Pellet rifles are becoming more and more popular, but are they better than the traditional 22lr. Is it worth the money when you could just go buy a 22lr? I have always wondered which one is better so after years of testing and experience, here is what I have found out.
Here is the short answer:
A 22lr will have more energy than a 22-air rifle. However, 22 pellet guns are quieter, less expensive to shoot, less regulated, and oftentimes, are more accurate. A pellet gun has the same qualities as a 22lr, only it’s better in some ways. In my option, there is no reason not to get a pellet gun.
But I can’t fit all of my research into just one paragraph as there is still a lot more to this topic than what I have said so far. So let’s take a deeper dive into this and find out just which one is better.
ballistics
So we know that a 22lr has more energy than a 22 air rifle, but does it have better balistics?
At the muzzle, a 22lr has 131-foot pounds of energy with a 40-grain bullet. At the muzzle of your average pellet rifle, you have only 40-foot pounds with a 16-grain bullet. But with an air rifle, you ethically shoot a rabbit out to over 50 yards. I have never taken a shot on a rabbit past 30 yards, so a 22lr is kinda overkilled. Now with some air rifles, you can take rabbits out to 100 yards which are far past the capabilities of most 22lr. So while the 22lr has more energy, they both can kill small game out to the same distance
Trajectory-wise, airguns, and 22lrs perform the same. They will have a very similar drop at all ranges.
Airguns and 22lrs are going to perform the same ballistic at any distance. Airguns will have less energy, but not enough to make a difference when hunting small game.
150 dollar 22lr vs 150 dollar Air rifle
So energy wise it doesn’t matter which one you get, but how about price? Can a 150-dollar 22lr outperform a 22 pellet rifle?
For 150 dollars, you can get either a savage model 64 rimfire or a Benjamin Titan NP air rifle.
When it comes to the trigger, the 64 is better. The Titan has a very long trigger pull and the 64’s trigger is similar to a pistol trigger it has some take up than a wall.
Accuracy-wise, they are pretty much the same. They both can shoot a group that is about the size of a quarter at 25 yards. Either one will still kill a rabbit within 30 yards, but no further.
As far as overall feel goes, the Titan is a better feeling gun. It has a wood stock, a better safety, and doesn’t feel like it would fall apart if you dropped it. I can not say the same about the 64.
But like most guns in its class, the Titan has some downsides. The Benjamin Titan is a single-shot break barrel gun. This means that if you miss, you will have to cock the gun by pulling downward on the barrel, loading another pellet in the barrel, locking the barrel back in place, and shooting again. On the contrary, the 64 has a 10-shot magazine so there is no loading to do.
The Titan, like pretty much all air guns, has a built-in suppressor, which means it’s super quiet, especially when compared to a 22lr. The Titan also comes with a scope instead of iron sights.
So both pellet guns and 22lrs that are of similar cost perform the same. They both have their downsides, but at the end of the day, they will both work.
Pcp air rifles vs 22lrs
There are three main types of pellet guns. Break barrel, which we mentioned earlier, pump guns, guns you have to pump 8-10 times to get enough air pressure, and PCP air rifles which are the most advanced and run off a tank.
PCP airguns take some effort as they will need to be refilled every 40-100 shots depending on the airgun. So if you don’t want to have to refill your tank every now and then then you may want to stick with a 22lr.
PCP airguns are going to perform the same or a little better than all 22 in the class. The biggest thing to think about will be that it will take more maintenance to take care of a PCP airgun than a standard 22lr
Top-end Air rifles vs. top-end 22lrs
Generally speaking top-end air rifles and top-end 22lrs are going to perform the same. They will both win shooting competitions, they will have the same capacity, they will nearly the same energy, and they will have the same accuracy.
The biggest difference will be the fact that you will have to refill your air tank on top-end air rifles and you have to buy the tools to refill your air tank. The other thing to consider will be that the air rifle will come with a suppressor, and you can shoot an air rifle in urban environments and you can’t do the same with a 22lr.
Conclusion
22lrs and airguns will perform the same at any range they will have very similar drop, and wind drift. But an airgun will have less energy meaning that it will not do as much damage to property if shot in an urban environment (make sure to check your national, state, and city laws before hunting on urban ground). I will stick with airguns over rimfires just because they are less regulated, they will not do as much damage if you miss your target, they will still kill animals out to the same range as a 22lr just as, if not more, accurately, and to top it off you can get a suppressor so you will have a quiet gun.