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Heavy .22 vs .25 What are your thoughts?!

That's exactly it, my go to plinkers are the .177 springers...ammo cost is peanuts! .22 or .25 is more $$ but not bad. I'd cringe shooting an afternoon of paper & plinking with a .30, plus I'd have to air up halfway through...something I've never done (other than when tuning the ghost recently). If I run out of air, I usually grab another rifle. 2 tins of 300 .25 ammo would probably last me a year of testing, pesting, and plinking with some paper to boot.
Is just nice to have options😊
Yeah I feel you. Is $40 for 400 Franco slugs for my 250z… this EQ with a 22 round magazine is like showing up to the buffet like a fatty with munchies haha. The girl just loves to feast haha.
 
I love all of my .25s. I believe that bigger holes kill better. But I have to say that my 22 Condor was a hoot shooting 40 grain slugs and could do anything my 25s could do shooting 34 grain pellets. I guess the bottom line is what do you want to do with it and how much energy and penetration do you need to do it well and how much is too much. You did not mention what you will be after using a 25 and heavy slugs can sometimes cause problems with over penetration.
 
I love all of my .25s. I believe that bigger holes kill better. But I have to say that my 22 Condor was a hoot shooting 40 grain slugs and could do anything my 25s could do shooting 34 grain pellets. I imagine that the new Condor slug gun would do well in either caliber. I guess the bottom line is what do you want to do with it and how much energy and penetration do you need to do it well and how much is too much. You did not mention what you will be after using a 25 and heavy slugs can sometimes cause problems with over penetration.
I mentioned it here and there in the thread but I'll make it official. Biggest pests i deal with on my property are coons. Both my .22 pcps have bagged one (S510 multiple shots, Ghost was 1 to the dome and lights out)
I shoot paper alot but would reserve that mostly for the smaller calibers. Then there is some light competition with a friend and one brother & their rimfires (I'm THAT guy who shows up with the pcps) And i like to shoot a ton of random things and see the devastation. Laptops, different gauge steel, car parts/panels, wood, my phones/charger that quit working....you name it. Bypassing the .25 and going .30 or .357 is an option is suppose but I feel....I really want a .25!🤩 The slug barreled condor is pretty high on the list right now I'll admit.
Lastly...these could all be just poor excuses to mask that im hopelessly addicted and I just want another pcp with mo powa!😂
 
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I mentioned it here and there in the thread but I'll make it official. Biggest pests i deal with on my property are coons. Both my .22 pcps have bagged one (S510 multiple shots, Ghost was 1 to the dome and lights out)
I shoot paper alot but would reserve that mostly for the smaller calibers. Then there is some light competition with a friend and one brother & their rimfires (I'm THAT guy who shows up with the pcps) And i like to shoot a ton of random things and see the devastation. Laptops, different gauge steel, car parts/panels, wood, my phones/charger that quit working....you name it. Bypassing the .25 and going .30 or .357 is an option is suppose but I feel....I really want a .25!🤩 The slug barreled condor is pretty high on the list right now I'll admit.
Lastly...these could all be just poor excuses to mask that im hopelessly addicted and I just want another pcp with mo powa!😂
You already shoot a springer and so you’re not opposed to a single shot. I’d shoot my TalonP more if it had a higher shot count and the Condor doesn’t have that limitation. The Air Force, has power, accuracy, reliability and an enduring design. Relatively speaking, it’s Inexpensive compared to Ghosts etc.. The slug barrel is the icing on the cake. If the Condor shoots slugs like the TalonP shoots JSB MKII pellets, it will be a very accurate pest gun.
 
I mentioned it here and there in the thread but I'll make it official. Biggest pests i deal with on my property are coons. Both my .22 pcps have bagged one (S510 multiple shots, Ghost was 1 to the dome and lights out)
I shoot paper alot but would reserve that mostly for the smaller calibers. Then there is some light competition with a friend and one brother & their rimfires (I'm THAT guy who shows up with the pcps) And i like to shoot a ton of random things and see the devastation. Laptops, different gauge steel, car parts/panels, wood, my phones/charger that quit working....you name it. Bypassing the .25 and going .30 or .357 is an option is suppose but I feel....I really want a .25!🤩 The slug barreled condor is pretty high on the list right now I'll admit.
Lastly...these could all be just poor excuses to mask that im hopelessly addicted and I just want another pcp with mo powa!😂
Just be aware— ive seen guys that shoot brilliantly with 177 that don’t do as well with 25 or 30 why ? Recoil !
 
At equal FPE without pass through, the same amount of energy is transferred. But I think .22 would penetrate more. .25 would "hit harder" as others have mentioned. But if same energy is transferred.. is there a difference?
 
These discussions are always interesting to me. I appreciate the different perspectives and opinions, even the anecdotal "evidence." At the same time, it feels a bit frustrating. Like the debate about the "best" deer rifle caliber or cartridge. The real answer seems to be: "it depends...."

Used to be, the debate was about .177 vs. .20 vs. .22. Now we are debating .22 vs. .25 vs. .30. 🙂
So many more choices for us airgun shooters these days. 😆
 
Yeah I feel you. Is $40 for 400 Franco slugs for my 250z… this EQ with a 22 round magazine is like showing up to the buffet like a fatty with munchies haha. The girl just loves to feast haha.
Where's the best place to purchase the Franco slugs? I have the 250z 22 on the way. I want to try them when it gets here or very soon afterward! Thanks man.
 
Well then, given what I know now, I would say that a .25 is a great choice for you. They do a great job on racoons. The Airforce Escape models in .25 are all great guns and powerful but only about 10 good shots, same with the Tallon P. The Condors have a lot of shots and power and a bit more weight. The talon is just for plinking, no power. One overlooked really nice .25 that I love is the Seneca Eagle Claw carbine it is reasonably priced, accurate, powerful, and I have never had a bit of trouble with mine and it is a blast to shoot. Very smooth action and it looks great. The full-size version is even more powerful but getting up in weight.
 
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With penetration, momentum plays a big role. If 2 pellets of the same style like hollow points are fired at the same velocity the heaviest will penetrate farther. Even at a slower velocity the heavier one can penetrate father because of momentum up to a point. I compare it to an 18-wheeler and a Volkswagen Beetle. That is why archers shooting a long bow for deer hunting use a very heavy arrow and broadhead combination compared to what someone with a compound bow would be using. The heavy combination while going slower will penetrate just as deeply with the right combination because of the momentum. In terms of killing a racoon, sure some .22s can do it no problem but every .25 will do it no question about it.
 
With penetration, momentum plays a big role. If 2 pellets of the same style like hollow points are fired at the same velocity the heaviest will penetrate farther. Even at a slower velocity the heavier one can penetrate father because of momentum up to a point. I compare it to an 18-wheeler and a Volkswagen Beetle. That is why archers shooting a long bow for deer hunting use a very heavy arrow and broadhead combination compared to what someone with a compound bow would be using. The heavy combination while going slower will penetrate just as deeply with the right combination because of the momentum. In terms of killing a racoon, sure some .22s can do it no problem but every .25 will do it no question about it.
The best example that I have ever seen of this, was on Mythbusters. A .50 cal vs. a shotgun slug, shot into the water of a swimming pool. If you have not seen it, go check it out on YouTube. The level of the difference stunned me, and I have shot quite a bit of both. The physics behind this was also explained once in an article on big game cartridges used in Africa in an outdoor magazine that I read once. At just a certain speed, which I don't remember but it was around 1100-1200fps, the mass slips through without creating shock wall that slows it. I didn't quite believe that when I first read it, as a kid, but I certainly do now. A much less drastic example, for me personally, is the 25gr King vs. the 34gr MkII. The difference braining woodchucks is night and day. Speed thrills, mass kills.
 
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With penetration, momentum plays a big role. If 2 pellets of the same style like hollow points are fired at the same velocity the heaviest will penetrate farther. Even at a slower velocity the heavier one can penetrate father because of momentum up to a point. I compare it to an 18-wheeler and a Volkswagen Beetle. That is why archers shooting a long bow for deer hunting use a very heavy arrow and broadhead combination compared to what someone with a compound bow would be using. The heavy combination while going slower will penetrate just as deeply with the right combination because of the momentum. In terms of killing a racoon, sure some .22s can do it no problem but every .25 will do it no question about it.
That's exactly it. I live just before town on an acre and a half roughly. If I shoot a coon I want it DEAD not wandering over, wounded to the neighbors. I have confidence in my ghost with Mrds @ 975fps.... But....what would a 33.9gr @950fps do? If I get an AF its full size Condor or nothing, I want a gun that i will inevitably tear apart and play with, something that has raw power, decent s-p-f (20 minimum), and doesn't cost what my Ghost did, it will become my night hunting gun too....all that dovetail real-estate is asking for a light/lazer mounted! Weight is a non issue, both my favorite offhanders are past 10 pounds with scopes. Single loading a .25 pellet in the dark is nothing compared to a .177😆
 

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