Foxing rifle

silverfox1

Lads,
I'm scaling back on the guns I have as I don't have the time anymore. I'm getting rid of the 243 and 17 and going to get a rifle for foxes and an odd few rabbits.
Have any of you seen a nice 223 or the like in any of the dealers lately.
Thanks

Snakezilla

Des Mulvihill in Mullingar has a few in shop. He has a lovely Ruger that caught my eye. Good price too ! Gent to deal with.

deerhunter1

silverfox1 wrote: »

Lads,
I'm scaling back on the guns I have as I don't have the time anymore. I'm getting rid of the 243 and 17 and going to get a rifle for foxes and an odd few rabbits.
Have any of you seen a nice 223 or the like in any of the dealers lately.
Thanks

There is one on For Sale here seems good value

silverfox1

Cheers lads. Any opinions on the 204. I have no real experience with this calibre.

ormondprop

I found it similar enough to the 223 not enough between them to make one much better than the other, both sound and recoil the same with mods on, premium ammo costs pretty much the same and both have plenty of killing power but it does shoot that bit flatter but for foxing where a 300m shot would be regarded as a long shot and normally you'll be under 200 your not going to notice the extra drop or drift from the .223
So both will do the exact same job equally well but if you feel like a spot of plinking or targets with cheap ammo go for the 223 or if you want some nice flat long distance shots at greys or magpies go for the .204

Snakezilla

silverfox1 wrote: »

Cheers lads. Any opinions on the 204. I have no real experience with this calibre.

A friend of mine is after getting one after trading in a .22 magnum. It does everything a .223 does , only thing is that when a few of us get together to zero rifles, target practice etc the .223 runs a heck of a lot cheaper. I know some lads swear by the .204 as do some about the .223 but from what Ive seen from my mates new gun, both have the same result on whatever you're shooting !
Im after putting in a license for a .223 last weekend. After shooting the .204 a good bit it didnt make me want to change my mind.

silverfox1

Snakezilla wrote: »

A friend of mine is after getting one after trading in a .22 magnum. It does everything a .223 does , only thing is that when a few of us get together to zero rifles, target practice etc the .223 runs a heck of a lot cheaper. I know some lads swear by the .204 as do some about the .223 but from what Ive seen from my mates new gun, both have the same result on whatever you're shooting !
Im after putting in a license for a .223 last weekend. After shooting the .204 a good bit it didnt make me want to change my mind.

I was thinking along the same lines as that. I know the 204 is slightly flatter with 32 grain bullet but if you were to compare like for like, like say 40gr v max in both I'd imagine they are pretty similar.

Snakezilla

silverfox1 wrote: »

I was thinking along the same lines as that. I know the 204 is slightly flatter with 32 grain bullet but if you were to compare like for like, like say 40gr v max in both I'd imagine they are pretty similar.

Look at it this way.. Grand summers evening and you want to do a bit of plinking out to 300 yards. Go with the .223 and you have 20 bullets for €9.99 (dirt but will put a hole in the page) Then you can buy the 40g v-max for €28 a box for serious vermin control or cheaper 55g hollow points for just over half that price which are also pretty good for shooting paper. a box of 50x 50g vmax can be got for well under €50 !!!!!!

Go with the .204 and you have a flat shooting , ultra fast vermin buster which is able to do the same thing a .223 does, except you wont really be able to buy a box or two of cheap ammo and practice on paper unless you can afford the €25+ for a box of ammo.

Ive thought this over a million times in my head before I put the deposit down on my .223
I want a calibre capable of dispatching cleanly out to 300 yards and further if I am capable. I want to be able to relax for a few hours at the weekend or summer evenings and take it out with some bulk ammo to see what I can do on paper without breaking the bank.. Thats why I went with the .223 :cool:

silverfox1

Snakezilla wrote: »

Look at it this way.. Grand summers evening and you want to do a bit of plinking out to 300 yards. Go with the .223 and you have 20 bullets for €9.99 (dirt but will put a hole in the page) Then you can buy the 40g v-max for €28 a box for serious vermin control or cheaper 55g hollow points for just over half that price which are also pretty good for shooting paper. a box of 50x 50g vmax can be got for well under €50 !!!!!!

Go with the .204 and you have a flat shooting , ultra fast vermin buster which is able to do the same thing a .223 does, except you wont really be able to buy a box or two of cheap ammo and practice on paper unless you can afford the €25+ for a box of ammo.

Ive thought this over a million times in my head before I put the deposit down on my .223
I want a calibre capable of dispatching cleanly out to 300 yards and further if I am capable. I want to be able to relax for a few hours at the weekend or summer evenings and take it out with some bulk ammo to see what I can do on paper without breaking the bank.. Thats why I went with the .223 :cool:

I think I'll just look around a few dealers over the next few weeks with an open mind. If I spot a nice gun in either calibre I'll go with it.
I seen a nice steyr pro varmint in stakelums the other day. Anyone got any experience with these?

feartuath

I too am on the lookout for a foxing rifle,after a few misses on greys and two foxes I set up the ruger swift on a shooting vice and the best was 5" groups at 100 yds and with that several flyers around the page.the gun is ten years old and a look with a bore light and the bore is very smooth at muzzle end
It does not owe me much now and has a lot of rounds through it
Looking for 223/204 as bullets much cheaper anyone here have experience with heavy barrel Tikas or Remington's
Anything nice out there or else I might call to see Southern Rifles

silverfox1

feartuath wrote: »

I too am on the lookout for a foxing rifle,after a few misses on greys and two foxes I set up the ruger swift on a shooting vice and the best was 5" groups at 100 yds and with that several flyers around the page.the gun is ten years old and a look with a bore light and the bore is very smooth at muzzle end
It does not owe me much now and has a lot of rounds through it
Looking for 223/204 as bullets much cheaper anyone here have experience with heavy barrel Tikas or Remington's
Anything nice out there or else I might call to see Southern Rifles

It might just need a right good cleaning. Although a 5" group sounds more of a problem than that.
You could always have a new barrel fitted too. Save changing the license.

feartuath

Been cleaned and scrubb of copper fouling.last winter I removed the muzzle brake and fitted the mod again and helped for a while but now back to square one .
My old Remington 17 centrefire went down the same road

yubabill1

feartuath wrote: »

Been cleaned and scrubb of copper fouling.last winter I removed the muzzle brake and fitted the mod again and helped for a while but now back to square one .
My old Remington 17 centrefire went down the same road

swift/17rem burn out barrels due to extreme high velocity.

Don't know why your muzzle end is so worn - it's usually the throat that goes.

223 barrels will last much longer.

Don't know about 204.