.204 Ruger , A good choice ?

Johno100

Well-Known Member
Im thinking of going for a .204 Ruger for fox /long range vermin , maybe a Howa varmint / thumb hole stock , Im interested in opinions for and against this choice ,

Thanks in advance.
 
Im thinking of going for a .204 Ruger for fox /long range vermin , maybe a Howa varmint / thumb hole stock , Im interested in opinions for and against this choice ,

Thanks in advance.
there are a few on here who actually have and use 20 calibers I am sure you will hear from them [dreckly] .........great calibre for vermin mine shoots better than I can
 
I have a Kimber Classic .204 it's alot more accurate than I am ;) I feed mine 32gn Hornady Varmint Express Vmax - Simply Awesome :D:D
 
running a semi custom 20 tactical...................i am a mahoosive fan of this wee calibre and i have 2 shooting buddies who are out most nights with howa 204, can't fault them.

have fun

bob.
 
My 22/250 hasn't been out of the safe for the two months I've had the 204. Fantastic velocity and accuracy with 10 grains powder less than the 22/250.

Mine is a new LW barrel on an old Sako action.

Have to say I am very impressed....
 
The first 204 Ruger I had was a Ruger 77 Mark II VT the one with the laminated stock and grey collored stainless barreled action . I actually shot the rifle before I bought it !

A friend owned it and had shot a number of fox with it and a few groundhogs . Anyway we went to the range one day when he started wanting to sell it and told me to shoot it !

I shot a five shot group at 100 yards with factory Hornady 40 grain V Max and to be honest the two stage trigger took a little getting used to and I think that first group was about 3/4" although the last 3 shots were in one very small hole .

I let the barrel cool and then shot another 5 shot group at 100 yards that was one ragged hole and measured a hair under 1/2" . All this was done with what I call a piece of shyte Simmons cope although it was 24x .

I ended up trading that rifle back to my friend . But the whole time I had it I tried numerouse handloads with Sierra , Hornady , Berger and Nosler bullets . And to be honest they all shot GREAT !

A couple years ago I purchased another on a Ruger #1B and while it shoots nowhere near as well as the 77 it's quite adequate and still alot of fun to shoot from the bench .

I won't sell the #1 but I have thoughts of a CZ527 HB in a 204 Ruger !
 
I have a 204 ruger in a Howa action and a 1-10 twist shooting 40 grainers. Its so sweet to use and more accurate than my 22-250 with much less recoil and powder. You won't look back!
 
Johno100

i have had a .204 for some time dont waste your money on this calibre, get something that.
1/ is more expensive to reload
2/ has more recoil
3/ has far less velocity
4/ is affected by the wind more
5/ doesnt hit foxes like a sledge hammer

I love my .204 its the biz
 
Johno100

i have had a .204 for some time dont waste your money on this calibre, get something that.
1/ is more expensive to reload
2/ has more recoil
3/ has far less velocity
4/ is affected by the wind more
5/ doesnt hit foxes like a sledge hammer

I love my .204 its the biz

i feel the same about my 20 tac, but you have posted it in the best words yet. :) :)

bob.
 
I have the one you are considering, bought it some years ago when Brian Fox was the importer. I have sold my .223 & 22.250 since getting it as hey never came out of the cabinet.
 
It's a good cal but I got rid in favour of a .223 1-in-8 shooting 75-grainers with a BC of .435 and never looked back.

Sounds good. That'll certainly give you a better long-range set-up than a .204 (>600 yards)... yet with the extra penalties listed by Griffshrek and little gain to offset them under that range. So you're fine for longer-range targets and day-time varmints, but IMO running more gun than you need -at least more gun than I feel I need- for foxing.

To take over at ranges where the .204 is running out of puff I switch to a .243 and 95-grain Noslers, which is arguably the same situation in reverse, with your .223 setup being a more efficient choice, but once you're sending bullets out a long way, ISTM you may as well limit yourself as little as possible, which is why the .243 is now taking a back seat to a 6.5 Creedmoor with 140-grain A-Maxes... until I find something better that is (for the half dozen or so days a year I really get to stretch its legs!)

Any calibre/rifle choice that suits you is a good one, but I wouldn't see a .223/75-grain combination as fitting the same niche as a .204/32- or 39-grain one.
 
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bob thanks for the link
I especially like the bit where the chap writes if I had the money
I would have one built that shoots the Berger 50 / 55 grain match varmints
with a fast twist barrel :D
guess what I'm picking up in the next few weeks ?
​regards pete
 
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