Which calibre for Fox ??

[Airborne9 4]

Advice needed please

 

I am currently applying for my FAC, and looking for advise on the best all round calibre for foxes ?

 

I have been advised on 17 HMR, however i have also read elsewhere that this is not a suitable round for Fox, The .22 250 has also been recomended ?

 

I'm ex military so rifle orientated and safety concious, and have access to 840 acres, but there's other people already cleared on this ground, so failing that i have another 50 acre permision, Whats the minimum acreage that could get clearence for a decent fox round and what would its calibre be ??

 

Regards

 

Airborne

[dixyhmr 62]

.22-250 and .223 are the most poular .22 fox calibres. Both work fine with the .22-250 giving you the extra legs if you shoot many over 300 yards.

 

Id stay away from.222 and veer towards the .223.

 

Also consider the others such as .204 ruger ( alove it or hate it calibre from what I have gathered ), or .243 if youve the opportunity to controll deer as well.

 

Read up on previous posts using search button as theres loads of information already on this subject.

 

Id avoid a rimfire for foxing as a centerfire has more chance of ensuring a clean kill if you were to misplace your shot.

 

Ive never shot .22 hornet but if you were maybe willing to re-load that would be a suggestion also.

[Airborne9 4]

OK

 

So if i went with the .223 what options have i got ? Any recomendations ?

 

I quite like the look of a synthetic stock with stainless steel barrel.

[zipdog 0]

why go for a 223 its the same sized (diameter) bullet as a 22-250 but a 223 has less charge, slower round. 22-250 = same sized bullet, faster, flater than a 223

Edited November 8, 2009 by zipdog

[jamie g 17]

both as ideal for fox both have more then enough stopping power at longer ranges to. all down to what you want to be fair i dont shoot over 300 yards well not yet as i havent had the chance to on a fox. 235 yards is my longest shot which is still very much easy even with 223.

 

i just like how flat the 22/250 shoots. 1 inch high at 100 yards and its still pretty much flat out to 260 to 280 yards which if you see a fox aim for the top of his back and you can aim bang on.

[Deker 3,453]

Advice needed please

 

I am currently applying for my FAC, and looking for advise on the best all round calibre for foxes ?

 

I have been advised on 17 HMR, however i have also read elsewhere that this is not a suitable round for Fox, The .22 250 has also been recomended ?

 

I'm ex military so rifle orientated and safety concious, and have access to 840 acres, but there's other people already cleared on this ground, so failing that i have another 50 acre permision, Whats the minimum acreage that could get clearence for a decent fox round and what would its calibre be ??

 

Regards

 

Airborne

 

It doesn't work like that, it's down to you and your FEO and the type/topography/situation of the land, many centrefires have the potential to shoot over 3 miles so 50-850 acres is pretty irrelevant!

 

.17HMR is far from an ideal calibre for fox in my mind. My .22lr, .17HMR and .22WMR are all conditioned for fox, as are all my centrefires, bottom line is I rate the .17HMR worst of the lot, yep, even worse than the .22lr!

 

If you are after a 100% dedicated fox gun and you need distance then a 22-250 is the tool, minus side is they are noisy, ammo is limited and expensive and they have the reputation of being heavy on barrels.

 

A .243 with a light Ballistic tip is excellent for fox and gives you the possibility of deer as well.

 

However, I would suggest .223!

 

But, all land, people, situations are different.

[jamie g 17]

Advice needed please

 

I am currently applying for my FAC, and looking for advise on the best all round calibre for foxes ?

 

I have been advised on 17 HMR, however i have also read elsewhere that this is not a suitable round for Fox, The .22 250 has also been recomended ?

 

I'm ex military so rifle orientated and safety concious, and have access to 840 acres, but there's other people already cleared on this ground, so failing that i have another 50 acre permision, Whats the minimum acreage that could get clearence for a decent fox round and what would its calibre be ??

 

Regards

 

Airborne

 

It doesn't work like that, it's down to you and your FEO and the type/topography/situation of the land, many centrefires have the potential to shoot over 3 miles so 50-850 acres is pretty irrelevant!

 

.17HMR is far from an ideal calibre for fox in my mind. My .22lr, .17HMR and .22WMR are all conditioned for fox, as are all my centrefires, bottom line is I rate the .17HMR worst of the lot, yep, even worse than the .22lr!

 

If you are after a 100% dedicated fox gun and you need distance then a 22-250 is the tool, minus side is they are noisy, ammo is limited and expensive and they have the reputation of being heavy on barrels.

 

A .243 with a light Ballistic tip is excellent for fox and gives you the possibility of deer as well.

 

However, I would suggest .223!

 

But, all land, people, situations are different.

 

deker there is no difference in noise to a 22/250 and a 223. not that you would no the difference when shot side buy side. the ammo is around the same as 223 from what i have seen lately, and alot of different brands are stocked in most stores

[Deker 3,453]

Advice needed please

 

I am currently applying for my FAC, and looking for advise on the best all round calibre for foxes ?

 

I have been advised on 17 HMR, however i have also read elsewhere that this is not a suitable round for Fox, The .22 250 has also been recomended ?

 

I'm ex military so rifle orientated and safety concious, and have access to 840 acres, but there's other people already cleared on this ground, so failing that i have another 50 acre permision, Whats the minimum acreage that could get clearence for a decent fox round and what would its calibre be ??

 

Regards

 

Airborne

 

It doesn't work like that, it's down to you and your FEO and the type/topography/situation of the land, many centrefires have the potential to shoot over 3 miles so 50-850 acres is pretty irrelevant!

 

.17HMR is far from an ideal calibre for fox in my mind. My .22lr, .17HMR and .22WMR are all conditioned for fox, as are all my centrefires, bottom line is I rate the .17HMR worst of the lot, yep, even worse than the .22lr!

 

If you are after a 100% dedicated fox gun and you need distance then a 22-250 is the tool, minus side is they are noisy, ammo is limited and expensive and they have the reputation of being heavy on barrels.

 

A .243 with a light Ballistic tip is excellent for fox and gives you the possibility of deer as well.

 

However, I would suggest .223!

 

But, all land, people, situations are different.

 

deker there is no difference in noise to a 22/250 and a 223. not that you would no the difference when shot side buy side. the ammo is around the same as 223 from what i have seen lately, and alot of different brands are stocked in most stores

 

Lets start by saying again I suggest a 22-250 is the dedicated Fox tool!

 

But Sorry chap, I have to dissagree on noise, I have shot side by side with a .22-250 and the noise issue was apparent immediately! Choice of factory ammo is also wider for .223 than for 22-250, different situation if you are reloading!

 

That's why my choice would be .223!

 

ATB!

[Airborne9 4]

Cheers all for your replies.

 

Much appreciated.

[HUnter_zero 58]

It's horses for courses! Small bore rounds, for example .17 HMR, .22rf & .22 WMR will all kill fox, if you hit a vital organ but as already said the rounds are not really suited to fox. So, the next step you need to take is to decide exactly what you will be shooting the most. For example if you plan to shoot 99 rabbits for 1 fox, then you need to consider which calibre would be best suited to rabbits and the occasional fox, you get the idea. So presuming you plan to shoot 99 foxes for every 1 rabbit, you'll be looking for a dedicated foxing calibre. .22H or the .22 hornet is the smallest calibre suited to short range for control (out to 120 yards), the .22 WMR will take foxes out to -100 yards as an aside btw. With out crossing in to 'deer calibres' your going to have to look at varmint or vermin calibres. There are a few centre fire .17 rounds, such as the .17 ackley bee, shooting a 25 grain bullet at 3200 fps. The .22H & the centre fire .17's are all a little odd in reality, so to make life easy there are a few standard foxing rounds, .222 which was created by a chap called Mike Walker (if you needed to know that), the round is an excellent medium range foxing tool right out to 250 yards and can handle bullets from 40 to 70 grain! Next is the .223 a gnats whisker between the .222 & .223. Next up is what could be described as serious foxing fodder, the .22-250 with ballistics similar to the .243", shooting again shooting 40 to 70 grain bullets. There are a whole host of others in between the .222 & .22-250, such as the .220 swift, .224 weatherby magnum and .22PPC to name but just a few, these are not main stream calibres. Another important thing to remember is twist rate, make sure you get a rifle with a twist that can handle a bullet suited to the job intended. If your not going to reload, check out the price of ammo first!

 

John

[Mr_Logic 5]

Your choices with that size of land are:

 

223

22-250

243

204

 

There are others, but they aren't really appropriate (22 Hornet, 17 Rem etc) IMHO, or too much hassle to worry about (wildcats) .

 

223 is the cheapest and easiest of those to run. It is also the least capable on fox, but the difference really isn't that much!

 

If you are planning on shooting to about 250-300 yards, then 223 is perfect for the job. Rifle and ammo choice is plentiful; reloading is cheap and easy. You mentioned stainless synthetic - choices are Howa, Remington and Tikka, that spring to mind. 1:12 twist is fine for this role as you will likely shoot 40, 50, or 55 gr bullets, all of which work fine in that twist. In 223, no great worry about barrel length etc - not that much powder so with careful reloading you can minimise velocity loss. If you aren't reloading, then 22-24 inch barrel will be best.

 

If you get 22-250, you get the extra 50-100 yards of useful range. You also get more noise (I have also fired both, there is definitely a difference) and use a lot more powder. You also have a calibre which is much more sensitive to the loss of barrel length as it has to burn more powder in the same volume of barrel. Therefore, 24 inch barrel to get the full benefit.

 

IMHO, 22-250 is very trumped by the 243, though. If shooting longer ranges, you will always have drop to contend with - 22-250 and 243 are similar here depending on bullet choice. 243 gives you a much higher BC though, which means it doesn't fall off so fast, and it bucks the wind much better, which means better long range calibre. The 243 shooting 55 gr Noslers runs about 200 fps quicker than the 22-250 (source - Nosler's website) AND the BC of the 243 bullet is higher. This means better long range performance!

 

However, as you increase the performance, you increase cost of ammo, noise, recoil. The little 223 has much to recommend it, and unless you're shooting long range fox that's my choice. Of course, you could get both...

[jamie g 17]

deker there is no difference in noise to a 22/250 and a 223. not that you would no the difference when shot side buy side. the ammo is around the same as 223 from what i have seen lately, and alot of different brands are stocked in most stores

 

Lets start by saying again I suggest a 22-250 is the dedicated Fox tool!

 

But Sorry chap, I have to dissagree on noise, I have shot side by side with a .22-250 and the noise issue was apparent immediately! Choice of factory ammo is also wider for .223 than for 22-250, different situation if you are reloading!

 

That's why my choice would be .223!

 

ATB!

 

well my rifle with ase mod shooting next to my mates 223 with same mod you wouldnt no the difference. also i shoot with a lad that has 22/250ai with ase mod and even he said his rifle now was less noise then his old tikka 223 with t4 on it.

 

maybe its just down to what mod you have ?

[IanB 0]

Forget the rest and get the best a .243 is the best allround rifle available. Its legal for all deer in the UK and the lighter 55-58grain bullets offer equal if not better velocity/trajectory than a .22-250 ... Buy a .22 rimfire and a .243 and your sorted for everything...

[dave1372 83]

Each to their own but I went for 22-250 as when used for foxing upto 300 yards it is pretty much just point and shoot, you don't really have to think about holdover because it shoots so flat, aim for the largest centre of mass you can see and over it will go. And the added advantage is in Scotland it is a legal calibre for Roe Deer. There isn't a right answer i suppose just a few personal preferences!

[Mr_Logic 5]

Each to their own but I went for 22-250 as when used for foxing upto 300 yards it is pretty much just point and shoot, you don't really have to think about holdover because it shoots so flat, aim for the largest centre of mass you can see and over it will go. And the added advantage is in Scotland it is a legal calibre for Roe Deer. There isn't a right answer i suppose just a few personal preferences!

 

But then, so is 223...