .177 unless you have a wind problem in your area and want the heavier projectile.
 
The second link I posted earlier shows a squirrel a that the author killed and what with.It shows different penetration tests with both .177 and .22. It makes for some good reading.I hadnt read it all when I first posted.It also has to do with muzzle velocity and some air guns have quite a bit more than others,this is also discussed there. I use www.ixquick.com and it is fast and accurate. Type in air guns or pellet gun comparisons and it pulls up a bunch of info................RB
 
I think they're building some pretty robust magpies nowadays, but I haven't seen a Magpie yet that can withstand a blow from a 1000 fps .177 pellet :)

Super cheap ammo, relatively cheap rifles, and they're fun to plink with. 1000fps packs a pretty good punch, even when the projectile weight is small...
 
I could be wrong, but I believe the .177 is a little more accurate. Maybe it's just my imagination, but I've shot a lot of both, and I find the .177 to be more accurate. I think either caliber would suffice for what you're shooting at.
 
I have a Sheridan .22 pump pellet gun. I have used it to kill rats that run on the phone wires and bushes in my backyard. Killed a bunch with a .177 Crosman too, so either should probably work.

Also killed a few possums that were driving my dogs crazy. Took about 3 shots with the .22. Shot placement is probably more important than if you are using a .177 or .22 IMHO.
 
.177 pells are much more widely available and more varieties than .22 (at least here in the US)
 
Go to the airgun forum from europe mentioned above. They really know their airguns like we know our guns.

Simple math and kinetic energy say that the .22 has more energy than the .177 at the same velocity... but generally the .177s are faster than the.22s.

I bought a RWS34 in .22 recently and have put 5 shots through a 9mm hole in a target at 50 feet without touching the edges. Seems accurate enough to me :D

I have also tried the Collibri and super Collibri stuff for .22lr. Has a 20 grain bullet and around 400-600 FPS. Very quiet! Haven't tried to wring out any accuracy though, I was just shooting at a milk jug along side a Red Ryder toting 7 year old.

Gadget54
 
I spent a lot of time in a stand (my bed) popping mice as they came out of the bathroom (the apartment building was old, but $55 a month for a place to sleep and a hunting lease combined seemed reasonable:D).

I used a .177 Daisy CO2 pistol. With the higher velocity from a rifle you should be ok, unless the rats are magnum sized. I've never "taken" Magpies so I can't be of much help on that.
 
I don't know what price range you are looking at but, aren't you limited to energy or do you have the FAC (I think that's what is called) for air rifles in excess of 12FPE?

In any case, the .22 will carry more energy at longer distances but, you have a tradeoff with trajectory due to reduced velocity with the heavy pellet and higher drag.

In medium powered air rifles there is a strong argument for a .20 caliber air rifle. The .20 and .22 caliber pellets will cost slightly more then .177 pellets but, are easier to handle with fat finger like mine.

The people at StraightShooter chat turned me onto Air Arms rifles, specifically the Tx-200 Mk3 and Pro-Elite. They are among the quietest around and are near magnum power levels. On our side of the pond they cost about $450 plus optics.

http://www.straightshooters.com/chat/
http://www.straightshooters.com/airarms/aaprod.html
 
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