FAC Advice - Gun Selection

[Steevo 0]

Firstly, thanks to SportingShooter for the excellent FAC sticky topic - very helpful introduction.

 

I'm a farmers son who has held a SGC for the previous five years. It has recently come up for renewal and I am considering applying for a FAC alongside it to help reduce the rabbit and fox populations on our farm. We have some shooters who come out but they aren't as regular and dependable as I would like and as the rabbits are costing us quite a lot in crop loss I'd prefer to put the time into eradicating them myself.

 

I have very little experience of rifles and would welcome advice from you all about the best calibre to use for dispatching rabbits and foxes. I see SportingShooter narrows it down to:

 

Small Ground Game - .22LR, .22 WMR, .17 HMR and .17 HMR

Fox/Small Ground Game - .22 Hornet, .222, .223, .22-250 and .243.

 

Can anyone tell me any more about the practicalities of each calibre please? What are the main differences, why should I choose one above another?

 

Many thanks in advance.

[SportingShooter 0]

Your main concerns are going to be what is the most efficient and cost effective calibre for your situation.

 

If you are going to be controlling Rabbits in the main, the .22LR has a long history of being a very adequate, very cost effective round. It also has the advantage of SubSonic ammunition, which coupled with a Moderator, makes the rifle very, very quiet.

 

The .17HMR is also a very good Rabbit calibre, it has a longer reach than the .22LR in general terms, is faster and flatter, but on the downside, it is noisier considerably, and ammunition is more expensive.

 

The .17 Mach2 hasn't really caught on in the grand scheme of things, more thought of as a .17 version of a .22LR but with more expensive ammunition.

 

The .22WMR has a good deal more energy than all of the above, and is the most powerful rimfire cartridge. Ammunition is more expensive than .22LR but not generally as expensive as .17HMR. Again, this round is noisy even with a moderator.

 

If its just for Rabbits and the occasional Crow etc then the .22 is more than adequate for your needs.

 

The Fox rifles I listed there are much of a muchness and down to personal preference generally.

 

The Hornet is an old and dying round which is best suited to medium range foxes to around 200 yards. It is the lowest powered of the .22 centrefires.

 

The .222 and .223 are very capable fox rounds, the .223 being more popular in both the number of rifles in use and the amount of ammunition available.

 

.22-250 is a very fast and flat .22 centrefire, capable for Longer range foxes with ease. Ammunition tends to be expensive but that is made up for in performance.

 

The .243 is a much more powerful round than all the previous ones. It is legal for every Deer in the UK also. It has a wide variety of ammunition available, and with the right ammo, can also be very fast and very flat.

 

If you want a general fox round, go .223.

 

Hope this helps.

 

SS

[arveyboy 0]

i think it all depends on your budget really. what you might as well do is apply for as many rifles as you need in your first application and if your budget is tight you can get one rifle and then wait until you can afford the next one. i currently hav a .17 hmr which i love and ive been suprised at 2nd and 3rd shots in quick succession resulting in two or three bunnies (sometimes none ) so noise isnt an issue with me. what ive done however is send in a variation for a .243 slot which was of wast of 6o quid (conterminous certificate) when i could have put it all down to begin with. if you have the oppurtunity try some rifles out and see what you like. why not get a .223 would definitely be a good calibre to go with as its cheap and widely available. whatever happens i wish you luck and safe shooting, atb Jack

[SportingShooter 0]

I'm still thinking .22LR if its for Rabbits mainly.....................

 

What sort of problems are you having with the Rabbits Steevo? Are they in plague proportions or just in need of being trimmed?

[arveyboy 0]

SS i agree. i only mention .17 hmr because it suits my needs. my permission is very open, easier for those longer shots and im in no need of a full on cull on the rabbit population.

[SportingShooter 0]

I don't have an LR, I have a HMR myself as I don't shoot Rabbits hardly at all here. It's used for Crows and Maggies etc, those buggers

[Deker 3,478]

Despite the relatively recent arrival of the .17HMR, the .22LR is still the mainstay of rabbit shooting, however the land is the key, and some land may well favour the HMR/WMR/or even a centrefire!!

 

Fox wonders into another area altogether, and whilst the .22LR..other rimfires and centrefires debate rages on for fox, it is once again down to the situation/land..and dare I say your firearms region!!

 

[spanj 11]

Firstly, thanks to SportingShooter for the excellent FAC sticky topic - very helpful introduction.

 

I'm a farmers son who has held a SGC for the previous five years. It has recently come up for renewal and I am considering applying for a FAC alongside it to help reduce the rabbit and fox populations on our farm. We have some shooters who come out but they aren't as regular and dependable as I would like and as the rabbits are costing us quite a lot in crop loss I'd prefer to put the time into eradicating them myself.

 

I have very little experience of rifles and would welcome advice from you all about the best calibre to use for dispatching rabbits and foxes. I see SportingShooter narrows it down to:

 

Small Ground Game - .22LR, .22 WMR, .17 HMR and .17 HMR

Fox/Small Ground Game - .22 Hornet, .222, .223, .22-250 and .243.

 

Can anyone tell me any more about the practicalities of each calibre please? What are the main differences, why should I choose one above another?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

As Deker said in another post....... dont forget to also apply for the moderator !

[Steevo 0]

Thanks again guys, especially SS! The rabbit problem here is pretty bad - in previous years they've wiped out 75-100ac of winter crops so we've now switched to just spring planting to counter that.

 

Based on your information I'm thinking of applying for a .22LR as a main rifle for the rabbits and putting in for a .223 also should I need foxes at a later date. Thanks also to spanj for the reminder of a moderator for each - do they need to be separately classified, or do you just add moderator to the list?

 

How many different rifles do people normally apply for with their FAC application? I would imagine the police authority would be somewhat suspicious of a new application that listed a multitude of calibres as opposed to being specific about what the applicant is wanting to use each for. Does the number of different calibres require you to have a space for each setaside in your cabinet even if you don't currently own said calibre?

 

Thanks again for the help, sure more questions will come to me...!

[SportingShooter 0]

On the Application form where you are asked what you want to acquire, you need to put the Moderators there also.

 

E.G. You put down a .22LR, in the slot below put .22LR Moderator. And do so for each rifle you want.

 

You can apply for as many as you need, whether you get them or not is a different matter. It is now fairly common for a first applicant to apply for a rimfire and a centrefire on first application.

 

You will obviously need security for them, so if you have a number of shotguns already e.g. 4 shotguns in a 5 gun cabinet, then you are unlikely to be able to fit more than two rifles in there also. Or maybe even one with a scope!

 

So your FEO will bring that up when he comes to visit.

[Steevo 0]

On the Application form where you are asked what you want to acquire, you need to put the Moderators there also.

 

E.G. You put down a .22LR, in the slot below put .22LR Moderator. And do so for each rifle you want.

 

You can apply for as many as you need, whether you get them or not is a different matter. It is now fairly common for a first applicant to apply for a rimfire and a centrefire on first application.

 

You will obviously need security for them, so if you have a number of shotguns already e.g. 4 shotguns in a 5 gun cabinet, then you are unlikely to be able to fit more than two rifles in there also. Or maybe even one with a scope!

 

So your FEO will bring that up when he comes to visit.

 

 

Thanks again SS, most helpful advice. Looks like my list will probably be:

 

.22LR

.22LR Moderator

.223

.223 Moderator

5-shot shotgun (might come in handy for clays)

 

I think my best option is to ask the FEO to visit and take things from their. I found him and his advice most helpful when I originally applied for my SGC 5 years back.

[SportingShooter 0]

That looks fine apart from the 5 Shot shotgun

 

You won't be granted a five shot for clays, and CPSA rules say you can't use a 5 shot to shoot clays either

 

But a 5 shot could come in handy for other things if you can justify it, Pigeons, Crows, Rabbits etc.

 

Have a chat with your FEO see what his advice is.

 

SS

[jamie g 17]

good advise above. i would have 22lr if shooting rabbits from car. if walking about i would hmr though as you get more range. where if your driving round you can get in range for 22lr.

 

for foxing then 243 as you could use it for deer to. but if you dont shoot deer and want it just for foxing then 22/250 would be more easy to get then 243. as for ammo cost it wont really matter inless you shoot lots and lots of foxes.

 

223 is superb also as if you get 1 in 8 or 1 in 9 twist you can do some long range shooting as you can use heavy bullets. where 22/250 your limited up to 55 grain really with 1 in 14 twist [ 60 if you can get it fast ]

 

or 1 in 12 will shoot 60 grains fine. i think only the steyer rifles are 1 in 12 though.