Advise please based on personal use

Mot man

Active Member
What is the best all round calibre for foxing and deer,99% of the shooting will be fox and roe at 150 to 200 meters with the very odd trip out for reds.Im looking for something lightish as at the mo I have a remmy 700 sps varmint in .223 and that is heavy.Please base all advise on personal experiance.Also if for instance you say .243 please state what rifle brand you're actually using ie remmy,mosberg ect.
​Thanks in advance DAVE
 
Pick yourself up a tikka t3 in 25 06 /243 / 6.5 / 7mm 08 that will cover all your needs
​atb Jim
( I've used all of these rounds both here and in Canada and were it me I'd go for the 25 06 it seems to me the best for what you will use it for )
 
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243 with a 75gr pill for fox and roe then upgrade to a 95 pill for reds unless you rifle will shoot 100 gr,more of a chance getting a 243 passed for fox than anything bigger.
or just use you 223 for fox and get yourself a deer calibre like a 7mm 08
 
Dave

have a run out to john carr guns on the A18 and have a look at a few rifles there. As a ball bark I would go for the 243 and something like a tikka t3 or a browning x bolt, both synthetic. As you only intend shooting the odd red the 243 will do you just fine, especially as you intend foxing too.
Ive used the 243 in sako, tikka and browning rifles and there's nowt between them to be honest, its all down to personal choice but more importantly gunfit.
When you've decided on rifle I would advise buying a box of 80,90, and hundred grain bullets to see which your rifle prefers weight wise but again as a ballpark and from experience 80 grain rounds do fox and roe very well in the 243. I've found that in tikka rifles that federal ammo shoots well as does the sako and hornady stuff.

feel free to pm me for any further advice, i'm a Donny lad too so I wont make you spend daft money if its not needed
my advice is based on experience and NOT opinion.

steve
 
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I use a .243 steyr 69 p2 using 100g norma and it groups just under half inch at 125 yard zero, it's a little heavy for a hunting rifle but that gives it the good grouping. I've had foxes out to 300 yards with it and would be more than happy take red with this combo.
 
When I was making with the same decision I eventually took the .25-06 route, which for me has been the right one.

I considered the calibres .243, .260, .25-06 and 6.5x55 and whittled them down for some of the following reasons.

I discounted .243 on the basis that it is effectively the bottom of the deer legal options (as Reds are in the mix) and regardless of how many Reds have been shot with .243 (and smaller) there are still estates that set their own minimum which is larger than .243. I also didn't see the point in selecting the minimum calibre.

My foxing is mainly lamping, so the flatter the better and the option of some nice explosive varmint bullets was important. So this ruled out 6.5x55 (I'm sure that statement just upset a few folks!)

.260 and .25-06 both looked like they would do the job nicely.
The .260 is short action whereas the .25-06 is long action, but I wasn't bothered eitherway.

There are more bullet weights for the .260 with 90gr -> 160gr whereas the .25-06 spanned 70gr -> 120gr.

In the .25-06's favour though was the better availability of ammunition, the fact that it has been around for longer and that I knew I few people who had them.

HTH

What is the best all round calibre for foxing and deer,99% of the shooting will be fox and roe at 150 to 200 meters with the very odd trip out for reds.Im looking for something lightish as at the mo I have a remmy 700 sps varmint in .223 and that is heavy.Please base all advise on personal experiance. Also if for instance you say .243 please state what rifle brand you're actually using ie remmy,mosberg ect.
​Thanks in advance DAVE
 
.243 was remember designed as a varmint calibre, not a deer calibre. Doesn't mean it won't work, had one for years and it certainly did but if you are going to have one deer rifle then get a decent deer calibre (any 7mm would be my preference) and that will knock any fox over - probably turn it inside out as well!
 
If you are hell bent on one rifle then for me it would be the .243 Can be very fast and flat for Charlie and will do the job on the occasional red. I know bigger calibres will kill foxes but sometimes bullet choice can be a bit less than ideal. We had a suprising amount of runners when using Deer bullets for Foxes. We always found them, but You cant beat a V max out of a .243 for charlie (in my opinion). Not sure I would want to use a large deer calibre and Deer bullet on some of the ground I use my .223!. As for rifle, try as many as you can. I like Tikka but thats just me.
 
I've shot a .243 for the last 20 years and never felt the need for anything else. I have exactly the same needs of a calibre as you and the .243 is perfect for the job. I also have shot plenty of red and sika stags and never felt under gunned. I started off with a Sako m591 but now have splashed out on a Blaser R8. Love both rifles but the R8 definitely has the edge in accuracy. I always used 100g bullets on the bigger stuff, 75g on roe and 55g on long range crows and foxes. There is very little shift in zero between the weights and the R8 seems to group everything I put through it at under 1/4" over 100 yards. The Sako was more fussy and preferred the lighter bullets. Good luck in choosing your rifle and calibre. :)
 
used my tikka 243 on all but reds and it works a treat,

bob.

ps: i am a older tikka fan as they all have those funny longer actions now ??
 
Anything out to 200yds the 6.5 x 55 will do anything you want, as will all the other calibres mentioned, even the supposed rainbow calibres (fatuous comment by people who should know better) the 7x57 and the .308. It is possible to load the 7x57 with 130gr bullets to very, very nearly the same speeds as the .270. But people will insist on giving out daft advice for no reason other than they are ignorant of the truth.

But just for the hell of it, and because I fancied one when I first started stalking, my vote is the 25-06. Although I will stick with my 6.5x55 and happily shoot foxes at 200yds.
 
I think we all should have a think on posting a reply to threads like the OP's.

some people may never be able to get any of these calibers, so by replying saying get a 25.06/7mm08 6.5x55 etc etc etc, it may just be the fact that its what they CAN GET rather than go get a charlies 357 magnum coz i got one and it works ?

bob.
 
Hi Bob,

I am not sure which calibres you are suggesting may be a struggle to get depending on your licencing department, but it says in the HO Guidance:

13.23 "...if applicants wish to use one rifle for shooting both deer and foxes they may choose a rifle in 6mm (.243/.244) or 6.5mm (.264) calibre."

(Not that all licencing departments pay it any attention)

So as the OP stated that he is looking for a rifle with a view to shooting "fox and roe at 150 to 200 meters with the very odd trip out for reds" any thing up to 6.5mm should be seen as a reasonable and justifiable request.

I think we all should have a think on posting a reply to threads like the OP's.

some people may never be able to get any of these calibers, so by replying saying get a 25.06/7mm08 6.5x55 etc etc etc, it may just be the fact that its what they CAN GET rather than go get a charlies 357 magnum coz i got one and it works ?
 
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