Advise please .204 ruger or .222 rem

Unless you are buying new I'd say .222. They are not as popular due to the .223 so they can be picked up cheaply.
The amount you save on the rifle could buy years of ammo or go towards a really good scope.
If it's a brand new rifle you are after, see if the 204 ammo is available and how much they are going to slug you.
I like the .222 but as we don't have to get rifles proofed after re-chambering here in Australia many .222s have been re-chambered to .223.
I have 2 myself.
.223 ammo is just so much easier to get, cheaper and the slow twist is only an issue above 50gn.
 
Well, all I’ll say is two keepers that I know have 204’s as fox and vermin control rifles paid for by their employer, they only ever shoot factory rounds and have to my knowledge had them re-barrelled 3 times, they tell me after somewhat less than 1500 rounds, even if it were 2000 rounds at the current rate that’s 5 x 204 barrels and my .222 is still going on it’s original, now take the expense of having the work done out of the situation, you’ve still gotta be without the gun whilst the work is done?
I’ve no doubt the 204 and all the other 4000 + FPS variants do out perform the humble deuce ballistically speaking but at what cost?
I suppose the analogy is a racing engine versus a run of the mill saloon car engine, if you don’t mind the accelerated rate of wear that comes with speed( in the case of the 204 and that makes no difference to a dead fox)then I suppose if that’s what floats yer boat then each to his own ?
 
I used H4895 which is listed for reduced loads on the H
iirc I was around 62/65% and reasonable accuracy however they were more prone to ricochet which for my purpose defeated the object. Yes they were quieter than full power loads. But I think I needed a more frangible bullet than the 45grain Hornet soft points I tried.

You may find it quite difficult to purchase bullets MORE FRANGIBLE than those 45 gr Hornet softpoints my friend!? In my long experiences of using frangible projectiles in small Varmint loadings those wee Sierra "Hornet" bullets are about as soft and frangible as one can easily find and buy!!.. Perhaps if any bullet makers produce similarly small caliber and lightweight projectiles but using something like powdered copper bound with resin as the substrate (like certain very specifically made shotgun "door breeching" rounds) only then will you perhaps get bullets that at relatively low velocities DON'T BOUNCE etc?? Bit of a long shot though - if'n you'll excuse the intended pun!?..

ATB ....... and shoot safely
 
You may find it quite difficult to purchase bullets MORE FRANGIBLE than those 45 gr Hornet softpoints my friend!? In my long experiences of using frangible projectiles in small Varmint loadings those wee Sierra "Hornet" bullets are about as soft and frangible as one can easily find and buy!!.. Perhaps if any bullet makers produce similarly small caliber and lightweight projectiles but using something like powdered copper bound with resin as the substrate (like certain very specifically made shotgun "door breeching" rounds) only then will you perhaps get bullets that at relatively low velocities DON'T BOUNCE etc?? Bit of a long shot though - if'n you'll excuse the intended pun!?..

ATB ....... and shoot safely
I wasn’t sure if the lighter bullets might not be slightly better from that point of view. But I couldn’t get the speed down to what I was looking for. So I went with the 45’s. However as I mentioned it didn’t suit my purpose so I binned the idea.
 
.204 is my go too weapon. 39grn Blitzking running at 3550 fps. Head shoot rabbits and is capabale of silly range kills with the correct optics.
However decent cases are difficult to source and expensive. Some dealers dont stock 20 cal bullets. If in this situation .222 would be excellent second choice.

D
 
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