What Calibre?

[Kye 77]

Been doing a little Varminting over here, and i have used a fair few different calibres..

.22-250...Noisy, and has a bit of a kick...accurate though..ammo can cost a bit.

.204...I like it...shots like a lazer been..i have found it lacking in "Kill" power..had lots of wounded game with it...even good heart/lung shots.

.223...cheap ammo, not alot of noise, and accurate...i shot a Yote at 313 yards with one...i would have this calibre over any other for predators over here.

.222...REAL nice and accurate...can leave a lot of pelt damage though.

.220 Swift...mt LEAST favourite round...LOUD and kicks...blows the feck out of stuff as well...seen one cut a Gray fox clean in half!...could of gotten $20 FOR THE HIDE..NOT FECKING HAPPY!..LOL.

.22 Still my favourite!..lol.

kYE..

[Guest pete evans]

no one mentioned .17 rem. i thought this was meant to be a good varmint calibre. I have no knowledge of this round by the way.

 

pete

[Brummy 9]

Found this quite interesting:

 

204Ruger.com

[Guest Nightwalker]

  Brummy said:

Found this quite interesting:

 

204Ruger.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

.50 calibre Barrett, utterly conclusive results out way beyond 2000 metres!

[kiwi 4]

get a 223, little bit more grunt than a 222 {which would be my second pick}and not as loud as a 22.250. if ya have only just taken up rifle shooting the hotshot .22's are going to be too much gun for you mate and the 223 is ideal for headshooting rabbits at some fairly long ranges, i have a tikka t3 and smoke everything i can see with it,including deer and pigs. the 204 ruger has yet to prove itself over a longer period of time and it could easily fade away overnite as only a few rifle makers are chambering it{as yet}. the .17 rem is a great fox cal the aussies have shoot millions of foxes with it and so long as the wind is not to heavy can usally shoot better than the shooter.

[Kye 77]

Funny you should mention the Aussies liking the .17 Kiwi...They 'aint rated to highly over here..

Just yesterday night, i shot four Jack Rabbits with the .17HMR...all four of them where runners...and all where shot in the heart lung area...its a real tac driver though...just seems to me, imo, it has zero to nothing knock down power...a few lads have shots yotes with them over here...even neck shots...and they have had them run a couple of hundred yards...they find them with just dirty great holes in the neck, but only about a 1/8 on an inch deep!!!...some guys like them for Bobcats though, which i can understand because of the thin skins and lighter body frames...im glad the Aussies are getting on with them ok though...Nice to here a few good reports about different things in other places!

Kye..

[Guest pete evans]

kye

 

the 17rem and the 17hmr are very different calibres 17rem i believe is a .223 necked down to .17 and a hmr is a .22 mag necked down to .17.

[Guest baldie]

Yeh pete totally different beasties, the 17 rem,s failing is it needs cleaning every 12 to 20 shots, but its fur friendly.As i said some of the yanks do like the 204 for yotes, and some dont, but a red fox aint a yote i personally think the 204 is an improved 17 rem.Regarding it against the swift deerstalker, the best load i can find for the swift, is 4050, and its a feckin hot one for a 50 grain slug, cant do a comparison really as the 204 is designed for 32 and 40 grains really, and with a 40 grain it loses 300fps to the swift at the muzzle, without looking, i would bet its caught that up within 200 yards, and bettered it at 500, its a ballistically superior round, and it uses half the powder Ok all my lip flapping is purely from paper, but in my experience, a v-max, or hollowpoint pushed at extreme speed will do serious damage, and remember , this is still going fast enough to explode violently at these extreme ranges, something most of the 22 centrefires wont.Everyone has a favourite, this is mine, because its ridiculously accurate, a muppet could get the best from it easily, and that puts more game in the bag, not raw foot pounds, am i right?

[Kye 77]

:11: :11: ..sorry guys, i didnt read the post properly!...a friend has a .17 rem, and although i havent shot it, he tells me its a nice gun...killed a lot of fox with it and a few bobcats...he also told me, if you dont hit any bone, its a very pelt friendly gun..

kye,..

[pegandgun 52]

My pal had a 17rem for three years.Ive been out with it loads of times.He eventually got rid and bought a .222.I cannot see why anyone would use a 17rem when you can use a 222/223/204/22.250 etc.

Its abit like the .22magnum which is too hard for rabbits and not hard enough for fox..22 hornet is the same,17rem the same,too wee and puney for big stuff,too hard for little stuff!

Thats my opinion!!

[kiwi 4]

the .17rem is the best tool for shooting foxes when shooting them for cash as the pelt damage is very small, thats why the round has been great for aussie. i have used a 22mag on game up to the size of red deer so can't see how it's too small for foxes? the same with the hornet,great calibre within it's limits, was my favorite fallow rifle for years. all depends on how good ya stalking skills and bullet placement are. any animal hit in the head at sensible ranges eg 30meters for a .22 is dead meat. i do alot of shooting and no how to place a bullet, however i don't recommend shooting large animals with rimfires.

[Guest baldie]

Folk like the .17 rem cos its bloody fast, 25 grain bullet at 3750 fps [nearly as good as a .204 ] it shoots like a laser. Cant say i agree about the hornet peg, mine was a cracking tool on fox up to 150 yard, never lost one with it as i remember, but that was its maximum, nice and quiet too,thats whats good about this thread though, everyone has different experiences, and favourites. I would love to try a 6mmppc like mutnuts, thats some round, and i have authorisation to buy one, but you basically have to build one, as they arent a commercial calibre, and building centrefires is very, very expensive.

[kiwi 4]

sako chamber rifles in 6mmppc and the smaller 22ppc. the new winchester short magnums might be worth a look as well.

[Guest baldie]

thanks kiwi, i,ll look into the sako

[pegandgun 52]

I found that the .22 hornet didnt drop foxes and many ran on for 50-100yds.The bullet placement was spot on everytrime.OK up to 100 but just couldnt get away with it.The hornet seemed to kill deer easier than foxes.Thats what i found anyway!

Shooting deer in the head is not really done over hear(except by poachers,tut tut) so a larger calibre is normaly used