.22 or air rifle?

[Dogga85]

Hey guys,

Looking at either a .22 rimfire or high powered .177 air rifle, pretty much for fun practice shooting out the back as well as taking out some small rodents/pest birds that the .223 is overkill for... Want it to be quiet and cheapish (was hoping for around $400)

I'm obviously not a person who knows everything about guns haha. What would you recommend, whats the pro's / cons?

Thanks in advance guys

[Mr.Seacucumber]

.22 or air rifle...Yes

[southeast varmiter]

22 with subsonic ammo will outperform any air rifle, and can be more quiet too.
Winchester Z ammo.

[brett1868]

Depends on how much space you have out the back...you don't want to be using either if there's a risk of the projectile leaving the boundary.

[AusTac]

For that, .22 for sure

[happyhunter]

Hey guys,

Looking at either a .22 rimfire or high powered .177 air rifle, pretty much for fun practice shooting out the back
Thanks in advance guys

What do you mean by "out the back"?

[sandgroperbill]

As asked above, how much space are we talking? If you're talking the backyard, neither is appropriate unless we're talking a very big back yard or it backs onto a paddock or something like that.

If we're talking a paddock, orchard, vineyard or hobby farm, then they may be appropriate. But if we're talking about destroying pest birds, just remember that what goes up must come down and may travel a decent distance to do so.

Just remember, safety trumps any and all other considerations

[Dogga85]

Sorry guys, by out the back i mean acres of bush with a hill behind that. Not a person or house in sight.

[wade06]

In that case i'd say get a 22LR for sure.
They are just more flexible with very low velocity "quiet" ammo right up to 1600fps stingers.
From 10c per round they are still pretty cheap to run and don't need much maintenance.

[bladeracer]

Hey guys,

Looking at either a .22 or high powered air rifle, pretty much for fun practice shooting out the back as well as taking out some small rodents/pest birds that the .223 is overkill for... Want it to be quiet and cheapish (was hoping for around $400)

I'm obviously not a person who knows everything about guns haha. What would you recommend, whats the pro's / cons?

Thanks in advance guys

I've been considering getting an air rifle just for the shed rats, but you're paying as much as you would for a .22.
I think the .22LR offers much greater versatility though so I haven't bothered.
CCI Quiet Segmented HP only runs about 710fps but will still penetrate corrugated steel sheet out to about 165m - in my own test. At that range the CCI Quiet 40gn HP is doing just under 600fps with about 31ft/lb energy. A 14gn .22 pellet doing 900fps only makes about 25ft/lb at the muzzle. Anybody know how far out an air rifle pellet will still penetrate corrugated steel sheeting? I think I'll grab some .22 pellets and see how well they go with .22LR shells emptied of bullet and powder
.
If I could get the Winchester Z-Longs to shoot well enough I'd be interested to see how they go with the lighter 29gn bullet carrying nearly 20% less energy.

[Deacon]

Grab a cheap .22 and a box of cci quiets. My local sells quiets for $6 a box and norinco jw-15 for 250ish with a scope included. Nothing flash but will get the job done and you won't feel bad if you hurt it.
Another option out of left field, you could look at .22/12g or a .22/20g combo gun and it will probably be the most versatile gun you ever own. Not sure how much they go for new. Bentaz lord of the scattergun can probably help if that road interests you.

Thanks,
Deac

[wade06]

CCI Quiets are rubbish in my gun but CCI Quiet Segmented (twice the price) is awesome...

Luckily i only use them for hunting.

[on_one_wheel]

.22 rifle is far more versatile.

As said previously, they can be powerful enough to take a fox with powerpoint ammo or they can make less noise than an air rifle using z ammo

[Tonit]

.22

Air rifle gets boring as hell soon IMO

[GLS_1956]

My experience with air rifles is ancient and limited, that I have with 22 is, while also ancient is constant, and varied as to the guns shot and or owned. I've found a gun, especially a rifle, chambered in 22LR to be quite versatile since you can chamber anything from BB and CB caps to really high velocity stuff. In my Stevens Favorite, single shot, hammer fired, falling block, rifle a load from Aguila called Colibri uses just the primer to fire a 20 grain bullet, the hammer fall is louder than the report..

[wannabustbunnies]

Another vote here for the .22lr
We have both a .22 air rifle and .22lr and the rifle is much more versatile and the extra range is handy. I only ever use subsonic hollow points and standard velocity ammo at our place but can hit the 280m rabbit silhouette target. I haven't had the air rifle out for a long time as with the wind we have had it hasn't been worth it.
I can recommend the Zastava .22lr for your budget. We picked one up second hand and it shoots bloody well. I did spend a little time playing around with the magazine spring tension and lightening the trigger etc but it was well worth it