Frangible bullets for fur friendly loads?
- Thread starter Gashole
- Start date
NM Leon
New member
Welcome to Predator Masters Gashole.
Frangibles work great within comparatively narrow parameters, one of those being the size of the target. Fox are rather small, and so they will often be on the "edge of the envelope" for a frangible used to harvest fur.
If you only hunt fox, you could probably find a better chambering than .223. If you use the same rifle for larger game too and want the heavier chambering, then a SP might be a better bullet.
Frangibles work great within comparatively narrow parameters, one of those being the size of the target. Fox are rather small, and so they will often be on the "edge of the envelope" for a frangible used to harvest fur.
If you only hunt fox, you could probably find a better chambering than .223. If you use the same rifle for larger game too and want the heavier chambering, then a SP might be a better bullet.
NM Leon
New member
You can be at either end of the parameters with the same bullet and gun.
For instance a 50gr V-max out of my .223 will make a lovely red mist out of a p-dog at 75yds (or severely mangle a fox), but will usually drop a coyote DRT with no exit.
At 200 + yds the same bullet has lost enough steam that complete fragmentation is getting iffy, and will result in some coyotes running (but might be great on a fox).
As with all things ballistic it's a trade off.
A frangible at it's best is far superior to a traditional hunting bullet at it's best.
The frangible is prone to failure when too fast or too slow (to close or far), and depending on the mass (and density) of the target.
The traditional hunting bullet, will be near it's best from the muzzle out as far as you can shoot on any sized game.
I doubt you'll find a round that will be consistently fur friendly for fox out of a .223 if you're looking for no exit wound. It's going to be hard to keep a .223 bullet of any type inside an animal as small as a fox.
The frangibles when they exit can be pretty messy, but even a more substantial bullet will probably leave at least a caliber hole out, needing to be sewn.
Some guys have reported pretty good success on fox with a 17 Rem.
For instance a 50gr V-max out of my .223 will make a lovely red mist out of a p-dog at 75yds (or severely mangle a fox), but will usually drop a coyote DRT with no exit.
At 200 + yds the same bullet has lost enough steam that complete fragmentation is getting iffy, and will result in some coyotes running (but might be great on a fox).
As with all things ballistic it's a trade off.
A frangible at it's best is far superior to a traditional hunting bullet at it's best.
The frangible is prone to failure when too fast or too slow (to close or far), and depending on the mass (and density) of the target.
The traditional hunting bullet, will be near it's best from the muzzle out as far as you can shoot on any sized game.
I doubt you'll find a round that will be consistently fur friendly for fox out of a .223 if you're looking for no exit wound. It's going to be hard to keep a .223 bullet of any type inside an animal as small as a fox.
The frangibles when they exit can be pretty messy, but even a more substantial bullet will probably leave at least a caliber hole out, needing to be sewn.
Some guys have reported pretty good success on fox with a 17 Rem.
243ME
New member
60g ar goning to be heavy for fox, but look for the post on "predator hunting" called "the perfect bullet" I read an article once in Predator extreme that said to use FMJ loaded around 2700-2850 fps in 243's that made pin holes in and out but have never tried the combo on game yet. I would say this would be a fur friendly load contrary to what most posters say.
Have had good luck with the 17rem on fox but not at max velocity. I load down to the 3300-3400 range and use match type bullets that ussually don't expand on fox size critters. Exits are ussually about dime size if no heavy bone is hit. Have also had good luck with full metal jackets at the lower end of 223 velocities. Full metal jackets at 22-250 velocity can leave large exits on a fox.