Best spring powered .22 FAC air rifle

[difflock]

I find the .177 pellets very fiddly, and since the .22 is more efficient, at least in terms of accelerating the pellet to the muzzle, and being a N.I. resident, ANY air rifle must go on a FAC, I might as well have the extra velocity the FAC .22 varient can offer. 

I am not power mad, merely wishing to push the .22 pellet at optimal velocity( and I know there is an upper limit, past which the diabolo pellet design is unstable)

Nor do I wish to "faff" about with a Divers bottle.(though I already got one for a PCP .177)

I suppose I am trying to re-capture the happy days of my adolescent plinking with a side lever .22 Webley Osprey.

Thoughts please,

Marcus

Edited November 17, 2019 by difflock

[Rough Hewn]

BSA meteor .22 was my childhood rifle. Good times.
I have heard a tiny drop of diesel in the rear of the pellet "may possibly" improve performance. But I've never tried it.
A .22 does have a better impact on rats over the .177
[emoji106]

[Mike Hill]

If you are going to need an FAC why not consider a .22LR?

 

They are far more effective and humane,with a moderator and subsonic ammo they are quieter than a Spring powered Air Rifle.

[difflock]

I got a .22LR bolt action already.

I want an air rifle for "plinking" about the house and yard, with several neighbouring dwellings across the lane only some 50m away and numerous dog walkers from both these neighbours and the local village walking dogs through our lands not 100m away(on "roddens" i.e peat laneways associated with historic turbary rights)

So not suitable territory for a .22LR  imho.

Nor am I wishing to hunt or kill anything except boredom.

Cheers,

Marcus

EDIT

I intended to say that I am eyeing up an .22 Air Arms TX 200, running at 18ft lb in spring rifle format, which will apparently  give me 770 ft per sec(with 900 ish being the optimal maximum, so perhaps near-enough  .  .  .), or 17 ft lb in carbine format, but just in case I was missing owt on else  .  .  .

Edited November 16, 2019 by difflock

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, difflock said:

I find the .177 pellets very fiddly, and since the .22 is more efficient, at least in terms of accelerating the pellet to the muzzle, and being a N.I. resident, ANY air rifle must go on a FAC, I might as well have the extra velocity the FAC .22 varient can offer. 

I am not power mad, merely wishing to push the .22 pellet at optimal velocity( and I know there is an upper limit, past which the diabolo pellet design is unstable)

Nor do I wish to "faff" about with a Divers bottle.(though I already got one for a PCP .177)

I suppose I am trying to re-capture the happy days of my adolescent plinking with a side lever .22 Webley Ospray.

Thoughts please,

Marcus

HW80 all day. Getting a spring gun to behave at FAC levels is by all accounts not easy, hence the plethora of PCP stuff as opposed to spring. I’ve a superten in 22 on FAC and love it. Great for vermin with a cheap photon set up on. At same time I see the attraction of spring as I often just grab a BSA Lightning to plink with the kids, quite good to go old school at times. 

[dumper]

1 hour ago, Mike Hill said:

If you are going to need an FAC why not consider a .22LR?

 

They are far more effective and humane,with a moderator and subsonic ammo they are quieter than a Spring powered Air Rifle.

They ricochet badly better with .17hmr but still need back stop pellets have far less travel, having used a hw 80 at 20 feet lbs. it was not as pleasant to use as a pcp and had a lot of spring noise and recoil I would try one before spending your money, also slow on second shot pcp is popular for a reason.

[Mike Hill]

I think the ricochet fear is largely a UK phenomenon promoted by over zealous firearms licencing Officers.

 

Shotguns ricochet too and a soft lead projectile from a .22lr won't go far after it's been badly deformed from an impact.

 

Anyhoo if difflock wants a Spring gun then probably one at 12lbs is more likely to fit his needs.Then he has the pick of the 100s for sale in the UK.

[AHPP]

duplicate delete

Edited November 16, 2019 by AHPP

[AHPP]

1 hour ago, dumper said:

They ricochet badly better with .17hmr 

 

43 minutes ago, Mike Hill said:

I think the ricochet fear is largely a UK phenomenon promoted by over zealous firearms licencing Officers.

Mike's absolutely right. The popularity of .17 rimfires is inversely proportionate to how good they are, all thanks to regulators who know fuck all.

 

Back on topic for difflock, low power for plinking is great. Safer for obvious reasons and loopy trajectories give the satisfaction of judging distance, working out your drops etc without having to walk or drive hundreds of metres. The most fun shooting I've had was with a 12 ft/lb .22 PCP, smashing mints and bottle tops.

[difflock]

?I also got a .177HMR?, since I bought a Sako Quad with both .22LR and .177HMR barrels, but  in hindsight I should have bought 2 separate rifles, regardless I fear the possibility of complaints about me shooting "recklessly" whether I am or not, with any kind of rifle other than an air rifle in the circumstances.

I have and I will use the .22LR and the .177HMR to attempt to exterminate Magpies, in and around the house and yard, but that is only ever a single shot, not a "plinking" session.

And actually at the dog food ranges they are at, a 12 ft lb  air rifle should kill them.

cheers all.

Marcus