Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns .177 vs .22 cal

after reading some of the posts i have thought about getting aan airgun. i saw two t walmart that peak my interest. one was a .177 that got 1200fps was a .22 that got 900 something fps. the .177 had irons and a scope. the .22 had just the scope. my prey will be birds of all kinds, squrrils, and wabbits. range will be 10ft to 50 yards or more, if i feel lucky. so what should i choose? btw, i don't know what brand but they were approx. $100 each. suggestions on models in that price range would be a plus.
thanks, guys.

22 hits MUCH harder... better for hunting than 177

good to know. what might be a good estimate of the trajectory for the .22?

Been a long time but we used to pop fox squirrels with a Benjamin 22 shooting about 650 fps. 20 yards was no problem.

thanks. so i'm guessing that at 900 or so it won't be good to say 75 yds? would a walmart special be at all accurate at 50-75? for lack of better term, i'm anal about my guns and accuracy especially. what kind of groups might i expect from such a cheap gun? i'm clueless when it comes to airguns so i don't know if more is better or if i can get simple quality at a sane price point. the most i can spend right now is about $120 and that's pushing it.
thanks for all your help.

Unless you're easily satisfied quality wise, I'd suggest waiting. The velocity figures from the Wal Mart specials are most likely pie in the sky too.

oops, wish i would have saw this this morning... sent mom to wally world while i was at school and she got the .177 crosman storm xt... tried to get it sighted in but there was not a lot of light left. got within an inch or two... i'll keep it for the week and see how it goes. will come back with a range report.

oh, one more thing. the reason i was considering an airgun is because i only have that much. if i had more, i would get a .22 lr. i've nothing against airguns but you can't argue with how much more power a .22lr has over an airgun, at least for the same price. btw, this one seems very well built, very solid, good rifling, wood stock. the only thing is that for the first two shots it sounded like a .22 as in a super sonic crack and after that it was very quiet. is that normal?

Got my father one from walmart last christmas - he was into handloading big at one time and likes accuracy. The cheaper airguns will not be as accurate......that being said we have had a lot of fun shooting air guns off the porch at various targets. Forget the anal about accuracy and have fun shooting off hand. you will see where your shooting form is weak - I live where I can shoot any of my guns anytime I want off the front or back porch but spend way more time plinking at little targets 10 yards away with my rws & daisy airguns...... Heavier pellets are quieter out of my guns.........enjoy

The crack is the gun dieseling, it's normal for new guns. Just keep shooting it, it will
go away as soon as the lube burns off in the compression tube.
Try different pellets and let the gun decide which pellet is more accurate to shoot.

thanks guys. did a little shooting today and accuracy is terrible. looks like i'll have to get some more pellets. any recommendations? if i can get to minute-of-squirrelhead at 25-50yds, i'll be good. gonna mount a new scope as the one that came with it is like looking through a marble. any way, 25 yds- 6" group so....not happy. my little bro's smooth bore bb gun does like 4".

well, thanks again for all the help.

Sometimes "saving money" can get expensive.

I call that 'out smarting yourself'. I've been guilty of this many times, but I'm learning.

lol. just like reloading can save money, yet i have $300 into it and still nothing to show for it...

was looking at the rifle just now and it looks like the barrel is crooked. well, i see a trip to walmart in my future...

...the old saying "you get what you pay for" when it comes to air guns and optics is especially true for shooters. Power and accuracy have a price and you have to know what you are looking for to get the best bargain for what you can afford.

As to a .22 being better than an airgun...would have to disagree if you have never owned a rifle before. A single shot airgun will make you a much better shot than a repeater .22...especially when you are a developing hunter. Knowing you have only one chance really ups the concentration factor... You also have to stalk closer which develops your hunting, movement and camo skills.

I received a Daisy 1894 BB gun for a Christmas present when I was 8 1/2. A single shot break barrel .177 PIC pellet gun when I was 10. And the .22 came when I was 14. Killed a lot of birds with that .177 still hunting, spot and stalk and from blinds.

Most of the air rifles I now have are .20 Sheridans and one .20 Beeman R9. The Sheridans are all pumps with open or peep shights and the R9 has a scope. Killed a crow with one of the Sheridans with peepsights at 35 yards and can hit shotgun shell from the sitting position with the R9 at 40 yards.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...hrono_results_from_some_5mms#Post5312328

As a suggestion, if you are going to try a break barrel gun, try and use the open sights and get good with them. The cheap scopes that come on some airguns don't hold zero from shot to shot as spring piston air guns are very rough on scopes.

As to a "cheap" air rifle...for a springer I wouldn't buy anything less than an RWS 34 or maybe one of the new Nitros series from Benjamin. Better to save up and do it right than spending the gas money with trips to Walmart returning chinese junk.

Bob

If you're on a budget, stay with iron sights. Spring piston air guns kill cheap scopes.

The Sheridan silver streak is a bit out of your budget, but a quality powerful air rifle that will do what you ask, but 20 cal. If you can find a used one or a benjamin pump 22, then get it. I'm still shooting my dad's benjamin air rifle that is ~80 years old. It did get a rebuild ~30 years ago, but is still going strong.

well, guys funny thing. i was actually going to say scratch my last post because like ten minutes ago i shot a stick-on target i stuck to a tree and shot it dead center twice. i guess i was just not letting it cool or something. didn't know you had to do that with an airgun... anyway, i'll see in the morning. btw, the reason i put the scope on is because i couldn't get the sights to work-very cheap. as for the barrel, it could be my bad eyes playing tricks on me.(not kidding, i have terrible vision) oh, and i see what you mean about the single shots. my first rifle was (is) a .223 handi rifle. in fact, when i shot my buddy's model 60, i catch myself putting the rifle to waist level as if to reload after every shot.

great gun