.204 ruger for fox

brandan

New member
looking for a new fox gun I have been using a 17hmr but am looking for a little bit more range with as little pelt damage as possible would the .204 fit my needs
 
If you hit them in the right place

I hit one this winter w/ a 35gr berger @ 40yds and it splashed on the shoulder blade, tore it nearly in half
 
Their is no hitting them in the right place with a .204. A 204 is a bad choice for fox as far as saving pelts.Get you a .17 Rem.or a .17 Fireball...You are still going to have some damage but not as bad...Ive posted this picture before but it plainly shows that the .17 Rem. is not bad on foxes.On a fox shot broadside it will exit about the size of a quarter.I have found that if you shoot one head on in the chest that sometimes it will blow there stomachs out but the back's on the fur is whats valuble...

100_1752.jpg
 
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I agree with MC the .17 rem is a great fox gun. Ive personally used a .22 mag for my few fox Ive taken and it worked good.

~Bryan
 
Quote:
"If" you hit them in the right place



"If", is the middle word in Life.

I agree with MCWalk. I have shot some foxes with the 204, it ain't the rifle you want for what you want to do with fox. I shot one at over 100 yds, thought the range would decrease the damage, granted he was moving pretty good and I hit him a little farther back than I had intended, but there was a piece of hide holding the two halves together. It was a Blitzking and it hit the spine, UGLY. Yeah! maybe a soft point would have been different, but I doubt it.

Any bullet larger in diameter than .172 will do more damage than you want to a fox. There are some of us here who have experimented with several different rifles/calibers. I have even found some loads/bullets in the 17's are to much. Currently, I am shooting a wildcat, 17 Ackley Hornet or a 17 Fireball and you occassionally still hit em wrong. Push the feather fast and hope it don't come out.

The objective of calling is "calling them closer to you", use a smaller 17 or rimfire or shotgun. I don't like shotguns, so I will use the 17 AH and 17 Fireball.

Foxes are pretty darn fragile.
 
If you primarily call foxes and very few coyotes, I'd suggest the .17fireball. But, if you call in a fair amount of coyotes, I'd step it up to the .17 rem.
 
well then lets step this up a notch so looking at different platforms for the .17 what factory platforms are out there all i can find is remington and way to highley priced thompson center
 
CZ's are certainly less expensive than a Remington. They have some good qualities such as the set trigger(push it forward to set it at a reduced trigger pull). I've never seen one yet that wasn't an absolute shooter.

I know they make the 17 Remington and I've heard that they were coming out with the 17 Fireball. I don't own one in CZ but would not hesitate to buy one from what I've seen.

Here's mine in Model Seven Predator
FireballPredator.jpg
 
I would also agree...... The .204 is mostly likely to give you more pelt damage. A centerfire .17 is a better bet. I love my .204 but I have had some big damage on small fox.
 
For purely hunting fox, I would think either the Hornet or the 17AH would be the trick rifle. I have a Ruger 77 in Hornet that I bought to make an 17AH out of but it is so much fun I'm procrastinating on changing it. I understand the CZ Hornet is a better rifle especially to modify, but the Ruger is fun.
Mike
 
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For purely hunting fox, I would think either the Hornet or the 17AH would be the trick rifle. I have a Ruger 77 in Hornet that I bought to make an 17AH out of but it is so much fun I'm procrastinating on changing it. I understand the CZ Hornet is a better rifle especially to modify, but the Ruger is fun.
Mike



Go ahead Mike and take the leap and buy yourself another Hornet to convert and keep both. It happened to me. I still have my beloved 22 Hornet, bought another one and converted it without ever shooting it first as a factory model.

The 17 AH is like a drug addiction, you'll catch yourself getting caught up in it, spending to much time playing with it. They are a blast to shoot and so versatile.
 
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