.22 Cal Springer Ammo and Small Game

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rodwha

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Wanting an air rifle mostly for squirrels and rabbits out to 25-30 yds or so, but still capable of critters the size of a raccoon to half that. I’m not wanting to drop a lot of coins on these and looking I found this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0796WMGFK/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

It shows 1300 FPS with an alloy pellet so I’m figuring around 1000 FPS with a lead pellet. That’s in the 30-something ft/lb realm. A lot of alloyed choices, but would these perform as well as lead for raccoons? Tough critters so I want them put down ethically. Would a HP be any better at quickly dispatching vs a wide meplat FN? And what about downrange accuracy? It needs to be accurate out to 30 yds or so.

What do you use? What’s highly recommended as a good thumper?
 
I’m not sure what to think about the .25 cal. In general I’ve been a larger is better type of guy, but it seems they are quite uncommon. I guess in this day with an Amazon shipment that becomes inconsequential.

Those velocity figures seem on the low end, though the price of the rifle is fantastic.

Even were I to consider a .25 cal I’d want to know more about lead vs alloy.

I’m not sure I’ll concern myself with raccoons (or any other critters that size) as I believe in eating what I kill (for the most part). But I wanted something capable of doing so.

*EDIT*

Just realized the second link was not the same rifle but topped with a scope. Very respectable velocities and a fair price (about what I was looking at).
 
I used to be a gamo crossman etc..guy until I discovered Hatsan. Sold all but three of my Chinese junk. Now own 14 Hatsans. Here are a few of them
105x .25
150 sniper vortex .22
130QE .30
20200210_134055.jpg
 
5 inch cube of modeling clay pellets embedded around 4.5 inches at 40 yards. .25 and .30 20200210_142327.jpg 20200210_142304.jpg

Can 40 yards with 130QE .30

,

 
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Raccoon is a tough, and big critter, taking him with a springer in an ethical manner is going to take some skill and craft on your part. High powered springers are not easy to shoot....not in the least. I would love to see a real MSP in this size, not the PCP thing there is now but a real MSP....likely to never happen as PCP is taking over the air gunning world and there will be nothing else on the edges or brought out that does not have those three magic letters in it.

As far as I know 25 is as good as it gets in the spring world....aside from those brought up I think HW98 is offered in a 25 as well....not sure however and it is likely to be a bit more spendy then the turkish offerings, but you do get that "german" quality I guess.

Whatever you get grab a hand full of different pellets and see what it likes after your gun settles in....that is a bit spendy in and of itself, I am still working on seeing what my Kral Puncher likes best.....but I can tell you that pcp is accurate out to 100 yards for a hand sized group with the best I have found so far....I would not take a shot at that distance on anything living....seems it falls off with the 5 or so different pellets at 75...

anyhoo I ramble again.

Practice, go to the gym and work out those cocking muscles then practice some more.

Or jump into the dark side and look to PCP....for larger holes it really is better.
 
1300fps from a .25 springer would be pretty impressive even with a zinc pellet. Typically .25 springers do about half that or less with lead pellets. I would use a lead pellet that penetrates on raccoons, shot placement is always key. I like H&N Barracuda's for head shots on bigger critters. My Beeman Kodiak loves them.
 
1300fps from a .25 springer would be pretty impressive even with a zinc pellet. Typically .25 springers do about half that or less with lead pellets. I would use a lead pellet that penetrates on raccoons, shot placement is always key. I like H&N Barracuda's for head shots on bigger critters. My Beeman Kodiak loves them.

So you are a proponent of lead? Do these alloy pellets even deform?
 
I'm not a fan of the light weight pellets in spingers. I'm in the camp that they do not provide enough cushion for the piston. There is a "normal" range of weights for each caliber and I normally stick with those. I'm a springer guy and do not even own a PCP ( haven't made the plunge). .177/.20/.22/.25 is mostly what I have dealt with over the years. I can tell you that caliber definitely makes a difference in killing power. The .25 definitely hits hard and is a thumper. Things like .177 .20 kill cleanly if used correctly and shot placement is critical, pellet selection is important as well.

I do not like cheap pellets. Many of those zinc/poly pellets are crap and foisted on the unsuspecting. I prefer Beeman(real), H&N, JSB, RWS, even the Crossman Premiers can be descent. I would stick with an all lead pellet from one of the above companies and find out which one your gun likes. For raccoons head shots and either a domed or pointed pellet 25-30ish grains should do the trick. Raccoons would demand penetration over expantion.
 
I can tell you that caliber definitely makes a difference in killing power. The .25 definitely hits hard and is a thumper. Things like .177 .20 kill cleanly if used correctly and shot placement is critical, pellet selection is important as well.

I do not like cheap pellets. Many of those zinc/poly pellets are crap and foisted on the unsuspecting. I prefer Beeman(real), H&N, JSB, RWS, even the Crossman Premiers can be descent. I would stick with an all lead pellet from one of the above companies and find out which one your gun likes. For raccoons head shots and either a domed or pointed pellet 25-30ish grains should do the trick. Raccoons would demand penetration over expantion.

Makes sense that you’d avoid expansion with a pellet that weighs very little and isn’t really going that fast. And even a .22 cal hole is plenty with small game.

Would you exclude a wide meplat (old school style) pellet? I have several black powder guns and know expansion of lead can be iffy with my revolvers so I created a mold for very wide meplat bullets for my .44/.45 (.375” meplat on a .452” bullet or ~83%) as it will create a much larger than caliber hole yet still penetrate quite deeply. But I’d think maybe a RN style might do better out to 25-30 yds. Any advice there as accuracy is much more important when we’re talking about bunnies and tree rats?
 
I used to be a gamo crossman etc..guy until I discovered Hatsan. Sold all but three of my Chinese junk. Now own 14 Hatsans.

I’d certainly love to know why you hold them in such high regard. Why do you feel they’re that much better? I’m all for sending China less of my money.
 
Are pellet guns using the skirt to expand into the rifling like a Minie or are they swaged down to fit the bore?
 
Wide meplat: Ok, something like a wad cutter/ match type pellet are deadly at reasonable ranges. I shot A LOT of .177 H&N match type pellets out of my FWB 124D on ground squirrels, the wad cutter was absolutely lethal on both head and chest shots 0-20 yards. I found with the old Beeman Jet and especially the Silver Jet would pass through on body shots and not drop them like a hot rock. At shorter ranges, I prefer using the wad cutter type pellet on squirrel bunny sized game. A .22 or .25 wad cutter is akin to a big bore stopping cartridge, it just flattens small game.


Sorry, I misread your original post and the rifle you were looking at was a .22 and not a .25. The .22 is probably the best all around caliber for the serious air rifle hunter in a spring piston system. The . 25 is more like, at least to me, a stopping size for tougher critters like the raccoon.
 
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Wide meplat: Ok, something like a wad cutter/ match type pellet are deadly at reasonable ranges. I shot A LOT of .177 H&N match type pellets out of my FWB 124D on ground squirrels, the wad cutter was absolutely lethal on both head and chest shots 0-20 yards. I found with the old Beeman Jet and especially the Silver Jet would pass through on body shots and not drop them like a hot rock. At shorter ranges, I prefer using the wad cutter type pellet on squirrel bunny sized game. A .22 or .25 wad cutter is akin to a big bore stopping cartridge, it just flattens small game.


Sorry, I misread your original post and the rifle you were looking at was a .22 and not a .25. The .22 is probably the best all around caliber for the serious air rifle hunter in a spring piston system. The . 25 is more like, at least to me, a stopping size for tougher critters like the raccoon.


I’d be all for raccoons if they taste good. Always thought my own coon skin cap would be cool but I’d not do that just for a pelt. Of course I’d have to be far away from dumpsters!

Are these Jet pellets pointed? I know pointy bullets tend to leave smaller than caliber holes and just zip through.

Any idea of whether or not it’s the skirt that expands to grip riflings (undersized projectile)?

*EDIT*

I see the Silver Jet is indeed a pointy pellet.
 
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Are pellet guns using the skirt to expand into the rifling like a Minie or are they swaged down to fit the bore?

IMHO I would say both. The Diabolo type pellet has a skirt just like the Minié ball and both are made of soft lead. Shoving a soft lead pellet into a hard steel barrel is going to squeeze it down to whatever you bore diameter is, I never believed in "pellet sizing". The skirt on the Diabolo pellet is going to fill out and help seal the bore, that's why its important to find pellets in construction and weight that match your particular power plant.

Using too light a weight pellet for your power plant can cause the skirt to blow out and cause poor accuracy and ballistics.
 
IMHO I would say both. The Diabolo type pellet has a skirt just like the Minié ball and both are made of soft lead. Shoving a soft lead pellet into a hard steel barrel is going to squeeze it down to whatever you bore diameter is, I never believed in "pellet sizing". The skirt on the Diabolo pellet is going to fill out and help seal the bore, that's why its important to find pellets in construction and weight that match your particular power plant.

Using too light a weight pellet for your power plant can cause the skirt to blow out and cause poor accuracy and ballistics.


You mentioned Beeman pellets and put “real” within parentheses. Mind explaining “real”?
 
1570479858_5863147425d9b9ef2c8da93.93134399_IMG_20191007_111540.jpg They use German steal in the barrel. Every part is made in house. You can get them with walnut or synthetic stocks. They offer more models in .25 than any other company. After owning other brands I bought a Hatsan 95 comparing it to my other rifles at the time you could tell immediately it was better built. There rifles actually feel like a real PB. All of mine shoot solid and have been shot very close to the advertised fps sometimes a bit more. They all love a heavier pellets. I use H&N, JSB or their vortex pellets. I hunt small game exclusively with them forgoing PB's
 
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This guy shouldn't have been in the pasture, have horse there. Shot took at 35 yards using HatsanQE 130 .30 break barrel. Dropped after three steps. Here a little trick I was taught many years ago growing up in Idaho. The coyote will turn ad run in a fairly straight line away from you when 1570680038_15879854345d9eace62364c1.04937957_20191009_204818~2.jpg he sees you a perfect shot is up it's butt. Therefore not ruining the pelt. This is true 8 out of 10 times.
 
Robert and Toshiko Beeman greatly helped and influenced the Adult Air gun Industry IMHO 45+ years ago in the USA. Adult Air Gun meaning high quality air guns made in Germany, England. Sadly the Beeman's sold their company in April of 1993 to SR Industries who started off ok but slowly diminished Dr. Beeman's vision for the company. In 2009 SR Industries sold Beeman Precision to Industry Brand of Shanghai, China and Beeman Precision was destroyed.

"Real", meaning the new pellets you see today with the Beeman name are Chinese made and are crap, not in the same class as the older vintage Beeman pellets. The earlier listed Jet and Silver Jet pellets were actually lathe turned (probably some form of a screw machine) and made in Japan. Most of the vintage Beeman pellets were made by H&N. The older vintage Beeman pellets are the "real deal"

http://www.beemans.net/
 
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The Hatsan 125 Vortex claims 1000 FPS with lead. Would I likely want to steer away from the lighter ~14 grn pellets? And what of the very heavy H&N Rabbit Magnum II’s that weigh 25.3 grns?

One thing that dawned on me is a pellet trap would allow me to melt these down to add to my lead collection for casting black powder projectiles. Are these lead pellets pure lead or alloyed in any way?
 
I usually shoot the H&N barracuda 30.86 grain in my 125 .25 It chonos at about 850+ using a heavy pellets lighter pellets would give you more fps but less knockdown energy.
I stay away from slugs I personally think they are not as accurate.
Yes they are made from pure lead.
 
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Usually the fps rating nowadays is using the lightest pellet to get the highest fps rating for advertising. Most guns like the H&N Baracudas and weigh 21.14 grains in .22. I have a RWS 52 in .22 and it shoots 14.0gr-ish pretty well but it really likes those Baracudas. You really need a pellet sampler as air guns are like .22RF they can be finicky as to what they like. The heavier 25gr pellets may work well but you really wont know until you try some.

Yes, pellets are normally made out of soft lead and suitable for BP. I do the same and melt the scrap pellets out of my trap.
 
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Usually the fps rating nowadays is using the lightest pellet to get the highest fps rating for advertising. Most guns like the H&N Baracudas and weigh 21.14 grains in .22. I have a RWS 52 in .22 and it shoots 14.0gr-ish pretty well but it really likes those Baracudas. You really need a pellet sampler as air guns are like .22RF they can be finicky as to what they like. The heavier 25gr pellets may work well but you really wont know until you try some.

Yes, pellets are normally made out of soft lead and suitable for BP. I do the same and melt the scrap pellets out of my trap.

I was pursuing the pellets by the brands you mentioned and noticed the great weight variances. I know twist rates work with projectile weights at certain velocities. As is I figured I’d start with the cheap Crosman Premier LDP22, and after that the JSB Diablo and H&N Rabbit Magnum II to see if it has a weight preference.
 
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