.204 Ruger or .223 Remington ???

[oldfortyfiveauto]

I also shoot both the 204 and 223 for prairie dogs. I grab the 204 first. Looking forward to trying my new 17 Hornet this summer.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

My new little CZ 527 in 17 Hornet has proved to be a real gem on the prairie dogs. 300yd shots were no big deal. I cleaned every 50 shots or so and found no real fouling issues to speak of. Even at 300yds the little 20gr pills wrecked havoc on them.

 

[huntaredlab]

I just got back Friday afternoon from a 3 day shoot in South Dakota with the Bad River Bucks and Birds Staff. They set us up on 3 colonies that worked out to 350 usable yards. This proved to be perfect for the CZ 204 American and Heavy Barreled AR platform in 204. I also shot my heavy barreled 223 Remington 700. I would like to report my extreme pleasure with the 204. I shot 32 grainers in the 204 and 55,s in the 223. The results may have been closer if I had a mess of 40 grain Ballistic Tips to compare but I did not. Lots of dogs this year. Go gitcha some!

 

[drags]

I have had a number of .223's over the years (have two at present time) and I like the cartridge very much and I have a .204 in a cooper mod. 21 for the last 3 years and I like it also. I would go with both if you can afford it if not I would get the .223 because the availability of components. I use both cartridges for woodchuck hunting in SW Pa. with good results.
Joe

 

[budlight]

I'm here in South Dakota doing the PD hunts. I brought two match grade SS 20 inch AR 15's 55gr HP and my favorite higher horse power rem 700 26 inch SPS with 72 gr barnes HP. We are doing the open range cattle area so ricochets have to be contained.

From the time I was a kid I owned a 22-250 and I never could figure out why anyone would want or use a lessor caliber.

I wouldn't even own 17, 19, 20 cal rifles. Buy bulk .223 is very cost effective when you shoot more than 1000 rounds in three day hunts

 

[huntaredlab]

Thank you for your response.
I obviously do not live in the Dakota's Region
so my intent is to lend my 3 day immersion with
the 204. I was impressed. Guess it's not everyone's
cup of tea nor was it developed to be. It's just a neat
option for our fellow shooters who may have a question.
Have a Great Memorial Weekend Fellow Enthusiasts!

 

[budlight]

Thank you for your response.
I obviously do not live in the Dakota's Region
so my intent is to lend my 3 day immersion with
the 204. I was impressed. Guess it's not everyone's
cup of tea nor was it developed to be. It's just a neat
option for our fellow shooters who may have a question.
Have a Great Memorial Weekend Fellow Enthusiasts!

tomorrow we acquired a 17 hmr, 17 wsm ruger 77 and a 204 just for comparison. In years past I started with 270 win and 100 gr and as a second rifle 25-06 87 gr then many years later I used lots of 243 80 and 87 gr v-max Finally for cheap shooting the 223

It kind of has been my 25 year mission to help out the ranchers

 

[budlight]

Windy, but a fun day. 5 areas of dog towns and some of them 100's of acres. We let the guy with the 17 HMR take out everything close Like under 75 yards. The 204 is a killer out to 200 the 17's are very little damage.

The 204 could tear up the pups and full sized adults to a lessor extent.

223 HP 55 grain pops adults way up in the air. 243 with barnes 72's shreds them.

The longest shots were maybe 350 yards. Between us and 5 hours we went through @ 600 rounds. The 204 is a quality varmint rifle. Cheap shooting is hands down 223

 

[mobenzowner]

I know there are many great shooting .204's out there. My personal experience concerning them came by way of a friend who had 2 Remington cdl's. First one keyholed every type and grain bullet he shot. Everything tumbled. He send it back to Remington who worked on it and sent it back to him. Same problem no improvement. He sent it back again, customer service with them was great, they actually sent out another brand new rifle to him. Only problem was it wouldn't shoot either. We tried about every bullet, every powder, lots of different production ammo. No luck.

He bought a Tikka .223 heavy barrel and has never looked back.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

I looked at this a few years ago and went with .223 Rem in a Remington 700 with 26 inch barrel. When loading for Praire Dog shooting .223 Brass is way cheaper for volume loading. With 200 yd zero.
.204 Ruger with factory load 40gr V-Max 300yds drop 13.6 526 FPE
.223 Rem with factory load 53gr V-Max 300yds drop 16.9 559 FPE
Same Loads at 500 yds
.204 Ruger drops 28.1 inches with 404 FPE
.223 Rem drops 35.6 inches with 431 FPE

So .204 Ruger shoots flatter and .223 Rem hits harder.
If shooting Praire Dogs Flatter would be good and if shooting Coyotes hitting them harder does not hurt .223 Rem.
In truth both will work but if high volume shooting my vote goes to the .223 Rem.
Good Shooting

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

For pdogs I run the 32gr V-Max in the 204 and the drop is almost half of the 223's at 500yds unless I use the 40gr V-Max in the 223.

 

[1100 Remington Man]

I looked at this a few years ago and went with .223 Rem in a Remington 700 with 26 inch barrel. When loading for Praire Dog shooting .223 Brass is way cheaper for volume loading. With 200 yd zero.
.204 Ruger with factory load 40gr V-Max 300yds drop 13.6 526 FPE
.223 Rem with factory load 53gr V-Max 300yds drop 16.9 559 FPE
Same Loads at 400 yds
.204 Ruger drops 28.1 inches with 404 FPE
.223 Rem drops 35.6 inches with 431 FPE

So .204 Ruger shoots flatter and .223 Rem hits harder.
If shooting Praire Dogs Flatter would be good and if shooting Coyotes hitting them harder does not hurt .223 Rem.
In truth both will work but if high volume shooting my vote goes to the .223 Rem.
Good Shooting

Sorry I made a Mistake where I said 400 yds it was suspoise to be 500 yds.
oldfortyfiveauto take a look a the 500 yds 28.1 vs 35.6 not half in my book. At more reasonable ranges 300 yds and less the difference becomes even less.
Both are nice rounds .204 Ruger & .223 Rem.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Sorry I made a Mistake where I said 400 yds it was suspoise to be 500 yds.
oldfortyfiveauto take a look a the 500 yds 28.1 vs 35.6 not half in my book. At more reasonable ranges 300 yds and less the difference becomes even less.
Both are nice rounds .204 Ruger & .223 Rem.

I run a 60gr load in my 223 and a 32gr load in the 204. I'd have to look up the 204 drop, but it's -44.8" on the 223 load at 500yds. I've taken dogs out past 600yds with the 204.

Just spent a week out in South Dakota. The wind was pretty heavy on three days so I never got the 204 out :-(

 

[Papa762]

I have a .204 and lots of .223/5.56s. Different applications. The .204 cannot substitute for a .223
The .204 is really fast and flat! Seldom gets used, however. It will give you a view of the exploding rabbits. No recoil from either.