The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Right here's one for you all... I have a 22 Hornet (CZ), 222 (Tikka T3), and 223 (CZ) which are all for rabbit and fox. When I lived in Reading, the Hornet and 223 got a fair bit of use. I fancied trying a 222 and that has covered the role of both since its arrival, meaning the Hornet and 223 are pretty redundant now, especially since I am doing much less rough shooting (still need to head to old permission in Reading).

I am looking at combining all three into a single rifle, likely getting the 222 rebarreled. The CZs are excellent rifles but the action tends to be a pain for scopes because of the required mounts and the high bolt lift.

Thus far, I am thinking 17 Fireball or 204 Ruger, and having a devil of a job making up my mind. IN the 17, I'd shoot 25 gr bullets, and the 39s or 40s in 204.

I want to get something to kill a fox at 250 yards without any real trouble (quite happy with a requirement to shoot straight, I can do that) and which uses small amounts of powder and is quiet.

The 17 Fireball ticks the last two boxes, but can't help wondering if I would be better off with the 204 since it covers the 223 angle better. I did used to own one and it shot OK, but had too short (21") barrel for that calibre.

Of my existing calibres, I like Hornet because it uses almost no powder, but it suffers because of the inefficient, stubby bullet. I like 222 because it is a good blend of Hornet and 223, but my particular rifle doesn't like anything other than 40 grain. That's OK, but I find it needs a bit much adjustment past 200 yards at night. I like 223 because it works very reliably and well on fox and at distance, but I'd prefer to do it with less powder. I can't help but feel you don't need all that just to knock over a fox, which is often only a bit bigger than a decent sized cat...

Thoughts?! Ta muchly!

Mr_Logic wrote:...you don't need all that just to knock over a fox!

Most of us seem to fall prey to Vauxhaul Vectras...

Have you considered the 22-250 as an alternative?

Yes, but it's too much powder and noise for the smaller critters. I'd go 6 BR if I went big, am a fan but can't see a need for one!

My penn'orth is that I've been foxing with .22/250 for nigh on 20 years, most of those being moderated. I wore out one barrel. Lamping from a truck, the land I've shot over and my increasingly old eyes mean that for me 250 is about my normal safe "confident" range and in fact I currently zero at 250 but will probably bring it back to 225 yards for the reason that the 250 yard zero requires hold-under for close-in vermin at 75 yards and closer. My 55grainvmax 3630fps load gives me a flat point of aim kill on a 3" kill zone out to 225.
My experience is limited to this chambering and to shooting with a lamp man. I'd also make the comment that scope mag much higher than 20-24-ish gets you a very narrow field of view, starts to lose light and with scope mag lower than 20, your "cat-sized" target is getting to be quite small and on the wrong colour of background can mess you about.
The keeper I've shot for in all this time and I both want the target 100% dead and into the back of the truck so, sure, .22/250 may be overkill but we do not want the problems associated with injured things staggering off to die who knows where. I'd also encourage you to think about the variable effect of wind at these distances where guesstimated windage might cause a clean miss.
If you use a round with less powder, you've got to accept that it will travel more slowly and who wants a loopy trajectory when you're shooting (probably) point blank? In my neighbourhood foxes don't hang around long enough to start twirling scope turrets up or down. Sure if you go with NV you've got a target which is potentially much closer than 250 and will be less likely to be spooked.
All that said, I also have a 6BR which is optimised for 105gn bullets but which I'm going to evaluate with 65-85gn ballistic tips just to se if I can better the performance of my .22/250.
Don't forget - fast = flat!

17 Fireball typical mv - 3700, 204 Ruger 3750-3900. Both similar to 22-250, and 204 is better in the wind.

I argue against 22-250 simply because this isn't a pure fox gun, it's also a rabbit gun. My ideal is a 22 hornet-like round in terms of noise with a nice flat trajectory like something bigger.

Well, you can't beat rifle chamberings for personal choice! Mine shoots rabbits too you know.

I think a lot is to do with land - while things may well change, the bits I shoot in Reading are often close to people and livestock, and at night being quiet is very handy, keeps people happier which means more shooting! I did have a 22-250 for a while and it's a nice cartridge for sure.

I'd strongly recommend a moderator if you haven't already...

Even with a mod!! I use an ASE Utra CQB on the smaller stuff and predator 8 on the 243. They're very tetchy townies in Berkshire :-)