What to get?

[Fox hunter]

Hi all,
I have brought a farm and there has been lots of foxes around lately and i have a 22lr but it wont do anything to the foxes i can only get a bought 100m away before they run what gun should i get i would also like to give my 13 year old son a shot a 22hornet a 204 or a 222 or any other recommendations thanks

[quatroclick]

Hard to beat a 223 unless you want to take really long shots.

[LanceR]

Some of the answer would be dependent on what the back drop is behind the foxes. 

We to have a fox and coyote issue at times around the farm.  For foxes in and around the buildings I don't see much choice but to use a shotgun and either spot and stalk them or ambush them if I can pattern their movements due to the ricochet risks.  If they are silly enough to let me get a good look when they are in the open I use either a .223 in a souped up AR15 or a lightly built varmint bullet in a .308.

Lance

[Ranch13]

If you don't reload you may want to give the 22 wmr some consideration, if you do reload then the 223 is pretty hard to beat.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup

Hard to beat a 223 unless you want to take really long shots.

[Catfish]

For fox the 204 would be hard to beat in range and and hide damage. If there is a chance you would get a shot at a coyote I would go with something bigger, 222 or 223 at least.

[Singleshotsam]

A .204 is the bee's knees for varmint hunting.  That being said, if you don't have a .223 buy that first just in case. 

[Ladobe]

Comes down to personal experience, and in mine fox don't take much killing.   
So I consider the Hornet based cartridges as ideal for fox, some of them to 2-3+ times your stated range.   IMO the 17 Ackley Hornet is the best, the trusty old 22 Hornet or K Hornet are nearly as good, and at 100  yards the 17 and 22 Squirrels would also get it done just fine.   Anything bigger is too destructive on thin skinned fox if you want to save the best pelts.
 
Now that Hornady has commercialized the 17AH as the 17 Hornet, it is easily doable for anyone with factory firearms and factory ammo (instead of just the wildcat reloader with custom firearms).
 
 

[pastorp]

Larry,

You do seem to love the 17s, please explained to me why? I must admit I have been interested in the 17 Remington but never though I could get my big ol fingers around those itty bitty bullets and into a case without mashing my fingers in the loading press. 

Regards,

[Drilling Man]

  I'd be looking HARD at a .223 for 100 to 300 yd. shots...
 
  DM

[JPShelton]

I think the answer depends on where your farm is.  "!00m" and "foxes" have me thinking of the U.K. for some reason.  There, it might not matter so much from a noise abatement standpoint, since sound moderators appear to me (being half a world away) to be relatively easy to obtain.  I'd go for a suppressed .223 in that scenario.
 
Here in the U.S., I might be tempted to the same thing.  I'd be tempted to go through the hoops to get a sound moderator for use on a .223.
 
On the other hand, I think I could kill a fox very dead, very quickly with a .22 Mag or a .22 Hornet, and would probably opt for the latter.  The report isn't so obnoxious with those as it is with a .223, IMHO.
 
If I didn't care about the noise, I'd just pop it with my .30-30.
 
-JP

[Singleshotsam]

The .17 centerfire cartridges are fantastic for small varmints.

[Ladobe]

Larry,

You do seem to love the 17s, please explained to me why? I must admit I have been interested in the 17 Remington but never though I could get my big ol fingers around those itty bitty bullets and into a case without mashing my fingers in the loading press. 

Regards,

Hi Byron,
 
Easy answer I guess is because they generally fly fast so shoot flat, they impart serious shock to the game despite their low weight and are more fur friendly than anything bigger.   So I got into the 17's for predator, varmint and ADC because they will hit small at range, and anchor DRT.   Lots complain about the 17's in windy conditions.   I never had a problem with it for 90% of my predator hunting - usually called them in close enough that the wind was not a factor.     Wind was more of a factor in varmint hunting and at range.   If the wind got bad enough to blow the 17's around too much to compensate for at range, whether for predators or varmints, it was also bad enough to go to the 24, 25 & 26 caliber wildcats, especially for the longer shots.
 
With big hands you do have to get the technique going for the tiny bullets, maybe a little slower at first to save fingers, but then as fast as any other reloading when you get the rhythm going.   Even with my big hands I didn't fumble loading the small bullets, not even in the smallest cases.   The mid to larger cases are the easiest, the 17CCM/17Squirrel the hardest.   But soon enough you don't even have to think about it reloading the 17's.   I also got a little practice with the 14's as well, (never did the 10's or 12's though).
 
 
 

The .17 centerfire cartridges are fantastic for small varmints.

Agree 110%, but IMO, from long experience with them...
The 17 centerfires AND 17 rimfires are fantastic for ALL varmints, AND predators up to coyote... each to their respective effective ranges for each species.
 
 
Larry
 

[piero]

if you go .22cf, I reccomend midwayusa dogtowns.  Their cheap accurate, and 'splody!  Personally though, being the lover-of-all-animals that I am, i'd just kindly invite them into my home.

[mcwoodduck]

I have four rifles chambered in 223 Rem.
One chambered in 22 Hornet and one in 17HMR
Of the 6 rifles it is hard to beat the 223.
The 22 Hornet is good but if I had to pick a rifle to shoot at 100 yards it would be the 17 HMR or one of the 223 rifles.
One of the stainless steel Marling 17's with a good 309 X 38 weaver scope and a brick or two of ammo will come in under a Remington 700 Varmint  or CZ 527 Varmint alone.
 

[Ladobe]

"One of the stainless steel Marling 17's with a good 309 X 38 weaver scope and a brick or two of ammo will come in under a Remington 700 Varmint  or CZ 527 Varmint alone"
 
Well, there are Marlin's, and then there are Marlin's... LOL
Don't remember what the Remy 700's cost back then, but my 17VS didn't even come close to costing less than a CZ 527 I also bought when I bought both over 9 years ago.    But then I didn't leave it as a "stock" rifle from the day I got it either.   It got a Rifle Basix target trigger, 2 custom shortened 5-shot mags, BKL mounts, Swift Premier 4-12 scope and a poor man's bedding job before a single round was fired.   Well over $700 invested in just parts.   A lot to tie up in a Marlin maybe, but it will easily shoot sub 1/2" groups at 100 yards off a bipod, on a good day 1/4 MOA.   Still have the dime shot at 100 yards over the hood of my truck the day I sighted it in with a 3 shot clover leaf through it using 17 gr TNT's.
 
I got talked into buying and putting the cheap scope on it... did so mainly to get the gent to stop harping on it.   I had no experience with Swift scopes, so thought it would be a short stay on the rifle with something much better put on later.    Turned out to be just about the perfect match for the rifle for my main uses for it, night shooting jacks with spot lights and for predators... both to surprising ranges.   But the 17HMR is very capable on diggers well past what a 4-12 can do, especially on the peakers, so I'd go for more than a 3-9 on any 17HMR.   To hit small you have to aim small, and a high mag scope will let you use the 17HMR to unheard of ranges effectively if you have your ballistics down pat.