.22 accuracy

[dlb511]

Hi.  New guy here.  I have been reading a lot of airgun forums lately, to cold out to do anything else, anyway I am thinking I want to concentrate more on AG's and skip the powder burners for a while.  My question is, somewhere I seem to remember reading that a .22 cal. pellet was more accurate than a .177 when all variables were equal,  i.e. proportionate speed, pellet wt., shape, etc.  is that true? or am I wrong in my remembering? Talking about  accuracy only.  I know in the past all 10m Olympic shooting was with .177.  So I would assume .177 was considered to be the most accurate, or was it just the most popular cal. and had the most quality rifles built in that cal.? So, at 10m would .177 always be more accurate than a .22 at the same distance, or not?  I know at longer distances the .177 would not be a competitor with wind and other influences, so I would just compare at the 10m. distance, which we already know the .177 can handle superbly.  Sorry for the ramble, and hope I have not confused the issue.

[VAFarmer]

Not an expert here,

Just a simple farm boy....but will call it how I see it.

In a perfect storm, ALL things equal in theory.

.177 = smaller hole, smaller groups, good for the 10 ring or the X

.22=bigger hole, more energy, good for the brain box.

God bless,

Farmer

[ronbeaux]

I'd have to agree.

[amb5500c]

Welcome to the GTA.
Richard

[hafontenot]

My 2 cents:
I am new to Air guns.
I have a chinese manufactured Beeman RS2 with both .177 and .22 barrels.
.177 does not group as well as .22, at least with me.
In all fairness I should also add that I have shot the .22 thousands of times more than the .177.
But as far as right out of the box the .22 seemed more accurate.
Maybe another member has shot this same rifle more in .177 and they can share their experience?

[MustangMike]

in my eyes it comes down to this

for longer range shots a 22 is the way to go.. sure a 177 can shoot long range but a 22 pellet weighs more thus less effect the wind has on it, it carries more of its speed and energy down range.. louder thump when the 22 hits, more energy transfered to furry creature...

im a 22 kind of guy, i dont like 177's but wont knock them.. i just preffer a 22

[dlb511]

Thanks people, appreciate you taking the time to respond, but I guess I am looking for a more scientific point-of-view.  Something taking into consideration, weight vs. mass, ballistic coefficient, etc.. 

[WHITEFANG]

Had one of those guns for years and I agree that gun shot the .22 much better than the .177 for some reason. That was a good shooter out of the box and a great bang for the buck. I had NO problems with that gun and killed many blackbirds.

[DMikeM]

I have a B28 in .177 and one in .22 both are accurate but the .177 is more so. Same scope, same spring and piston and same barrel length. Nothing scientific, just the way the paper turns out when I shoot it.

[blind dog]

Thanks people, appreciate you taking the time to respond, but I guess I am looking for a more scientific point-of-view.  Something taking into consideration, weight vs. mass, ballistic coefficient, etc.. 

Other than differences in wind drift (which I mix up which is supposed to drift more, faster & smaller or bigger & slower) I doubt there can be any theoretical difference based on caliber. Most target air rifles, the world over, are .177. The .177 is more likely to approach transonic speed in a powerful rifle--and that will usually destroy accuracy, depending on the pellet. Some pointed pellets actually become unstable at over 750 fps, and that is definitely in .177 rifle velocity range more often than .22 caliber.

[MustangMike]

ive read that the 10m rifles are 177 because the pellet is smaller then a 22 or 25 and thus more room for error when trying to shoot through the small rings in front of the target.. that might not be 10m match but that is what i read on the subject...


there is a ton of info debating all this stuff, try searching around a little if you want more info and better details..

[Nomadic Pirate]

If I was target shooting I would use a .177
If I was hunting a .25, They are all accurate

[bobster]

Thanks people, appreciate you taking the time to respond, but I guess I am looking for a more scientific point-of-view.  Something taking into consideration, weight vs. mass, ballistic coefficient, etc.. 

Download chairgun pro at hawkeoptics.  it's free.  It shows you graphically how the pellet behaves, how much drop, how much energy etc. you can choose the pellet to use and input the fps of the gun you are thinking about. 

Basically the .22 will drop more but carry more energy downrange due to it's mass.  Like was said above, if you are shooting guns less than 900 fps .22 is better for animals (more energy) and .177 better for targets (flatter trajectory) in general.  But that is a generalization as pellets differ dramatically in their BC and also what they do when they hit (f.e. predator polymag vs. flat nosed wadcutter).  If you are really looking for accuracy, then the  accuracy of a specific gun, and using the right pellet for that gun, is more important than the choice of .177 or .22 IMO.

[rsterne]

There is no inherent difference in the accuracy of any caliber in perfectly calm conditions.... The Ballistics Coefficient determines the amount of wind drift at any given velocity however.... Since for pellets of similar shape, the Sectional Density increases in proportion to the caliber.... and the BC is proportional to the SD.... larger calibers have the edge in the wind....

Bob

[lucky me]

I still rely on the 20 cal. ftt, fts, kodiak. 20 cal. to me is the best of both worlds, at all ranges.

[cactusrat]

Dlb511 - you said “all variables were equal”.

In that case, neither pellet caliber is more accurate than the other. All the pellets will go threw the same hole.

It can not be said that pellet A is more accurate than pellet B if all the pellets are exactly the same in each group (A & B).

Now lets just change one variable. Lets pick barrels. No two barrels will be exactly alike. That is why we test a lot of different types of pellets at a particular gun.

Okay, now lets pick another variable, quality of how well the pellets are made. Some lesser quality pellets will shoot better out from one particular barrel than a better quality of pellet. Usually a better quality pellet (meaning that all the pellets of brand A are made in such a way that they are more equal in weigh, size, shape and/or with less defects) will shoot better out of more barrels than a lesser quality pellet.

Why is that we may ask. Because some (not all) of variables have be taking away or reduced.


We can go on forever with this. From the ballistic coefficient of a pellet all the way to the wind. About the only thing we don’t have to worry about as a variable is gravity. It stays the same.

As for all the other post that have been made on this thread, they have be adding variables of some sort or the other, such as FPS, wind, caliber, and BC.

The fun behind air gunning is to have a goal (be it hunting squirrels or shooting bulls-eye on paper) and finding a way to accomplish that goal by using the different variables. 

[Onebaddj]

If everything is equal and your stacking every shot then 177 would shoot smaller groups because its smaller.

As for my shooters and me my 177 470 is my most accurate but its also set up for target shooting and its the most refined gun i have so its more accurate for me.

[daveshoot]

What rsterne and cactusrat said... neither is inherently more accurate than the other when all things are equal. There are different BCs in all calibers. The .22 will do better in wind, and will have more energy down range, but isn't inherently more accurate because of the diameter.

.177s are way cheaper. 

[rsterne]

177 would shoot smaller groups because its smaller

Only if you are measuring the groups using the outside diameter.... If you measure them center-to-centre (the way the bench rest guys do) then the groups would be the same size....

Bob

[dlb511]

Lots of replies.  Thanks all.  As I said in my first post, I thought I had read that the .22 pellet was superior for accuracy.  I thought it meant that the potential for best accuracy could be achieved within the parameters of a .22 pellet.  I was curious because I  knew that .177 was the choice of competitors.  In the powder burning world, the most accurate round out there is the 6mm ppc. at least in 100 to 200 yd. benchrest competition.  It is not the .556, 6.5 or 7mm, it is the 6mm and nothing else can compete.  Different loads, different barrels, different powder, different actions, but all firing the 6 mm round.  I know the case is also pretty standard to the bullet, but that case is used for other dia. bullets also and they are not competitive.  Something about the dia. length, density ,etc. of the 6mm. bullet makes it superior to all others on the bench at 100-200 yds.  I thought that maybe something similar could be said for various caliber pellets.

I am no expert,  I have very little experience from the bench and not a lot of reloading knowledge, but I read a lot.  The reference to .22 accuracy I read just got me thinking, and I wondered if the comparison could be made between efficient PB calibers and efficient pellet calibers.  I am not a stranger to airguns.  Besides the usual run of Daisy's I owned as a kid, my first serious AG was a FWB 300, bought over 30 years ago and which I still own.  What really got me stuck with the AG bug was the categorical statement made at the time by experts that, "the spring piston air rifle was the most accurate weapon ever invented".  I am sure that no longer holds true, since the advent of lasers and maybe the 6 ppc . I now own several German springers in both .22 and in .177 that I gathered over the years, a couple of co2's and even a new .25 marauder. If I want to punch holes in paper the FWB comes out, if  a rat is in the yard, my .22 Weihrauch does the honors. I simply use the best weapon for the job and give little thought to the accuracy of a given pellet dia.  They all work for me.  Again, thank you all for your input.