.17hmr for Fox

[HarryL 0]

Hi Guys

 

Just wanting a bit of advise here. On one piece of land I have permission on there seems to be a few foxes about. I am wondering if the hmr would be capable of doing the job effectively? The reason I am not thinking about a centre fire just yet is I have a Sako Quad and it might be the cheaper option just to buy a spare barrel for it.

 

But any suggestions would be helpful.

 

Thanks in advance

[the Verminator 0]

hi,

 

i .17hmr will do the job fine of foxes, as will a .22lr. it is the shot placement that is important, head or chest shots are on as always. as for your sako quad, i know some one that has one of those and they had a .22lr barrel and a .17hmr barrel for it. it didnt work all that well. every time you change caliber it changes your zero. although somewhere i once saw a scope made for .17hmr's, cant remember what make it was though. good luck with the charlies

[HarryL 0]

Cheers for that.. Burris make a scope for the Sako Quad so in theory you can have 4 different zero's for all the calibres. To save the problem it might be worth just buying a new gun.

[the Verminator 0]

thats what my mate ended up doing , got a CZ something or another, shoots brilliantly. so i would say get a new gun.

[HarryL 0]

HMR will drop a fox cleanly as will .22lr/WMR, IF the bullet is placed correctly. The problem with using a rimfire compared to a centrefire is that if your shot placement isnt spot on there is a high chance you will end up injuring the fox instead of killing it cleanly.

 

Centerfires give you much longer range and a greater margin for error should you pull the shot etc.

 

At the end of the day if you want to take the occasional close range fox in good shooting conditions then as long as your constabulary allows it you should be okay BUT.............

 

I would however opt for a dedicated centerfire to ensure humane kills. There are many different calibres that would all do the job, and you would pick up a second hand rifle fairly cheaply to get you started.

 

sometimes youve got to put the welfare of the quarry first, before trying to save yourself a few quid

 

 

What would you recommend ?

[jamie g 17]

thats what my mate ended up doing , got a CZ something or another, shoots brilliantly. so i would say get a new gun.

 

why does he need to get a new rifle. it would take two mins to zero the 22lr then when you cange to hmr barrel work out hoe many clicks it is on scope. write it down and next time you no right away. as for the burris scope stay clear of it its a pile of shit.

 

i wouldnt go for chest shot on hmr for fox i would go head shot. side ways on between the ear and eye. thats the best place. keep the range down to a maximum of 100 yards. and only that if you no you can shoot one at that range.

 

also be carefull as some forces dont let you use hmr for fox. i have it for fox on my ticket. but i perfer to use centrefire. thats what i would get if i where you.

[danebrewer10 6]

I'd go no further than yd you pin point head shots and no further than 50 yd for chest shots, best bet, get a .22WMR barrel for it, that would be better for foxes, but i think ammo is a bit hard to find...

[patdahat 41]

100 yards fox stone cold 20gr. hollow point, wouldnt be trying anything any further than that.

[markbivvy 6]

trouble with the quad and spare barrels is.

if the gun is in for repair, you have no gun for the spare barrels.

cheaper option or not the fox deserves better.get a cf.

[Mr_Logic 5]

If you're going to spend money to kill foxes, then HMR is NOT the one to buy, even if you want to keep to rimfire.

 

22WMR is normally granted by most forces for fox, it's humane out to <cough> 150 yards IF you can shoot it, otherwise keep to 120.

 

You could also just shoot your 22LR at them, that works quite nicely too. Body shot to 75 yards, head to 100, but again you need to place those shots accurately so if you're not doing it on targets first then leave Charlie alone for now.

 

In terms of legalities of it, you are IN THEORY OK on a vermin ticket IF you don't have anything which specifically mentions fox AND you've not had any on-record conversation with the police about this. Reason being that:

 

1. You can shoot a fox with any weapon in the UK

BUT

2. You are in contravention of your FAC conditions if you shoot a fox with a rifle on a vermin ticket AND you also have something which specifically states fox.

 

The reason for this is that fox is normally licensed differently (but not always, hence the confusion). if your ticket lists it for one rifle and not another, then by implication the rifle without the condition is expressly not permitted for this use.

 

If, on the other hand, you JUST have vermin on your ticket's conditions, then fox = vermin in most eyes, and no documentation provided to you by the Police clarifies this to exclude fox. Therefore, you would have a defence in a court of law.

 

HOWEVER.

 

The safest way is to get a centrefire for the job, expressly added for fox (but get them to put vermin too). If your permission is quite small or you need to be quiet, the 22 Hornet is small and effective, but you MUST reload it, factory loads are expensive, rare and rubbish.

 

After that, 223 is the sensible choice unless you are shooting longer (250-300+ regularly) ranges, when 22-250 is the better choice.

 

Have fun

[HarryL 0]

Thanks for all the replies its good too get other peoples views.

 

I think I am going to go for a CF

 

Cheers

Harry