foxing rifle

Feidhlim Dignan

i have decided to get a .22 centerfire for foxes. not sure what cal to go for .223, .204 ruger or .22 hornet. i want to be able to stop them with a chest shot at 200m so which would you guys recomend.
also not sure an the rifle but ill be trying to go the secondhand route CZ,tika,remington, ?

clivej

This is my CZ varmint in 223 with a Bushnell 6-24x50 tactical scope.
Any CZ in 223 will do the job for you.

tomcat220t

Any of the above calibers will drop a fox at 200 yards ,imo .If you are looking for the best point an pull varmint round between them 3 then theres is only one answer ......204 RUGER !.Hands down , better suited for that job .Thats just my opinion and i have both .223 and .204 at home .

meathstevie

Being a .22 hornet owner myself I'd advise you to get a .223 and as Clive said you can't realy go wrong with a CZ as they tend to be a lot of rifle for the money you pay for them. A .22 hornet will be more expensive to run and lacks power compared to a .223 at the distances you're talking about. Having said that, you'll find that you'll be shooting most foxes at distances below 200yards.

Feidhlim Dignan

what should i expect to pay for a secondhand cz in .223? are they common in .204

tomcat220t

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

what should i expect to pay for a secondhand cz in .223? are they common in .204

I know CZ do .204 ruger but not sure how much they are new or second hand .

clivej

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

what should i expect to pay for a secondhand cz in .223? are they common in .204

Have a look at this Wiki shooting section and ring around all the dealers to see what they have.

http://wiki.boards.ie/wiki/Gun_Dealers

ronboy

What are you willing to spend on a rifle?? I know where theres a remy 700 VLS in .204 if your interested??

Feidhlim Dignan

about 600 without scope

patsat

you have a pm!

moan 77

Invest your money in a top class scope, cause if you cant see your target well there is no point in pulling the trigger, you wont find an all rounder gun ( a part from the 12 g shotgun) if your shooting foxes out to 150 yards the .223 or hornet will do, but anything past this the .223 is your only man. for under 150 yards you got to ask yourself whats the target mostly rabbits then there is many .22 you could look at or .17, but dont fool yourself if it's the big red lad he will hang out there around 150 to 250 yards unless your an expert caller, you'll get them stuiped first / second year foxes that will come in past 150 yards but they still take knocking.
CZ do a good price on all there model of center fire rifles, but please invest in a good scope i would say at least € 500 / 700 your whole set up should cost € 1000 / 1200 and your set to knock the red lad.
i dont stop all year round i would knock about 120 to 150 foxes per year i would say 75% by night and 95% 0f the whole lot out at 200 yards cause some twit has scared them once or twice and boy do they take knocking then.
best of luck with your purchase but think long and hard about what you want your tools to do.

jamesomara

At 200m you will want a speedy bullet. The faster the bullet gets downrange the less the drop, even though gravity pulls all things down at a constant rate.
Foxes are pretty big targets, compared to the prairie dog or smaller varmint types.
Usually, with varmints you want a big scope and a fast bullet as you will only get one shot. Deer hunting usually requires a big round and a smaller scope, 3-9x40 being fine.

Anyhow, I would recommend the Remington 700 in 223. Check out the ballistics for the 22's. I would decline on the hornet in favor of the 223 overall.

I like the 22-250, however, it is a much hotter round, too hot IMHO for the shooting you will do in Ireland, smaller fields typically. More important are the cost of the 223 and its availability.

The 223 WSSM may be a thought, however, its availability is probably limited.

The Rem 700 is simply one of the best rifles ever made. You cannot go wrong with it.

poulo6.5

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

i have decided to get a .22 centerfire for foxes. not sure what cal to go for .223, .204 ruger or .22 hornet. i want to be able to stop them with a chest shot at 200m so which would you guys recomend.
also not sure an the rifle but ill be trying to go the secondhand route CZ,tika,remington, ?

i cant go past my tika .223 after today.i shot a small group on a 6inch steel plate @ 500 yards . i used to think 200 yards was good

thanks to shanmoll308 . he took me under his wing today and showed me how to use the rifle properly.

ivanthehunter

It might pay to be more concerned with the quality of the rifle build than the caliber..
Tossing a coin on whether to pick a 204, 220, 22-250 0r a 223 is a compleate waste of time if you buy a poorly built rifle..

Any of the above have pros and cons but they'd all be great in a remmy 700;)

bunny shooter

.204 Ruger or a .220 Swift if your consistantly going to be shooting at 200 yards +

cavan shooter

if your lamping 200 yrds is a long way

johngalway

.223, there's no point in over complicating life.

bigdogfox

I would also state a case for the .223 as I find its alot cheaper to run
11.99--25 euro for shells.:)

Feidhlim Dignan

bunny shooter wrote: »

.204 Ruger or a .220 Swift if your consistantly going to be shooting at 200 yards +

not touching the swift, im going to go with the .223 if at all possible.
got some prices today remmy sps .223 750 euro
cz 527 the basic one 725 euro
ruger not sure on the modle 800 euro
thats new prices but im still looking to go secondhand

bunny shooter

Why not the Swift

Buy CZ or Ruger in .223. I wouldn't recommend Remmy SPS unless you re-stock it as stocks ain't great.

clivej

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

not touching the swift, im going to go with the .223 if at all possible.
got some prices today remmy sps .223 750 euro
cz 527 the basic one 725 euro
ruger not sure on the modle 800 euro
thats new prices but im still looking to go secondhand

Just my recommendation - don't get the CZ LUX as the cheek of the stock is made for open sights and is therefore a little lower than for instance the CZ American.

ejg

I've recently had a CZ in 223 a Howa in 22-250 and a remmy in 243. They are all accurate rifles. All have **** stocks as they come out of the box.
The walnut or laminate stocks can at least be opened in the channel, pillar bedded and resealed. In that condition the rifle will be usable. The factory injection moulded plastic stocks from just about any rifle are just junk.
I would rather buy a cheap remmy and throw the stock away than an expensive euro rifle and also be stuck with a bad stock. (and no money left to buy a decent stock)

Purely for foxing and a bit of bunny knocking I'd certainly go 223. That'll do to 300yds. Is cheap to run and is a very efficient round. I think to improve ones shooting practice is more important than an expensive caliber that might be a few fps faster.
Rifle? Tikka, remmy, howa, cz .. all good. if you want to improve the rifle a bit and thinking of aftermarket bits as time goes on then howa or remmy. Either way I thought the stainless versions are nicer....and a wooden stock for the beginning.
edi

yog1

ejg wrote: »

I've recently had a CZ in 223 a Howa in 22-250 and a remmy in 243. They are all accurate rifles. All have **** stocks as they come out of the box.
The walnut or laminate stocks can at least be opened in the channel, pillar bedded and resealed. In that condition the rifle will be usable. The factory injection moulded plastic stocks from just about any rifle are just junk.
I would rather buy a cheap remmy and throw the stock away than an expensive euro rifle and also be stuck with a bad stock. (and no money left to buy a decent stock)

Purely for foxing and a bit of bunny knocking I'd certainly go 223. That'll do to 300yds. Is cheap to run and is a very efficient round. I think to improve ones shooting practice is more important than an expensive caliber that might be a few fps faster.
Rifle? Tikka, remmy, howa, cz .. all good. if you want to improve the rifle a bit and thinking of aftermarket bits as time goes on then howa or remmy. Either way I thought the stainless versions are nicer....and a wooden stock for the beginning.
edi

what about the tika t3 light stainless,, was thinking of one in .204,,,

bunny shooter

:cool:

Now you're talking

ejg

Only my opinion,
I would prefer a 223, just because the selection of ammo is greater. For example the sako 55gr gamehead will normally go through a fox lengthways. Meaning an awkward running away fox can be taken.
223 is regarded as a roe caliber, 204 not.
One can use the cheap american eagle ammo for practice/fox or rabbit.
204 might shoot a bit flatter and can make sense if one has either enough money for the expensive ammo or one doesn't shoot that much.

I might get a tikka myself soon, but would not trust the plastic stock. Maybe with a bit of freeing out of the barrel channel it will do.

The T3 has a tight twist 223, meaning one use a larger selection of bullets than with some other 223's.
New aftermarket bits are going to be seen soon for the t3's.

edi

johngalway

The OP described chest shots at 200m, I don't get the need for very flat shooters in that situation. My .223 shooting 40 grain Vmax will shoot flatter than any fox will care at that range.

Feidhlim Dignan

bunny shooter wrote: »

Why not the Swift

Buy CZ or Ruger in .223. I wouldn't recommend Remmy SPS unless you re-stock it as stocks ain't great.

whats the stock on the sps varmint like?

john has it right, i think the .223 in more than able for 200m therefore i dont need a hot round like the 204 or swift

ejg

Remmy sps varmint stock is also ...junk, but one can get buy for a while
if one opens the barrel channel quite a bit, maybe a quicky bedding job with some metal epoxy. Also check action screws for tightness often.
Remmy sps varmint will be very accurate, just the stock needs sorting.
...and maybe the trigger after a while.
This is a ten minute bedding job on a howa "junk" stock. It shot quite ok like this (Barrel channel was also opened). Action screws seemed to loosen a bit and needed to be tightened up or checked every week.
edi

jamesomara

Feidhlim,
Not taking anything away from CZ, however, I would go with a Rem 700 SPS in 223.

Moan 77,
Steel first, glass second. Save your pennies to get the gun, then save again to get the glass.

yog1

was away last night looking at a few guns,, my heart was set on a tikka t3 light stainless in .204,, was going to look at a howa 1500 package, (scope gun and mod for £850),
when i got there i was shown a 22-250 cz 550 american, with a nice wooden stock,(along with about half a dozen other guns), just felt like a proper gun,
gun dealer said to stay away from tikka, said they were a bitsa gun, (bit of this bit of that),, i know what he means, its the same bolt in all their guns and the same mag, they just put blanks in to fill the space they dont need, but i would have thought this wouldnt make any difference to the quality,
not sure what to buy now,, all this started when i saw a rugar all weather in .204 and fell in love, it had a silver scope and mod to match the barrel,:cool:, only trhing put me off it was was the floorplate,, nothing wrong with it i just prefir a mag:o,, so after a long drawn out post what i'm askin is.. what gun would you buy with your money, has to have a mag and when the whole package is finished cost around £1500 stg, bi pod, scope and mod included

tomcat220t

Feidhlim Dignan wrote: »

whats the stock on the sps varmint like?

john has it right, i think the .223 in more than able for 200m therefore i dont need a hot round like the 204 or swift

How do you think the .204 is a hot round ?It has very close barrel life to the .223 .