cartridges for foxes

stevoman

has anyone ever heard of people doing a bit of DIY work on their cartridges before going after foxes. i have heard of peole cutting off the wad of the cartridge, but i have also heard of a cartridge being opened u and pouring hit wax over the pellets to mould them together into a whole slug. is it possible or has anyone had any experience with this?

alan123

Thats messing!

You can score around a cartridge with a blade and the whole top of it will fire out the barrell. Its more for the armed robber than the hunter!!!

I shot a partridge before and it disintigrated, all that was left was the wings, the lead in the cartridge had all been fused together. You can get 'rifle slugs', solid lead shot, but I dont know where in this country. Stick to the regular loads.

foxhunter

Most dealers will have remington slugs around somewhere but i find that the 56gr 3" mags do the job just fine for the close in foxy's and there is no safety issue involved .

Rosahane

alan123 wrote:

You can score around a cartridge with a blade and the whole top of it will fire out the barrell. Its more for the armed robber than the hunter!!!

If you try that in a gun with any degree of choke you will end up with something that looks like a blunderbuss if you are lucky:(

If you are unlucky you could suffer serious injury:eek:

johngalway

What's wrong with BB carts designed to do the job??

alan123

Rosahane wrote:

If you try that in a gun with any degree of choke you will end up with something that looks like a blunderbuss if you are lucky:(

If you are unlucky you could suffer serious injury:eek:

You are probably right... I dont think they use much choke in the sawn-offs!!!

stevoman

johngalway wrote:

What's wrong with BB carts designed to do the job??

i have no experience with these john. whats the score with them????

johngalway

A cartridge like 36 gram BB's will kill a fox just fine out to 40 yards. Biggest BB load I have used is 64 gram, I can't seem to get them anymore though.

I think you're in the midlands? I got some BB's of Scully in Athlone and they have worked very well on fox here, he's got his own brand (says he loads them himself but I reckon he pays to get the shells printed lol). Either way I find them good.

Thing about BB's is you have a good number of pellets in there which will give you a decent pattern and also killing power. LESS pellets of a bigger size liek your AAA and SG may give you more killing power but will result is a much more open pattern resulting in a bigger chance of a miss or wounding. MORE pellets of lesser size like 3's and 4's gives a denser pattern but less killing power.

BB is the best of both worlds, and the best cartridge to use when you're out after foxes with a shotgun.

I've shot slugs through my shotgun, and their power is awesome, but you'd be much better off using a centrefire rifle than slugs.

I myself wouldn't go messing with cartridges, there's no point in it, know a fella who has but I won't take the risk of something going wrong. Not worth the hassle.

fathersymes

Eley alphamax BB's do the job every time!

revan23

its a bigger size shot designed for shooting bigger animals... should be easy to get hold of

the wax thing sounds like a bad idea... can't imagine it would do your barrel much good firing wax thru it?

revan23

heres pic of BB shot compared to a No. 4 shot..

stevoman

thanks for the info john. yeah i am in the midlands, i may head over to athlone to have a look at this guys shop iv heard a few good things about him. i'l give them cartridges a go and see how they work out

J.R.

Before purchasing heavy shot e.g. 56 g check that your gun is proofed to fire such a load.....not all gun are.

A friend of mine was given some shells by a friend of his which were supposed to be brilliant for foxes. He didn't realise they were 56g load. He fired one 56g shot in an old Winchester semi auto. The recoil forced the receiver so far back, on recoil, that the protruding bolt smashed into the body of the firearm, severely damaging both bolt & receiver.........gun destroyed.

spideog7

Similarly make sure the gun is chambered for 3inch cartridge's too if you're using them.
I find BB's very effective, I've shot the odd one out to 50yds maybe more with BB's but usually within 35yds and very successful.
I've never fired anything heavier than 42gr BB in fact and have knocked many foxes stone cold with 36gr sixes too.