Deer and fox calibre

The pigeon man

Hi Everyone,

I've been shooting foxes for a good while now with a 223 but now I want to shoot some sika from time to time as well. I'm wondering if people think I should get a dedicated calibre for deer such as as 308 or get a calibre that will do both such as a 243.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Feisar

IMHO it's more down to the type of rifle over caliber. Is your .223 a light handy rifle? If so trade it in for a light handy .243 or a another deer capable caliber. However if your .223 is a varminter heavy barrel setup with a big scope then I'd suggest getting a dedicated stalking rifle. It's a pain lugging around a big rifle in the field, plus they aren't very conducive to field expedient shots.

The pigeon man

Thanks for the reply. I have a nice light tikka. Would there be a noticeable difference in how quickly a 243 would bring down a deer compared to a 308?

meathstevie

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117638792#Comment_117638792

If your shot placement is good probably not but the extra bullet weight in the average .308 round at comparable speed will always give it that little bit of extra thump.

Also, unless things have changed in the last while, a .308 will be that little bit cheaper to feed.

Feisar

To be honest I can't comment on 243 vs 308 in terms of knocking power, I haven't the experience shooting enough deer to have an opinion.

otmmyboy2

243 ammo is also usually more expensive than 308, so if you shoot a lot and want some cost savings bear that in mind.

Buddy got a 243 for the same reason as you and has regretted not getting a 308 since for that reason :P

Cass

The .308 would do both just as well as the 243. I've hunted foxes and Deer with my 308 for years. Had a 243 at the same time and each time I'd reach for the 308 for a few reasons. It also has benefits above the 243, imo, such as ammo selection, price, short action, more versatile, bullet change bring you form hunting to plinking steel at 1000 yards, easily tradable/sellable, more appealing, and the reasons the lads gave above.

The pigeon man

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117643291#Comment_117643291

Thanks for all the help and suggestions everyone. Interesting that you used a 308 for foxes. I was leaning towards a 243 because there is a good stock of controlled expansion bullets for deer and rapid expansion bullets for foxes.

I now see that there are some highly frangible bullets available for the 308. This makes me comfortable using the calibre for foxes because initially I was uneasy with using such a high calibre at night but with frangible bullets and backstop it should be safe.

I imagine the ammo below would be suitable for foxes in 308.

https://www.ballistech.ie/product/federal-308-win-110-gr-hornady-v-max-v/

Cass

Stay clear of soft nose rounds as they pass straight through a fox even with a good bone hit. Stick with expanding ammo like the v-max above. Lighter bullets will travel slightly faster and have more than enough knocking power for any fox, and even deer.

tikka225

Just a suggestion but you could substitute straight to a 22250.

It's a lovely fast flat round and you can put a deer licence on it.

I'm currently using 55gr sako soft point and never let me down.

Paddyviking

I've a Tikka 243 which I mainly use on foxes with 55gr varmint rounds which can flatten foxes out to 300m easily.

For deer it's just a matter of using soft nosed 100gr rounds

So for me the 243 with a good scope and mod is perfect for all round shooting

Pv

meathstevie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117663607#Comment_117663607

.223 bolt action should be a straight swap for a .243 or .308 bolt action as well if you hold a deer licence or have range membership. They’re all unrestricted center fire bolt actions.

tikka225

Well I can only say 223 is not deer legal in the eyes of the law.you would get licence on 223 for foxing and the range use only...

As regards to the range you can substitute I'm sure but can you use them guns for hunting??

It's considered a target gun in the range and range use only.

Are you covered for hunting on a target gun?

Have you a deer licence on a 223??

Hunter456

a few years ago i was in the same boat was looking for a rifle that would suit my needs for both deer and fox shooting as i do alot of fox shooting i was suggested by lads a different variety of calibers 243 , 6.5, etc, i went with a 243 excellent foxing and deer round, shot deer out to 360 yards with no complaints from the deer and 600 yards on the foxes but sometimes you will get the odd runner and that goes for foxes to,

Grizzly 45

I started out with a .243 and then moved to .308.Simply because of better[and cheaper..ish] ammo in 308 as I use the one rifle for both target and deer hunting.

Small tip. See if your rifle is a modular design, some bolt actions are, meaning their actions are the same and they just are fitted with different calibre barrels. Some like Sako quad, Blaser, the AR platforms,etc are a cinch to do so.

Others might need a gunsmith to do. So it could be an option to simply change out the barrel, then buy a new rifle, and a lot less paperwork too...

The 243,308 and 7mm08 are all compatible in cartridge base size.So their bolt faces and receivers are the same size.

The pigeon man

Thanks for all the comments. I end for a tikka t3x in 308.

It was a tough choice between the 243 and 308. In the end I sided with the 308 because it will have more knockdown on sika stags. There is also a small selection of varmint ammo in 110gr and 130gr in 308 which shouldn't produce any runners when shooting foxes.

The availability of 308 ammo is hard to beat. There are loads of cool calibres but I like to have easy availability of ammo at a reasonable price.