SmallCaliberCentral

Hi
I know that the 204 is supposed to be as good if not better for bullet drop and wind drift than the 22-250 and 220 swift but I just wondered if any of you guys have actually tested these calibres against each other in the field or on the range ?

I have all three. I'm a prairie dog shooter-have been for most of my 60 years. I've fired at least 200,000 rounds at the little buggers(might be more like 250-300,000). I don't shoot the powder burners much any more. The only thing my 220Swift does better than the 204 is deliver energy.
The 204Ruger doesn't heat up or foul the barrel nearly as fast as it's bigger cousins and I believe the 39 & 40 grain 20cal bullets are more stable at 500 yards than the 50 & 55 grain typically used in the big 22's. You'll find all kinds of opinions out there, but I've done it from 22LR to long range 6mm, 7mm, and even 30cal cartridges. I enjoy my 204Ruger the most.

The 204 sure is the cats meow if you ask me. Compaining a 6mm to the equation (don't have a 22-250 or a 220 Swift) I would echo Hotshot's comment. For me, another caliber I'm eyeing is a 17 Ackley Hornet.

HTH

I have a 204, 22-250, and 243s. Ballistically a 204 cant beat the 6mm bullets long range, however as previously mentioned barrel fouling, cost, etc the 204 probably gets the nod. In the 22-250 Hodgdons/Hornadys new Superperformance is changing the performance of the 22-250. I'm still playing with it but results look promising. When you shoot a 50grain vmax out of a 22-250 at over 4000 fps with good accuracy it makes me take a second look at this round. Barrel fouling will still probably be more than the 204 though. My biggest complaint with the 204 is wind drift, and the 22-250 isnt much different. It seems that these two calibers are very close to each other ballistically when you compare the best varmint BC bullets in each caliber. (the 39 SBK for the 204 and the 50 grain Vmax for the 22-250 typically) According to the ballistics calculator and the speed I can attain with each caliber with great accuracy, the 22-250 wins ballistically. (barely) So if barrel fouling and a slight savings in cost matter the 204 probably wins. I know that this may open a can of worms with some people, but with my guns this is what it is. I think most people that want to argue that the 204 has better ballistics, have not tried the Superperformance powder or are using different bullets.
My overall pick is still the 204 in most situations.

Barrel life is another thing to take into the equation. The big 22's are a lot harder on barrels at the 4k feet per second speeds. longer barrel life and comparable ballistics give the .204 the nod for me.

One thing with those 22 cals though (and I've said it before), with 8-twist barrels (or faster), those heavy 22 bullets carry very well at extended distances. I know there are high BC and heavy 20 cal bullets too but I'm not familiar with their performance. Even still, the young 204 Ruger is a tough act to follow.

ryutzy...Maybe I plugged in some wrong #'s but using jbmballistics.com, I plugged in the 22-s50 50 V-MAX @ 4000fps to my 204 39 SBK @ 3850 and there isn't a heck of a lot of difference. At 800 yds (where the 204 goes below the S.O.S.) the wind drift was just 1.8" and drop was 2", both in favor of the 22-250. Energy however was quite different, the 22-250 difinetly had the edge. On a differnt note, I picked up some of that powder a while back to try in my 6mm, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Cheers...

Jim White- If it's not too windy tomorrow I plan on testing another load with Superperformance in my 243Win. I fully expect this new load will pass 3600 fps with the 75 grain vmax. I have the bullet seated well into the lands and it seems whatever I feed this gun it shoots them well.

In my 204 I cant seem to push my 39 SBKs much faster than 3700 fps without small pressure signs (brass ejects out of the gun differently). I am shooting an AR-15 so this is what I attribute the velocity loss to. I hope to get a bolt gun for the 204 sometime and hope to get close to 4000 with it. Yes the 22-250 has a slight energy advantage at 4000+ fps. I do think we are all on the same page tho---all things considered the 204 probably wins in the practical shooting ranges for the specific ranges these guns are meant for.

ryutzy wrote:Jim White- If it's not too windy tomorrow I plan on testing another load with Superperformance in my 243Win. I fully expect this new load will pass 3600 fps with the 75 grain vmax. I have the bullet seated well into the lands and it seems whatever I feed this gun it shoots them well.

Yes the 22-250 has a slight energy advantage at 4000+ fps. I do think we are all on the same page tho---all things considered the 204 probably wins in the practical shooting ranges for the specific ranges these guns are meant for.

On the 22-250 I agree. To bad too, I've thought about getting one but I have a hard time justifying it to myself when I already have three 204's and a 6mm Rem to back them up. I'll be tuning in to see how the 243 does with the Superformance.

Well it will be awhile before I can try my new Superperformance loads. Rainy and VERY gusty, windy, and cold today. Seems like whenever I do get a day off from work the weather is bad. I will post results in the future

Been there, done that.
What you hope to achieve with your Superperformance is not new. I reached those levels (22cal) with my 220Swift and exceded them with 220AI years ago. I also had a 6mm-06 that easily reached 3975fps with 75gr bullets. I learned a lot with those rifles and it only cost me a couple thousand bucks. That is a cheap education.
If more 50gr class bullets were available in 20cal, I'd probably build a hotrod 20.
Good luck with your quest, you will have fun.

I shoot all three, 204,223 & 22-250. Of late I am shooting the 204 more and more. It does better, overall than the 223 and the 22-250 is used only for times when I want a heavier bullet i.e. 50-60 grain. The 204 uses way less powder than the 22-250, so you get a lot more bang (pun intended) out of a pound of powder. Recoil, muzzle blast and barrel heating is less with the 204. As a added note, my favorite load, right now, is 27.2 of AA2520 with either the Dogtown 34gr or 32 gr Sierra Bliztking. It will shoot ragged holes over and over and reachs out really well.
All three calibers are fun and have a place, but I bet you will also be shooting the 204, as most on this site, seem to be finding. Bill K

I started shooting prairie dogs in 1949. So far I have used the 17 HM2, 17 HMR, 17 Fireball, 17 Rem, 204 Ruger, 22 LR ,22 WMR, 22 Hornet, 221 Fireball, 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 22-250 Rem, 220 Swift, 243 Win, and some big game rifles on p dogs. For the shooting I do, the 204 Ruger and the 17 Fireball are now my main prairie dog rifles. Most all of my shooting is within 300 yards but with the 204 Ruger I ll take shots beyoud 300 yards when there is limited wind. For short ranges I use the 17 HM2 and 17 HMR rifles.