If you haven’t considered whether you have a gap in your gun collection, I suggest you do. It’s that kind of consideration that brings to mind a question. Is a .22 airgun worth it, or should I just stick with a .22 long rifle (LR)?
An airgun vs. a .22 rifle? What am I thinking? While a .22 airgun doesn’t beat out a .22 long rifle in all situations, it should be in your arsenal for a lot of reasons. Airguns have stepped up their game considerably in recent years, and they continue to do so. Get that toy CO2 gun out of your mind when considering this questions. We are talking real guns, with real power. So what reasons got me craving a .22 airgun? Let’s get straight into that comparison.
Types of Airguns
This will be a brief, but a necessary pit stop. I’m not going to spend a ton of time on the different types of airguns. There are four main types of airguns:
- Variable Pump – Uses air pressure from you pumping the gun up. (This is a manual pneumatic.)
- CO2 – Vaporizes CO2 from a stored cartridge to build pressure to propel the pellet.
- Springer/Gas Ram – Both these types use a single stroke to drive a piston back. One uses a spring, one uses a compressed gas. When the trigger is pulled it compresses the air in front of the piston and propels your pellet toward your target.
- PCP (PreCharged Pneumatic) – uses compressed air stored at very high pressure to achieve dramatic results.
For this comparison, we will be using the springer/gas ram for the most part. It is the best and most likely comparison to a .22 LR. PCPs are amazing, but they are too expensive to be a fair comparison. They are also a bit more niche, and better for large bore discussions. If you want power, a PCP has it in spades. CO2 isn’t as accurate and has a few other problems I just don’t appreciate. I consider CO2 in more of the toy category, and we are talking real high-quality hunting airguns. A variable pump is fine, but the variability that may be a pro for some people is more of a con in this comparison. The manual pumping is a turn off for me as well.
What are the reasons to consider these guns
.22 LRs and .22 airguns are great guns for a lot of reasons. Some of the main reasons people pull out a .22 is for small game hunting, pest control, plinking and learning the basics. Some people are considering them for bug out bags. That’s another discussion with some more specific criteria, but much of this article will cover useful information for that decision as well.
This article is a comparison, but if you want a more in-depth discussion on why an airgun should be in your arsenal read this article.
Let’s talk about power
The first mental hurdle we need to overcome for most people is the idea that an airgun is just a toy. It is not. Quite the contrary, a good hunting air rifle will compete in most categories with a .22 LR out to about 50 yards for hunting small game. Let’s get some numbers so we can have a real discussion here. I got the following numbers from a forum discussion, but they work for this discussion as well.
| Type of Gun | Grain | FPS / Round Type | Muzzle Energy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airgun | 14 Grain | 1000 FPS | 31.1 ft-lbs |
| Airgun | 32 Grain | 1000 FPS | 71.1 ft-lbs |
| Long Rifle | 32 Grain | Hyper-Velocity | 191 ft-lbs |
| Long Rifle | 40 Grain | High-velocity | 135 ft-lbs |
| Long Rifle | 40 Grain | Standard | 102 ft-lbs |
| Long Rifle | 29 grain | Short | 75 ft-lbs |
For the chart I went with 1000 FPS for airguns, and with the type of round for .22 LR since the energy for a pellet is stored in the gun and the energy for the bullet is stored in the ammunition itself.
As you can see Airguns can produce far more power than you thought, but LRs still outperform as we expected. What does this data really mean though?
The takeaway has to be related to your use of the gun. What I get out of this chart is that both weapons can take out small game. Both have the ability to hit at a decent range with decent force.
I won’t go too far into these numbers here, but keep them in mind as we discuss other criteria.
Ammunition differences
The difference between pellets and bullets is commonly a focus of any discussion about .22 LRs vs. .22 airguns, and rightfully so.
Expense
The difference between the pellet and .22 rounds as far as price is concerned is negligible right now. You can get both around .04 cents a round. That’s a pretty cheap shot either way.
There was a time, not that long ago though, that .22 ammo was next to impossible to find and very expensive. There was a gun scare, and people bought up ammunition in droves. This changed the ammo market dramatically and was very frustrating for a large number of enthusiasts and preppers.
It is not unlikely this could happen again. For those of you planning for the future, this is a knock on .22s. Basically, .22 LRs are owned by more people, so if a need to pick up ammunition surges again there are more people interested in hoarding it. Airguns are not likely to run into the same dilemma.
Not all pellets are created equal. We’re here to help you navigate the marketing with our guide on the best pellet brands.
Size
Pellets are smaller and easier to store. You can carry more on you with far less difficulty. This may or may not be a big deal for you. For me space always plays into any trip I’m going on. Packing the vehicle is always a game of Tetris, and any room I can save is useful.
Sustainability (for you survival folks)
This is conjecture on my part, but the argument essentially comes down to this. Reloading rimfire .22 ammunition is near impossible. It can be done, but it is not a task I envy anybody.
Pellets; however, are much easier. The ability to make your own pellets out of scrap lead is far easier than reloading rimfire .22.
Are you the type of person to learn how to do that, or does it matter to you? I don’t know, but I would be remiss if I didn’t bring it up.
Accuracy
The differences in these guns out to 50 yards are negligible. For most purposes of most gunners, this is completely acceptable. You will find if you are dialed in with your setup, and have put some time in either gun will group accurately provided we are comparing comparably priced setups.
One interesting note is when you are using an airgun you are forced to take more time to line up your shot due to the one-shot setup. It’s harder to allow yourself to get carried away and fall out of your good habits that create tighter groups. Again, if you pay attention you should be fine with either gun.
Noise
No discussion about airguns vs. long rifles would be complete without mentioning the difference in the sound of the gun firing. Hands down air rifles are quieter than .22 long rifles.
You will find people that will name off conditions where .22 long rifles can be quieter. They will tell you to use subsonic rounds or suppressors and they are correct, but suppressing your firearms takes more legal paperwork many people don’t want to do. Specialized rounds will help as well.
Airguns don’t need those considerations. In fact, you can make an airgun louder with specialized rounds, possibly. The way to do that is to find a way to get your airgun to get the pellet up over the sound barrier.
For the most part, though, this category goes to airguns. They are just so quite right out of the box. It’s phenomenal.
I have a pretty quiet Gamo myself. If you are interested in a quiet air rifle don’t miss our guide to the quietest air rifles.
Training the Basics
The two gun types we are suggesting are both amazing for entry-level shooters. They give the ability to really learn trigger control, breathing, etc. I generally expect to see beginners with .22 caliber of any gun type to start.
Airguns have a little bit of an edge here for me. As previously discussed in the accuracy section they force you to take the time between shots. This starts teaching the basics of getting settled, cadence, trigger control, etc.
Later we’ll discuss the legal differences and we’ll see here again an airgun wins out for training the basics. The likelihood of being able to plink away in your backyard rather than having to take a special trip means you are likely to get more trigger time in.
Don’t get me wrong, a .22 long rifle is a great beginner weapon that will grow with the shooter. The differences here are a matter of degrees, but I do still have to give the win here to the airgun.
Follow on shots
One of the major weaknesses people point out for airguns is the inability to take many shots rapidly. With the exception of CO2 and PCP which we aren’t really discussing, people are correct. Air rifles require you to take action between shots, while many .22 LRs do not. As we’ll discuss below that might be a plus in a self-defense situation, but that’s not what most people are talking about. The primary premise for semi-auto being useful is for follow-on shots.
I argue airguns actually win in this category based on the quieter shots we discussed earlier. I actually get very excited about this concept. Airguns are nearly silent. It is very possible to take down a squirrel without his buddies noticing. If you’re careful with your target selection you may be able to take out multiple targets near each other. This requires accuracy and being able to line up that shot before he notices his buddy stopped moving.
What if you miss your first shot? We all want to think we are marksmen, but I’m not too manly to admit I’ve missed. Squirrels are twitchy little buggers and sometimes they move when you least expect it. If you miss with an airgun they might not even notice. Even if it’s a near miss and your pellet strikes near them, they may not get too skittish. It’s not like evolution has trained squirrels to recognize the sound of a pellet hitting dirt to mean danger run away.
Long rifles, on the other hand, are good for killing one squirrel. Once you’ve fired, the rest are moving. If you miss you’re out of luck. That evolution thing I mentioned earlier doesn’t work here. They may not know it’s a rifle firing, but loud noises make squirrels take notice.
Follow on shots aren’t for squirrels though, and if you are taking down a larger target, and your first shot wasn’t as accurate as you liked then a .22 LR will give you more opportunity to finish the job.
So, who wins here. For me, it’s the airgun because my primary purpose of using a .22 airgun is small game.
Self Defense
Some people come to the idea of self-defense to brag up a .22 LR over a .22 airgun. Technically, they are right. A .22 LR will be more effective in a self-defense situation than an airgun. In fact, I recommend never using an airgun for self-defense in this article. Here’s the thing about self-defense and firearms though. The first stage is psychological. By brandishing your weapon you hope people back off. Both weapons work equally well in this category. Be prepared for the psychological to fail. Expect it to. Plan for the worst right.
When the psychological fails, and you have to use the weapon you had better be very accurate with both. The problem with both .22 LR and .22 airguns is they don’t have real stopping power. I’m not saying that they can’t kill an assailant, but I’m not really concerned about that. Rather, I’m worried about stopping them from killing me and my family. These rounds are small enough, and traveling fast enough they are more likely to pass through. Possibly inflicting a fatal wound, but what happens when that assailant’s adrenaline kicks in, and they manage to keep coming?
I’m not saying that’s an easy thing. I’ve never been shot, but I know that adrenaline can do crazy things to people. When it comes to self-defense I want to be as sure as possible.
On this point, the .22 LR stands out primarily due to the ability to repeat fire. If you have a semi-auto .22 you are more likely to come out of this dangerous situation ahead.
So, a minor tip of the hat to .22 LR, but don’t buy one for self-defense, please. Have a different firearm, or plan in place.
Legality
When it comes to legal issues Airguns beat the long rifles hands down. Now, I’m not a lawyer or a legal expert, but I do know the regulations governing airgun are far less strict than those governing firearms. In fact, if you are trying to take out squirrels and pests in your yard an airgun is almost always the best choice. Obviously, this depends on your local ordinances. I recommend before you make your decision you get a handle on the legal side of things. It might just sway your decision. I’m not going to cover this topic in depth here because Dave already covered it in another article here discussing if you need a license to fire an airgun in your backyard.
Your backyard firing isn’t the only reason to consider the legal side of things though. As we’ve discussed airguns are great for younger shooters to start to learn the basics of shooting. Interestingly, they are also easier to legally get into the hands of your young shooters.
Some people out there have restrictions on their ownership of firearms. Maybe you personally can’t own one for some reason, or your area is heavily restricted. Airguns may be a viable option for you. Again, check into it.
Fun
Honestly, if you can you need both of these guns. They are both so fun. I’m a bit partial to the airgun. You’re reading an article on Airgun Planet… but I think .22 rifles are super fun too. I really don’t have a ton to say here other than that they are both an absolute blast.
There are times I like to play with big boy guns, but something about the little guys is just … fun. maybe it’s the nostalgia?
Final Verdict
Look, even though I’m writing on an airgun website I can’t say a .22 airgun is always better than a .22 LR. That would be a ridiculous statement. What I can say is both guns have their place. I’m partial to the airgun. I like the low noise, low barrier to entry of airguns. I like that I can take out squirrels in my backyard without upsetting my neighbors.
In the end, if you are learning the basics, if you are plinking, or if you are hunting small game and you enjoy a challenge I give the edge to the airgun. If you want the ability to start to step up to larger game, or might need something for self-defense, or need to hit something over 50 yards very accurately I have to give the edge to the long rifle.
What do you think?