Air rifle power.

Polish-Jack

Polish-Jack

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
29   0   0
Location
Kelowna, B.C. Canada
First of all of I'd like to say that I know very little about air rifles. I know they're are two calibers, 177 and 22 and there are rifles that use compressed gas and rifles that use springs. That's it.

I've recently become more interested in air rifles after watching some British YouTube channels and it looks like they have some oomph behind what they are shooting. My question for the air gunners here is: Are there any air rifles that have 22lr energy levels?
 
You should be looking specifically at PCP type of airguns. Many of them are larger than 22 cal and WAY more powerful than 22lr.

But I don't really see any advantage. You still require PAL, it might be even more louder than 22lr and more expensive than 10/22 plus you have to have some accessories to recharge it.
 
There are are air rifles larger than .22 caliber... and more powerful than a .22 LR.

https://www.airforceairguns.com/The-Texan-by-AirForce-Airguns-s/118.htm
 
OkayShooter said:
You need a 25 cal or larger airgun to come slightly below 22LR power.
Click to expand...

Yup, .22lr standard velocity blows anything less out of the water otherwise. Hell .22 short probably has significantly more fp/e. Those airguns are also much louder than most people expect. With some of the larger airguns designed for hunting you can get similar performance to .45 ACP and well beyond. Most if not all of the ones I can recall are bulky and somewhat complex though.
 
So all of your comments have led me down a rabbit hole of reading. Apparently there are more than just the two calibers and there are slugs as well as pellets. And most firearm air rifles seem to have a velocity limit of about 900 to 1100 fps with very light pellets. What's with the speed limit? What's going on there?
 
If you want really good info on airguns check out Pyramid Air. They are a US retailer but have numerous videos and other information. Then just do a search for Canadian retailers and go from there. As for the limit on power it has to do with propulsion, you can't just load more powder in them! TC
 
Polish-Jack said:
So all of your comments have led me down a rabbit hole of reading. Apparently there are more than just the two calibers and there are slugs as well as pellets. And most firearm air rifles seem to have a velocity limit of about 900 to 1100 fps with very light pellets. What's with the speed limit? What's going on there?
Click to expand...

It isn't all about speed, accuracy is more important ... speed is limited when you use an unlubricated lead pellet. Keeping velocity under 1000 f/s also increases accuracy as the pellet does not break the speed of sound in either direction after leaving the barrel.
 
There are 22 slug shooters getting basically the same FPE as 22lr. Shot count is low and noise is not much less than 22lr.

There is the potential for higher BC and better ES/SD from air but that's just starting to happen, hardly mainstream and it's not happening in a rifle you'd be walking around with.
 
big bore airguns have more energy than .22lr.

However it is tough to compare a "powder burner" as the high power airguns compared apples to apples will be heavier, more expensive and have less "power". The UK has a big airgun scene because anything under 12FPE is not a "firearm" according to their laws. 12FPE is more than enough to hunt small game with well placed pellets.

For hunting a Precharged Pneumatic (PCP) in .22 or .25 will give the best results. For targets the .177 typically rules. Depending on the discipline there can be energy limits- and the insane precision stuff (olympics) normally is using quite low velocities and energy.

The speed limits really are about the accuracy and some physics about the speed of sound. Basically once you start pushing pellets supersonic the accuracy tends to go sideways fast. This is mostly due to the way the pressure is generated in an Airgun vs a powder burner and the peak pressures possible. To get supersonic pellets some funky stuff happens and nothing good comes from it. The answer is to increase pellet weight to keep velocities in the good window (since most powerplants are not adjustable, increasing pellet weight slows the muzzle velocity).

The nice thing about airguns is that once you've paid for your nice rig 5000 rounds of high end match ammo comes in for less than $200... You can shoot a 12fpe springer all day, not bother the neighbors and it will only cost you a few $ maximum... Getting a springer to shoot accurately will make you a better shot overall. They are unforgiving of bad technique.
 
Grantmac said:
There are 22 slug shooters getting basically the same FPE as 22lr. Shot count is low and noise is not much less than 22lr.

There is the potential for higher BC and better ES/SD from air but that's just starting to happen, hardly mainstream and it's not happening in a rifle you'd be walking around with.
Click to expand...

22 LR is a vague. As velocity for 22LR varies from 400 to 1600 FPS. Its something I brought up to the province to try and allow airguns for small game hunting. As they only say 22 Rimfire. So people could legally use the 20grn 400 FPS ammo, but not allowed to use a Airgun shooting15grn at 650 FPS.

Thing is alot of countries allow the use of moderators or internal suppressed airguns, so they may sound quieter. I can tell you my KRAL 3000 psi, shooting a 20gr heavy at 800 fps was louder than a CCI quiet.
 
luckythirteen said:
accuracy is key, over power.
a regulated PCP gives consistency that can lend to better accuracy
yeah its a rabbit hole
Click to expand...

Yeah, and that's when the $$ argument start to fall apart
- John want to get into airgun because it's cheaper
- - John realize that the power and accuracy wanted, will mean investing in a quality airgun... But that's OK, ammo will still be cheap.
- - - John realize that cheap pellets shoot like crap when pushed too fast...
- - - - John realize that accurate pellets/slugs are just as expensive as 22lr ammo...
 
Match slugs are nowhere near as expensive as low to mid tier match 22lr ammo.
The question that remains is matching the performance.
 
A heavy 22 cal pellet is half the weight of a 40 grain 22 LR projectile. A PCP rifle shoots very accurately, but often optimally at 800-900 fps. That gives it some punch out to maybe 50 yards max. Not to say you can't drive the pellets at a much higher velocity, but they don't seem to be as accurate. I have a cheap Hatsun 22 cal pcp and I keep it at around 800 fps. It will easily shoot 3/4" groups at 50 yards with a decent pellet (JSB jumbo heavy 18 gr). I tested it against tuna tins, and it will go through 7 single layers of tins (bottoms).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom