SmallCaliberCentral

I have had a fox hanging around for the past month but I have been holding off until the fur primed up a bit. I finally couldn't take it any more. I had a chance the other day for a shot but all I had sighted in were 35 grain Bergers and I figured they would do too much damage. So I loaded up a moderate load of Reloader 10X under 30 grain Berger hollow points and sighted them in. Mr fox stepped out at 140 yards and down he went with one shot on the trailing edge of the left shoulder. When I skinned it, I found a one inch exit hole in the hide on the opposite side. Still too much bullet for a fox but they might work well on coyotes. I guess the 32 grain Sierras will be next to be tested. The only problem is I usually only see one or two foxes around here each year.

IMHO I can't see the 204 saving any fox hides unless you can find a reduced load for it. I believe the 204 is just too much gun for them. But good luck in your endeavour & I hope you find a load that will work.

Singleshot: I think Glen is onto something there.....the 204 is a bit much for fox if you intend to save/market the pelt.

If you're into another rifle/caliber, I think you'll find the .17 Mach IV about the perfect fox caliber. Many others besides me believe this too. Something to consider, and hey, a new rifle/caliber is something to look forward to, right? Just tell the wife "it's a new tool"....

you might seriously look at the 30gr bergers for fox, I took some with me on a pd shoot and they'll carry out to 400yds, my boy took great delight in head shooting pds, his bullet of choice was the 30gr bergers!

crazy2medic wrote:you might seriously look at the 30gr bergers for fox, I took some with me on a pd shoot and they'll carry out to 400yds, my boy took great delight in head shooting pds, his bullet of choice was the 30gr bergers!

Sounds like Singleshot was already trying the 30 Bergers ...

Singleshot wrote:So I loaded up a moderate load of Reloader 10X under 30 grain Berger hollow points and sighted them in.

oops, my bad! I thought he was using the 35gr

The 204 was designed for maximum carnage on small critters. But it works well up to coyotes. Maximum destruction on pd's, jack rabbits,ground squirrels,,etc,,etc. A fox is all fur & very little body mass. Therefore they explode like a prairie dog or ground squirrel. Try the 45gr SP's from Hornady. They will zip right thru but are no where near as frangible as these other 204 cal. bullets. The only other option is downloading which can be very dangerous. HTH

A reduced load might work although I have never heard of one for the 204. I worked up a reduced load for my 22-250 with Blue Dot powder that showed a lot of promise for fox but it was just not practical. I would have had to have one gun dedicated to that reduced load because point of impact changed so drastically from a regular load. The 30 grain Berger is not too bad as a fox load if one is willing to do a bit of sewing. It certainly does not do as much damage as the 22-250 has done to many of the coyotes I have shot. I still think there is potential for the 32 grain Blitzking on fox provided you don't try to push it through shoulders. I shot a feral cat this summer with the Sierra bullet that had no hide damage other than the entrance hole and it had less mass to it than a fox does. Anyway that theory will remain untested until another fox moves into the neighbourhood. Anyone ever try a 17 HMR on a fox?

I`ve shot a few foxes with 17HMR,but only when i`ve been out after rabbits and got lucky.I use 17grain CCI TNT`s and ive never had a runner.There again i restrict shots to 100 yards and below.It wouldn`t be my rifle of choice though.Thats what the 204`s for.Luckily for us skin damage is not a problem,as there is no market for skins in the uk.
As a side note,i read on one forum about shooting a coyote at 270 yards with a 17 HMR.Make of that what you will.
Hope this helps.

I use my .204 for foxes and while I dont set out to save fur as the selling of it is illegal now over here. But If I could give you some advice I would say try either the 39g blitzking or even better the 32g v-max. I have shot alot of foxes and with the 39g blitzking I experienced exits but they were very small, the 32g v-max are even better very small entrys and usually no exits, the v-max seems to penetrate and do all its work on the inside, I have shot foxes from 30 yards out to 300 yards and experienced very little fur damage and even at 30 yards the exit was barely felt.

Thanks to the guys across the pond. That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. It sure is great to come to this site and benefit from the experience of other shooters from all over the world. That saves me no end of ammo and , and more importantly, needlessly wounding an animal.

all with the 39BK, some times no noticable exit, other times open heart surgery!

I will have to agree with trevort on the 39g blizking a bit hit and miss, I have had mosty good results with it though, but by far the no 1 for little damage is the 32g v-max, I suppose the most important thing is that you avoid the shoulder bone as I dont think it will matter what your using when you hit that.

this one was shot through the neck with a 39g at about 110 yards, very little entry or exit on this one.



This was a big fox shot side on just behind the shoulder with a 39g at 180 yards, again minimal damage both sides



this one was hit at about 30 yards with a 32g v max, you can just see were the fur is parted, thats were she was hit and there was no exit.



or you could just headshot them, this was a 39g blizking at a nudge over 280 yards



good luck

I've found the 32gr Vmax to work well but if you hit a skull or shoulder you can get a large wound. I wish some one would produce a solid bullet for the 204.

I wish they would too, not so much for foxes but for coyotes. Lost another one yesterday with a 35 grain Berger although the fault was more with bullet placement than design. There just does not seem to be sufficient penetration for anything but a broadside shot through the ribs.
It is too bad you guys in Wales and Ireland can't sell your fox pelts. They are bringing 35 to 40 dollars Canadian at the fur auction. Enough here to buy another box or two of bullets. I don't understand the logic behind allowing the killing of an animal and then forcing you to waste the fur . It's obvious that there are lots of foxes judging by the number you get and the prevalence of mange.