SmallCaliberCentral

What range does the .204 peeder out? What kind of groups does it get say at 300,
400, 500, 600 yards?

Varminter,

You're going to get a few different opinions on this subject, so I'll start in with my unscientific but somewhat experienced humble opinion to get things rolling.

Figure a 24-26 inch 1in12 twist with 32 or 39-40 gr bullets, you will not notice any difference to 400 yards in a prairie dog town for trajectory and wind fighting ability. If you look at balistic charts this opinion willl bear out. There is an edge to the energy level of the heavey bullets.

I have not shot groups at 400-500 yards, but I have fired many rounds at prairie dogs and judging by the results those bullet weights are still stable enough to hit where you want if you can get both the wind and distance calculated right. The heavey bullets start to show better performance at 500.

You can't go much beyond 500 with the 32's and before 600 with the 39's untill you lose stability and the groups begin to open up to the point where you can do everything right and still miss the prairie dog. At that distance and beyond you can lob your bullets in there and hit one once in a while, but to me the fun is gone when the shot is no longer a function of skill and becomes a function of luck.

There is a good chance that a 50 gr bullet would stretch the distance, but my 12 twist rifles don't like them. Guess what's on my mind for a future project? I'd like to see some more choices of heavier bullets before investing in a barrel.

Hey thanks hotshot It's my take too that a 1:12 twist won't work with heavier bullets. It seems that the 204 isn't a LOOOONG range cal. Guess I'l stick with my .243 win.

Actually I'm looking for a cal. for the wife that can do what
a .243 can do with less recoil. Any thoughts?

varminter
heres a thought, and i don't mean to be sarcastic or judgemental. what are you shooting at over 600 yards? if you want to shoot over 600 yards, you might want to look into a .30 cal. rifle. a .308 in the right hands can be effective at 1000 yards and more.
as far as a rifle for the wife, get her a .204, and maybe she will let you shoot it once in a while!

futuretrades wrote:varminter
heres a thought, and i don't mean to be sarcastic or judgemental. what are you shooting at over 600 yards? if you want to shoot over 600 yards, you might want to look into a .30 cal. rifle. a .308 in the right hands can be effective at 1000 yards and more.
as far as a rifle for the wife, get her a .204, and maybe she will let you shoot it once in a while!

+1

It sure depends on what your target is. A 308 shooting heavey target bullets is not fun to shoot in a prairie dog town. I use a 6mm-06 for long range pd's and I get tired of shooting that rifle real quick. A longer range 20 cal would be very nice to shoot 100 rounds in an afternoon at varmints.

If I got a 204 for my wife, that would be a great trade!

Hotshot wrote:It sure depends on what your target is. A 308 shooting heavey target bullets is not fun to shoot in a prairie dog town. I use a 6mm-06 for long range pd's and I get tired of shooting that rifle real quick. A longer range 20 cal would be very nice to shoot 100 rounds in an afternoon at varmints.

If I got a 204 for my wife, that would be a great trade!

I have a 204. Does your wife come with a boat and can she clean fish?

I'm going after woodchuck. Where I go hunting is upstate Pennsylvania. Potter county.

There's a fella who owns a gunshop up there who hunts chucks, he uses a worked 6mm PPC at 1000 yards.

varminter Welcome to the forum.

In keeping with our .20cal roots I'd suggest a fast twist 20 BR.
A .22BR fast twist might be just the ticket though

Weight is a big deciding factor. I just screwed a 243 tube on my Savage 12 F class platform.
Recoil is quite mild on a heavy gun like that. Not something for the wifey to lug around the fields of Penn. unless she has Sherpa blood in her.

I'd look hard at a 22BR for your situation. JMHO
A Savage VLP with barrel wrench from Midway? In the comfort of your own home you can screw on a Pac-Nor tube using FL sized brass with a slight crush fit and go huntin. (read no gunsmith required +$$$)
The VLP is still not a light gun.

The lighter Savage sporters with synthetic stocks require stiffening of the forearm, especially when used with a bipod. Not a big deal really.
Do you think she'll let you borrow it?

hey jo,
Thanks for the reply and the welcome.
And, yea, she'll let me borrow it! I suppose you don't think
the 24's suffer less in the wind than 22's?

I have a Savage 11 in the .243. I haven't tried it beyond 100 yards.
I will this weekend maybe.

Varminter

On paper the 22BR will not compete with the 243 for wind bucking ability.
On paper its not easy to beat the 243 without adding recoil and burning barrels even faster
I didn't run the numbers but just by looking at the velocities and BC's I can figure thats true.
Someone might prove me wrong. Wouldn't be the first time nor the last.

I figure the 22BR would be a good compromise between recoil, wind bucking capability and inherent accuracy thrown in never hurts.

Just started with the 243 myself. One thing I noticed was pushing the 100gn pills at a mild 2750fps kicks a whole lot less than pushing the 87's to 3250fps. Neither is abusive in a 14lb+ gun. Your Sav 11 probably jumps around the bench a bit though heh.
FWIW your model 11 with a 9.25 twist probably won't handle 100gn pills. Or are you lucky?
Any load recommendations?

Hotshot wrote:
There is a good chance that a 50 gr bullet would stretch the distance, but my 12 twist rifles don't like them. Guess what's on my mind for a future project? I'd like to see some more choices of heavier bullets before investing in a barrel.

Hotshot

Just noticed GunHaus is making a 60gn lead tipped .20cal projectile. I wonder if someone asked nicely they'd run a bunch of hollow point instead.
There was another custom bullet maker in Canada I believe that was making some long pills.
Good chance you already know this but I figured I'd pass it along just in case.

Jo,
You wrote......

Your Sav 11 probably jumps around the bench a bit though heh.

(Nah, not really, I have sandbags, although I want to get a rear rest. Problem is finding one I like, say to the right height)

FWIW your model 11 with a 9.25 twist probably won't handle 100gn pills. Or are you luck?

(I had a Rem700 with a 1:10 twist and 105's shot on a dime)

Any load recommendations?

(I experiment.)

Hotshot, you are either VERY brave or Very crazy! I've used the line "I got a gun for my wife...... Best trade I ever made" but not where she would ever see it posted (well until now ) By the way do you have a picture of the boat? Gary

Picture of boat to follow.

My wife would never read this forum, so I believe I'm safe. At a party one time I told some people we had been married for over 30 years(37 now) and you don't get that long of sentence for murder in most states. I still get cold shoulder treatment when she thinks about that. Now if I can just keep my 204 buddies quiet about this post.......