Anyone here ever play with the Ruger .204 ?

[Backcountry sports]

32 grain the best had one before ammo was available Remington adl in 204 great varmint killer under 400 yds

 

[L.Sherm]

Alot of factory 20 cal barrels are 12tw. Some will shot the 40's some wont. Seems like the 39 BK does better in 12's

 

[giantsfall]

We had a Ruger 204 that was an absolute blast on prairie dogs, but you could only shoot about 4 times before the barrel heated up and started spraying shots.

Get one, but make sure it has a varmint profile barrel.

 

[BrentM]

I have a couple. Love the little 204. One shoots 39/40 grain at 3780 and the other at 3900. 22 vs 26" barrels. I have shot lots of steel out to 800. If the wind calmerish, the dang things are impressive. I got rid of the 22-250, 220 swift, and 223 and just run the 204 now.

 

[WanderingGoatie]

I built a fun little 18" 204 ruger on a Stiller action and a carbon6 barrel. It's a fun gun but kind of a silly caliber to me, especially with the shorter barrel. It's not a huge gain over your basic 223.

 

[hawk45]

I looked at buying/building one a few years back after reading a few articles on the caliber.. it looks like a fun round. But after running the numbers, it didn't do anything that much better than I could do with a .223/5.56. Would it have been fun, sure. But the $$ I would have had to put in when I already had several .223/556 builds that did the same things just didn't make sense and I put that $$ towards something else. YMMV.

 

[jrock]

1+ on the heavy barrel for varmint shooting regardless of cambering.

 

[Mackinaw BOB]

I agree with hawk. It won't do anything the 233 won't do. I have a CZ 527 American that shoots anything I put in it. Girlfriend dropped a little Muley buck at about 50 yards, DRT. Fun little round but if you already committed to the 223, I would just stick with that.

 

[bubbaonpc]

Buy it ! The 204 Ruger is the CocaineCrackMeth of my shooting world. I have enjoyed the 204 more than all my guns combined. Shooting bullet holes at 100 yards with multiple bullets and loads...inspired me to cut a 200 yard range and made me a better shooter/ and most importantly a better RELOADER !!
BUY IT ! So much fun. I shoot 26's...34's...39's and 40 grainers. All shoot well but the 39 Kings really excel in accuracy... and you can shoot all day for pennies on the dollar. There is something special bout popping a crow with 34 grain HP's at 4300 FPS, resting 70 feet above ground on a limb, the explosion of feathers and their slow decent in the breeze. To watch groundhogs perform back flips when 39 grain Kings hit em at 4000FPS. I had never been a "speed freak" until my 204 Ruger...Spooky Fast ! Heavy Barrel is a plus...as 4000 FPS will heat ya up, 4-5 shots and she is hot and needs to cool. BUY IT...you will love it

 

[jrock]

When I started pushing .243 55 grain bullets at 4000 fps, something magical happened. The .204 has the same magic.

 

[Ingwe]

I killed 1,000's of PD's with my 204.
32gr VMax at 4,300fos, and plenty with 223's too. I don't know how anyone can say that the 223 is more explosive than the 204. The 204 vaporizes them at 200yRds and even at 300 they are blown apart. The 223 not so much. The 223 does handle wind better.

I have a 1" stainless target barrel on my M12 and no problem with heat if you are loading, aiming, shooting at a calm pace

 

[freddiej]

two really great pluses for the advent of the 204 Ruger.. the 204 brass makes awesome 17 Rem cases and the disgruntled people that bought them have made me money on figuring out that they need to clean their bores much more than they want to. I own a 17 Rem and a 22-250; the 204 Ruger was something I did not need to own and my shop got in dozens of them used from people that thought they would make good coyote guns.

 

[Bucklowery]

Turned a Stevens 200 .223 into 204 a few years ago. It is super accurate

Thanks

Buck

 

[Ingwe]

two really great pluses for the advent of the 204 Ruger.. the 204 brass makes awesome 17 Rem cases and the disgruntled people that bought them have made me money on figuring out that they need to clean their bores much more than they want to. I own a 17 Rem and a 22-250; the 204 Ruger was something I did not need to own and my shop got in dozens of them used from people that thought they would make good coyote guns.

Interesting post!

I killed a few dozen PDS with my friends 22-250, and as I said before, thousands with my 204 but I never shot a 17Rem before.

I would say that the 22-250 hits MUCH harder my 204 and is better in the wind BUT I can see my impacts with the 204 and I could not with the 22-250.

My question is, how would you compare the 17Rem to the others and where does it fit in?