The Lady and the .204 Ruger

Muir

Well-Known Member
I took my Lady out shooting prairiedogs for the first time today at the warm up shoot for the Soap Creek Prairie Dog Association annual gathering. She was using 40 grain V-Max/Varget loads in a CZ American Varmint .204 Ruger that I set up especially for her. I was very proud of her. Shooting over a camera tripod she scored eight hits of ten shots a distances from 210 to 270 yards -in a shifting cross wind, no less- with no coaching. She had taken the ballistic table print-out I'd made and studied it this past week, much to the woe of those beer-bottle sized rodents. It was a small town covered with tall grasses and shots were few and far between but she accounted for herself well. She certainly earned the T Shirt from this years meet and her membership to the Association.

Unfortunately, she really likes that CZ which is too bad: It's going to be set back and rechambered to 20 Tactical next week.:eek: I hate that f-ing short-necked .204! :mad:~Muir
 
I took my Lady out shooting prairiedogs for the first time today at the warm up shoot for the Soap Creek Prairie Dog Association annual gathering. She was using 40 grain V-Max/Varget loads in a CZ American Varmint .204 Ruger that I set up especially for her. I was very proud of her. Shooting over a camera tripod she scored eight hits of ten shots a distances from 210 to 270 yards -in a shifting cross wind, no less- with no coaching. She had taken the ballistic table print-out I'd made and studied it this past week, much to the woe of those beer-bottle sized rodents. It was a small town covered with tall grasses and shots were few and far between but she accounted for herself well. She certainly earned the T Shirt from this years meet and her membership to the Association.

Unfortunately, she really likes that CZ which is too bad: It's going to be set back and rechambered to 20 Tactical next week.:eek: I hate that f-ing short-necked .204! :mad:~Muir

Hi muir
very pleased for your lady sounds some very good shooting
Also pleased your going for a proper calibre :D
I meant to post some pics on your I got lucky thread the other day but just been
too busy with pheasants
got my custom build shooting one whole groups now with 50 grain Bergers and vit
just seems to get better this Rig :D
Best of luck with your rebarrel
regards pete
 
Oh Muir is not going to re-barrel ................................. just set back and re-chamber. Something that most smiths in the UK are loathe to do.

A certain well known smith quoted my £900 to alter the barrel tenon and ream the chamber on a brand new BSA manufactured barrel to 280 AI from 7x64 ........................................ no I kid you not. The cost also included the new reamer and it's range of pilots which the smith then got to keep :-| .

Muir nice going. Please pass along my congratulations to your Lady friend :thumb:.
 
Oh Muir is not going to re-barrel ................................. just set back and re-chamber. Something that most smiths in the UK are loathe to do.

A certain well known smith quoted my £900 to alter the barrel tenon and ream the chamber on a brand new BSA manufactured barrel to 280 AI from 7x64 ........................................ no I kid you not. The cost also included the new reamer and it's range of pilots which the smith then got to keep :-| .

Muir nice going. Please pass along my congratulations to your Lady friend :thumb:.

I'll pass on the salutations, Kevin, thanks. And you are correct: The rechamber is a simple set-back and re-cut process. A quick look shows the barrel shank needs to be moved forward about .140" for the Tactical reamer to clean up the old 204 chamber. I really wanted the 20 Practical but the difference in case tapers dictated that about 3/8" of shank needed to be removed. The result of the Tactical will be that it has a longer neck than either the 204 or the Practical and like the Practical, can be made from .223 brass. I like this better than buying high priced Whorenady brass @ .80$ a casing. I'm not as much of a cheapskate as I am practical: I have at least one combat rifle in .223 for which I do not reload. This generates a supply of once fired .223 brass. Additionally, the local Federal law enforcement guys 'qualify' with their M-16's at our range leaving 20 to thirty pounds of .223 brass on the ground. Again, an almost endless supply of brass. Rechambering the 204 seems like the best thing to do.

And yes, Brit gunsmiths seem loathe to do this simple chore. I have done hundreds of them.~Muir
 
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Yep. She was killing critters with extreme discretion. :) 200-300yds...

Naomi2.jpg

I can confirm Muir sure has found a gem. Good job amigo! :)
 
Sneaky shutter-bug Marine!
Thanks for coaching her while I spotted, Amigo.
...and yeah she can shoot.
I kinda like her.~Muir
 
He is punching above his weight isn't he :)

That right you are doing the work on that rifle because he does not have the time nowadays!

John

Just tossing the youngster some busy work: besides, he has a shiny new lathe and the 20 Tactical reamer!

The Lady was disappointed about missing out on yesterday's festivities. We hiked up over a rise and came on a prairiedog town that took our collective breath away. Dogs everywhere. Twenty-five to 450 yards, not in the least bit worried about us. It was a blood bath. In the space of maybe two hours we killed around 100 dogs. It clouded over near the end and the dogs went down for good. Whew! I ran out of ammo. The Marine shot himself down to 11 rounds of 20 Tactical and The Quiet One never stopped cycling the bolt on his Tikka.

You shoulda been there John.~Muir
 
I would have liked that :thumb:

John

You'd have been welcome. As the UK Chapter President of the Soap Creek Prairiedog Assn you wold have earned a seat on the front line of fire -not to mention chortling rights over fellow member's easy misses.~Muir
 
As if I would :eek:

John

Yeah....

Well, you wouldn't have had much to laugh at yesterday. I shot the 204 for the first time on prairiedogs using 40 grain V-Max over Varget. Hmmm. I may not have that rifle rechambered just yet. Next year, perhaps. I want to wear out the brass I have this summer before I have it rechambered to 20 Tactical. I was connecting with sod-rats at 360 yards as they laid down on their holes. (You know how flat they can lie) Hitting was almost effortless and there was very little to worry about with the wind compared to .223 or 22 Hornet.

This is not necessarily a pimping of the 204, but more an admiration of the 20's in general. The 20 Practical, Tactical, and 204 Ruger are pretty much the same, ballistically speaking. The CZ happens to be a 204 and I'm liking it, but, I'll like it better when it's a 20 Tactical.~Muir
 
Yeah....

Well, you wouldn't have had much to laugh at yesterday. I shot the 204 for the first time on prairiedogs using 40 grain V-Max over Varget. Hmmm. I may not have that rifle rechambered just yet. Next year, perhaps. I want to wear out the brass I have this summer before I have it rechambered to 20 Tactical. I was connecting with sod-rats at 360 yards as they laid down on their holes. (You know how flat they can lie) Hitting was almost effortless and there was very little to worry about with the wind compared to .223 or 22 Hornet.

This is not necessarily a pimping of the 204, but more an admiration of the 20's in general. The 20 Practical, Tactical, and 204 Ruger are pretty much the same, ballistically speaking. The CZ happens to be a 204 and I'm liking it, but, I'll like it better when it's a 20 Tactical.~Muir

I bet it ends up belonging to a certain paramedic we both know :):)

John
 
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