The .25 airgun calibre performance

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The .25 airgun calibre performance

By Richard Prior

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

Does the .25 airgun calibre have more hitting power for rabbits at longer ranges, Richard Prior explains.

What is your opinion of the new .25 airgun calibre? Does it have more hitting power for rabbits at longer ranges?

The .25 calibre is actually not new. It was a very popular calibre for smooth-bored airguns, such as the Gem and Britannia, produced just before and after the start of the last century. BSA made air rifles in .25 calibre before settling for the .22 as the standard sporting calibre.

The .25 is too heavy to use in air rifles producing muzzle energies within the British legal limit of 12ft/lb. The trajectory would not be flat enough at normal air rifle ranges, though it is ideal for short-range use such as rat shooting in barns. If you obtain a firearms certificate for a high-powered air rifle, then either a pre-charged pneumatic rifle firing a heavy 30- or so grain pellet or a spring-powered rifle using a lighter 18- to 20- grain pellet would make a very efficient hunting tool. Most gunshops store
.25 pellets weighing between 18 and 31 grains

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Comments

chris

Thu, 3rd Mar 2011 18:34:37

I agree, i have a aa tx200 .177, bsa lightning in .22 and a bsa spitfire in .25, all three are great rifles but for rabbits/rats, the .25 gets my vote everytime, at 25-30 yards it has fantastic stopping power, just as good as a .22 in my opinion just with less range, but as the guy above said, "if practiced with" makes a good hunting tool.

Anton Labarda

Thu, 7th Oct 2010 12:57:33

I feel I must disagree with the author's comments on the usefulness of .25 as an effective calibre -only suited for Fac . BSA and other makers and custom tuners have used the .25cal in producing airguns to under the 12ft/lb limit - for years . BSA produced numerous .25 cal versions of popular models from Mercury /Airpsorter to more recently Superstar and Lightning . Other makers and custom gunsmiths have likewise offerd .25 to under 12ft/lb . Currently most major manufacturers , based on market sales only of .22 being the most popular calibre for vermin control , do not offer .25 unless to Fac where it is true the calibre is supreme . However at 12ft/lb max many airgun pellets are available that are lighter than .22 'heavies'. At normal airgun ranges , .25 if practiced with , will perform admirably .

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