💢 Talk me into KEEPING a .25cal PCP! — What does .25cal do that .22cal can't?

[JungleShooter]

Seriously:

Talk me into KEEPING a .25cal PCP!​

What does .25cal do that .22cal can't?​

I wanted a gun that trashes the feral pigeons in a spectacular manner.
But no hollow point or slug I have tried — even at 60+ FPE — could accomplish that.

So, now I have a .25cal P2
Prophet II Compact Performance
with 500mm RPB [slug] barrel—
and I wonder what I should use this gun for....
What does my .25cal do that my .22cal P1
Prophet I Compact Performance
with 400mm CZ barrel
does not...?


Help me out — am I missing something?

Maybe I AM missing something — because I have noted a lot of airgunners that buy
compact .25cal PCPs.

➊
Pigeons out to 100y:
Both P1 and P2 shoot with precision, and they shoot slugs. Dead is dead.

➋
Bigger game:
In Peru we don't get to shoot much bigger game than ducks, hares, and vizcachas:
Both P1 and P2 would kill them fine. Dead is dead.

➌
Long range shooting — say 200y:
The P1 will do OK out to 100y.
On my first try the P2 did a pretty good group with ATP Smooth slugs.
But the 500 compact barrel seems a limitation....

➍
Better BC:
What surprised me is that .25cal pellets usually don't have a better BC than .22cal pellets (the .25 Heavy dome at 33.95gr being the exception).
So, no big advantage there....

➎
What am I forgetting?



What does my .25cal do that my .22cal does not...?

Thanks,

Matthias

 

[PasadenaMike]

It’s preference brother. Try it and find out for yourself. Only you know what your needs are no one can convince you to go in any direction. I know my .25s are hammers vs my smaller calibers.

 

[Luis Leon]

OK then, “KEEP” the .25 and get rid of your .22s… But then I believe you already know the answer to “your” question…

 

[pan60]

i like my .22 guns
not sure i have a need for a .25 persanaly if i need larger i will going on up beyond the .25

 

[Dogowski]

Seriously:
Talk me into KEEPING a .25cal PCP!

What does .25cal do that .22cal can't?​

I wanted a gun that trashes the feral pigeons in a spectacular manner.
But no hollow point or slug I have tried — even at 60+ FPE — could accomplish that.

So, now I have a .25cal P2
Prophet II Compact Performance
with 500mm RPB [slug] barrel—
and I wonder what I should use this gun for....
What does my .25cal do that my .22cal P1
Prophet I Compact Performance
with 400mm CZ barrel
does not...?


Help me out — am I missing something?

Maybe I AM missing something — because I have noted a lot of airgunners that buy
compact .25cal PCPs.

➊
Pigeons out to 100y:
Both P1 and P2 shoot with precision, and they shoot slugs. Dead is dead.

➋
Bigger game:
In Peru we don't get to shoot much bigger game than ducks, hares, and vizcachas:
Both P1 and P2 would kill them fine. Dead is dead.

➌
Long range shooting — say 200y:
The P1 will do OK out to 100y.
On my first try the P2 did a pretty good group with ATP Smooth slugs.
But the 500 compact barrel seems a limitation....

➍
Better BC:
What surprised me is that .25cal pellets usually don't have a better BC than .22cal pellets (the .25 Heavy dome at 33.95gr being the exception).
So, no big advantage there....

➎
What am I forgetting?



What does my .25cal do that my .22cal does not...?

Thanks,

Matthias

For me 22 caliber is fine around the property for pest birds and rabbits. If I want to slam a groundhog with authority I break out the 25 cal. That's why I have both at the ready depending on the pesting situation. If it's just precision target shooting I mostly use the 22 as it's less expensive to shoot.

 

[Chief55]

For me there are three main reasons for using 25's. First, as I get older it is more difficult for me to handle and load the smaller ammo. Second, I get a lot of racoons and possums on my land and occasionally have to take one getting into the chicken coop and I like the extra power. Third, I find that even with pretty strong winds, at moderate ranges like 30 yards my pellets are not really affected enough to be any kind of a problem.

 

[Hateful McNasty]

That's almost as funny as guys going with .20 ... lol.

 

[Danman]

Yip hard for us to answer for you but I'd agree with everyone else....keep both?! I have a .22 @ 55FPEand it is no joke. But I can imagine a .25 still being better for large ground hog/racoon sized critters. For the birds and ducks .22 is definitely fine! I comfortably would go up to 100Y with a HP .22 gun with decent bc ammo (Mrds or slugs for example) Strickly hunting I'd probably stay with .25 but plinking and paper is nicer with .22 cost wise of course.

 

[JungleShooter]

Yeah, like I mentioned, my local quarry is lil'ol critters, mostly with feathers.....
➠ So, not much gain when shooting a larger than .22 caliber — dead is dead....


The issue of handling tiny pellets with larger, ageing fingers was one issue to steer me away from .177cal.
➠ But .22cal is fine for now....


The suggestion to keep both is well intentioned.
➠ However, my play money isn't plenty — and having "duplicate" guns is probably not the best way to use those funds....


I appreciate all your comments. Thank you.
And I'm open to yet other perspectives, on .25 advantages of .22, or on really trashing those trash birds, etc. etc.

Matthias

 

[JungleShooter]

Delete

 

[JungleShooter]

Hi Brad,

I appreciate your detailed post and the time and thought you gave to my question.

I assure you, I'm not trying "to get a rise out of people"!
I am really struggling with the decision of already getting rid of a gun that I just recently bought...!


I'll respond to Donnie's video (Baker Airguns):

Go to “You Tube” .com [video by] Baker AirGuns , .30 cal Sv .25 cal! Basically the .25 is more superior to the .30.
The proof is in Bakers video and ballistic gel. That the .25 hits like a .30 (way bigger then .22, but also shoots as flat as .22)!

I really appreciate all the work that Donnie has done. Great guy.

For those who don't want to watch the video but quickly get the facts in writing, here's the link:

Is a .30 caliber airgun REALLY deadlier than a .25? (SURPRISING RESULTS!) - Baker Airguns

Hi everybody. I'm Donnie Reed from Baker Airguns, and I'm about to piss A LOT of you off. Please keep in mind that your hostility should not be directed at me, but rather at the laws of physics. I am not in charge of the laws of physics. I just study them to learn more about what is REALLY...

www.bakerairguns.com

HOWEVER, we also need to recognize that Donnie's caliber comparison test is done in a very particular manner — that will suit certain shooting scenarios — and not others (and Donnie says so clearly ):

➊ He used the same power for both .25cal and .30cal.
Which is far from normal.
●.25cal —— 70FPE —— 965fps —— 33.95gr
●.30cal —— 70FPE —— 843fps —— 44.75gr

●70FPE in a .25cal is high power.
●70FPE in a .30cal is low power.


➋ He measured depth of penetration.
Penetration is important when you try a heart/lung shot on a coyote. But my shooting scenario (like that of most hunters) is small game hunting — that does not require much penetration at all....: Instead, I wanted explosive hollow point expansion. In a pigeon.

BTW: If Donnie had used hollow points, the .25cal would have expanded in ballistic gel — due to its much higher velocity — and the .30 probably would not have expanded.



Thanks again,
Cheers,

Matthias

 

[Danman]

Hi Brad,

I appreciate your detailed post and the time and thought you gave to my question.

I assure you, I'm not trying "to get a rise out of people"!
I am really struggling with the decision of already getting rid of a gun that I just recently bought...!


I'll respond to Donnie's video (Baker Airguns):



I really appreciate all the work that Donnie has done. Great guy.

For those who don't want to watch the video but quickly get the facts in writing, here's the link:

Is a .30 caliber airgun REALLY deadlier than a .25? (SURPRISING RESULTS!) - Baker Airguns

Hi everybody. I'm Donnie Reed from Baker Airguns, and I'm about to piss A LOT of you off. Please keep in mind that your hostility should not be directed at me, but rather at the laws of physics. I am not in charge of the laws of physics. I just study them to learn more about what is REALLY...

www.bakerairguns.com

HOWEVER, we also need to recognize that Donnie's caliber comparison test is done in a very particular manner — that will suit certain shooting scenarios — and not others (and Donnie says so clearly ):

➊ He used the same power for both .25cal and .30cal.
Which is far from normal.
●.25cal —— 70FPE —— 965fps —— 33.95gr
●.30cal —— 70FPE —— 843fps —— 44.75gr

●70FPE in a .25cal is high power.
●70FPE in a .30cal is low power.


➋ He measured depth of penetration.
Penetration is important when you try a heart/lung shot on a coyote. But my shooting scenario (like that of most hunters) is small game hunting — that does not require much penetration at all....: Instead, I wanted explosive hollow point expansion. In a pigeon.

BTW: If Donnie had used hollow points, the .25cal would have expanded in ballistic gel — due to its much higher velocity — and the .30 probably would not have expanded.



Thanks again,
Cheers,

Matthias

Hey I have 2 PCPs in 22 and sometimes (very rarely) I wonder why I bought a second!? .22 has way more ammo options, cheaper ammo, better BC, higher FPS possibilities, better shot count usually, and if your after birds 95% of the time I'd go .22, it's never failed me.

 

[Arzrover]

My personal use is probably more 20 cal than anything in past year or so for reasons @Franklink and I have detailed. Prior to that it was mostly MRD's in 22 for the long range comps. The longest GOOD shots I've made have been with the 2018 vintage MRD's at just short of 300 yards... those were still stable and falling in predictably. The 33.4s in 25 cal seemed to fall apart somewhere just past 200 but were fairly equal at that point. Since then, the MRD's went bad and weren't stable much past 150 in the same rifles and had pretty big fliers out of every rifle I was using them in. The current JSB's and JTS' may change that but I've not invested much recently because of the amount I already have on hand.
With that background, in my small number of comps in recent past I've chosen the 25, 33.4s because they don't seem to have as large of fliers. This is the ONLY reason I have to use a 25. If I hunted, I'd still choose the 22... the 25 doesn't offer much more in my experience. I like the lower cost and lower air use of the 22 but even at that, would probably choose the 20 cal, 18.9 slugs instead where they're allowed. The 15.89s in 20 cal aren't much behind the MRD's and I would DEFINITELY choose those over the 22, 18.1s...

Good luck on your decision.. I have some similar choices to make because of too much inventory and not enough time to use them all...

Bob

 

[Hateful McNasty]

I'd shoot anything , but it comes down to convinance and affordable. .177 and .22 offer that easy where the rest don't .. a lot of guys like playing the mail order game I don't . Think last time I had to order ammo for my stuff was covid days once ... All that rest is interesting but I got to go with I shoot to my convenance not the guns .. if my poor ol .177 or .22 ain't enough , well I got pb's to take and make up that slack easy ..lol

 

[Farmplinker2]

Sounds like you need a .35.

 

[PasadenaMike]

Sounds like you need a .35.

lol I kept wanting to put that

 

[JungleShooter]

lol. I kept wanting to put that.

Farmplinker and Mike!

don't you give me any ideas...!!
You zip this talk of .35cal right now before I get myself in trouble, financial and otherwise...!!

Matthias





Man, this place is dangerous...!
Filled with people that give you bad ideas — that sound so GOOD!

 

[PasadenaMike]

Farmplinker and Mike!

don't you give me any ideas...!!
You zip this talk of .35cal right now before I get myself in trouble, financial and otherwise...!!

Matthias





Man, this place is dangerous...!
Filled with people that give you bad ideas — that sound so GOOD!

lol we’re all addicts and we really don’t help each other. $19/100 pellets. This isn’t Airoholics Anonymous it’s Airoholics United. Variety is the spice of life. I have them from .177-.357 and they all get a workout

 

[GHairgunner]

I was waiting for you to admit you brought the 25 out to shoot but brought the 22 ammo and magazines.

 

[PasadenaMike]

No I have a very organized way of doing things where such things don’t happen. Every gun has a canvas bank/money bag that has the magazines, fill probes and some spares that goes along.