.22 advice

hurlsey

Looking for opinions on a suitable caliber, rifle will be used for rabbits/birds(vermin) and fox!

So. 22lr, 22wmr or 22 hornet?

Also is there much point in a moderator with the 22wmr/hornet?

Most likely the rifle will be a cz!!

richj

I have a .22lr and it is perfect for Rabbits (and the odd grey crow when on the ground) however if you are looking to shoot foxes my opinion would be to skip the .22 calibre altogether and get something like a .17hmr.

German pointer

if it as me looking for a gun and my quarry was mostly Fox's and the odd rabbit id go with a .223 if it is mostly rabbits and the odd Fox I'd be getting a .17HMR. howevr a .22lr will teach you all you need to know about shooting and will be great for rabbits and still capable of getting the Fox at 60-70 yards especially with HV rounds and also had the bonus of been very cheap to feed

fabwing

Just to update it is illegal to shoot birds with a rifle under the wildlife acts 1976-2012 the primary legislation to shoot any bird with a rifle,just saying this inform people not to cause an argument.

hurlsey wrote: »

Looking for opinions on a suitable caliber, rifle will be used for rabbits/birds(vermin) and fox!

So. 22lr, 22wmr or 22 hornet?

Also is there much point in a moderator with the 22wmr/hornet?

Most likely the rifle will be a cz!!

extremetaz

fabwing wrote: »

Just to update it is illegal to shoot birds with a rifle under the wildlife acts 1976-2012 the primary legislation to shoot any bird with a rifle,just saying this inform people not to cause an argument.

This is primarily true, but not entirely - birds effectively come in three catagories:

Protected species - which is *all* birds by default, meaning that no bird whatsoever can be hunted - with anything - period.

Derogation Game birds - a certain subset of birds which at certain times of the year may be hunted with shotgun (and by falconry I assume although I'm not at all familiar with that end of things).

Derogation Vermin/Pests - another subset of birds which may be hunted by the means specified in the annual derogations. As well as shotgun, these birds may usually be shot with a rifle, trapped, or otherwise dispatched and are usually distinct from game birds (with the exception of wood pigeon which occupies both game and pest classifications at various times of year).

The derogations are available from the NPWS here: http://www.npws.ie/legislation/irish-law/eu-birds-directive-derogations

richj

extremetaz wrote: »

This is primarily true, but not entirely - birds effectively come in three catagories:

Protected species - which is *all* birds by default, meaning that no bird whatsoever can be hunted - with anything - period.

Derogation Game birds - a certain subset of birds which at certain times of the year may be hunted with shotgun (and by falconry I assume although I'm not at all familiar with that end of things).

Derogation Vermin/Pests - another subset of birds which may be hunted by the means specified in the annual derogations. As well as shotgun, these birds may usually be shot with a rifle, trapped, or otherwise dispatched and are usually distinct from game birds (with the exception of wood pigeon which occupies both game and pest classifications at various times of year).

The derogations are available from the NPWS here: http://www.npws.ie/legislation/irish-law/eu-birds-directive-derogations

Was just about to post that up.

tac foley

.22 is considered very marginal for fox.

At least, in this part of the world [mainland UK]

Here we use .17HMR, .17 Remington, .204 Ruger, .223 Rem, 300BKT, 222Rem, .220 Swift, .22 Hornet and so on...

Your foxes might be different.

tac

cookimonster

richj wrote: »

Was just about to post that up.

Yep ..... Same, same.

By the way and not meaning to derail, but I carry a copy of the yearly derogation in the car when out shooting birds so as to have immediate rebuttal if approached by the un-informed.

cookimonster

tac foley wrote: »

.22 is considered very marginal ....tac

I would agree with Tac here, my experience with .17hmr is limited to a couple of dozen rnds down range and although I have shot a good few fox's when the opportunity arose with my .22 I would recommend a .17hmr as a all rounder.
I am certainly looking to add one to my collection in lieu of one of the .22's.

Cass has done good write ups on the .17hmr and there's plenty of comparison vids out there.

tac foley

Just talking to a pal of mine who shoots a lot of foxes around our area. He has a .204 Ruger, BTW. A couple of years back he found an old dog fox, still alive, at a roadside in plain view, and stopping to put it down he noted that it had no less than seven bullet wounds - spread around the entire body - including two in the head.

Using his [legal] handgun to put the animal out of its misery, he took a few minutes to probe one of the bullet holes and found a standard velocity 40gr .22cal bullet just under the skin.

Some 'bold hunter' had cut loose on this animal, crippling it enough to make a few more shots, and then left it to die at the roadside. It MUST have been a person with a legal reason to own a firearm, but one, IMO, who was complete scum.

Foxes are hardy and muscular little animals, and deserve a better death than this, preferably one administered by a bullet travelling faster and with more authority than a .22 rimfire - even including something like an Expediter or Mini-Mag.

My $0.02.

tac