.204 Ruger

[bluepkp]

Anyone been playing with the .204 Ruger if so what are the pro's and cons to this caliber?

 

[Mgderf]

Just barely.

I have a Howa 1500 in .204 Ruger. It probably has all of about 5 or 6 rounds down the pipe, and it's about 4 years old!

Thanks for reminding me I need to pull that one out and stretch it too.

My local range (indoor) will not accept the .204 due to the speed. Owner says it could go through the back of the traps!

It is a very flat shooting round, as long as there is no wind. I've been told you can knock a coyote off its' feet at 250 yards or better.

It is only a .20 cal round, but that little sucker is screaming hot! Pushing 4000fps

 

[N_K_1984]

SUBSCRIBING to this one... especially since I just ordered a barrel for my .204 Ruger AR varmint build.

 

[deadsquirrel]

no recoil and a fun little round to shoot

 

[Mgderf]

no recoil and a fun little round to shoot

But EXTREMELY loud! I forgot to say that thing is LOUD! It has a VERY sharp crack.

 

[Hondo]

I built a 204 upper for one of my AR's with a White Mountain heavy barrel...as previously noted kind of loud but shoots sub MOA groups at 100 yds with off the shelf Hornady ammo...

One of these days I hope to do some varmit hunting with it...

Just for comparison I have a Ruger M77 bench rifle in 22-250 that has a lot more recoil than the 204, it shoots extremely well but is too heavy to carry in the field....that's why I built the 204...

 

[N_K_1984]

impromtu range trip / 200 yard data

Here are some of my results from an impromtu trip to the range on a windy afternoon.

Rifle: 204 Ruger AR15 24" 1:12 twist Heavy Barrel
Distance: 200 yards
Ammo Type: 40gr Hornady VMax
Shooting Position: Prone
Average Extreme Vertical Spread: 1.508"

This group was subject to wind.

It's not my best day of shooting, but I am still pleased. Every shot would have been a dead varmint.

The Rifle in question:

 

[avboiler11]

Very accurate, flat shooting, no recoil.

Bullets, brass, and loaded ammo tends to be a bit more expensive than 223 Rem.

I dislike the fact that Lee doesn't make a trimmer length gage for it.

 

[DRob]

Nice round

We shoot several .204s. It rapidly became our favorite p dog round and we shoot a lot of it. We have an AR, a Savage, and a CZ in the caliber. They will all easily shoot 1" at 100 yards. Factory ammo is a bit spendy primarily because it's all varmint ammo. I reload 32 & 40 gr V-Max and 39 Blitz Kings for it with excellent results.

 

[D-Bo]

I love my Remington 700 in 204. On a good day 5 shot groups all in one hole with factory 40gr. Hornady.

 

[JettaKnight]

I love my Remington 700 in 204. On a good day 5 shot groups all in one hole with factory 40gr. Hornady.

Ditto - well, at least the love for a Rem 700 in .204 - I'm working on the one hole thing.

I've set my up for a MPBR of 270 yards, so it's 1.1" high at 100 yards. It's going with me to Montana to provide the eagles with tasty prairie dogs.

 

[Sgt7330]

My varmint hunting gun is a Ruger M77 .204 standard barrel set up w/ Zeiss 3.5-10 scope. This gun has killed 3 coyote and 1 red fox. The gun shoots the heavier 40 gr and 45 gr bullets much better than the 32 grain.
PRO - Light, fast gun that is very accurate with little recoil. Fun to shoot.
CON - Knock down power at longer range. I hit a coyote at 300 plus yards and it ran off, thought it was a good shot on my part but may have hit too far back.

 

[BKExpress]

This thread is giving me ideas for a new build. I watched Predator Nation the other day and one of Fred Eichler's guest hosts shot a wolf with a .204 and it dropped immediately.