The difference between .177 and .22 air rifle calibres has confused and frustrated airgun shooters for decades and prompted countless arguments. The fact that nobody has ever arrived at a straight answer suggests that there is no outright winner – and that is probably because they are both equally good and bad in different ways.
Let’s assume that we are talking about UK legal limit sub-12ft/lb airguns and not high power, FAC guns. When I started shooting with air rifles almost 40 years ago, the larger .22 calibre was considered best for hunting – probably just because it was bigger. It is true that the bigger, heavier round will do more damage when it strikes – it is impossible to argue against the basic physics of its knockdown power. The downside with .22 calibre airgun pellets or slugs is that, being heavier and slower, gravity has a greater effect on them, so they drop more quickly as they travel through the air. This means you have to give shots more holdover to maintain accuracy. Experienced hunters who are familiar with the downrange performance of their hardware use .22 to devastating effect in the field.
More recently, there has been a distinct trend towards hunting with .177 calibre. At legal limit, sub-12ft/lb, power levels the smaller calibre has a faster, flatter trajectory than the .22 and consequently necessitates less aim off – so there is less margin for error if you are slightly off with your range estimation. However, because the smaller, lighter.177 round delivers less shock energy than .22, you really do have to ensure that you land your shots in exactly the right place to ensure humane kills.
A third option is the .20 “compromise” calibre. This was initially thought to give the best of both worlds, as it is flies flatter than .22 and hits harder than .177. But it could equally be thought to deliver the worst of both worlds, as it drops faster than .177 and hits softer than .22. Another problem is that choice of ammunition for .20 is limited compared with the two major calibres, so you are limited when finding a pellet or slug that your airgun’s barrel really likes.
If you want a pellet that hits really hard, .25 is an absolute sledgehammer of a calibre. The trouble is that this very heavy round is slow through the air and has a very curved trajectory at sub-12ft/lb. Nonetheless, it is worth considering if you want mighty stopping power for close-range vermin control.
Personally, I favour .177 calibre for most or my hunting with sub-12ft/lb air rifles – if it’s good enough for most serious target shooters, then it’s good enough for me. Its flat flightpath gives me a wider margin for error when working out ranges in the heat of the moment, but the lesser clout means that I strictly limit myself to head shots virtually all of the time.
That said, I have started using .22 calibre more when hunting rats at close to mid-range. At close quarters, the fast little .177 can sometimes drill straight through without making an instant kill – even with head shots – but the heavy .22 round kills rats cleanly every time as long as it is delivered to the skull. The ballistic calculators on modern digital optics are also making it much easier to work with the .22 calibre’s more curved trajectory.
So there you go, even after almost 40 years of airgun shooting, even I can’t give a straight answer when it comes to choosing between .177 and .22 calibres for pest control.
Of course, many shooters want one gun that can be used for various hunting applications – and who can blame them? In this case, final calibre selection usually boils down to personal choice, and .177 or .22 will serve you well, as long as you put in the practice and learn how to use aim-off properly. If you’re an experienced hunter who is already enjoying success with a specific calibre – be it .177, .20, .22 or .25 – my advice is to stick with what you know. If you are just starting out, I would advise you to join a club and try to get a feel for both calibres before buying your own gun. You will probably find that you get on better with one calibre than the other, and there is no wrong choice.
Bigger barrel calibres come to the fore with high-power airguns. Their increased energy and potential for much faster muzzle velocities makes bigger, heavy pellets and slugs more viable – indeed, the increased weight is an advantage for stabilising airgun pellets and slugs at high speed.
In the world of high-power airguns, .22 calibre is far from large, .25 ammo is fairly standard and many shooters regularly use airgun pellets and slugs in .30 and .35 calibres.
It can all get very confusing but, whatever power you are working with, experimentation is part of the fun of airgun shooting. We never stop learning, and the airgun calibre debate will probably never stop rumbling in – especially when it comes to .177 vs .22.
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First published on 12th January 2025
