how far?

[jpaulghetto]

How far can one realisticlly expect a .22 cal pellet, moving at about 500 fps, to retain its accuracy? My basement range is about 35 ft.. At that range I can keep most shots on a dime. Should the need arise to protect my family from dangerous pidgeons, how far can I expect this pellet to retain its energy? Any thoughts?

[Questor]

Your ability to hit is mostly a factor of trajectory and wind.  I consider pellets to be effective out to about 35 yards if you practice enough to know the trajectory and the wind isn't blowing at all.  Others will say it's 50 yards but I don't know how they can do it consistently without much more practice on handling the trajectory.  I've shot pellets at 50 yards and the hold-over is incredible-- and that was with a 600fps gun.

Without much practice, about 25 to 30 yards is reasonable, unless the wind is blowing. It takes almost no wind at all to radically change the course of a pellet.

[Johnny]

I use a HW30S (Beeman R7) in calibre 22 and that one makes around 500 fps using Silver Bears.

It works fint out to 20-25 yards, with enough power to take even large birds (pigeons, seagulls, magpies), on headshots.

Bodyshots works fine with smaller birds, like starlings.