SmallCaliberCentral

Pkay so first post here so be nice . Okay so where I hunt, the wind is generally between 2-5 mph and the worst day we have had around here in a long time was at 11 mph. Now the exact area I hunt is surrounded by bush, and a long thing field. So wind has never been an issue for me. For the real bad days I have a 243. Win shooting 80 grain bullets into less then 1/2" at 100 yards. I want something to fill the gap between the 22LR and the 243. Win. It will be used for ground hogs, rabbits, crows, coons, foxes and coyotes. I am strongly leaning towards a 204. Ruger because I have always wanted one for some odd reason. I'm not a fan of the 223 Remington and I do know it's a magnificent cartridge, just don't want one. So the toss up is between the 22-250 and the 204. Ruger and what some opinions. I think it will be a savage 11 or 16 in a 204 ruger. They both will have a 22" barrel which will decrease both rounds a bit. Thank you

Aside from the wind you sound like a man that is very much like me. I know the .223 is great, and I shot an unknown thousands of rounds of it during my time in the military, but it just bores the heck out of me. I needed something "different". I already had a .22-250 and wanted another varmint cartridge to play with. Oh, I also wanted to be able to spot my own hits. The .204 was an easy choice for me. Components are readily available for me. So now I have both a .22-250 and a .204R to enjoy, but the 250 rarely gets to play. The .204R is just too much fun. It is the ballistic little brother to the 250 and a pleasure to shoot!

Either way you will not be disappointed with either cartridge though. They are both VERY good at what they were designed to do.

The .22-250 kicks a very small amount more, and uses around 10 more grains of powder per shot. There are other small differences but they are so small that generally they are insignificant. The 250 would be slightly better performer on the hogs and coyotes, but then again that depends on the size of them. Hogs in particular probably deserve the attention of your .243. I mean, what is more fun than busting hogs with a nice accurate pill from a .243??

Cheers!

The .22-250 is a decent Rifle but if Your going to save the pelts/hides I think it will cause more damaged than need be,plus it will have more recoil.The .204 is a good choice and it will reach out further and be a much lighter recoiling Rifle.I'm using a Browning A-bolt Hunter in a .243 and it has been a good Rifle for Predators/Varmints but I'm going with the CZ-USA in the .204 model 527 in the "American" or "Varmint" Model for Coyotes,Bobcats,Groundhogs and so on!

You will be happy with either gun. I own both and both have their place. I would probably lean towards the 204 because of cost of shooting and recoil. Ballistically they are about the same with their best bullets in each caliber. If you handload typically the 22-250 wins ballistically because you can touch the lands and with the new Superperformance powder adds fps to 4000+ with the 50grain vmax. My vote would be 204, but barely.

I recommend the .204 Ruger. Where I shoot (I guess you could call it hunting) the wind can blow in the 20-30 mph range, but the .204 bullets seem to be less prone to deflection, maybe because of their small area, maybe because they move so fast the wind doesn't have time to deflect them as much. The .204 Ruger is simply my very favorite cartridge these days, it's accurate, extremely easy to load, has a great selection of components, and is one of the few cartridges that allows me to watch the bullet impact because of mild recoil. When it was introduced I couldn't see the need for it, but now that I tried it, I'm convinced it's the best varmint cartridge for most applications. It's just fun!