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Best fox calibre?!


Danscott94

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I have a CZ 550 in 243 which for long enough has been my only fox/deer caliber. I now have a CZ 527 in 222 which is much lighter to carry round.

My advice would be to go for 243 if your just getting one centre fire 58 vmax are flat and fast but I now use 87 vmax they are better in the wind. If your going to get more than one CF then 223 or 222 will fit the bill plenty of second hand rifles about and a good choice of ammo if you don't reload.

There never will be one "Best" calibre some are more suitable most will do the job and some are ok if its what your carrying at the time.

Finding the gun you like/fits you best will go a long way to being best.

Think this says it all!!

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Go for the .223 any day, I have taken foxes at 250-300 yards and not had one walk away. Its a brilliant round and if your not worried about moving on to deer then I dont think you can go wrong. If you want to move up to deer then go for a .243 which will save you a variation cost on your ticket later and at the end of the day a dead fox is a dead fox as long as the calibre does the job. Shooting them with a 17 HMR is fine at certain ranges but a bit of respect for your prey doesnt hurt and a clean kill with a decent round shows respect.

Happy Hunting

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My choice is not the most practical and as for value for money well that's down to the individual but my 6mm WSM pushing the 55g Nosler at 4,530 ft/sec is effective . My 220 Swift drops 5.5 inches at 300 yards where this WSM drops 2.5 inches .

 

OSOK

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Ask 100 experienced fox shooters and you will get 75 different answers.

 

17HH is not a fox round in my book, superb on crows etc but not generally authoritative enough ( for me anyway) on fox. Anything from and including 204 upwards will be fine.

 

55gr at 4530 fps will certainly be effective, nice understatement there, but anything driving a bullet 20 cal or bigger at 2700 or more will be equally deadly given good placement.

 

A

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i dont think you got the way i posted -i was questioning your ethics/claims- to head shooting foxes out to 120yds.

as or the rest of my post read it again-the hmr is history mine was an anschutz very accurate but a bunny gun thats all

You've lost me Gary - you're questioning my ethics and shooting capability now???

 

You asked for best foxing calibre; I said .243... BUT the hmr is fine if you're confident with it. Like I said, I'm happy to demonstrate - accuracy wise 1" at 120yds isn't a problem, and it's carrying plenty enough energy to be humane at that range.

 

I'd suggest that if foxes are running following 17hmr head shots then you probably just missed ;)

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Hi All , I also feel that an HMR is not a fox round but in the same breath and under good conditions head shooting a fox at 120 yards would also be straight forward . However i am curious to know what happens if the fox hasn't read the script and sits at 130 yards ish or you've picked a night where the wind is well up , Do you take the shot or move on and that would be my concern in going out with a rifle that has a limiting factor before you set foot out of the door .

 

OSOK

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I owned a 17hmr for 6 months within that period it proved it self to be a good little effective round for bunny bashing and crow rifle but would never even think of taking it out for foxing would not be my first choice of calibre for that job respect for the fox that you are about to put to sleep should be done swiftly and cleanly that's not saying the calibre wont do that within a certain range but mostly short range rather than long range shooting I found on a night that is suitable for foxing ie windy dark and no moon that calibre is crap in the wind use it for what it was designed for which was a improvement on the 22 r/f

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Hi All , I also feel that an HMR is not a fox round but in the same breath and under good conditions head shooting a fox at 120 yards would also be straight forward . However i am curious to know what happens if the fox hasn't read the script and sits at 130 yards ish or you've picked a night where the wind is well up , Do you take the shot or move on and that would be my concern in going out with a rifle that has a limiting factor before you set foot out of the door .

 

OSOK

The thing is this applies to many calibres not just 17HMR, I had a slot for one on my ticket but in the end changed that for 222. which I can down load to do the same job.

The ethics apply regardless my take is I never "risk it" if I'm not sure I don't shoot. It seems foolhardy to set of out without enough gun for the job.

Its all well and good holding one hole groups on paper, but paper targets don't move around. If you can hand on heart say HMR is the go to gun for your foxing and you never doubt a humane kill when you fire fine carry on.

Personally I think its best left in the cabinet, it was after all meant for prairie dogs squirrels etc.

We have a responsibility to be humane, to defend our way of life we must be able to justify what and how we do things. Or what will happen is the antis will use it against us.

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A twig or blade of grass is enough to deflect the little hmr round. Under the lamp it would be easy to miss such an obstruction. For that simple reason I would say it is not a suitable round. You need the bullet to get to the target after all.

 

I own a .20 Tac. Very capable round but again on the lighter side of bullet weight. To me an off the shelf best fox calibre would be the humble .243 with an 87gr v-max.

 

 

But OSOK certainly has my interest with his gucci calibres.

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i dont think you got the way i posted -i was questioning your ethics/claims- to head shooting foxes out to 120yds.

as or the rest of my post read it again-the hmr is history mine was an anschutz very accurate but a bunny gun thats all

I agree gary , I have the same cali and rifle , more than accurate enough, but i honestly think HMR shouldn't be used for fox at any range ! Yes most of the people that use em kill em ! But theres better caliber for sure, minimum should be.22 hornet, and up . I even dont think 17 or 20 centerfires are perfect, tho they are at sensible ranges. I think if i had to have a dedicated fox gun itd be 222/223 then if ranges needed , 22-250/243 very humane .. atb tim.

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Ask 100 experienced fox shooters and you will get 75 different answers.

 

17HH is not a fox round in my book, superb on crows etc but not generally authoritative enough ( for me anyway) on fox. Anything from and including 204 upwards will be fine.

 

55gr at 4530 fps will certainly be effective, nice understatement there, but anything driving a bullet 20 cal or bigger at 2700 or more will be equally deadly given good placement.

 

A

pritty much agree with what you say,but i'd put the 22 hornet in there too.cracking little round dropped a few with mine

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I would suggest that a little more info regarding your likely range and whether you re-load or not would help.

 

I use both a 22-250 and a 25-06 for foxes and oddly enough I am thinking about a .22 hornet for closer range work. However, most of my shooting takes place on exposed fellsides at least 1200ft above sea level so crosswinds are a serious factor to consider.

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You've lost me Gary - you're questioning my ethics and shooting capability now???

 

You asked for best foxing calibre; I said .243... BUT the hmr is fine if you're confident with it. Like I said, I'm happy to demonstrate - accuracy wise 1" at 120yds isn't a problem, and it's carrying plenty enough energy to be humane at that range.

 

I'd suggest that if foxes are running following 17hmr head shots then you probably just missed ;)

i didnt ask for best calibre-because the best one is still waiting to be discovered ;) if your confident/skillful to head shoot out to 120yds then thats down to the man behind the trigger.i actually got rid of mine after 2yrs as i have 4 other rifles for charley and nv so the hmr was a safe queen.

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+3 for sonic,gunner and gary main points.

Is it reasonable to add that if you are good enough to head shoot with a lesser cartridge,you should be at least as able to do so with say 222 ? (and have the option of a longer/body shot with the 222,without any real difference of opinion.As said,the smaller cartridges are rather self limiting.)

Gbal

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Hi All , I also feel that an HMR is not a fox round but in the same breath and under good conditions head shooting a fox at 120 yards would also be straight forward . However i am curious to know what happens if the fox hasn't read the script and sits at 130 yards ish or you've picked a night where the wind is well up , Do you take the shot or move on and that would be my concern in going out with a rifle that has a limiting factor before you set foot out of the door .

 

OSOK

Wind gets up to 10mph I take my 6mm or stop at home and wait for another better night. 17s and wind are bad news, a have had a crow fly off with one leg hanging by a sinew, luckily my lab nailed it later that day after it flew off our ground at the time.

 

A

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+3 for sonic,gunner and gary main points.

Is it reasonable to add that if you are good enough to head shoot with a lesser cartridge,you should be at least as able to do so with say 222 ? (and have the option of a longer/body shot with the 222,without any real difference of opinion.As said,the smaller cartridges are rather self limiting.)

Gbal

 

 

Perfectly reasonable, .222 is a fine fox round, ask many many deceased foxes. Center chest shot out to well over 200 yards is all it needs.

 

A

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+3 for sonic,gunner and gary main points.

Is it reasonable to add that if you are good enough to head shoot with a lesser cartridge,you should be at least as able to do so with say 222 ? (and have the option of a longer/body shot with the 222,without any real difference of opinion.As said,the smaller cartridges are rather self limiting.)

Gbal

 

 

Perfectly reasonable, 222 is a fine fox round, ask many many deceased foxes. Center chest shot out to well over 200 yards is all it needs.

 

pritty much agree with what you say,but i'd put the 22 hornet in there too.cracking little round dropped a few with mine

Agreed, I have a friend with over 1000 fox kills to his BRNO 22 Hornet, christenend and engraved Sizzling Sue !!.

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no-one has asked the OP if he reloads or what ammo he can get easily locally

all very well recommending 6mmBR and 204R but if you cant get ammo easily its an expensive tomato stake

 

any .224 CF and upwards will work just fine (I am not a buyer of .17cf for dedicated all conditions day and night foxing)

 

.222 cheap to feed, not fashionable, rifles are cheap as a result

.223 cheap to feed, most popular .22cf and therefore factory ammo choice is high

.243 possibly THE most popular CF, as above for ammo and deer legal

 

anything outside that and you are splitting hairs to be fashionable

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My local gunshop seems to stick with the most popular calibres ( 222, 223, 22.250 and 243) or that's what I have seen!

I would like to get into reloading so that isn't a problem IMO I don't want loads of rifles in my cabinet so the 243 ticked the boxes as an all round rifle cable of taking deer!

But will there be a Claus? As I have had my licence for nearly 2 years but havnt done my DSC1 will this make it an issue for me to be granted the 243 even though I have deer where I shoot?

Thanks for all the replies guys! Youv all been helpfull!!

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I think that if you've got the chance of deer you should at least try for some form of 6mm. It would be daft not to. .243 is the obvious choice as ammo is available everywhere.

 

I've shot foxes with a number of rounds from .22lr up to .338 and agree that the HMR isn't the one for the job. To a point neither is the .17 Hornet if you are running factory ammo - it's just a little light and doesn't get in there deep enough so shot placement is important. Home loaded with a bit more weight though it will do the job, but isn't a long range gun. Next is the .22 Hornet - great for closer foxes in still weather. I've shot a lot of them with this little round and also found it good for HMR ranges on smaller vermin. It's a good gun for both jobs. Then you can step up to .222/.223. My mate shoots one and I shoot the other, they're pretty much the same and ample for anything but long range stuff. Most of my lamping shots are taken at under 200 yards and for that, these rounds are great. Not too small so being a bit off isn't the end of the world, but not huge so easy to shoot and follow up and barrel life is still good. I've never used a .22-250 so can't comment, but the ballistics are similar to a light .243 so you may as well have that instead if you have the chance of deer. This is the point where the recoil ups a bit and you may not be able to watch the impact, but what you hit will 99% sure be dead! It's a big round for foxes and with light bullets the barrel life suffers a bit but it makes you deer legal. It's my current choice as I'm trying to thin my gun collection a bit and will do two jobs quite easily.

 

There are numerous others but you are getting into the grounds of hard ammo availability or too big at this point. Dead is dead so anything big will do if needs must, but I can tell you first hand that a light .243 round will slop up the insides of a fox better than a .338, which just passes straight through and keeps going!

 

Good luck with your choice. There's certainly plenty out there to pick through and my advice is to test your firearms department. The .243 is acceptable for foxes and it sounds like there are a few blokes near you if a mentor is brought into it. You shouldn't need one really, but it depends on how easy going your force is?

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