204ruger

[the enigma]

At the minute I'm weighing up options for a centrefire rifle. Does anyone reload for 204ruger? What sort of price are rounds working out at and what is component availability like?

 

Cheers

Davey

[kent]

Its never really caught on though a fine chambering. Availability will always be down on the .224 bullets and more common brass, so I should ask locally as its hard to get expanding posted and make sure you get lots of brass enough to last the barrel out. Ensure you know the true ballistic difference with the more common stuff and can make real use of it before you take the plundge

[the enigma]

Cheers Kent, what I've read on it so far looks impressive, but still weighing up the pros and cons.

[welshwarrior]

I use factory ammo and also friend makes up loads that are great as well

[V8 90]

I also use factory .204 ammo - Hornady Varmint Express 32g - usually get mine for around £18.00/20 best I've had was £17.40/20 + I save my cases & sell them on for £20/100 there's always plenty of people after them

[r1steele]

I don't load my own personally but I do know someone who does and they work out roughly half the price of factory ammo. He is loading them with 39grn Blitzkings and is getting around 3950fps with them. I wouldn't take too much notice of people telling you that bullets and brass are hard to get as just about most good reloading stockists can get them. Most I know have the heads in stock but may have to get the brass in for you but it doesn't usually take too long. I'm running the same as V8 90 and they are about £20/20 where I am and I find them a very good round. I haven't needed to take any seriously long shots with mine but I've had a few out to not far off 300yds and they dropped like a stone. I used a .222 for about 18 years before I got my .204 and unless I needed something for small deer I wouldn't go back, and I loved my .222.

[kent]

I don't load my own personally but I do know someone who does and they work out roughly half the price of factory ammo. He is loading them with 39grn Blitzkings and is getting around 3950fps with them. I wouldn't take too much notice of people telling you that bullets and brass are hard to get as just about most good reloading stockists can get them. Most I know have the heads in stock but may have to get the brass in for you but it doesn't usually take too long. I'm running the same as V8 90 and they are about £20/20 where I am and I find them a very good round. I haven't needed to take any seriously long shots with mine but I've had a few out to not far off 300yds and they dropped like a stone. I used a .222 for about 18 years before I got my .204 and unless I needed something for small deer I wouldn't go back, and I loved my .222.

 

I feel you need to consider not everyone lives near a major reloading centre and sec 5 ammo is expensive and difficult to post. I used to shoot .222 magnum (the .20 ruger donor case) it was hard as heck to get brass, the same will occur with anything that is not widely adopted

[r1steele]

 

I feel you need to consider not everyone lives near a major reloading centre and sec 5 ammo is expensive and difficult to post. I used to shoot .222 magnum (the .20 ruger donor case) it was hard as heck to get brass, the same will occur with anything that is not widely adopted

I don't live near a major reloading centre (is there such a thing), just decent gun shops. If you have good gun shops they should be able to easily get stock in as most of there ammo suppliers are the same ones supplying .223 etc. As for posting ammo, would it not cost the same to post the same quantities of .20 calibre bullets as it would for .22 calibre ones (give or take a few pence allowing for the weight difference). Yes the .222 rem mag would have been hard to get the brass for as it wasn't a very popular round but the .204 ruger is a lot more popular then it was/is as it is a main stream round in the USA whereas the .222 rem mag wasn't. There is no need to neck down the .222 rem mag anymore as most of the major brass makers make the .204 cases and are readily available compared to others. Yes the .223 is probably the most widely adopted round and therefore ammo etc is usually on the shelves of most shops but it doesn't mean .204 is rare or not widely adopted and the components or ammo is hard to come by. Ask your local gun shops if they can get it in and they would normally say they can, more than you think will already have it in stock.

Edited December 11, 2013 by r1steele

[kent]

Enigma must look into these things and choose for himself I haven't a clue how easy it is to get and keep a large stock of ammo in Northern Ireland. I wouldn't find it easy here and I speak from experience of common worldwide cartridges but not so popular calibre choice locally in the past.

For instance I really liked my 7-08 rem I owned a few years back but wouldn't buy one over a more common 6.5 or .30 cal again

[pestcontrol1]

I have shot 204 for a few years now and not had any problems at all to get brass its a phone call and bullets i am lucky as i can hold a good number but have now changed onto 35gn burgers they shoot well and do the same job as most others. There is a few threads on hear about the little 204 and general opinion is some love them some hate them but the people that hate them 99% of them havent shot it or owned one there is some good vids on youtube

[r1steele]

Kent, sorry to go off topic but how did you find the .222 rem mag? If it were readily available would you have another one as it does seem to be a good round?

[kent]

Was a cracker but Nato sealed its fate (though it was in pole spot for them at one stage) It wasn't my gun and I was offered it as a gift in the end as the legal owner packed in shooting foxes, I didn't take it for the reasons I mention, was not a home loader back then and rifles were a lot less popular then in general. We killed a lot of foxes with that gun (not so many lamp shy either)- no better than a .223 though hence dead in the water.

 

I looked at the .20 Ruger myself a while back, its near as good downrange as a .243 win, I think I might be more tempted by a semi custom .20 using necked down .223 rem brass myself but have no need its too much gun for edibles and not as much legs as the .243 I already have on longer range foxes / crow etc.

[r1steele]

Was a cracker but Nato sealed its fate (though it was in pole spot for them at one stage) It wasn't my gun and I was offered it as a gift in the end as the legal owner packed in shooting foxes, I didn't take it for the reasons I mention, was not a home loader back then and rifles were a lot less popular then in general. We killed a lot of foxes with that gun (not so many lamp shy either)- no better than a .223 though hence dead in the water.

 

I looked at the .20 Ruger myself a while back, its near as good downrange as a .243 win, I think I might be more tempted by a semi custom .20 using necked down .223 rem brass myself but have no need its too much gun for edibles and not as much legs as the .243 I already have on longer range foxes / crow etc.

I fancied the .222rem mag years ago but didn't get one for the same reasons as you have said. If I was into reloading I more than likely would have gone for something a bit more along the .20 custom lines but as I don't I opted for the .204 ruger because of easily available factory ammo.

[Amazed]

I fancied the .222rem mag years ago but didn't get one for the same reasons as you have said. If I was into reloading I more than likely would have gone for something a bit more along the .20 custom lines but as I don't I opted for the .204 ruger because of easily available factory ammo.

I have toyed with the idea of a 20 practical but I would need £300 worth of dies and bushings just to get started lmao. Am looking at a 223 or just sticking with the triple.

[mark g]

At the minute I'm weighing up options for a centrefire rifle. Does anyone reload for 204ruger? What sort of price are rounds working out at and what is component availability like?

 

Cheers

Davey

had a .204 for 2 seasons and reload for it and haveing used all the others i wouldnt swap it for anything, its cheap to reload, setup an inch high at 100 and its still shooting half inch groups an inch high at 225 yards, components readily available when i want them, very little recoil and surprisingly quiet even unmoderated, mine is a savage 12fv its no lightweight but you would have to spend serious money to find a more accurate rifle in any calibre

[r1steele]

I have toyed with the idea of a 20 practical but I would need £300 worth of dies and bushings just to get started lmao. Am looking at a 223 or just sticking with the triple.

I had the .222 for a long time and I wouldn't change it for the .223.

[kent]

I had the .222 for a long time and I wouldn't change it for the .223.

 

An interesting point coz in the real world there is no real difference for many, same with .20 ruger etc. You have to know the difference and most importantly make REAL USE OF IT. I seriously doubt 95% of .20 Ruger users in the UK make real use of its ballistic gain on .223rem say, so begs the question why?

[r1steele]

 

An interesting point coz in the real world there is no real difference for many, same with .20 ruger etc. You have to know the difference and most importantly make REAL USE OF IT. I seriously doubt 95% of .20 Ruger users in the UK make real use of its ballistic gain on .223rem say, so begs the question why?

Why not? Not everyone uses the ballistic gain of the .22-250 over the .223rem but it is still a very popular fox round. Does everyone tht uses a .223rem make real use of it, most people in the UK will shoot the vast majority of there foxes at less than 150yds so are any of these people making real use of any of their chosen calibres. The .204 has better BC than the .223rem so doesn't get affected by the wind so much and I find it very good on long distance shooting so I have it instead of a .223. I used a .270 for a lot of years for deer but for what I used to shoot why didn't need it, a .243 would have been just as good as would a .308. Why do you opt for the .22 Hornet over the .223? It does what you need it to do and you like that particular round. You did say in a post on a similar subject not that long ago that somebody questioning your choice of calibre to be a bit rude.

Edited December 12, 2013 by r1steele

[the enigma]

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

 

The 2 points that have got me interested in the .204, from what I've read, are the claims that some of the bullets available have a higher BC, and therefore likely to perform better in the wind, and also that the light, frangible bullets travelling at the suggested velocities, will reduce the risk of ricochets. Are these borne out in real world situations, and does it make for a sizeable difference between say .222/223?

[Archie-fox]

Hello

 

i had a 204 and made the mistake of selling it, i dont think i gave it enough of a chance when i had it...

 

cracking on long range crows 2/300 meters they exploded..

 

but i did have a bad experiance on a fox were i belived the bullit passed stright thru it...i pulled the shot but blamed the gun.

 

im on the look out for another as i have the need for a long range crow rifle and a 204 fits the bill, and if a fox appears its more than enough to deal with it..as long as i do my part..factory ammo i was getting 1/2 inch group at 170 ish meters..and paying £20 for 20.

 

all in all a decent rifle, mine was a howa..DM80 mod and a mtc viper scope.

 

Rich

[Amazed]

I had the .222 for a long time and I wouldn't change it for the .223.

I was thinking about a custom long throat .223

[pestcontrol1]

Like i say people who slate the 204 don"t have one it will out shoot rifles smaller and larger than its self in more ways then one. The thing with small cals is bullet placement i have only had a couple of foxes run and no-more then a few yrds most just drop on the spot i had a 22250 before i used the 204 and i shot them both side by side out to 500 yrds and then i got rid of the 22250 and bought a 204 and i would"t hessitate to rebarrel it when its needed

[Amazed]

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

 

The 2 points that have got me interested in the .204, from what I've read, are the claims that some of the bullets available have a higher BC, and therefore likely to perform better in the wind, and also that the light, frangible bullets travelling at the suggested velocities, will reduce the risk of ricochets. Are these borne out in real world situations, and does it make for a sizeable difference between say .222/223?

I don't have a 204 but when I was looking into the 20 practical I was warned to pick a rifle with a faster twist rate.

if your gun won't fire the 40 grain and there are no shorter/lighter bullets to be found well your stuffed.

[r1steele]

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

 

The 2 points that have got me interested in the .204, from what I've read, are the claims that some of the bullets available have a higher BC, and therefore likely to perform better in the wind, and also that the light, frangible bullets travelling at the suggested velocities, will reduce the risk of ricochets. Are these borne out in real world situations, and does it make for a sizeable difference between say .222/223?

With the wind it only really becomes apparent on long range shots but normal foxing work it probably won't make enough difference for most people to notice or be worried about. The velocities of them and the design of the ballistic tip bullets makes no difference with either bullet regarding ricochets as they will be pretty much the same as they are frangible bullets going very, very quick.

[r1steele]

I was thinking about a custom long throat .223

I don't reload but wouldn't you need to spend the same on dies etc as you would for the .20 practical or have you already got some of the kit required? What sort of results would you get from the custom .223? Sounds quite interesting.