.22 Rifle Information

[fox assasin 16]

Hi lads , im new to rifle shooting and i just wanted to know what grain bullet would you use for foxes with a .22 ? and would you use hollow points, soft points or what type of bullet do you guys use for foxes ?

What magnification would my scope need to be ?

Would i need a moderator ?

Any information would be great lads

Cheers atb

[rimmer 33]

Love it.!!!!!

Very reasonable questions, but suspect your on a wind up, with 188posts and a born hunter rating !!!!!!!!!!

[fox assasin 16]

Love it.!!!!!

Very reasonable questions, but suspect your on a wind up, with 188posts and a born hunter rating !!!!!!!!!!

no mate , as i said im new to RIFLE shooting , i only use lurchers at the moment for foxes

[Addz131 7]

Hi bud ,

 

Don't quote me on this as I am not yet a fox hunter but I may have heard in passing that .22 is not a suitable round for for knocking foxes over and even the . 17 traveling at higher velocity is widely debated and only used in sort range fox kills however it maybe acceptable in your county on the understanding that you already have your FAC if foxes are your target it maybe worth asking your fire arms officer if you could get a larger calibre rifle .222,223,243 and alike added to your paperwork but that could depend on how long you've held your FAC and if the land you shoot on in suitable either way asking your FEO is most probably your best shot . hope this helps

 

Add.

[SportingShooter 0]

The .22LR for Fox debate has been going on for years on this forum and it'll never have a definitive answer...

 

Some say yes, some no. Some departments allow it, others not. Until there is a statutory way of licensing firearms, it won't change.

 

Ideally i'd use my centrefire, but have a .22LR and I can use it for Foxes and if I were to shoot foxes with it then hollow point 40gr subsonic out to around 50 yards which is what I'm comfortable taking a head shot at with it.

 

Fox Assassin - as for scope then for a .22LR 3-9x40 or x50 is fine and more than enough for a .22LR or something similar to this and a moderator on a .22LR with subsonic rounds makes the gun very quiet indeed should you want to reduce scaring off other quarry as much as you can.

 

Again, for Foxes I would be taking shots under 50-60 yards with a .22 if I had to use it. Centrefire is the way to go though

[charlie caller 3,654]

Buy a proper tool for the job mate ie .22 hornet,.222,22-250 ect save your .22 rimmy for bunnies mate.

[The one 8,476]

After the third page or so you will be able to make your own mind up on the comments mate

[Coypu Hunter 486]

Obviously, bigger or more powerful calibres have more stopping power and can be used at longer ranges, or for heart/lung shots. However, headshots using a .22LR with subsonics are totally effective on coypus (which have a much thicker skull than foxes) at up to 65 yards. I've retired enough of them at those ranges to be able to say that with 100% confidence!

 

And yes, I've boiled both fox and coypu heads to compare the bone structure -- coypu skulls are massive and thick, fox skulls are fragile by comparison, so a .22LR round will be equally or more effective on foxes. I'm still waiting for a return visit from the fox that killed one of my ducks last year, at which point I'll upload video evidence to YouTube of fox versus .22LR!

 

A SAK moderator helps with the noise, although the subsonics are pretty quiet anyway. As for ammo, the 40-grain Winchester Super X subsonics have a nice, wide hollow point and do a lot of damage. I tend nowadays to use 40-grain Lapua Akah X-Trainers or X-Zones (both Lead Round Nose) though, because they're a fraction more accurate.

 

I've used both types of ammunition to good effect on coypus, but always and only with headshots. If you want to take foxes with a .22LR and subsonics, you should similarly only be taking headshots, so you would need to practice at your optimum zero range (for my rifle with subsonics it's 65 yards), since the target is only a couple of inches across. Although subsonics generate about 103 foot-pounds of energy (140 joules), and you only need (apparently) 59 foot-pounds to kill a human being with a shot to the vital organs, I would not be confident of a one-shot kill using subsonics for heart/lung shots on a fox or coypu -- so it's headshots every time.

[delswal 3,819]

yeah you listen to coypu hunter and only take head shots with that .22 .........and when the fox moves at the point you are about to shoot .....watch it run off with a bullet in the jaw ..........not likely........ .22 hornet and above .....heart and lung shots every time

[Addz131 7]

No disrespect to you coypu hunter but I agree with delswal respect the animal your hunting if your serious about taking foxes buy the right rifle for the job it's not worth cutting corners mate

[Deker 3,478]

yeah you listen to coypu hunter and only take head shots with that .22 .........and when the fox moves at the point you are about to shoot .....watch it run off with a bullet in the jaw ..........not likely........ .22 hornet and above .....heart and lung shots every time

 

 

No disrespect to you coypu hunter but I agree with delswal respect the animal your hunting if your serious about taking foxes buy the right rifle for the job it's not worth cutting corners mate

 

Why do people persist in this you need a centerfire for fox BS, he clearly said close, and you have just as much chance of a fox moving at distance and taking half his guts out with a centerfire as you have of hittinig a closer fox in the jaw with a rimfire.

 

Some read to much and have no experience. STOP generalising and understand not every fox it shot 200 yards away!

 

Tell me why I need a centrefire to shoot a baited fox 30 feet away in a clients back garded from a window. Why do I need a centerfire to remove a fox that has taken up residence in the Hay barn, why do I need a centerfire for a fox stood outside the chicken coup, etc etc etc?

 

Tell me I used the wrong tool and needed a centrefire....

 

.22lr and fox

 

HMR and fox

 

WMR and fox

 

A Centrefire was the WRONG tool in these and many other cases. I have a collection of centrefires as well and I take out the tool to do the job, sometimes that will be a centerfire and sometimes that will be a rimfire, the tool for the job, not the generalised centrefire for fox, rimfire for vermin BS.

Edited April 25, 2013 by Deker

[Addz131 7]

Six of one half dozen of the other , it's not permitted in my county anyway !

[Coypu Hunter 486]

Well said, Deker.

 

My point is that 22LR has more than enough power to do the job, using a headshot, with subsonics, at up to 65 yards in the case of my rifle. Beyond that, if I had a fox problem here, I'd move to an HMR or centre-fire calibre.

 

As with all hunting, this assumes that 1) you have practised enough to be sure of hitting a small target at range; 2) the animal sits still long enough to give you the shot you want. The latter is never guaranteed.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Coypu Hunter

[rimmer 33]

Horses for coarses

[The one 8,476]

If your cert says for the use on vermin and your happy shooting them safely and at a distance your comfortable with go for it