1377 vs 1322 hunting

[kraaash]

Will either take a rabbit?

[rr_shooter]

Yes.  It's all a question of placement and range.

[kraaash]

You think one is better than the other in a pumper?

[Skillet]

Prefer .22, myself. Easier to load, cleaning equipment readily available, more efficient use of powerplant.

[nervoustrigger]

In stock form, my 1322 produced 6fpe which is plenty to humanely take a rabbit with a brain shot at modest distances.  Say, inside of 20 yards.  That assumes adequate aiming precision...for me, that would be open sights or better yet a red dot sight for 10 yards but I would want at least a 2x pistol scope for 20 yards. 

To stretch it out to 30 or 35 yards, I think you would be more successful with .177 cal in a longer barrel (e.g. full length Disco barrel P/N 1760SE-001 or Maximus barrel P/N 20-GBMP77-001), and preferably a flat top piston and valve to increase the energy to 10-12fpe or so.  Shot placement is vastly more important than anything else, and the limitations of the power plant become the biggest factor for .22 cal.  The trajectory is just so loopy that the slightest error in range is more likely to result in a miss, or worse yet, a poorly placed hit that injures the animal and causes prolonged suffering.

Let's look at a real-world comparison.  Let's assume we've done the upgrades and we're comparing a .177 at 10fpe and a .22 at 12fpe (allowing for the fact the larger caliber will earn a little more energy, all other things being equal).  If we have both of them zeroed at 25 yards, a shot at 35 yards will be down almost 1.5" in .22 cal.  In .177 cal, it would be down only about 0.75in...only half as much.  For small game, the kill zone is only about 0.75" to begin with so that difference is massive.  If you're always shooting at known distances, it's not that big of a deal.  You can compensate.  But it's not so easy in field conditions because even with a rangefinder in hand, it's not always possible to get a good reading.

[The Zen Master]

Bigger is always better when it comes to hunting - more energy on target is always better. However, you should know your holdovers or not take the shot. I put a Burris Fastfire 3 on my 1322 and I really like it but I haven't yet determined the best range to zero it. I have to do a bit of shooting on known-distance targets to get the dope on the trajectory then decide the best range to zero the Fastfire.

But right now zeroed at 15-yards I can hit doves and squirrels in the head all day long.

I vote .22

[arkmaker †]

The old saying: 177 for paper and 22 for fur.


That said, I would have no problem taking a rabbit with a 177 with a proper accuracy shot to the head. It is all about my confidence in making a one shot clean kill.

[JMJinNC]

Agree 100%, Rich. I only have .177 and have taken squirrels out to 60 yards, and a few raccoons and opossum at 15 yards with my modded 1377 carbine. I'd not try it with an unmodified 1377 pistol, though.

JMJ

[arkmaker †]

Yep, and I was thinking about my HW95 in 177. Shoots about 920 fps with 10.34 pellets (1bout 19 fpe). Still, though, I took out a group of tree rats last year with the 2400KT in basically stock shape as far as the power plant goes. I trusted it because of the LW barrel which allows for dime sized shots at 20 yards.