Your Feedback Hi Martin,
I’d like to comment on your article in this months (September) issue of “ii Shoot And Fish E-Zine” regarding suitable fox shooting calibers.
Some background information on my ex- perience. I have owned & used all the cali- bers referred to in your article except .222 Rem. & .22/250 on foxes & rabbits over a number of years.
Your comment, “.204 firing a 45g bullet with a muzzle velocity of 3625fps and a muzzle energy of 1313 ft-lbs” ……………………… I currently own & use a .204 Ruger for fox shooting and have done for a while. I note you quote the 45 grain bullet’s ballistics. Most factory .204 Ruger rifles in this country will not fire 45 grain loads due to the slower rifling in their rifles. The factory standard seems to be 1 in 12. To fire a 45 grain bullet you would need a 1 in 10 twist from what I can gather. Most users here are using Hornady 32 & 40 grain and Federal 39 grain loads. The ma- jority of users, including myself and my brother find that Federal is the better round. I have not heard of any dealer sell- ing 45 grain rounds here.
Your comment, “The .223 is probably the most common fox caliber here among shooters………...” I would ask how you have come to this conclusion. While I agree there are quite a few .223’s being used to shoot foxes I don’t think it is the most com- mon. In my area there are only two (2) .223’s licensed, to the best of my knowl- edge as the local Super seems to have a problem with them and is using the “military caliber” argument as a reason to refuse it.
Your comment, “…………….. very good rea- son for being so” while I agree the .223 is
as capable as other similar calibers for hu- manely shooting foxes one of the biggest reasons people are buying it is for “cheap ammo”, which in my experience and that of many others, ends up being a disap- pointment, as the cheaper ammo beyond 100 yards is not as accurate as the more expensive brands. Therefore, choosing a .223 over other similar calibers based on ammo price for foxing seems pointless. If you were intending doing a lot of target shooting using the cheaper ammo might be a good idea considering the cost of factory ammo and that we are not currently al- lowed to reload apart from the “Pilot Re- loading Scheme” at Midlands Range near Tullamore.
Your comment, “With practice the .223 is more than capable of taking foxes at 400 yards and thanks to the wide variety of ammo you can get plenty of practice as a box of 20 starts off at about €9 and go all the way up to €30. The .22-250 can even be pushed out to 450 yards” Foxes at 400 yards with a .223 is possible but not with the cheaper ammo. In my opinion you would need to be using heavier bullets e.g. 75 grain Hornady, which are technically designed for target shooting only, although lads are using them for hunting or better quality ammo e.g. Hornady. Also to stabi- lize 75 grain bullets you need a 1 in 9 or 1 in 8 twist in your barrel. I fired a 75 grain round from a 1 in 12 and it keyholed at 100 yards!
You’re Comment, “I know I have left some calibers out such as the .220 swift, .243. 270 etc. but the reason for that is they are deer calibres and you can not be granted a license for them unless a member of a tar- get shooting club or have a deer stalking license.” .220 Swift is legal for deer as it can prduce 1700 ft lbs at the muzzle with a 55 grain bullet. I know of one licensed for deer. However, it is usually licensed for fox
I Shoot and Fish October 2011 E-Zine
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