Air Arms Owners Club

Hi All,

I'm thinking of getting a dedicated fox rifle which will double for use with muntjac (I'm very keen on getting into deer stalking). I was thinking of .223 but .222 seems to be a little cheaper in terms of the rifle and my local RFD has an abundance of both calibre ammunition in stock.

What do other people prefer? Ideally, I'd love to go straight for .243 but as I can't shoot deer on my permission (there are fallow deer, but the farmer isn't keen on me shooting them ) I doubt whether I'd get permission for it.

Currently the HMR is listed for fox on my cert but I'm very wary about the range with this calibre - I want a centrefire for fox which packs more of a punch.

Any advice is most welcome!

Cheers,

James

I use 223 in a 1/12 barrel. 40 grain does the foxes well and 55 grain for muntjac and chinese water dear.
If you want to go heavier you'll need a 1/9.

BBF

Thanks, BBF!

Howa 1500 are very good for accuracy and price. I have the stainless varmint

BBF

Newby here and .243 is my choice.

I went with .243 in the end, my FEO had no issue with it as I was also stalking down in Bedford

And what rifle did you end up with. 243 for munty is a bit over kill. you may need to head or neck shot them to preserve some meat .


BBF

I picked up a lovely early 90s Winchester Model 70.

I went for .243 as I couldn't really justify two centrefire calibres - it was a heart/lung shot on both munties and I still got a good amount of meat from them. There is still some in the freezer actually

I have a heavy (varmint) barrelled Howa 1500 with a Timney trigger in .22-250. Longest Fox was 265yds with Sierra 55gn Blitzking.
Will happily V Bull at 400yds at the ranges unless it’s really windy when 55gn just isn’t heavy enough. Very happy with it.

A wise choice as you get a lot for your money

BBF