Anschutz 222 Ammo and Scope Considerations

[CillDaraVerminator]

Hi all,

Trying to work out a deal for a lovely Anschutz in 222, getting rid of my 223(fell out of love with it up to the point it is just a cobweb/dust collector) and this will be my main foxing gun.

Questions are what is the best foxing round for 222, I need one with very little over penetration due to the nature of some of the ground I shoot on. (I always shoot with a safe back stop etc but with €1 million euro horses in some of the fields adjacent I want to make sure I am covering all my bases). Obviously I will be taking previous owners ammo choice into consideration and buying a box or two of all and any I can get a hold of but just looking for others experiences with 222.

Regarding scope I can get an Alpex 4k lite cheap enough (currently using pardn008s no lrf sadly and again not in love with the scope), I know these are pushed for the LR and Air Rifle shooters but would there be any issues shooting it on centrefire?

 

[Will the chippy]

You'll see no benefit changing from a 223 to a 222.
A 50grain vmax would be my choice.

 

[Mr Tree]

Personally I wouldn't be shooting at anything with expensive stock nearby. I found Nosler BT 40 gr very frangible, gave up on them because they blow too easily. Most folks seem to like Vmax as Will just said.

 

[CillDaraVerminator]

The stud wants it done as they found a dead foal awhile back with nips on its legs and other damage foxes did to it over night, and if I didnt do it then they would remove my permissions to shoot on their surrounding land.
I have let plenty of foxes go when I felt a shot wasn't right, i do take every precaution, horses are never in the same field im in always 2 fields away but still need to be careful. I had a liability waiver drawn up and signed by manager of said stud etc.

Ty for input.

 

[Will the chippy]

I used to shoot rabbits on a stud farm, had horses there up to 6million. I used a 22lr for them, you just have to be sensible which it sounds like you are.
It's not often you get a 50grain vmax exiting but it does happen, I'm not a fan of the 40grain stuff because of what Mr tree said above. Elevation is the key, shoot off sticks, even better from up on a bale stack or high seat.

 

[CillDaraVerminator]

Never thought of a high seat to be fair, that could be a possibility. I have made a few bait stations I just need to get them out to the fields at the chosen backstops I want to use.

Ty appreciate all inputs given. Still relatively new to fox shooting all input is good input

 

[finbar]

I re load & a no there no loading in Ireland 50/53 grain hollow points makes a nice big thwack when it hit mr fox’s try & shoot them front on
The white bib good aiming point
Carnt remember the fox a shot but rarely an exit wound
Great round on the cwd & muntjac

 

[Cyres]

.204 Ruger is what you need. In your case 32grn factory ammo.
Rarely if ever exits. Explosive bullet point and shoot with clinical accuracy.
Shoot off sticks or as said high seat over bait points.
I have found that horses take little or no notice of it when fired in close proximity to them.
D

 

[CillDaraVerminator]

Yeah I would love to be able to reload it would be great, If I could get someone up north to reload for me and the rounds were better than the available factory ammo I could get license to bring em back south. (lot of bother in that but doable)

204 would be nice but this 222 has me drawn in cant let it pass for what it is.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

You'll see no benefit changing from a 223 to a 222.
A 50grain vmax would be my choice.

You will.
You will join a long and distinguished line of gentlemen with taste

been running 40gr noslers in my .222 most recently
absurd velocity and point and shoot trajectory

 

[Will the chippy]

You will.
You will join a long and distinguished line of gentlemen with taste

Touche

 

[Mr Tree]

You will.
You will join a long and distinguished line of gentlemen with taste

been running 40gr noslers in my .222 most recently
absurd velocity and point and shoot trajectory

Ed, may I ask what velocity you were getting, I just checked my records, 3452 21.8 grains viht 130

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

up around the 3600 mark

 

[Mr Tree]

up around the 3600 mark

Thanks, if I remember powder halfway up the neck, probably just touching base.

 

[Foxyboy43]

You will.
You will join a long and distinguished line of gentlemen with taste

been running 40gr noslers in my .222 most recently
absurd velocity and point and shoot trajectory

And written by a gentleman of some taste yourself sir!
The sainted triple deuce is legendary, buy one, try one and tell me I am wrong…

PS
A 50gns Vmax over 19gns of Viht N120 gives just South of 3,000 fps and knocks foxes over as far as you will ever wish and dare I say it, with some class….

 

[Donkey Basher]

I re load & a no there no loading in Ireland 50/53 grain hollow points makes a nice big thwack when it hit mr fox’s try & shoot them front on
The white bib good aiming point
Carnt remember the fox a shot but rarely an exit wound
Great round on the cwd & muntjac

After trying a variety of ‘varmint’ bullets I reverted to using the same 52gn Sierra HPBT MatchKings I was using on the range - never had any complaints from Mr Fox (or Mrs Fox come to that)!

 

[Claret_Dabbler]

I run 50/52/53 gr bullets in 222. Getting around 3200 fps in the Blaser.
40 gr can go silly fast, don’t think I ever reloaded 40’s, but had factory ammo.
222 is the answer to so many questions.

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

I use sako 50gr soft points in my .222 but even with them not being the most robust of bullets the chance of pass through is going to be reasonable, a friend uses Hornday 40 and 50gr through his .222 which will offer a much lower chance of pass through but lime everything its always going to be down to what the rifle likes

 

[BigT]

I can but only support the purchase of the magnificent 222

 

[3595wilk]

I use a Tikka 20 inch T3 in .222 with Vmax 50 grain. They run at an average of 3040 fps from 19.8 grains of RS36. I don't get pass throughs with this combination - even on cubs at this time of year.

It has an Alpex Lite on it. Not a massive difference in daytime image to its big brother and night time image is good used with a Blade dark engine with the beam turned down low. The image seems more prone to white out than the the bigger version........so keep beam intensity low. It is fine on clear still August nights, but does make me wonder how it will perform on a cold drizzly January night...... I may go back to the bigger one, and the new DNT tubed NV should be out by then, so may look at that.

It's effective range is lower than it's big brother too - being 40 mm rather than 50mm - so if you are regularly shooting past 165 yards, the 50mm would be a better choice.

My main foxing area means I dont; so it's great for me. Plus where it excels is first/last night Munty. The capabilities are not as good as the 50 in this regard, but we are literally talking a couple of minutes. And as my Tikka is small deer capable with 50 grain TTSX, makes for a great combination.

Lastly, it's been on Mounjaro......it is about half the weight of the big boy 50mm......

For me, the .222 Life combo makes a cracking dual purpose rifle......probably my favourite in the cabinet.