Farma Geddon Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 My furthest clean kill with one shot was through improved choke and with number one. Been out with a few first timers who thought treble A and very tight choke was the way forward. It's not you only need to get into the chest cavity with a few Yes. Big shot doesn't pattern well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 I think that we are tending to go towards the American idea of "magnumitus" Foxes are no different than they used to be and the distances are no greater than they used to be and dead is dead. Years ago Eley used to have the diary and in it they used to state 1-1/16 #4 or larger for fox but #4 was thought to be more than enough. Mind you shooting foxes was frowned on at a lot of places because they were to be left for the huntsmans pleasure. Nowadays they dont want you to use a 22 rimfire on fox but years ago if you had a .22 rimfire it was considerered a potent and dangerous gun and was more than enough to take charlie. I never saw a 22 centerfire used for fox until the late 80's. There might have been the odd hornet about but I didn't know anyone that used one. Over the years I have taken more fox with a .22 rimfire than I have with any of my centerfire rifles. afterthought >> if you use the O/U you could have a smaller shot cartridge for rabbit and a larger shot size for fox. Very very true ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB1954 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 A lot has been said about shot sizes but nothing on the range you are shooting. I think your 36 gram BB or 42 gram BB will do the job and hold a pattern out to 35 yards maybe further. Have you patterned the gun you are using with BB shot at various ranges? For my own shooting I use English BB or A shot [0.160" or 0.180"] [4mm or 4.5mm]. I have patterned these loads in my gun with full choke and here are the results for A shot [0.180"] [4.5mm]. 40 gram load, A shot, range 35 yards - 10 pellets in 10" circle. 40 gram load, A shot, range 50 yards - 8 pellets in 10" circle. I draw a 10" circle over the vitals area on a paper fox target and only count the hits in that 10" and do not claim head hits. The above is repeatable and I normally test 5 out of each box [25] that I load, thus I'm happy to shoot out to 40 yards and get results. I now prefer A shot over BB. I have not used anything smaller than BB but if the range is kept reasonable then I see no reason for it not to work like others have said. There is a strong opinion that large lead shot will not pattern, I tested some home loaded Buckshot recently and was quite surprised. A 3" case with 14 x 32 cal pellets put 11 pellets in 15" circle on a 30" target at 50 yards, have a look on YouTube its been done by others - before anyone starts its got no use in this country I just did it because I can. Good luck with your Fox shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) How's you get on then storsey (the OP)? I hope you managed to drop a few? Sometimes heavy loads aren't necessary. Last season I dropped a big ol' dawg fox ( keeper reckoned it was at least a 30lber ) with an Imperial Game 28g no 6 load. Caught him right in the front end at about 35 yards, dropped on the spot. If I were purposely after fox i'd use a bit more shot, and a lower number than no 6. Edited August 18, 2015 by Whitebridges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 Don't get me wrong big shot can pattern but you need to do some testing in your own gun before you go out for real Some guns might like it but imo it's not required the Fox is not much bigger than 14 lb normally and once skinned you don't see half the flesh and bone you do on a big goose say and most used bb and smaller on them pre lead ban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
storsey Posted August 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 sorry I didn't post yesterday guys ... The farmer asked me to get to the field in question at 16:00 but as always with shooting I was early and spend a glorious hour in the shade of the trees shooting pigeon on a flight line at the rear of the farm ...just to get my eye in and to be honest I was on form ..I got 13 pigeons and some very high birds too with my 32g clear pigeons and was enjoying my self ...... but I got the call from Ted to come across .. After reading your comments and taking the advise on board I opted to harness myself to the combine to eliminate any issues...so I was all strapped in then I heard ...READY MATE ...and we were off...talk about dusty ...wow ...I had a mask and goggles which helped a lot ..but then it started to drizzle and that helped a great deal .... The first 20 mins I had 17 rabbits for 25 carts so I was very pleased and it was a joy to be there ....then I started to see a few foxes in the cover and then 3 bolted at once ...a vixen as it turned out ran 10ft then stopped ..she was the first casualty and the other two made for the trees ...I managed to hit one which ran on another 20 yards and fell ....as we turned to take another strip the fox that escaped me came back out the woods and ran straight towards the combine and I hit that one with 2 shots ....Ted stopped the combine and gave me the thumbs up ....I felt like superstar ...the 42g bb were certainly providing the necessary power to take them down but boy did I know about it ....not in the same league as the clear pigeons im used too lol... Every time a fox bolted it was like an electric shock and Christmas all rolled into one and reminded me why this sport of ours is so great ...ok not all days are memorable but this one was turning out to be a red letter day for me .... I was feeling confident with the carts and took one fox at around 50 yards with half choke in the semi...and the sport continued right until the last strip with rabbits skirmishing everywhere and although the cartridges were perhaps a tad too heavy for rabbits this was a vermin control exercise but I managed to take 10 home for the pot and the rest were taken by the farmer for his dogs... So in total I shot 8 foxes and 36 rabbits ...I have to say this day was probably the highlight of my shooting so far and I thoroughly enjoyed my self ..the farmer was happy and it was a safely executed task.... top result !!!!!!!!!! Note : I did take my o/u but the semi performed well and too be honest im glad it did because those carts in my 686 would have been a struggle ... cheers guys... and this post is exactly what this forum is about ...getting sound advise from experienced shooter ....I cant thank you enough .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 Excellent. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted August 19, 2015 Report Share Posted August 19, 2015 What a blast lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAB1954 Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Result. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitebridges Posted August 20, 2015 Report Share Posted August 20, 2015 Great. Top post storsey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshMike Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 Cracking result there mate, well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ears Posted August 29, 2015 Report Share Posted August 29, 2015 Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_seagrave Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 ...wear clothes that can get more dusty than a very well used duster. I will be using this. LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooternick Posted September 6, 2015 Report Share Posted September 6, 2015 combining in drizzle ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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