Choosing the correct .25

[smythsg]

I had a Bullboss as well in .22 cal and you are on the right track there. Weight distribution and length will be much more friendly to your style of hunting. It is still a heavy gun but much easier to shoot off hand than the BT. You will have to do some tweeking with the Bullboss to get 20 shots at 50 ft lbs but it is possible I think. The Bullboss side cocking lever is butter smooth and located in the right place. If you like the AT44 platform you will love the Bullboss. Not quite as powerful as the BT65, but a better field gun in my opinion.

[customcutter]

Smythsg had a Bullboss .22 and a P 12 .22.  He still has the P 12.  It's a couple of #'s lighter than the Bullboss.   I compared the 2 before buying the P 12 single shot.  Wish I had known about the multi-shot repeater .25 cal in post #7.  Don't get me wrong, I like the P-12, it's my plinker, cheap ammo gun, and the repeater part ain't really a big deal.

[Smaug2]

I probably would go with this tuned bwalton bullpup. You'd even have a few bucks left to put toward a worthy scope.

If you're carrying it through thick brush, you can't beat a bullpup.

No affiliation.

[Marauder22]

subscribed.  I also am interested in a .25 with the same requests.  I've looked into a Condor or Condor SS.  The Marauder is too heavy to pack around.  The Bullboss looks to be a good candidate.  Maybe Baxter can soup one up for you for less than a grand?  My overly long Texan is a dream to lug around.  In the bush its a different story lol.

[jimmymc2900]

I have a Bullboss in 22. It is a great hunting platform. You will find it not bad to carry. I also have a Marauder 22 in a bullpup stock that is the cat's meow. I don't know how heavy each one is but the Marauder is way less then the Hatsan. The Hatsan's side lever cocking is the easyest to shoot. But the stock on the Marauder is like the ones Bwalton has and is a work of art. Both are very accurate.
If picking one Mine would be the Marauder. Mods are easyer, parts available, great looking, lighter, and shorter. Everything else is the same. Just remember there  is no bad choice. Just about any 25 in the price range you are looking at are going to work fine.
Jimmy

[Rodentor]

I have a Marauder, BT65 and Sumatra carbine in .25. I'm a hand pumper as well and like a light weight airgun. I haven't used the Marauder or BT65 in at least a year. The Marauder is a good accurate gun, but my BT65 is too heavy and inaccurate and is not hand pumper friendly. My Sumatra is just about perfect and has been my go-to gun for pesting for 2 years - over 100 squirrels are no longer with us because of this gun. It also has an adjustable power setting. In my opinion and from my experience Sumatra all the way...

Good luck with your search.

[Ribbonstone]

Live near the Gulf, so have lots of knowledgeable marine supply stores and boat restoration experts.  With ood stocks expected to be out in the really hasty weather (and here, can add in salt water spray as well), I do what they do for classic wooden boats/ships.

'VARNISH" has so many negatives attached to it for gun stocks, but actually the top of the line, best grade varnishes, designed for blistering outdoor sun, hard use, and salt water are about as tough as tough gets. The stuff they'd use on restored $5M teak boat decks.  Not cheap, but you only need a quart per decade.  Little worry about the wood stock in the rain.

BUT, I would strip the stock off the rifle to get to the inletting (which all too often is nearly raw wood) and to get UNDER the butt pad (where the wood is also often raw).  Really doesn't do to "seal" just one side of the wood.

While you're there, ask about some of the spray preservatives for metal.  Key word here is "preservative"...doesn't have to lube anything, just keep it for rusting.  Some are basically a thickish spray wax that sticks like a SOB, but always feels a little sticky.  Coating the metal with that pretty well gets you though the worst of days (where it's so wet out, you'd never find anything worth shooting anyway, but part of the "fun" is being out hunting even when the odds are way-way against you). 


With all that, have a Sumatra (full size, so it's one long heavy rifle) that's seem the worst conditions and hasn't lost it's finish.  Are a couple of stock dings from serious bumps/drops, but Varnish can blend in as a patch better than you'd normally think.


OK...you guys like brands.  Over the years, I got use to EPIFANES varnish.  Look it up, look up what goes into it. and then tell me it's not good for stocks.  It's tought, abrasion resistant, and resists the nastiest weather.  Does come out thicker than rubbed in finisnishes.


The other weather resistant trick was told to me by a power company guy.  BUt I also found it at several marine repair/marine supply stores. CULLINITE LIQUID INSULATOR WAX.  Yeah, was made to protect power line insulators, fuses, etc.  Put this on metal before a hunt (and no worry about any that gets on the varnished stock) and it just can't rust.

[Ribbonstone]

Going to add to my own post...but might be helpful.


I got on the .25 bandwagon pretty much for the same thoughts you seem to be having.  Just did it early enough that making-one seemed a better option than buying one as I had the parts on hand, just needed to recombine/adjust them.

Difference might be that I thought that to really see a difference in performance over a .22, it would have to shoot those heavy .25 pellets as fast as a .22 could shoot .22 pellets. 

So I ended up with this QB conversion, and settling on 57 foot pounds as it's best range (although a short shot count, don't have that many critters large enough to really need the "thunk").



Now that's about the opposite of what I sense you want.  it's heavy, it's way long, it's a single shot.  But it's also slim and easy to carry, so got used quite a lot in the last 6-7 years.

Which is still the go-to rifle for when I really need to "thunk the carp" out of a large critter (like a raccoon, 'possum, or nutria).


So then I got to thinking, "maybe there is something to this moderate (40-44 foot pound) .25 thing".  So I picked up a cheap Hatsan 44 pump.



Actually do find it a good woods-hunter, but really don't count it as much "better" at anything than a high powered .22 PCP.  Having grown up (and still use) pump action 12gr. for upland game hunting, find the pump kind of like shaking hands with an old friend while out in the woods.

And at last I ended up with a low powered .22 spring, mostly to use up a whole lot of lighter .25 pellets that wouldn't shoot well in the two PCP's. 



Makes a fine "ratter" when you want a lot of quick energy dump and less penetration than other 14-15 foot pound rifles, and is also pretty impressive on little pest birds (not "better'...more "splatter" but not really better as dead is dead).


But that's it for me and .25's.   Really not great "all around" rifles. Seem to find one or two specific jobs they do very well, but likely only 2-3% of the shots fired in a year were really uniquely suited to them (the other 97% would have had the same end result if a .22, .20, or .177 were used).

So while I like them and do reach for one of them when the situation seems just-right for a .25, that situation isn't all that common.   Likely these are my last .25's.

[redlined_b16a]

Good info and I live on the louisiana Gulf coast,born and raised on the bayous.
On average our humidity is above 80%
Terrible atmosphere for telescopes which is another expensive hobby of mine.

You are correct about my .22 doing everything my needs require.
Still thinking and looking at guns though.Alot of good suggestions here.

Question though.How much diffrent is the flight trajectory of a .25 grain .25 cal pellet vs a .25 cal 25 grain pellet traveling at same feet per second.

Is it like comparing .177 to .22?
Will .25 cal require more or less hold over for longer ranges?

[redlined_b16a]

I can also deal with scratched wood stocks,I just like synthetic  better.I have a benjamin 392 pushing about 20-22fpe that I tortured hunting rabbits,Still a favorite of mine.

Not too scratched but been thru briars and black berry bushs plenty times.

[redlined_b16a]

Its been awhile and researched alot but mostly spent some seat time with my current at44 .22.
Conclusion is

I think my current set up does everything I need to do.
Originally I wanted more smacking power of a .25,then seceretly thought the .30 rainstorm was the better choice.

Now Im feeling I need to try JSB king 25 grains in .22.
If I can fly those guys near 900 fps I'd be happy and save a bunch of money.
Thank you for the help.
What other heavy pellets fit the AT44 magazines

[customcutter]

Check out RallyShark's thread.  He has an AT44 making around 60fpe iirc. After he installed a PEEK valve he made with hand tools.

[GD Giles]

If I had $1000 for a 25 I'd find a used Wildcat or Cricket.

[Kmanca1]

I own a couple of BT65's.   I own a Talon.  I don't own, but have friends that own a BullBoss.
If I had to choose, and I was going to be traipsing through 'thick brush' all day, I think my first choice would be the BullBoss.   And.....I'd have Baxter work his magic on it first!!!!
My second choice would be the Marauder. 
 It has the distance, it has the accuracy, and it has the multi-shot thing going for it. 
As much as I love my BT's, the marauder is a couple pounds lighter and still offers every other advantage. Those couple of extra pounds, in the BT65, add up to quite a bit, after lugging it through the brush all day. 

My two cents anyway.

[redlined_b16a]

Very intresting


Well thats his findings anyway.

[redlined_b16a]

Rather then start a new thread I have a Talon Condor SS question.
Im still on the fence about buying a .25.with that said Im leaning towards a Condor SS.
Stock gun oring behind tophat power wheel all the way down on lowest power settings.

With 25-33grain ammo what would the shot count be from 3000-2000 psi,I do realized from reading reviews the es is better from 2700 down.
Looking to tune for 50 fpe but estimated how many shots,some said 15,others said 35 shots.

If its only 15 shots I see an Mrod,bullboss or gladuis instead of a Condor SS.
The multishot/single shot does not bother me.

[SteveP-52]

If you haven't seen this already, good read on what another member has done with his:

http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=117828.0

[longhunter]

I had a condor, once upon a time. Hunting with it was like trying to walk through the woods carrying a 9 foot flyrod. Not for me.

[Sfttailrdr46]

  I think my new favorite woods rifle will be my Warp .25 really sweet little carbine

[Habanero69er]

Staying under the $1000 limit, Sumatra carbine. Plus, you'll have $$$ left over for a scope and/or a LDC.