20cal or 22cal... sell me on one!

[Ackley Improved]

20cal or 22cal PCP... Will be used for hunting rabbits and birds mainly... the FPE between the two is very close out of the Steyr LG110, and I am guessing the 20cal is a bit flatter.

Pellet choice goes towards 22cal...

Help me choose!

Cheers

[fenring]

I'd be going for .22 in a PCP like that - a bit more energy, a bigger hole in your target and likely to be a far greater range of pellets in stock at your local shop. If you decide you want to use heavies, there is more variety in .22 and the weights are a fair bit higher.

[MISSED]

For what its worth here are my thoughts,

Fast and flat

Choose one pellet

Sight in for best trajectory

Shoot things

[gigitt]

having the choice of more range in .22 pellets only leads to buying confusion from pellet advice/choice.

There are really only a few good pellets to choose from and they are made in both .20 and .22,
there are more crap pellets made in .22

.20 cal is supposidly the best of both worlds when choosing between .177 and .22
choosing between .20 and .22, it chould be easier to just toss a coin to save you a few grey hairs.

Something to consider is looking at a air-rifle that you can buy a second barrel and switch them between .20 and .22 (or even .177 to do target or comps).

Another thing to consider is that if you go with a PCP the shot count is higher per bottle fill with the larger diameter pellets (cause you use less air per shot).
on my Theoben Rapid .20 cal (FAC) I get ~34 shots per 400cc fill, in .22 they get close to double that.

[uncakikki]

I love my .20cal Daystate and would never part with it, but I defy anyone to tell the difference in performance out in the field, under hunting conditions, between .20 and .22. Having said that: it can be a right pain in bum when I'm away somewhere and run short on ammo, going in to the local gunshop for extra supplies is simply out of the question. But then very few LGS carry much in the way of quality air pellets anyway, so when I buy pellets I buy heaps and when travelling away I always make sure that I pack extras and put them in 2 different bags just in case one goes missing somewhere (read the owner loses it ).

[stinkitup]

AI

I have a .20 R9 springer and jsb exacts, predators, and H&N field target and trophy pellets shoot very well out of it. The predators are the pick for game at 14gr are pretty much the heaviest mainstream pellet. There are heavier ones from the korean's, Then there is the exacts, barraccudas and kodiaks all in the 13gr range. With the 22 you will find a lot more over 20 gr, for me I would get a .20, only because I already have a stock pile from lewis of the best .20 cal pellets going

What sort of range? Just birds and rabbits? And I like your choice of a Steyr have always wanted one.

[fenring]

When I went to get .20 ammo for my Sheridan, my LGS had precisely one tin of FTT's at about $25 for 500.

Henceforth I stocked up on ammo from Lewis.

Without that option, feeding it would be a major PITA.

Compare that to around a dozen types of .22 ammo ranging from RWS and Beeman to Gamo and the usual craptastic options...

[Yrrah]

Others have given you a good run-down of for and against.

Here's mine: No present .20 pellet is available that approaches the ballistic coefficient of the best .22s, viz., Baracuda/Kodiaks, JSB 18.1 gr Exacts. Therefore down-range energy and momentum will always favour those particular .22 pellets.

Today's PCP rifles are generally capable of shooting these particular .22 pellets at optimal speed for accuracy of say 850 to 950 fps therefore, given the better BC of the good .22 pellets. The .20 cal best pellets will have no flatness of trajectory advantage from such rifles at those speeds (worse due to lower BC). ...

However if we disregard down-range energy and momentum then .20 rifles, in the power range up to about 15 or 16 fpe, can have an advantage in flatness of trajectory because they will project the lighter .20 pellets to higher velocity than as a .22, and at a velocity still under that at which accuracy may suffer. A case/s in point would be the R9/ HW 95 springer tuned to 15 fpe, or the Sheridan which I love and which will shoot the .20 Crosman Premiers (hard to get now) Kodiak/ Baracudas and JSB Exacts so well.

So, as an opinion - up to 12 fpe or so, .177; say 13 to 16 fpe or maybe a little higher then the .20 may be the go. When it gets to 20 fpe and up then .22 for sure.
At 40 fpe we are looking at the .25 cal with its still better BC in the JSB Kings and Kodiaks.

Just another opinion . ........... Kind regards, Harry.

[Ackley Improved]

Thanks Yrrah. Explained some good stuff right there.

Although keen on the Steyr... the Theoben atill is making it a hard choice! Repeater/single shot dont worry me...

So, what you think? Steyr LG110 HP Hunting or Theoben Rapid MK2?

Cheers

[gigitt]

if you are tossing between the Steyr and Theoben Rapid Mk2... I'd look at the Mk2 as it is 12 shot magazine capable

look at shots per tank size/fill
Fill pressure. Theobens fill to 3000 PSI
Look at how the bottle as filled - unscrew to fill or does it have a quickfill port.

Theoben's quickfill is aftermarket, but having a spare bottle is just handly.

My Theoben TTR is based on the Mk2 (regulated) but has 400cc bottle. I bought a 2nd 400cc bottle and bottle cap and have a hand pump to get some exersise. The 2nd bottle cost me $200 and the pump $380. It beats lugging a expensive 300bar scuba tank around.

Theoben Info: http://www.theoben.co.uk/product.php?pr ... =11&page=1