Best caliber for muntjac, Roe, Fox

[NigelM]

As has been said above, define it by bullet not by calibre or chambering, the answer will come from that.

Fox - if you want a specialist bullet because you do a lot of lamping then a 50 to 70 grain Blitzking is hard to beat. If it's just the odd fox then shoot it with your deer bullet.

Muntjac and Roe - no need to go above the 100 grain legal minimum for E&W - many will suggest you might slip below it.

What will shoot both bullets? 6mm. Roll on the "which 6mm" argument but the no brainer is a 243 Win.

 

[6.5Pow]

+1 for the 6.5
If you reload, 6.5 is a great all round caliber and you will not be disappointed if you got one. If you don't reload, I would go .243.
Both calibers allow you to shoot fox and deer with no problem and it can make long range target shooting easier if that ever takes your fancy.
6.5 factory ammo in the U.K. is hard to get and is expensive but reloading supplies are becoming easier to come by.
.308 is certainly a proven hard hitting caliber and can be used at longer ranges but isn't as forgiving if you aren't accurate with your ranging and wind calls

 

[Kjf]

243,

kjf

 

[kimh]

if you have shoulders 270

 

[scrumbag]

Shot quite a few muntie with 56gr Geco ballistic tips. All chest or shoulder shots. No problems...

 

[User00035]

Anything legal if you put it in the right place.

 

[J111]

Ok let's say you wanted the lightest, shortest gun possible and the least recoil? Are you basically looking at a 30 cal to be roe legal with say a 18 inch barrel?

 

[FGYT]

I'm let's say you wanted the lightest, shortest gun possible and the least recoil? Are you basically looking at a 30 cal to be roe legal with say a 18 inch barrel?

no I use a 6.5 x 47 with a 16.5" barrel Plenty to be Big deer legal in Scotland England & Wales
mine could be light weight but the Stock scope and Mod I put on it doesn't help that at all change them and its featherweight

you can chop your 30 cal to 14" and still be big deer legal

but build and action will get it light and small ie a Break barrel single shot is a lot shorter that a mag fed Bolt gun with the same barrel length. (tho the Ruger No 1 is not a light weight )

 

[Reiver Boy]

no I use a 6.5 x 47 with a 16.5" barrel Plenty to be Big deer legal in Scotland England & Wales
mine could be light weight but the Stock scope and Mod I put on it doesn't help that at all change them and its featherweight

you can chop your 30 cal to 14" and still be big deer legal

but build and action will get it light and small ie a Break barrel single shot is a lot shorter that a mag fed Bolt gun with the same barrel length. (tho the Ruger No 1 is not a light weight )

Just chopping my 6.5x47 to 20", its my do everything rifle, what sort of velocity are you getting out of your 16.5" ? i was around 3000 with Nos 120BT and RS60 at 23" so hope to achieve around 2900 from the 20" barrel.

 

[FGYT]

B

Just chopping my 6.5x47 to 20", its my do everything rifle, what sort of velocity are you getting out of your 16.5" ? i was around 3000 with Nos 120BT and RS60 at 23" so hope to achieve around 2900 from the 20" barrel.

2450 with RL15 and 140gn SGK. But changing to RS60 which Quick load says should be 2600

130gn SGK are 2600 with RL15 .

 

[huntwithhounds]

243 with 100g ammo. It's the most versatile calibre you can do every and well

 

[243 fallow]

2506 you dont need anything else .

 

[Bobby Bobberson]

i'd do with .223 like others said.

 

[Colonel]

I use 243 for muntjac and CWD with a 95gr Hornady SST bullet with 42gr Vit N160, I have head shot muntjac at 200yds with this load.

 

[J111]

i'd do with .223 like others said.

Did you mean 243? most said 243 I think.

 

[J111]

I probably did mis-titled this thread. My question was more about the 223 and whether this probably is the best roe, muntjac, fox round. I'll bet the right load will drop a roe every time.

 

[exmarksman9870]

.243 ...

 

[ChesterP]

I probably did mis-titled this thread. My question was more about the 223 and whether this probably is the best roe, muntjac, fox round. I'll bet the right load will drop a roe every time.

Best? Like anything else, I think "best" ought to be describing terminal ballistics and not the calibre. More accurately, "appropriate" should be used which offers a range of possibilities, all of which will do the job.

Whilst you're probably right in that the .223 is a capable little round and would cover all three perfectly adequately, my own findings on Munties is that I'd rather take the .308 (I tend to pick that one up first from the cabinet most times, and now have 4 cals to choose from) and use that as the wound channel is that much larger reducing the chances of a runner. Even if we could shoot Roe down here, I'd always reach for the .308 and just load it heavy and slow instead. Have yet to have any small deer runners using it (and I do use it for Muntjac as well as Roe....it pole axes them on the spot) but have probably dropped less deer than most of you guys on here and maybe been lucky? Saying that .222 and .223 both seem to be very popular in Scotland for small deer control, but I wonder how many of those are neck or head shot to prevent or reduce runners?

.243 also seems to be a popular round for all three. However, it wouldn't be my choice unless home loaded to lowish MV with 100 grainers to reduce meat bruising where small deer are concerned (having seen the mess it can make of Munties at close range!).

 

[bobjs]

mine is a 6mmbr 25" tube and 87 gr nozzler sp, on deer if needed,

fox and vermin load is a 70 gr nozzler Bt.

bob,

 

[njc110381]

6.5x55 - I've had a couple of .243's and they just don't compare. .243 for fox yes, for deer never again!