Tortoise and the Hare, Pt. 2

Ok... what the hell... so your telling me its better to have a slow rifle than a fast one? Yes... thats EXACTLY what Im telling you. Now Im saying SLOW not WEAK these two things are independent of each other. If your just plinking then power makes no difference anyway and so long as you keep things under the 1000 fps mark you should maintain accuracy although a slower rifle, something 400 to 700 fps will fair far better accuracy at closer ranges. This has to do with the rifles capacity to maintain a consistent "charge" of air with each pellet. Your also better off choosing a rifle in .177 caliber as there are so many pellet choices in this caliber that tend to be quite a bit cheaper than larger calibers.

Now if you are hunting then power is a major concern. You want to be able to put your quarry down quickly, cleanly, and humanely, its also nice to not have to walk very far... Anyways, you want your rifle to have some gusto so now its ok to get a high velocity rifle right? NOPE! If hunting is your game then your in need of a powerful rifle but there are two factors governing that power folks only one of them is velocity. So whats the other? Pellet weight, this is when you reach for a .22 caliber pellet gun at your local shop. Average .177 pellets are about 7.8 grains, average .22 pellets tend to be about 14.3 grains. Now this is just an average. There are lighter .177s and .22s, these are usually the PbA rounds. These lead alloy pellets are trash.

Yes I said it, I meant it, and I stand behind it. Lead alloy pellets are no good, stinky, poo poo, crap, lies, wastes of money, whatever floats your boat. They make a loud noise, thats it. I have used lead free copper pellets with some success in the past but they tend to be very similar in weight to lead pellets. The problem you run into with these light pellets is that they are moving too fast to maintain good accuracy. This is because of reasons 1, 2, 3, and a number 4. 4 is that these pellets are incredibly hard and the skirts don't seal in the barrel nearly as well as their lead counterparts. This causes a myriad of tumble and spiral problems. Ill just leave it at this, pba pellets are a novelty and they are trash, don't use them. Oh... and I'm aware there are some people out there that have used them with success, I have too, its luck or a low powered slow rifle, nothing more. I don't support shooting a high velocity round downrange at a living thing putting all my hopes on "luck."

Now there is the opposite side of the coin as well, the heavier pellets. These are a bit of a double edged sword. On the one hand they can take that 1400 fps rifle you bought and tone it down to a manageable 1000ish fps and benefit you greatly. The problem with them though is that most .177s aren't designed to shoot 16.36 grain pellets (I have some for my Gamo Bull Whisper Extreme .177, they are H&N Barracuda Magnums and they are devastating!), this means that your going to have to buy several of these pellets in different types to test in your rifle for maximum accuracy and your going to have a few tins of pellets that just aren't worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin getting it on (to steal a quote from Ricky Bobby) in your rifle. The fact of the matter is though that you should already have counted on doing this anyway. Just like powder burners every pellet gun has that one, maybe two or three, pellets that it really really likes and getting the most out of your rifle means that your going to have to find its favorite food.

So back to 22 caliber rifles, why 22? Well... the difference between a .22 and a .177 is an awful lot like the difference between a 45acp and a 9mm (Sweet baby Jesus lets not get into this debate either its been done over and over again). The 22 moves slower (a plus for accuracy), it weights more (a plus for power and "consistency"), and it has a larger diameter (it makes a bigger hole... plus for stoping power). Its slower, heavier, and wider; these are all facts, they can be proven quickly and easily so lets get into the theoretical/ practical applications of all this. The .177 has a reputation for over penetration, they are quite good at killing squirrels but your shots will need to be head shots OR heart shots. I don't know the exact placement of the heart in a squirrel's chest cavity so when I hunt with a .177 (and believe me I DO!) I stick to head shots. If you don't feel comfortable taking EXCLUSIVELY head shots with a pellet gun then you shouldn't use a .177. If you look at my profile pic its a squirrel I killed with that Gamo Bull Whisper Extreme mentioned earlier and an 9.26 grain H&N Crow Magnum pellet. It was a head shot, and it exited the back with a rather notable hole; I just felt that the picture of the back was a little graphic for this blog.

The 22 caliber allows the shooter to be a little less precise. You should still go for the head, neck, or chest, but now you have some options. Please, no matter what caliber you use, don't take gut shots... Its a terrible way to die and it isn't fast. If gut shots are your game you aren't hunting for food, you aren't hunting humanely, and I would very much like it if you left my site. Off my soap box, the 22 tends not to exit nearly as often as the .177 does either. What this means is that literally all of the energy contained within that shot is expelled in that animal. You hear the term "knock down power" pretty often, well when you start using a .22 caliber or .25 caliber rifle for squirrel hunting, you'll actually get to witness what the term really means. A 22 caliber pellet with 18 fpe that doesn't exit a squirrel is a pretty impressive sight to see. The squirrel will literally get knocked off whatever its on and tends to be flung a little bit.

So lets recap, if your shooting just to plink at 10 yards or so buy yourself a nice slower .177 and spend the rest of your budget on pellets. If however you want to hunt get yourself a quality 22 caliber rifle in the 850 fps range, my personal favorite thus far is my RWS 48.  I'll get into pellets, scopes, mounts, etc... as time allows. Any questions? Just ask!

As always stay safe and keep it classy!