wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
Haha well that will be .223, .22-250, .222 so we’ll see if there’s a favourite or if I start going off label and down the 20 tac route..
.222 or .22-250?
- Thread starter wildfowler.250
- Start date
Odders
Well-Known Member
The former is severely limited viz velocity & limited regarding bullet weight & the latter only seems to preform best at near max velocities.
If required, 22-250 can be loaded way down the velocity scale, even with 50gr bullets (& appropriate propellant...) & still produce excellent accuracy.
wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
Give it a month and then I can post about it being the “sweetest cartridge” and “God’s caliber” 
Limpet
Well-Known Member
Give it a month and then I can post about it being the “sweetest cartridge” and “God’s caliber”
How are you getting on with it...... and what are you thoughts now?
wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
It’s been a bit of a pain. I keep my rifles a couple of hours away at my folks just now purely because it’s near my shooting ground and I’ve been renting/moving flats the last few years,(bolts in the walls and deposits are a no go). Lockdown has been a nightmare and I’m itching to get up to fit a scope and load up some rounds! With any luck I might actually get a roe with it before buck season 2020 ends..
Does pretty much everything a .22-250 does plus more.
wildfowler.250
Well-Known Member
True but you can keep going up. Arguably 110 grain through the .270 would be ‘better’. Funnily enough I’ve never found the .243 interesting having shot a few. May well end up with one in 10 years time though!
also cheap to reload.
kenbro
Well-Known Member
Agree.....what will do a lot, will do a little.
Ken.
Overlay
Well-Known Member
The 222 I've used for years and I simply just love it, it's my go to foxing rifle period, but I use the .243 22 hornet and 17 hornet I think of a calibre as a mark up up a length of string out to 100 hornet (22 or 17 ) out to 200 the 222 or 243 or I sometimes use the 6.5 or the .308 if I'm out stalking all are on my ticket for fox control including the little LR it's all down to getting the effective right calibre for the distance
Look at your distances and calibre required then find a decent rifle you like, scopes and NV are the difficult but to settle on each one have their merits
When I started off I chose a 243 thinking " 1 rifle do it all " but soon found out that I could never get good results with 100grn or 55grn bullets in a 1 in 9 , but turned out to be a great Roe and Muntjac calibre with 85 grn Gamekings , but I never felt happy using it foxing so got a 22 250 and then followed that with a 7mm08 for the hinds in Scotland. So much for 1 rifle !!!
Hornet
Well-Known Member
You beat me to it
same here:
Ruger N°1 with heavy varmint barrel
Nice consistent grouping.
Used ammo:
- PPU (Partizan),
- PMC < Korea,
- Hornady V-max ( expensive!)
- and the best: old Remington Express packed by 40 i.o. 20.
What .222 concerns: availability is rapidly decreasing due to succes of .223. My pall who grabbed a CZ Stützen in .222 complains now that he pays more for .222 than 22-250 which is also not cheap.
Recoil? I don't mind 22-250. Probably less than .222 but acceptable.
Precision: some older bench rest guys still hang on their .222 and still get nice results against the newer specific bench rest cartridges. And nobody does real BR in 22-250 I suppose. Or?
Strange: Sabatti sells/sold some specific models in .308 and .222, but not in .223. I have missed my chance to pick up one in .222 for 60% new price with 20 shots fired.
Does it really matter? Real life situation, after a fox at night or a Roe deer, Lest look at the fox first, you may not be in ideal shooting position, your lamp is only going to light up the body at max 200 yards, or your night vision is only good for 200 yards & even then it can look a bit vague, you may have 2or 3 seconds when that fox stops moving & theres a bit of a breeze. Roe deer the same, except its daytime, but your looking at that beautiful animal through your scope, your heart may be pumping a bit harder, you just crawled 50 yards. For most of us, in a real life situation, it won't matter how flat shooting your rifle is, can we guarantee we are going to kill it. I would say 175 yards is a good range to shoot. Shot placement is everything. Calibre is secondary. Only speaking for myself, I have to live with other peoples shy foxes, it isnt fun, certainly don't want to wound anything, it does happen but it stays with you, & makes you think before you pull the trigger.
Completely different scenario for folks in the valleys or glens or flat open fens, just my opinion.
Completely different scenario for folks in the valleys or glens or flat open fens, just my opinion.
Save your money, keep your 22-250 and buy a good thermal spotter instead ( if you haven’t already got one) and you’ll find you use the 22-250 a lot more. At least that’s what I’ve done recently, linked with a Pard add-on, it’s completely changed the way I shoot foxes.
Lamp, what’s a lamp?
Something that costs 60 quid, & kills hundreds of foxes. Enables you to cover hundreds of acres in minutes, & lights up critters better than any NV. Paired with dimmer switch, amber filter & rifle = lethal. Fast ID & despatch. Deadly on stubble fields after harvest. My preferred way. Try it sometime.
Been there done that.
Thermal is far more effective for scanning, paired with rifle mounted NV 9 times out of 10 the fox doesn’t know you’re there unless you have to get it’s attention to stop it in its tracks.
Also an excellent method for dealing with lamp shy foxes, you should try it some time
Similar threads
