SmallCaliberCentral

I have heard from a number of gents here in Canada that finding a great shooting load for the 204 is some what difficult? I never had any trouble what so ever. First I have heard of this? Dr

Dr.: In all due respect, I think you were fed a line of hooey, and probably by shooters who don't even load for the 204, let alone have ever fired a shot from one.

In all four of my 204 rifles, finding an accurate load to print under 3/8" at 100 yards for ground squirrels, PD's, and chucks was no problem at all; three of the four do better. I'm only using poly-tipped bullets, and feel that this caliber has quite a bit of inherient accuracy. I've only been shooting the caliber since 2005 right after it first came out, but that's my experience.

I'm guessing that your naysayers most likely shoot 22-250's, right?

I'm with Rick. Generally anything negative that I have heard comes from people with no first hand experience.

"oh the .204, thats a barrel burner"
"oh the .204, that gets pushed around in the wind!"
"oh the .204, can't kill coyotes with that"

And now.. "oh the .204, that's a tough cartridge to get to shoot accurately"

PHOOEY!!

Under no circumstances should you ever buy a used car (or a bridge) from any of the people who told you this.

I would have to say, that it was one of my easiest to find an accurate load.

Trent All the reasons you listed were the very reasons that kept me from buying a 204R several years ago. The other reason was I had a Win model 70 in 223 WSSM that I thought was going to be my go to gun. I for the life of me couldn't get that gun to shoot under 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yards. I ended up selling that gun to buy a 204 about a year ago and haven't looked back.

I have only been handloading for a lil over 2 years,and only 4 rifle cartridges,,but when I learned about ladder testing in load development,,to me that made finding loads in 223 and 204 very fast and very easy,,,and very accurate

Trent wrote:I'm with Rick. Generally anything negative that I have heard comes from people with no first hand experience.

"oh the .204, thats a barrel burner"
"oh the .204, that gets pushed around in the wind!"
"oh the .204, can't kill coyotes with that"

And now.. "oh the .204, that's a fought cartridge to get to shoot accurately"

PHOOEY!!

WOW trent i thought i was the only one that has heard that . Especialy #3 . The 204 is my go to gun . You forgot Oh the 204 all they cause is splash wounds.

Clint E wrote:

Trent wrote:I'm with Rick. Generally anything negative that I have heard comes from people with no first hand experience.

"oh the .204, thats a barrel burner"
"oh the .204, that gets pushed around in the wind!"
"oh the .204, can't kill coyotes with that"

And now.. "oh the .204, that's a tough cartridge to get to shoot accurately"

PHOOEY!!

WOW trent i thought i was the only one that has heard that . Especially #3 . The 204 is my go to gun . You forgot Oh the 204 all they cause is splash wounds.

I had more than a few friends try to talk me out of the .204R (what kind of friends try to talk other friends out of buying guns?? ). One friend in particular who truly has a lot more experience than I do in owning various rifle cartridges tried to tell me, get this... "You don't want a .204R, they are too loud." WTF??? Seriously?? I had to laugh. Again, this came from a person that had little to no personal experience with the particular cartridge. Luckily I had my mind set and he couldn't talk me out of it. Too loud, compared to what, a HMR?

As soon as the 204 came out, and I read up on the ballistics, I knew I had to have one

I agree with the above posters. The only people who rag on the 204 Ruger have never shot one. All the people I know who have shot one love it. The "it's too loud" comment made me chuckle. I've had several people come up to me at the range and ask what I was shooting and mentioning the loud report. Wimps.

Tokimini wrote:I agree with the above posters. The only people who rag on the 204 Ruger have never shot one. All the people I know who have shot one love it. The "it's too loud" comment made me chuckle. I've had several people come up to me at the range and ask what I was shooting and mentioning the loud report. Wimps.

Mine is a baby compared to my .22-250 when it comes to noise. I have the Remington Varmint with a 26" barrel though (non ported).

The other day I was letting my buddy's 11-year old son shoot my .204R off the bench and was able to stand back and observe. Even with an 11-year old shooting it that thing hardly moves at all when fired, and I personally think the report is mild compared to other calibers. The boy had a big smile on his face. I think he appreciated the change from his dad's .308win. He even shot a 3/4" group with my .204R. Nice.

Yep, this "too loud" thing makes me smile too. Just how can, say something a .223 Remington be any quieter than a 204 Ruger, when they're both burning about 25grs of the same powder and their bullets only differ in diameter by .020"?

There ARE some calibers 'quieter' than others, just by virtue of burning less powder. Less powder = Less noise.

My 20 Vartarg or 17 Mach IV is much "quieter" than any of my 204's, just by burning about 1/3 the powder but "quiet" is pretty subjective......quiet compared to what?

I really chuckle when somebody says "it's too loud".......then maybe they'd better find another hobby besides rifles........I hear stamp collecting is purty quiet.

Rick in Oregon wrote:I really chuckle when somebody says "it's too loud".......then maybe they'd better find another hobby besides rifles........I hear stamp collecting is purty quiet.

My son told me the next time someone at the gun club I belong to makes a crack about my gun being loud I should say something like "I'm sorry it's so loud. Maybe I should join a gun club and shoot it there."

Tokimini wrote:

Rick in Oregon wrote:I really chuckle when somebody says "it's too loud".......then maybe they'd better find another hobby besides rifles........I hear stamp collecting is purty quiet.

My son told me the next time someone at the gun club I belong to makes a crack about my gun being loud I should say something like "I'm sorry it's so loud. Maybe I should join a gun club and shoot it there."

Haha! Both very funny statements!

Rick in Oregon wrote:I'm guessing that your naysayers most likely shoot 22-250's, right?

How did I know you were going to say that