opions required please

[sharpshot]

as said i am about to buy a sako 85 or a remmington 700 but am stuck as to which caliber i want to move up to. i love my triple but want more if you know what i mean. so iv'e been thinking .223 but also thinking 22-250. it will be mainly foxes so any suggestions whats the real difference ie. price per round , range etc .

[guss109]

I use the tikka .223 and think its a great riffle for the fox as its fast flat and knocks them over. My pal has the.222 and thinks mine is better than his and its cheapish to feed

[whitehackle]

I dont think there is a big difference, the 223 will not be able to do anything different than the 222 out in the field shooting fox's. If you want a step up then go for the 222-50, but if your going that far you could just get a 243 and then be able to shoot deer and fox? the 222-50 is only a necked down 243 case, you could load it up for deer and down for fox?

 

If it was me I think I would go for the 243

[steve_b_wales]

Get a 22-250. Not knocking the 223 (I used to use one) but the 22-250 has more stopping power and range.

Ammunition is cheap enough if you use PRVI Partizan (nothing wrong with it) or re-load.

[sharpshot]

mixed reply so far. have got a load of deer permissions so .243 is on the way. but want a nice foxing rifle hear what you are saying about the 22-250 but dont the barrels go quick???

[Dekers]

.223 is a step up but frankly I don't see any point in stepping up from a .222, you will hardly notice!

 

22-250 flies faster and hits harder and you will notice the difference, they are noisy and ammo isn't that cheap generally, PRVI is good price but not all barrels like it so be careful.

 

Isn't the point of a 22-250 that it is fast and flat and accurate, poor ammo isn't going to help the cause. I use a lot of PRVI in my .223, .243 and .308, by all accounts I am lucky, it works well for me in all my calibres, but I do have up close experience of a number of people and calibre where PRVI just doesn't hack it!

 

But regardless of all this, I don't get it, if a .243 is coming then why bother, forget it and stick with the .222!

[PAULT]

get a 243 simples

[njc110381]

get a 243 simples

 

 

[Paddy Galore!]

I thought a 22/250 was a necked down .250 case. .22[calibre] / 250[casing] i've lined a 22/250 and a 243 casing side by side and they're a different size.

back to the plot, this was discussed at length not so long ago, my findings with the 22/250 were that it has a bit too much powder for the calibre, this creates a lot of muzzle flash. The 223 is a much more user friendly round, but as you have a 222, why not go for something even more capable like a 243 or 6.5x55.

[harv]

I thought a 22/250 was a necked down .250 case. .22[calibre] / 250[casing] i've lined a 22/250 and a 243 casing side by side and they're a different size.

 

gram71 is correct 22-250 was a wildcat from a savage .250 to take .224 bullets.

 

22-250 is faster, flatter and more powerful than a .223 but takes about a 1/3 more powder and is much louder.

on average if taking foxes up to 250 yds then i would stick with the cheaper .223.

[Colster]

.243 ftw

Edited January 13, 2010 by Colster

[njc110381]

If I was choosing I'd go .243 or .260rem as it handles lighter bullets better than the 6.5x55. I'm thinking of going for a .243 myself but not sure yet

[Mr_Logic]

In your situation, stick with .222. There's nothing to be gained with 223, not that's worth the hassle anyway.

 

22-250 is a load faster and flatter, but you could (with a decent scope) run 55gr in the 243 for fox anyway, and that keeps up with 22-250 and hits a damn site harder when it gets there.

[al4x]

If you've put in for a .243 then you don't need two rifles just use that, its superior to all the .22 CF's so why go out with anything else. Save your money and instead of buying 2 guns and scopes etc just buy one better one

[bicykillgaz]

i personnally don't have a cf but my oldman has had both 243 and 22-250 he had the 243 first and has dropped down to 22-250 and preferes itbut they both make a mess of a fox so i'm with al4x why bother getting 2 decent rifles and scopes when you can have 1 amazing setup

 

first picture is 243 and the second and third are both the same one just from different angles with 22.250

[cleaner4hire]

If you've put in for a .243 then you don't need two rifles just use that, its superior to all the .22 CF's so why go out with anything else. Save your money and instead of buying 2 guns and scopes etc just buy one better one

 

sums it up pretty nicely. Good glass is expensive

[whitehackle]

Another option that no one has mentioned is the 220 swift? maybe only any good if you are reloading because of amunition. This bullet if faster and flater than the 222-50 and the 243.

 

Just and option

[macca]

Hi,

most of my fox shoting is done under light - my preferred firearm is a sako heavy A2 varmint int 17MK IV (25 grain projectile at 3800+fps). Very flat to 200+metres - mine is deadon at 100 metres and will head shoot anything in the light (lightforce 240) Very quiet compared to all the calibres mentioned. If you have a 243 then the swift and 250 are very close in performance - why bother. Remington produce the 17 remington fireball in their SPS series - relatively cheap gun but very accurate.

Cheers

[inthedark]

I'm with Macca, you dont need a big gun to shoot fox. I use a moderated .223 remy 700 and its more than capable of hitting anything we can see, cheap to run and user friendly. Traded a 22/250 for it and never regreted it.

[dunganick]

stick with the .222, its a cracking round. The .223 is basically identical, if maybe a bit easier to source factory ammo or reloading components.

 

In your situation i would buy a 6.5x55 Sako 85. The .222 is good for 300 yards on fox, the .22-250 would be flatter shooting, a 243 would shoot a very similar trajectory (using a deer legal load) to the .222, albeit carrying more energy down range. But its not going to be suitable for every deer species.

 

The .222 is a nice cheap gun to run, great for foxing/vermin control. The 6.5 is a cracking Rabbit/Vermin/Fox/Deer round. Its a little bit more pricey than the .243 to run. But its superior in many ways.

[Rem223]

Another option that no one has mentioned is the 220 swift? maybe only any good if you are reloading because of amunition. This bullet if faster and flater than the 222-50 and the 243.

 

Just and option

The 243 will push a 55gr bullet at over 4000fps, the best a Swift can do is around 3800 so I dont see how it will shoot any flatter. I wouldn't see any advantage in going from a 222 to a 223 unless you just fancy a new gun. I would either get something interesting like a 17 Fireball or just get yourself a 243 and a good scope. You can't go wrong with the 243.

[seeker]

Seems as tho the benchrest people had a similar discussion... try the link belowfor the article:

FWIW I was listening to a similar conversation with a gunsmith this week - he did say that you're more likely to find a 1:14 barrel on a 222 for lighter bullets and a tighter twist on the 223s. (The Viht manual has a similar note)

http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html

[steve_b_wales]

PW members are commenting on 'muzzle flash' and 'louder bang'. I use a T8 on my 22-250, so don't get any of these. I also use a T8 on my 243, and the sound is not that much louder.

I do agree though, that a 243 is a brilliant caliber, and will certainly sort the foxes out. I shoot them with 100Gn heads, the same for my deer, and its a devastating round on fox.

I'm one of the lucky ones using PRVI ammo. It works well in my 22-250 and 243.

 

Steve.

[6br]

if you are upgrading from a .222 I would go with the .22/250 to make the difference worth while my .222 sends a 50gr bullet at around 3200fps for best accuracy, the .223 sends the same bullet at 3400 fps my old .22/250 sends a 50gr bullet at 3750fps out of a 26 inch barrel. but if can get your land cleared for a .243 it is far superior to any of the .22cf including the .220 swift I'm talking commercial calibres here not wildcats. my .243 sends a 58gr v-max at 3900 fps or 87gr v-max at 3300 fps and the 105gr a-max at 3050 fps. and higher bc bullets do come in to there own at the longer ranges .the .243 is better suited to the big open areas I shoot were shots between 300 to 500 yards can be taken at the drop of a hat.