best caliber for rabbits and fox

[Guest bunnykilla1]

wouldnt it be good to go shooting rabbits and no you tha you have a good enouth caliber to cleanly dispatch a fox if you come across one

Edited February 13, 2008 by bunnykilla1

[young1982 1]

Some might say that a .17 hmr would be the right tool for the job.

[Mr_Logic 5]

They would of course be wrong

 

Hornet for me, failing that 22 Magnum. Either has a lot more grunt than the HMR. Hornet gives you more range, WMR is cheaper.

 

HMR isn't brilliant at longer ranges and doesn't have that much grunt. Getting 120 yards or less on a rabbit is fairly easy, so you don't really lose out by using WMR, and you do gain the clout.

[stork 1]

messy bunny ive gone for 22.250 ready cooked bunny

[Mr_Logic 5]

22-250 is expensive bunny! Anything that is a quid a bang is OTT, or are you reloading?

[Deker 3,478]

I really struggle to believe you can find 1 gun for both, I just don't think it quite works that way, you really do need 2, BUT if pushed into selecting only one to take out it would be the .22WMR.

 

Deker

 

PS

Will the person who voted .243 please make themselves known, we need to pop in to a darkened room and have a little chat!!!

 

PPS

Can the 22-250 owner form an orderly queue behind the .243 please!

Edited February 13, 2008 by Deker

[garyw 0]

none of them on the list.17 remington gets the vote.i was shooting rabitts on sunday morning shot 6 only one wasnt any good for the pot but ok for my mates ferrets.if charlie shows up hell get it too up to 200 yds.

[woz 260]

17hmr every time...hornets an old round these days.no one really bothers with then because 223/222 leaves them for dead.suppose if your into antiqe muskit type rifles there ok

 

 

 

 

if people are honest i bet theres been more foxes shot with 22lr than most other calibers and it improves you field craft skills because if you cant get dead close to charlie you aint going to shoot one

[stork 1]

22-250 is expensive bunny! Anything that is a quid a bang is OTT, or are you reloading?

 

 

I ahve only got a .22 rimmy i am getting a 22.250 soon

 

i really am not sure when we go foxing we take 2 rifles it saves the worry of injury and one can have a 22 and the other a big cal gun i think if i was going to have one it would be 17.hmr/22 hornet

[Guest bunnykilla1]

Carrying to guns around with you whenever you go shooting would get anoying tho wouldnt it

iv just got into shooting foxes bin shooting rabbits since i was 11

[Deker 3,478]

17hmr every time...hornets an old round these days.no one really bothers with then because 223/222 leaves them for dead.suppose if your into antiqe muskit type rifles there ok

 

Time to play...Mr_Logic...you're on.....

 

 

[b]if people are honest i bet theres been more foxes shot with 22lr than most other calibers and it improves you field craft skills because if you cant get dead close to charlie you aint going to shoot one[/b]

 

 

Gut feeling only...but I think you may just be right!

Edited February 13, 2008 by Deker

[Deker 3,478]

Interestingly, the answer, if we are looking at ONE gun may not be on the list....could well be a 12g with tight chokes!

[Stork-08 0]

I really struggle to believe you can find 1 gun for both, I just don't think it quite works that way, you really do need 2, BUT if pushed into selecting only one to take out it would be the .22WMR.

 

Deker

 

PS

Will the person who voted .243 please make themselves known, we need to pop in to a darkened room and have a little chat!!!

 

PPS

Can the 22-250 owner form an orderly queue behind the .243 please!

 

im the 1 vote 22.50

 

22 hornet for all round

[Stork-08 0]

Interestingly, the answer, if we are looking at ONE gun may not be on the list....could well be a 12g with tight chokes!

 

 

i said 22.250

[Mr_Logic 5]

17hmr every time...hornets an old round these days.no one really bothers with then because 223/222 leaves them for dead.suppose if your into antiqe muskit type rifles there ok

 

 

 

 

if people are honest i bet theres been more foxes shot with 22lr than most other calibers and it improves you field craft skills because if you cant get dead close to charlie you aint going to shoot one

 

Couldn't resist the bait... 22 Hornet is an old round, I can't argue with that. But it still does a better job for certain things than any of the other 22 centrefires. The reason is very simple - if I shoot a bunny with a 222, 223, 22-250 softpoint or ballistic tip, said bunny rabbit is likely going to be extremely messy. if I shoot it with a Hornet it's not great but it's definitely better.

 

On foxes, Hornet does you comfortably to 175 yards, after which it drops off. If you have 3000 acres to shoot on, you're lucky. Round here, acres is a big shoot, so the flat shooting calibres have safety limitations on flat, small shoots, which still have foxes that need dealing with. Hornet does the biz and is safer, and there is no recoil.

 

Compared to any rimfire, Hornet is flatter and harder hitting, but without going all the way to the bigger centrefires. 17 Remington is comparable in energy but again is very flat, so 22 Hornet really does have a place still.

 

I have a Hornet and I have a 22-250, Hornet is a rabbit gun, 22-250 really isn't. Both are fox guns, and much over 175 yards on the lamp is rare round here. It does happen but the majority are under that.

 

So... as an all-round calibre, the Hornet wins, unless you live miles from anywhere, when it's 17 Remington. The only other one is WMR, which is short-ranged but cheap and reliable. I will be trying this soon-ish with a Sako Quad, assuming the FEO says Yes. Until then, I love my Hornet!