.177 or .22 for Open Class

C

Chas DiCapua

New member
I'm wanting to have a dedicated open class rifle and am wondering what you folks with experience think the best caliber would be. Here are the choices as I see them:

.177 16g JSB at around 850-870fps or whatever the best fps would be in general for that pellet out of a LW Poly barrel. If a rifle could push them that fast.

.22 18g JSB at around 870-890fps.

.22 25g JSB at 785 fps (just under the 35fpe limit) Would this be to loopy of a trajectory?

What do you all think. Which would be most accurate/buck the wind best at 25m and 50m?

Thanks for any input.

Chas
 
Chas,

Too bad you didn't ask this question at the Nationals. As you saw, both .177's and .22's being shot for the Open Class with at least 2 of them being dedicated .22 Cal. Open Class guns.

Paul Bendix shoots a SUMO in .22 that's a dedicated Open Class gun, and I shoot a RAW BM-500 in .22 that's also a dedicated Open Class gun with both guns have done very well over the years. 3 years ago at the N.E. Regionals Paul's gun was the first to shoot a 750 Agg. (with 31X's) in the Outdoor 25M Open Class (mine finished 10 points behind, but took 2nd place), and then he walked away with this years National 25M Open Class Championship. If you had asked over the weekend you could have shot either, or both guns.

Now, just to throw a curve at you, we're both listed in the top 3 of the USARB Records Book for the 25Y Indoor Open Class, but Paul shot his while using a .177 Poly barrel on a Thomas, and I shot mine while using my .22 RAW.

But, here again, nothing can be taken away from the .177 Poly's as that's what Chris Sloan was shooting on his new Thomas, and he took 3rd (Opps, sorry Chris! I just saw you finished in 2nd place, not 3rd). Congratulations to Chris as this was only his second Outdoor match so, as I said, the .177 Polys are doing very well indeed.

What else can I say?

If I can be of any further help please contact me, or we can just catch up at one of Holbrook's matches.

By the way, Congratulations on how well you did as you too took home some Wood from the Nationals.

Dave
 
Last edited by a moderator:
.177 or .22

Hey Dave,

Thanks for responding. Sort of as I expected. Not a real clear advantage to either one.

Do you think that at 50m your answer would be the same? I ask as I'm wondering if at 50m the .22 may have an advantage.

Bye the way, no wood for me at the nationals. Best finish was 5th in the Open class. Did get high score for the weekend for a card though (249 14x).

See you at Holbrook on Oct. 7th.

Chas
 
I would definitely say there's no doubt about there being a huge advantage when shooting .22's over .177's at 50Y. But wait, here comes so many others who will poo, poo my saying that.

I'll be sending you an email soon about my Open Class RAW BM-500, but be patient.

Dave
 
Hey Chas, great shooting with you this weekend, a real blast.....on the Thomas, as Dave point's out, it is the Poly barrel shooting JSB 16gr. As you recall the wind was quite a challenge on Friday and I took 2nd shooting .177s to Paul's .22. Agree with Dave that at 50yds a .22 may have an advantage.
 
2017 Nationals Open Class aggs

Paul Bendix 731 22X Sumo .22 (34+fpe)
Chris Sloan 730 22X Thomas .177 (?)
Todd Banks 722 17X RAW TM-1000X .177 (18fpe)
Rick Ingraham 719 16X Sumo .22 (32 fpe)
Chas DiCapua 719 15X RAW .177 (?)
Chris Peet 718 20X Raw .177
Steve Brookhouse 718 19X My RAW
Dave Shattuck 717 21X RAW .22 (?)
Gerry Beaudoin 713 16X Thomas
Frank Mendola 713 16X Thomas
Mark Marini 712 14X Thomas
Howard Williams 690 12X Styer
Ken Hicks 688 8X RAW
Dan Carpenter 678 11X Dawson .177 (18fpe)

I have the chrony info from everyone's tech inspection in another notebook that got left at the range. I'm going to be up half the night trying to post the complete match results. Hope to have them up before morning!
Todd
 
Open class with my Thomas

I do believe my Thomas was set at 24 ftlb - shooting the JSB .177 caliber 16 grain beasts -shooting the LW polygon barrel
In wind conditions like the day of the open another 10 ftlb would have really helped !
Those 16 grainers were being whipped around like red headed step children?
Was great meeting all you guys -
Hope to see you at future matches
Regards
CK
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Great Match

Bye the way, the match was run very well. Todd, Pete and John put on an excellent show. Tight ship, but friendly and fun.
 
Great Match

The wind for the 25m open was brutal!! Todd proved a sub 20fpe rifle can be used, hella shooting Todd! I fought a gun malfunction and scored horribly, luckily the repair was made for the HV class. Im sure i would of been in the top 5 if that didnt happen. Learn and overcome is the name of this game. Great seeing new shooters win and always a pleasure to see my friends again!
 
Open class

You really need a THOmas !!!!! lol.......open class .177 JSB Beast 16.2 g .... I think the .177 has its advantages......There was not enough time at the Nationals to ask EVERYONE all the questions that I had!!!!! There certainly was a lot of great info behind some very knowlegeable great shooting minds in SALEM. I need a clearer mind too "C".................Oh yeah I shot my HV setup, I didn't have my gun long enough to work on the Open setup......20 ft lbs and 13.43 monsters.............good shooters are winning with .177 and .22 so.......pick your favorite gun and have FUN.!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top