.177 and .22or .22 and .25 for small game?

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kruzaroad

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Location: Hastings 4 now
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Posted: 22 Apr 2026 at 9:17am

Why would the paper punches be smirking? Truthfully you'd be better off with targets than spinners as you can monitor your misses etc as you get use to gun. Checking wind drift of pellets etc.
Theres a cheap spinner target at gun city. A one inch and two inch circles . Push into ground. Page 102 of you got to be out there to see.
Perfect for taking on your trip. Light compact enough to sit in backpack light and simple.

-Ec

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Posted: 22 Apr 2026 at 12:04pm

Spinners are great once you have your gun(s) dialled in but nothing beats paper for getting your gun dialled in. Even a large piece of cardboard with a simple cross in black marker pen works well. The big advantage with paper - as long as it is big enough, is that you can see if you are high, low ,left or right of you point of aim and adjust accordingly.

Even when you have your guns zeroed at what ever range you prefer, paper is best for working out your hold-overs and hold unders at different ranges.

Can't recall who came up with the bottle top challenge - Pauly5 I think? It's an easy way to test your accuracy is up to par

Regards
-Ec

vault

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Posted: 11 hours 60 minutes ago at 2:00am

if you can only have two air guns...

I'm a .177 shooter/hunter I only have two .177's but that's just because I got lucky but if I could only have two airguns I'd keep my prosport and buy a Diana 31 panther in .22 as I've had one of those and they're awesome, light, accurate (jsb14.3gr) a real outdoors bush basher food harvester with great T05 trigger, I see them at Youngs for $750 the same price as a Cometa Fusion which is a great springer also but it's not Diana level and then the Gamo's are 1k for budget airguns.

Brand is as important as Caliber.

You can buy a sh*t brand and it's a good one, but that's not common

Nowadays I look at survival, .177 and .22 pellets are everywhere. they used to be so much cheaper, I see some AA tins have doubled in price over 5 years and they will never be cheaper than now, so stock up while you can.

.25 I've never seen or tried so I dont know how common the pellets are but I bet they're not that common.

both .177 and .22 12-18ft/lb max with good shot placement will kill any small game in NZ and if the world turns to crap, both will head/neck a duck/goose rabbit/hare/possum out to 60m consistently with the right pellet and practice

I drive a hilux too, think practical if you want to survive

Air-arms Prosport .177 FAC
Hawke SW 8-32*56
Air-arms Tx200 Mk3 .177 FAC
Optisan 10*32

Ashman

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Posted: 1 hour 37 minutes ago at 12:23pm

True regarding the .25 pellets. Places the GC have a very small selection however they have slugs galore, which I'm not a fan of for what i want.

I've got JSB Hades, Apolo Air Boss domed and Gamo Pro magnum on the way for testing, the latter 2 from Broncos and the JSB from .

I'll post up some results from those pellets.

It'll be hard to beat the .22. for accuracy, but the real test for that will be Friday at 50m.

I do like the magazine system however, and most air rifles don't offer that. It's added complexity, but you can also slide the mag aside and single load pellets too, so if that system fails, there is a fail safe.

There's a few camp sites I go to where getting a feed with either the .22 or .25 will be a goer. They're places where quiet is good. I've used subsonic .22 in the past and distances are close.

I hear what you say about brand, but I'm not sure I agree. I've had rifles and guns from many different manufacturers, and the logo is never a guarantee. Remington, Beretta and Winchester have all let me down on occasion, despite their respective reputations. And, in the case of Remington, that was before almost all their rifles were utter sh*te.

Having said that, I may replace the .25 with a single shot of some kind. I've had 9 concussions and losing a magazine is not out of the realm of possibility. I'll pick up a spare later this week, just in case, and I already have a spare for the .22. Not a deal breaker, considering the single load capability, but just something to be aware of.

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kruzaroad Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 03 Jul 2022 Location: Hastings 4 now Status: Offline Posts: 2866	Post Options Post Reply Quote kruzaroad Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 Apr 2026 at 9:17am
	Why would the paper punches be smirking? Truthfully you'd be better off with targets than spinners as you can monitor your misses etc as you get use to gun. Checking wind drift of pellets etc. Theres a cheap spinner target at gun city. A one inch and two inch circles . Push into ground. Page 102 of you got to be out there to see. Perfect for taking on your trip. Light compact enough to sit in backpack light and simple.

-Ec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 02 Sep 2025 Location: Matamau Status: Offline Posts: 170	Post Options Post Reply Quote -Ec Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 22 Apr 2026 at 12:04pm
	Spinners are great once you have your gun(s) dialled in but nothing beats paper for getting your gun dialled in. Even a large piece of cardboard with a simple cross in black marker pen works well. The big advantage with paper - as long as it is big enough, is that you can see if you are high, low ,left or right of you point of aim and adjust accordingly. Even when you have your guns zeroed at what ever range you prefer, paper is best for working out your hold-overs and hold unders at different ranges. Can't recall who came up with the bottle top challenge - Pauly5 I think? It's an easy way to test your accuracy is up to par
	Regards -Ec

vault Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Member Joined: 14 hours 17 minutes ago Location: Dunedin Status: Online Posts: 4	Post Options Post Reply Quote vault Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 hours 60 minutes ago at 2:00am
	if you can only have two air guns... I'm a .177 shooter/hunter I only have two .177's but that's just because I got lucky but if I could only have two airguns I'd keep my prosport and buy a Diana 31 panther in .22 as I've had one of those and they're awesome, light, accurate (jsb14.3gr) a real outdoors bush basher food harvester with great T05 trigger, I see them at Youngs for $750 the same price as a Cometa Fusion which is a great springer also but it's not Diana level and then the Gamo's are 1k for budget airguns. Brand is as important as Caliber. You can buy a sh*t brand and it's a good one, but that's not common Nowadays I look at survival, .177 and .22 pellets are everywhere. they used to be so much cheaper, I see some AA tins have doubled in price over 5 years and they will never be cheaper than now, so stock up while you can. .25 I've never seen or tried so I dont know how common the pellets are but I bet they're not that common. both .177 and .22 12-18ft/lb max with good shot placement will kill any small game in NZ and if the world turns to crap, both will head/neck a duck/goose rabbit/hare/possum out to 60m consistently with the right pellet and practice I drive a hilux too, think practical if you want to survive
	Air-arms Prosport .177 FAC Hawke SW 8-3256 Air-arms Tx200 Mk3 .177 FAC Optisan 1032

Ashman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 11 Apr 2026 Location: Christchurch Status: Offline Posts: 38	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ashman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 1 hour 37 minutes ago at 12:23pm
	True regarding the .25 pellets. Places the GC have a very small selection however they have slugs galore, which I'm not a fan of for what i want. I've got JSB Hades, Apolo Air Boss domed and Gamo Pro magnum on the way for testing, the latter 2 from Broncos and the JSB from . I'll post up some results from those pellets. It'll be hard to beat the .22. for accuracy, but the real test for that will be Friday at 50m. I do like the magazine system however, and most air rifles don't offer that. It's added complexity, but you can also slide the mag aside and single load pellets too, so if that system fails, there is a fail safe. There's a few camp sites I go to where getting a feed with either the .22 or .25 will be a goer. They're places where quiet is good. I've used subsonic .22 in the past and distances are close. I hear what you say about brand, but I'm not sure I agree. I've had rifles and guns from many different manufacturers, and the logo is never a guarantee. Remington, Beretta and Winchester have all let me down on occasion, despite their respective reputations. And, in the case of Remington, that was before almost all their rifles were utter sh*te. Having said that, I may replace the .25 with a single shot of some kind. I've had 9 concussions and losing a magazine is not out of the realm of possibility. I'll pick up a spare later this week, just in case, and I already have a spare for the .22. Not a deal breaker, considering the single load capability, but just something to be aware of.