Foxing rifle

[Ricky1]

Hi, I’m looking to buy a foxing rifle. It will purely be for fox, nothing else. I have done research for a few months now and what I’m thinking is a sako 85 varmint barrel in either .204 or 22-250. I am leaning towards.204 due to the lower recoil and flatter trajectory.

 

question is, what would you me dream setup be? And what Cal would you go for? 

[storsey]

Tbh Ricky I’d just go for .223 …ammo is better value and more readily available than .204, lots of choice in guns but sako are cool ( I have one ) .223 will do over and above what you want to do or need it for it’s a great calibre . Having owned a 22-250 I personally wouldn’t go back …if it’s just foxes I’d go with .223….just my opinion 

[Old farrier]

223 all day long or even a 222 

cheap available ammo and plenty of rifles out there 

iwas tempted on a 204 for long range crows but ammo availability put me off 

22.250 great flat shooting gun but noisy and hard to moderate to a sensible level in my opinion 

you don’t say the type of distance you exercise the be shooting or the type of terrain that would help us give you a more accurate opinion 

Also if it’s your first rifle/firearms license it could be the easiest one to get approval for 

just my thoughts 

all the best 

Of

[Scully]

A friend has a Ruger No 1 in .204 and reckons its brilliant, but so us the .223, and as others have pointed out the ammo is easily obtainable. So personally I’d opt for .223. 

[Ricky1]

1 hour ago, Old farrier said:

223 all day long or even a 222 

cheap available ammo and plenty of rifles out there 

iwas tempted on a 204 for long range crows but ammo availability put me off 

22.250 great flat shooting gun but noisy and hard to moderate to a sensible level in my opinion 

you don’t say the type of distance you exercise the be shooting or the type of terrain that would help us give you a more accurate opinion 

Also if it’s your first rifle/firearms license it could be the easiest one to get approval for 

just my thoughts 

all the best 

Of

id imagine that it’d be mainly up to 300 yards

[ninjaferret]

22-250 all the way. More thump than 204 or 222 or 223. Not a problem with moderator, you pay for what you get.

[silver fox 1]

Hi Ricky1 One thing you might like to consider is the twits rate of your barrel 1 in 14 and 1 in 12 Would favour Lighter bullets,

and another thing if you might start reloading? These are all things to consider

I have a 223 1 in 9 twist and 22.250 1in12 twist as has been said the 223 is a very capable calibre and ammunition is easy to get hold of The 22.250 is a bit more capable than the 223 it’s very comparable to the 204 but the ammunition is more expensive And also Barrel wear depending on how much you’re going to shoot it if it’s just for foxing you would have no concerns i’ve shot more than 3000+ rounds with mine and it still shooting fine if I had to choose one it would probably be the 22.250 but I do reload for them both which makes a big difference on the22.250 are use a predator Wildcat 12 which does the job nicely and on 223 are use a predator wildcat eight

hope this helps regardssf1

[Fisheruk]

2 hours ago, storsey said:

Tbh Ricky I’d just go for .223 …ammo is better value and more readily available than .204, lots of choice in guns but sako are cool ( I have one ) .223 will do over and above what you want to do or need it for it’s a great calibre . Having owned a 22-250 I personally wouldn’t go back …if it’s just foxes I’d go with .223….just my opinion 

Certainly agree 223, much better availability of ammo, Sako 85 is excellent I have one in 6.5x55 Swed, can’t fault it. Mine’s a Stainless synthetic. 

[Fisheruk]

59 minutes ago, Ricky1 said:

id imagine that it’d be mainly up to 300 yards

I’m not sure I would want to try and shoot a fox out to 300 yards at night time. Happy enough in daylight if there’s no real wind, but the question of backstop beyond 300 yards at night would always give me concern 

[Vince Green]

On ammo availability alone, .223 every time

Its going to be a while before you know your rifle / ammo / sights well enough to be able place a shot at 300 yds   

Edited September 28, 2021 by Vince Green

[steve s×s]

15 hours ago, Fisheruk said:

I’m not sure I would want to try and shoot a fox out to 300 yards at night time. Happy enough in daylight if there’s no real wind, but the question of backstop beyond 300 yards at night would always give me concern 

Genuine question, 300 yds to me is a quite a distance and the b fox never stops to take a breath, from trigger pull to smack b fox could be 1/2 a yard away, I only shoot rimfire am I missing something 

[Ricky1]

.223 seems to be the go to gun then. Is it just because there’s more ammo to choose from? I have looked at the stats and .204 just seems to beat it in every department? Trajectory, wind, recoil. I’d presume accuracy is on par with one another?

[London Best]

25 minutes ago, Ricky1 said:

.204 just seems to beat it in every department? 

Bullet weight?

[silver fox 1]

2 hours ago, steve s×s said:

Genuine question, 300 yds to me is a quite a distance and the b fox never stops to take a breath, from trigger pull to smack b fox could be 1/2 a yard away, I only shoot rimfire am I missing something 

All down to field craft really, I have had many foxes sit out at all different distances from 50 to 300+ yards sit and try to figure out where the noise or squeak is coming from it is possible to stop a fox Dead in his tracks if you shout at them but it doesn’t always work,

The same as I shoot quite a lot of rabbit and sometimes if you squeak then they sit up to see what’s going on and you get a better shot again it doesn’t always work,

i’ve also had to shout at Many foxes to stop them getting in the truck with me 😂

by the way bullet flight time out to 300 yards is about a quarter of a second

Edited September 29, 2021 by silver fox 1

[steve s×s]

1 minute ago, silver fox 1 said:

All down to field craft really, I have had many foxes sit out at all different distances from 50 to 300+ yards sit and try to figure out where the noise or squeak is coming from it is possible to stop a fox Dead in his tracks if you shout at them but it doesn’t always work,

The same as I shoot quite a lot of rabbit and sometimes if you squeak then they sit up to see what’s going on and you get a better shot her game it doesn’t always work,

i’ve also had to shout at Many foxes to stop them getting in the truck with me 😂

by the way bullet flight time out to 300 yards is about a quarter of a second

Thanks for informative reply, and yes have done the "squeak" many times on rabbits, hare ,squirrel, stoats and fox, it was just the distance and variables eg wind, steadiness of hand, ammo issues, I suppose everything has to be near perfect 😇

[silver fox 1]

1 hour ago, steve s×s said:

Thanks for informative reply, and yes have done the "squeak" many times on rabbits, hare ,squirrel, stoats and fox, it was just the distance and variables eg wind, steadiness of hand, ammo issues, I suppose everything has to be near perfect 😇

Practice and shooting to your capability and being honest with yourself that you are capable of making such a shot is a big factor in all types of shooting really, have you seen the video from Simon6ppc in the sporting video section a day with my 223, he has done his homework and a lot of testing to be able to shoot like that hats off to him

[oowee]

Tikka 223, ultra light chassis, drone pro, 50g vmax. A good pair of sticks. 

[wymberley]

Have you given serious thought to your actual maximum range? Night or day? I've used 243 and 223 and I now shoot at the same times at at the same places without a problem with a 22 Hornet albeit with a 50g bullet.

[Gerry78]

On 28/09/2021 at 17:32, ninjaferret said:

22-250 all the way. More thump than 204 or 222 or 223. Not a problem with moderator, you pay for what you get.

You only need more thump for distance shooting  A fox hit with 204/222/223 is a dead fox 🦊 

[Gerry78]

On 28/09/2021 at 15:09, Ricky1 said:

Hi, I’m looking to buy a foxing rifle. It will purely be for fox, nothing else. I have done research for a few months now and what I’m thinking is a sako 85 varmint barrel in either .204 or 22-250. I am leaning towards.204 due to the lower recoil and flatter trajectory.

 

question is, what would you me dream setup be? And what Cal would you go for? 

My advice is go with what you fancy if it’s the 204 then go for it when I first went for a CF Rifle every man and there granny told me go for 223 more ammo options/rifles etc or 22/250 great for shooting foxes on the moon I always fancied 222 bought that calibre (CZ) never regretted it plenty foxes shot easy  enough to get ammo That’s what I fancied and I was happy As some posts have said fieldcraft safety more important Enjoy it 👍👍

[WalkedUp]

I’ve got a .223 and cannot get ammunition currently. Tried a few places. All calibres or loadings can have shortages. Get whatever you fancy. 

[steve_b_wales]

I used a .223 on Fox and it was a very capable rifle. I sold it as I became unemployed and needed the money. Then, after gaining new employment, I purchased a 22-250 (Sake 75) with a T8 moderator, plus I reloaded my own ammo'. Very hard hitting calibre and I have to say that in my opinion, was better that the .223. I sold it to a good friend, as I was using my .243 more often (100gr SP bullets) and they certainly hit hard. I now use my .243 with 70gr bullets and it's brilliant. I've also used my .204 on Fox and again, it's a very fast, flat hard hitting calibre. I now use the .204 on ground feeding Corvids up to 270 yards. I reload all my own ammunition for the .243 and .204. 

[ninjaferret]

I'm now using Drone pro sat on 22-250 love it. 243 For daylight hours. Shot hundreds of foxes with my old sako 22-250 and reloaded my bullets, personally i wouldn't entertain 204, 223, 222.

22-250 gives you the range without worries, and the confidence to know you have the stopping power.

[Gerry78]

1 hour ago, ninjaferret said:

I'm now using Drone pro sat on 22-250 love it. 243 For daylight hours. Shot hundreds of foxes with my old sako 22-250 and reloaded my bullets, personally i wouldn't entertain 204, 223, 222.

22-250 gives you the range without worries, and the confidence to know you have the stopping power.

I’m very confident using my 222 stopping power no problem 

[ninjaferret]

11 hours ago, Gerry78 said:

I’m very confident using my 222 stopping power no problem 

What distance ?