Fox control

riflehunter77

Hey all, new to this so go easy on me. What do ye reckon on .17 HMR for fox control ? If so at what range ? On another note what do ye think of the HMR

bitemybanger

Friend of mine has a 17hmr that he uses mostly for rabbits but is ok for foxes to (IMO) 100 yards.
If your looking for a foxing only gun, the centrefire would be a better option.
Then you can take out charlie 250 yards+ Seroius bit of kit

riflehunter77

Thanks for that but i will be sticking with the .17 for the moment, its only a few weeks old. Had thought about steping up to centerfire was looking at .223 and 22 250. Would of liked to get one but the hassle of going to our local garda and having to justify having two rifles put me off for the moment and i stress for the moment :mad:. Would of liked to have kept my .22lr for the rabbits and got a new centerfire for the foxes.

Umiq88

The 17 has its place its not a fox gun but well capable of taking charlie given right conditions as long as you can place your bullet theres no problem and know your limitations as a general rule keep it in 100yards can be pushed but why risk it.

I've recently gone back tp the 22 as its alot cheaper to run and im not shooting any foxes and ive the intention of later on stepping up to centrefire when im in a better postion ie not in college and working and have somewhere suitable to store it

spideog7

I was faced with the toss up between a .17HMR and a .22WMR cause I couldn't afford a centrefire simple as. I went for the .22mag mainly cause of the bullet size, thought it might pack that extra punch and have more resilience to wind on a good breezy night lamping.
So far I have not taken any foxes with it though, had a shot at one but was not successful, haven't been out much due to other commitments unfortunately... and nobody to hold the lamp !!

johngalway

HMR isn't up to the job of being a dedicated foxing rifle. Sorry if that ruffles anyones feathers but it's not.

Want to be thinking minimum .22Hornet, or ideally .17REM .220SWIFT .222 .223 .22-250 .243, they'll all do the job properly.

homerhop

We used a .17 for a year while lamping foxes, in the end we went back to using a .22 Swift, far more effective and far greater results at a clean kill. The .17 seemed to hit but had too many runners instead of a sure kill.

johngalway

homerhop wrote: »

We used a .17 for a year while lamping foxes, in the end we went back to using a .22 Swift, far more effective and far greater results at a clean kill. The .17 seemed to hit but had too many runners instead of a sure kill.

I'm sure you mean .17REM not .17HMR, just to avoid confusion.

Umiq88

By fox control do you mean a dedicating rifle for foxing that will b eused regularly

or

A multipurpose rifle for taking the odd charlie is certainly up to that but for dedicated fox rifle not ideal at all

riflehunter77

Sorry lads i should of cleared it up last night, I will be using the .17 HMR mainly for rabbits but if the red fella happens to appear within about 70 or so yards will there be enough power in the .17 to drop him in one shot with correct placement.. Thanks again for all the info

johngalway

Should do yeah, placement as you say is the key

tikkamark

riflehunter77 wrote: »

Sorry lads i should of cleared it up last night, I will be using the .17 HMR mainly for rabbits but if the red fella happens to appear within about 70 or so yards will there be enough power in the .17 to drop him in one shot with correct placement.. Thanks again for all the info

The hmr will definitly do the trick alright as long as you place the bullet pin point into the heart area or into the head out to max 120yrds.
I have shot a lot of foxes with my hmr before i got the .223 but for a dedicated foxing gun you need a centrefire .22.

Just one bit of info-before you fire a shot at a fox make sure the hmr is zeroed 100% and you are totally confident with your setup it will save you the risk of wounding a fox.Also the 20gr hornady xtp rounds penitrate a lot better than the 17gr v-max's.

riflehunter77

Just one bit of info-before you fire a shot at a fox make sure the hmr is zeroed 100% and you are totally confident with your setup it will save you the risk of wounding a fox.Also the 20gr hornady xtp rounds penitrate a lot better than the 17gr v-max's.

Thanks for that tikkamark. Will invest in some 20 grain next week. As for having it zeroed at 100% thats one thing im confident with at the moment. The scope is a Swift (mildot) 3-9 x 50, zeroed it last week in field conditions at 75 yards, shot the inserts out of a one and two euro coins after it was zeroed at 100%. But it is the best bit of advise you could give to any hunter " Always check your zero", i have always made a point of this. Better to be safe than sorry

bunny shooter

riflehunter77 wrote: »

shot the inserts out of a one and two euro coins after it was zeroed at 100%.

And people complain about the price of paper targets ? Or the refund of €1 on a used one ?

riflehunter77

It will be the last time i do it, saw a yank do it on youtube thought id give it ago. Never found the inserts, the wife give me a bit of grief about wasting a few bob. I said id make jewellary out of it for her that did not go down well at all :D

tikkamark

riflehunter77 wrote: »

It will be the last time i do it, saw a yank do it on youtube thought id give it ago. Never found the inserts, the wife give me a bit of grief about wasting a few bob. I said id make jewellary out of it for her that did not go down well at all :D

:D
I put a nice neat hole in a 10 cent coin at 100yards with mine one day it took bloody ages to find in the grass mind you:)
In calm conditions the hmr's are seriously accurate.

spideog7

That's mighty shootin lads !! I thought I was doing good hitting inside a 2 to 3 inch circle, I guess the one fox I shot (who ran) might disagree there though :mad:
I'm having a bit of trouble zeroing my .22WMR, I'll start a new thread on it though, feel free to give me a few pointers, even though I don't expect a flat a shot as the .17HMR !!

Link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055216158