Wire fixing pliers: which ring to buy first

Updated: 16 October 2026

You have a run of netting or a length of chain link to clip, and the boxes on amazon.co.uk all look like the same plier. They do not share one ring.

You have a run of netting or a length of chain link to clip, and the boxes on amazon.co.uk all look like the same plier. They do not share one ring. This page is the order of the decision: which closure you are closing, whether a magazine nose will enter the mesh, and whether the rings are already in the box. The five listings are on the wire fixing pliers comparison. Shelf prices are amazon.co.uk figures. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The Products Compared editorial team compared these listings on 16 October 2026 and did not run a lab test.

Our top picks

Badge	Product	Ring family	Rings in the box	Closure	Note	Price	Offer
Best overall	Rapid Rapid FP222 with 200 VR22 rings	VR22	200 VR22	5–11 mm	8.6	about £35.71	View offer
Preis-Tipp	QWORK QWORK C-type hog ring kit	C-type 20 mm	2,500 galvanised	8 mm	8.3	about £18.98	View offer
Alternative	Rapid Rapid FP222 fence pliers	VR22	None	5–11 mm	7.9	about £29.64	View offer

Best overall

Rapid Rapid FP222 with 200 VR22 rings

8.6/10about £35.71

View offer

Preis-Tipp

QWORK QWORK C-type hog ring kit

8.3/10about £18.98

View offer

Alternative

Rapid Rapid FP222 fence pliers

7.9/10about £29.64

View offer

On this page

1.Match the ring before the brand
2.Magazine or a single ring
3.Rings in the box
4.What the listing numbers are not

Match the ring before the brand

Rapid’s UK fencing guide states that a VR22 hog ring closes 5–11 mm and that the FP222 takes VR22. A VR16 ring closes 2–8 mm and belongs on the FP216 or the magazine-free FP20. Neither is in this set, so a VR16 refill has nothing here to feed. Both Rapid listings name VR22: the tool-only plier at £29.64, and the kit at £35.71 with 200 rings. QWORK at £18.98 calls its rings 20 mm C-type and states an 8 mm closure, with 2,500 galvanised rings. That 8 mm line is QWORK’s claim, not Rapid’s range rewritten. BREUAILY at £13.49 and GMMG at £10.99 each include 600 M clips and print no closure. “E type”, “C ring”, and “M-nail” do not turn those clips into VR22. UK reviewers of the FP222 say a similar-looking refill will not feed. Keep one family.

Magazine or a single ring

A magazine earns its place on a long run. UK reviews of the FP222 describe clipping chain link faster than twisting wire by hand once the strip is loaded. The cost is the nose. MeshDirect says an automatic head suits holes of about 25 mm and larger, and that smaller holes need a ring loaded one at a time. FP222 reviewers call the nose bulky in tight spots and in mesh they call 25 mm. Hole size for chicken wire is on hog ring pliers for chicken wire. QWORK’s bullets print a 50-ring magazine. Rapid’s bullets only say “high capacity”. Outside pages say 30 or 50, and this page does not collapse them into one capacity.

Testsieger

Rapid Rapid FP222 with 200 VR22 rings

8.6/10about £35.71

View offer

Rings in the box

The tool-only FP222 lists the plier. Hog rings are not listed. The kit adds 200 VR22 rings. The shelf gap is £35.71 against £29.64, about £6, which is the rings rather than a second design. You still need a VR22 refill before the bare tool closes a link. QWORK’s 2,500 rings make a C-type garden job look cheaper per clip. UK reviews of that kit also describe a fiddly load and jams, including about every fourth clip, so the box size is not a promise that every ring will feed. Six hundred M clips can finish a short repair. They will not feed an FP222. Trading Depot shows the same Rapid kit, MPN 40303112, at £41.83 including VAT. Use £35.71 for this ASIN. Who should buy it is on best wire fixing pliers.

What the listing numbers are not

Amazon’s cutting-width field is not a wire you can cut: 6 cm on the tool-only Rapid, 11 mm on the kit, 2 cm on QWORK, and 1 cm on BREUAILY. The bullets do not call those a cutting capacity. One UK review of the kit says the cutter cannot be used while rings are loaded. The tool-only table says 181 g, and a live description of that ASIN said 360 g, so those two weights are not one figure. None of the five listings prints a live-working rating. QWORK’s TPR grip is called insulating with no voltage, so that is not a reason to use the plier on a live cable. Stars do not tell you the closure. Diameters are on wire fixing pliers ring sizes.

Common questions

Do I buy the plier and the rings together?

Buy them together the first time you close that family. The Rapid kit includes 200 VR22 rings at £35.71. The tool-only FP222 at £29.64 does not, so you still need a VR22 refill. QWORK, BREUAILY, and GMMG clips are not shown to fit an FP222.

Will VR22 rings fit a cheap M-clip plier?

Nothing in these listings shows that, in either direction. The FP222 pages name Rapid VR22. BREUAILY and GMMG name M clips and do not name VR16 or VR22. UK reviews of the FP222 say a similar-looking hog ring will not feed. Treat a refill that does not name the same family as the wrong strip.

What closure does QWORK state, and what do the M-clip kits leave blank?

QWORK states an 8 mm closure on rings it calls 20 mm C-type, plus 2,500 galvanised rings at £18.98. BREUAILY and GMMG each state 600 M clips and no closure diameter. “E type”, “C ring”, and “M-nail” still do not give a millimetre close, so you cannot match those clips to a wire thickness from the listing alone.

Is Amazon’s cutting width a wire size I can cut?

No. The cutting-width field is an Amazon table line, and the bullets do not turn it into a cutting capacity. The numbers disagree: 6 cm on the tool-only Rapid, 11 mm on the kit, 2 cm on QWORK, and 1 cm on BREUAILY. High-tensile line wire is a different tool and, on a boundary, often a fencer’s job.

Does a higher star rating mean the rings match my mesh?

A higher star line means more buyers marked the listing favourably. It does not measure your mesh. The tool-only FP222 is 4.4 from 2,210 and still needs VR22 rings bought separately. The kit is 4.7 from 1,007 with 200 VR22 rings included. GMMG is 4.0 from 182 with no United Kingdom review text, so that average is not a UK account of the jaw.

How to use hog ring pliers