.223 bullet thats easy on fox fur?

0ak

0ak

New member
i have a .223 all setup and ready to go. all i need is my kill light and its on the way
thumbup.gif
anyways im in SW Pennsylvania and was wondering if there is any bullet that wont annihalate a foxes pelt. i hit one with a 50gr vmax last year and it basically cut it in half. this is just out of curiosity so dont get all mad at me but would a FMJ get the job done on a fox? id rather ask here than field test it. i cant seem to find the answer to my problems. i have a shotgun to use but i dont want to be limited to 40-50 yards and i cant afford a new gun so it seems like im SOL. jeremiah weber of boondock outdoors told me he uses Hornady Tap self defense ammo. would they work? I believe they are a jacketed hollow point but im not sure. their also like $22 for a box of 20 ouch....any advice guys? thanks, Josh
 
I think you should be ok with a FMJ round on foxes. The holes are just a WEE bit bigger than a .22, but not by much. It'll get the job done.
 
I haven't shot a fox in many yrs.

The last season I hunted Red Fox. I used Remington SN[soft nose] .223. Small hole in, small hole out.

If you end up useing FMJ bullets on fox. Expect them to pass on through. So a good back stop would be in order.
 
Last edited:
Quote:The last season I hunted Red Fox. I used Remington SN[soft nose] .223. Small hole in, small hole out.

Have agree this is my experience also. Just keep away from the larger bones.

I believe in some places it is illegal to hunt with FMJ.
 
I have a Friend that uses Winchester White box 45gr.HP Holes not bad and are less likly to go bounceing all around the woods.
 
Speer H.P. Number 1035 with 26 grains of H 335 , its slow enough that it will not explode your animal , yet expands enough to hammer them to the ground . about 3050 FPS with 16 inch barrel . the trick to any load is to slow them down so they dont explode the critter.
 
i hit a fox last year with my 22-250 with 55 grain vmax and it pretty much looked like it hit it with an axe on the entry hole. I switched to a basic non ballistic tip and with good shot placement it saves the hide pretty well. Hoping to save up for a .17 soon and the shot gun is always with me for the close up one.
 
if it makes u feel better ur not the only one it this situation I'm gonna try out the 40gr v-max this year and see if i get a better result my brother in-law uses the 40gr. v-max in his .204 at a higher velocity than the .223 and doesnt tear them up bad I won't have any results for u until after Nov. 1st
 
Remington 55gr HP/Powerloc 24.7gr Xterminator. I've shot a couple of greys with this bullet and .224 in .250 out. DRT. Bout as good as you can hope for. YMMV.
 
After seeing what a full metal jacket bullet will travel through just out of an SKS, my feeling is they should be outlawed for hunting period.They have no safe place in the hunting woods!
 
I think Kirby has the right idea for shooting fox. Red fox have extremely thin hides and it is hard to keep it from tearing badly, even when skinning them. Slow the velocity down and use a bullet that isn't going to expand violently. I used to call for fox quite a bit where I used to live and used a 222. I had a load for Hornady 50 grain SX that I used for prairie dogs and general shooting. When I was hunting fox and the fur was prime, I used a Hornady 52 grain match hollow point bullet. Both loads shot to the same point of impact.The match bullet wouldn't expand like the SX. I USUSALLY got a pass through with a manageable exit hole with them.

Anybody that tells you they always get the same result with any bullet hasn't shot very many animals with them. You are always going to get some anomolies where you get good results or bad results with any given bullet. The trick is to get a load that works well MOST of the time. I don't even know if you can still buy either of those bullets. I still have a couple hundred shells loaded of each load.
 
I was using 60gr Vmax last year and had a couple that weren't worth skinning after getting hit with them, so this year I worked up a load with some bulk Hornady 55gr soft points I have. This is the first critter shot with that load. I guess it doesn't matter what bullet you use if you hit big bones.

older047.jpg
 
The best I used was a Sierra 55gr fmjbt. As long as you did broadside head neck or lung shot, no bone it would pencil hole through and drop the fox. I shot a decent number of them before the mange took em. I shot 78 one winter, all singles. I used to crawl 50 yds or more to one side to make sure it was a clean angle to not hit bone, hopefully. The Mach 4 17 cal would be good or maybe even better, at close to medium range. I shot my .223 3.5" high at 100 so it was dead on at 280-300.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top