Posted this on the Yellow the .25 crowd is going to be mad!
Well I have been playing with airguns since the 70’s and have learned about springers, CO2, pumpers, and 4 years ago started with PCP’s.
Airguns I have worked on and learned from just to show I am not just a newbie getting into this sport.
My springers past and present:
Telly .177 miss that one
Raven .177
HW 35 .177
British Patriot .22
BSA Meteor .22
QB-57 .177
Webley Typhoon .177
Webley Junior .177
JAP .177
My CO2’s past and present:
Crosman Single Action .22 bone handle grips
Crosman SA6 .22 pearl grips
Crosman CR150 X 2 .22
Crosman Mk1 .22
Crosman 38T .177
Crosman 2240 .22
Crosman 2250 .22 bulk
Drozd .177 BB bulk
Pumper:
Crosman 1400
PCP:
Airforce Condor .22/.25
So about a year ago I decided to use the Airforce modular design as a test bed which would allow me to do various side by side tests but with only one airgun.
Test 1: Changed the 24″ .22 to a 12″ .22 barrel to do a side by side evaluation of 30 ft lbs compared to 55-60 ft lbs.
On paper the 12″ choked .22 LW barrel proved more accurate then I had expected. Using .22 (5.52) JSB’s or washed Crosman .22 Premiers would yield one shot groups at 25 and 50 yards. But what I did notice was the lighter 14 to 16 grain pellets did not shoot well in wind gusts or anchor gophers as opposed to 21 to 42 grain pellets. It has become clear that the heavier projectiles and greater mass made poor shot placement (result of wind gusts) more effective due to the increased delivered kinetic energy to the pest. Using heavier pellets I was still able to generate 30 ft lbs even at 100 yards as opposed to less than 10 ft lbs of energy with 30 ft lbs. We could actually see the POI moving with wind gusts!
Test 2: Factory LW standard rifled choked .22 LW 24″ barrel.
This barrel is incredible, now I did have friend recrown the barrel because he offered but what I found was this barrel really likes the longer heavier pellets that are available. The Kodiaks and 28.4/32 grain Eun Jins all proved VERY accurate and were used past 120 yards (launched between 940 and 1000 fps) effectively on gophers even in the wind. Using heavier .22 pellets really closed the gap in comparison to the .25 option and as it always is windy on the Prairies and heavier pellets are a must!!
Test 3: LW Polygonal .25 choked 23.8″ barrel.
Okay Woody at LW suggested I use this type of barrel as opposed to standard rifling and I have found a few things that I do not like. The Polygonal barrel is SUPER pellet sensitive!!! I pushed a Beeman .25 Crow Mag and Kodiak down the barrel and it had little to NO resistance until the choke?? The .25 Eun Jin was a tight fit and took real effort to push all the way thru the barrel. Crow Mags grouped horrible with Kodiaks grouping pretty good but the 37 and 42 grain Eun Jins were 1 holers at 50 yards.
I suspect the better BC and heavier weight of the Eun Jins helped during the wind gusts as Kodiaks will group well with no wind.
Test 4: .22 (21 to 32 grain) vs .25 (26 to 42 grain) pellets.
On paper they both did as expected, using Chairgun and STP the .25 appears to reign supreme at longer distances but field testing proved otherwise.
Taking into the consideration the cost and availability of .25 pellets, overall effectiveness on gophers at distances between 25 and 124 yards I have to say the 21 to 32 grain .22 pellets close the gap so much that I have gone back to using my .22 barrel.
Today I spent 6 hours testing both the .25 and .22 barrels (performed 5 minute barrel swaps in my Jeep)on my Condor using a variety of different pellets both on paper and on pests and for overall effectiveness, value, and cost of shooting the 21 grain .22 Kodiaks prevailed. For sheer power and reach the 28.4 and 32 grain .22 Eun Jins were hammers!!! My last shot was on a gopher in heavy wind lasered at 80 yards and the 32 grain .22 EJ (950 fps) struck the gopher in the neck and instantly dropped it!! It threw up so much dirt behind it I thought I had missed until I retrieved it from the hole it fell in.
So I will keep my .25 barrel for the heavy stuff and for solid slugs but for pesting my Condor is back to the tried and true .22 LW configuration.
Randy
All Replies
Critter,
Have you slugged that .25 poly? I’m told the Eun Jins run large, maybe I should recommend .253 for the poly barrels?
Rob,
The 9 rings run about 88-89gr!
My .25 Poly has been a mixed blessing. It HATES Kodiaks (waaaay loose), but one-holes domed EJs like nothing else. I recently did 170yd. shooting on tin cans and it was no problem at all…… I’m pleased
Thats guys for the feedback. I will never get rid of my .25 barrel as the option is great especially for that added power most airgunners can only dream of.
As I only hunt gophers and magpies the 55 ft lbs of .22 Eun Jins and even the .22 Kodiaks work just fine and are a bit of overkill at times.
The point I guess I was making was was keep the .25 option for the really big stuff and makeuse of the heavy ammo of the .22 variety that most airguns cannot push.
Seems my Polygonal .25 barrel likes the tight stuff whereas the .22 LW standard rifling likes any 5.52 stuff with JSB’s shot at 950 fps getting the tightest group. The 12″ barrel did not seems to like the heavy stuff but upon closer examination my SS endcap was getting clipped initially.
All in all it’s the fact we have choices with these airguns and when they are dialed in they are killers in the field I have taken WAY more gophers with my Condor this year then my .22 rimfire Anshutz as I can shoot in more places with a lower report.
12″ barrel 25/50 yd groups: Had a bad scope as well!!!
Randy
I bet most of you folks won’t agree with me on this.
Regards,
Marc
why not?
Yes, I think it’s fairly common that the best accuracy comes at around the 900-950fps mark… which is why we keep getting bigger projectiles. We had the 31gr Kodiaks, then the 42gr Eun Jins, now we have Jerry making slugs up to 74gr.
I’ve found the .25 poly barrels shoot best at about 850 to 950fps. As do most .22 btw. ‘My view is this. upto 35 footpounds go .22 Than there is a bit of nothing and then we step up to .25 for 50 to 60 footpounds.
I bet most of you folks won’t agree with me on this.
Regards,
Marc
.22/.25 good combo, .25 is overkill for most stuff here not to mention pellets cost a bit more. .22 works well for most pests. Finally got my .25 can’t wait to shoot it! It will be my pig gun should the opportunity arise. The .22 will do for all around the house action.
I’d still be .25 only if YN hadnt given me a spare frame.
After putting together a 2nd rifle in .22, I dont shoot the .25 much but I still think its better for most game.
this is exact reason why I kept my 18inch .22 TSS with tune and shroud and Instead of converting to .25….. I just ordered custom built .25 Condor from AirHog so I can have them both ready to shoot !!!
I just cant wait for my .25 to show up! I HATE waiting!!!
I guess I’m still waiting on the unqualified thumbs up for a .25 poly barrel. I guess I might have noted that I’m more interested in the .25 than .22 before. Still a good data point though.
As far as I know the Premiers or JSB’s don’t come in 25 cal so I’m guessing .22.
WOKs barrel is in .22
As far as I know the Premiers or JSB’s don’t come in 25 cal so I’m guessing .22.
Well there you go then! Is that a .22 or .25 poly barrel?
2 thumbs up here. My 16″ Poly barrel from Talon Tunes is a tack driver with CP’s, JBS and Kodiaks.
If the target is within 100yds it is dead 😉
I think if the .25 poly barrel was allowing head shots, Paul would have been delighted with it!
That’s one of the data points that keeps me from recommending the poly barrel. You just don’t hear about laser like accuracy with them. I’m sure someone has had good luck but it doesn’t seem to be widespread.
I’ve read about lots of folks thrilled with the performance of their LW regular .25 barrels.
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Nope, but I’ll do that right now….
Edit: Calipers are MIA, I’ll PM you when I find them