Air Rifles for Small Game-177 vs .22

Of late I have taken to adjusting the squirrel population around here. Been pretty successful...kind of.
I have two air rifles-a Ruger er Blackhawk break barrel in .177 and a Benjamin Discovery in .22.

Now there simply is no issue with the Disco. It is scoped and spot on zeroed. The bushy tailed rats have come to know and fear it.

The Ruger is open sighted, also on the money but for whatever the reason the .177 pellet simply does not seem to be doing the job. At least twice now I have scored a solid hit on a couple grey squirrels from about 25-30 yards out only to have the things get dazed a little, shake off the hit, and head for a tree. I am sure they were hit; the reaction and "thud" of the pellet hitting flesh are evident of a strike. I am having no such problem with the .22. One shot-one hit..lights out.

Now these are pretty good sized mountain squirrels (not your average city park or suburban species). Is it plausible that the .177 just doesn't have the horsepower necessary? Indeed a Navy SEAL quality head shot every time might be a solution but although I'm a far better than average shot, I'm not in the Hathcock or Kyle league.

I'd like to keep a pair of rifles, one in each caliber .177 and .22, but if the lesser round isn't going to get the job done, it isn't practical really. Today's ammo was Gamo 7.56 gr blunt nose. Maybe a different pellet??
Suggestions??

Traditional advice is .177 for feathers, .22 for fur. If the Ruger ain't cuttin' the mustard you pretty much answered your own question. If you have a way to measure the speed of the pellet you may find the rifle is shooting slow. Also, your Disco is probably more accurate.

I do a lot of airgunning and have yet to hear something positive about Gamo pellets. Switching to Crosman Premier Heavies will give you a slower pellet, but with more FPE.

It's all parts - gun, pellets and distance. A springer is not going to be as accurate if you don't employ perfect grip. The ammo is not going to give you enough terminal force for anything but a head shot. For that set-up you're really looking at 20 yard max headshots.

A powerful .22 is head & shoulders above a .177 for tough game IMHO. And I'd say a squirrel at 25-30 yards is a bull elephant in the .177 world. I have a RWS 54 in .22 (900 fps) that is putting dimples & chipping paint on the backsides of steel swinging targets at 20 yards. The target is decently thick, it's rated for a .22lr at 25 yards.

Kzoorichie said:

Traditional advice is .177 for feathers, .22 for fur. If the Ruger ain't cuttin' the mustard you pretty much answered your own question. If you have a way to measure the speed of the pellet you may find the rifle is shooting slow. Also, your Disco is probably more accurate.

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Traditionally, I would agree with you on .177 for feathers and .22 for fur. And +1 on break barrels running slow if it's springs. My Gamo break barrel has a nitrogen filled piston. PBA pellets (Performance Ballistic Alloy) velocities are reaching 1300 fps, with lead pellets running between 850-1000 fps depending on the weight and the shape of the pellet's skirt.

Crosman Premier's are an outstanding lead pellet, in any other rifle than a Gamo. The skirt design of the Crosman doesn't give a proper seal in the Gamo rifles, which allows too much air to escape around the sides of the pellet and barrel. Terminal ballistics in the Gamo suffer because of this.

I have taken many a skunk between 15 - 50 yds with heart/lung shots using lead and alloy, but my average for shots are usually around the 30 yd mark. It's pretty clear to me, the lead's terminal ballistics is from the weight of the pellet and the Gamo PBA alloy's, is it's high velocity. Efficient terminal ballistics nevertheless for the rifle and set up I'm using.

Well...thanks for the input. I was somewhat of the belief that perhaps the .177 did not have enough "oomph" for the task at hand, but I thought it prudent to ask the opinions and advice of those more learned in the airgun arena. So...as I really have no true use for the Ruger .177 it will be going on the market and replaced with a gas piston .22. I still must have at least one rifle with open sights. Just the way I am. I'm hearing good stuff about the Hatsan rifles...time to go shopping.

Acmemfg said:

Well...thanks for the input. I was somewhat of the belief that perhaps the .177 did not have enough "oomph" for the task at hand, but I thought it prudent to ask the opinions and advice of those more learned in the airgun arena. So...as I really have no true use for the Ruger .177 it will be going on the market and replaced with a gas piston .22. I still must have at least one rifle with open sights. Just the way I am. I'm hearing good stuff about the Hatsan rifles...time to go shopping.

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While, you can kill varmints by throwing rocks, I think valkabit is right on the money in saying, .22 at 900 fps is ideal for hunting karma.

A lil' reading on pellet speed.

http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2011/08/why-dont-they-design-pellets-to-go-supersonic/

Very interesting article Kzoorichie and a good read. One of the posters in the comments section below the article, said this, which mirrors my experiences with my Gamo.

Victor..
You have to watch those pellets for a lot of reasons. Mac already showed us that a difference in fit changes impact point.
Crosman pellets are hard. This may make them the worst choice in some rifles when there is too much variability in size. We are not considering weight here, just size. There can be weight variability between pellets of the same size, and size variability between pellets of the same weight.
You can usually get away with a little variability (snug to tight) with a rifle in which the pellet is actually seated into the bore (including skirt) better than you can with rifles that you only seat the head in (springers).
With springers (or rams), the developed pressure curve has a lot to do with pellet fit. Not just the head, but the skirt too. The pressure curve has to rise to the point that the skirt end of the pellet is finally forced into the bore. At this point you have pellet inertia and friction balancing against the pressure curve. This is a short, high impulse curve that has to work right with the pellet to give you any kind of consistency. The pressure curve is affected to a great extent by the pellet used.
A softer pellet may be more forgiving than a hard one when there is variability in fit. Softer pellets will be easier to drive into the bore, so small variations in fit will not be as noticeable with them.
I found that shooting the AA 4.51 and 4.52 pellets in one of my HWs gave me a surprise. Between the two tins, I could not tell the difference in fit by feel. Both were just snug, but one shot much better than the other. The rifle could tell the difference and did not like one of them. Really it did not like either very well, but the one was much worse. There was also a distinct difference showing on the chrono.
Then there are pellets that look pretty consistent on the chrono, but don’t shoot for crap, and others that don’t shoot very consistent on the chrono that shoot pretty good. I am guessing that as long as a pellet is about right to get a good pressure curve out of the rifle that it will shoot OK …under some circumstances. So much interraction.
So how tight should a pellet fit? Loose head is bad. Too tight of a head is bad. What about skirt thickness and size? What is just right? Whatever the rifle thinks. It is always good to find several kinds of pellets that a gun likes, at least pretty well. If it is so touchy that it can only live with one kind then you might find yourself in a jam some day when there is a change in the pellets .
twotalon

Happened upon this video which had a real "convincing" factor. Not unlike the old saying "There ain't no substitute for cubic inches".
Anyway, Hatsan Model 95 Vortex is on the way.

http://www.tedsholdover.com/video/hunting-and-pest-control/squirrel-hunting-22-vs-25/

Both will work with in their Limits !

With our mean house-eaters (squirrels), you have to bring enough gun ...

Best pellet gun is no pellet gun. Try the Colibri powderless .22 ammo in an actual .22 rifle.

Report is just a faint pop, and it shows the house-eating enemy you respect them enough to see them fall cleanly.


AA

A .25 cal pellet is probably going to be faster and heavier than a .22 CB (considering most are PCPs) It's more than enough for squirrels. My .25 will send 34 gr pellets @ 900 FPS for ~ 60 FPE and a humane kill with even a marginal shot. A spring gun will be a good bit slower, and likely prefer lighter pellets, but will still be more than enough to cut the mustard.

The bummer is .25 pellets are a lot more expensive than .22 and .177.

You also gotta keep in mind you might get a squib with a CB if you're using a semi auto. I've only shot them
out of a single six, and they move slow enough to see if the sun is right.

The Colibri listed at Midway shows a 20 grain slug at 500 fps muzzle (doesn't say what barrel length is require to achieve that) for about 11 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. This is roughly equivalent to what you would get out of a springer .177 air rifle. My HW50S manages 11 FPE with an 8.2g pellet, so same/same. The HW is pretty quiet, I've never tried the shorter .22s but can't believe they could be significantly stealthier than a mid powered .177 springer.

I guess there would be a savings if you already have the .22 rimfire on hand, but as many have opined here, that level of energy may be marginal save for close-in head shots on tougher mammals.

It's all about shot placement.

Let's hunt hog with a .177 Gamo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZeyMf74sIk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugyO7dcF1n8

No argument about shot placement. That's my standard response to the 9mm/.45 debates (I'm a 9mm fan). But when it comes to a 12" target on the run at 30-35 yards I'll take all the advantage I can get

garyg said:

The Colibri listed at Midway shows a 20 grain slug at 500 fps muzzle (doesn't say what barrel length is require to achieve that) for about 11 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle. This is roughly equivalent to what you would get out of a springer .177 air rifle. My HW50S manages 11 FPE with an 8.2g pellet, so same/same. The HW is pretty quiet, I've never tried the shorter .22s but can't believe they could be significantly stealthier than a mid powered .177 springer.

I guess there would be a savings if you already have the .22 rimfire on hand, but as many have opined here, that level of energy may be marginal save for close-in head shots on tougher mammals.

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Interesting!

I shoot the Colibris out of a scoped Henry lever, so a quick second shot is faster than a spring-air pellet gun.

Shooting a soda can filled with water will impress; seems like quite a bit of shock is imparted- splits the back of the can. They expand.


AA

New Hatsan came in. What a beast. Sighted in with a decent set of open sights; will work on the scope in a day or two. The pellet sizes are indeed significant. Although I've had very good results with .22, I just know the .25 is going to all that much more effective.
Compare-top to bottom
.177-.22-.25

I know absolutely nothing about air rifles. Would a .22 pellet be effective for a possum or groundhog at <25 yards?

Commander Quan said:

I know absolutely nothing about air rifles. Would a .22 pellet be effective for a possum or groundhog at <25 yards?

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What rifle are you shooting it from?