SmallCaliberCentral

Hey guys, I have been reading here of a bit and am really thinking about getting a 204. I have a 22-250 that I love to shoot and reload for. It is a light rifle with a standard barrel. I am looking at the Savage 12FV. I have a Vortex 6.5-24 that I could mount on the rifle. I do not plan on hunting to far from the road from with the heavy rifle. The real reason to get it would be to have another rifle to reload for and to shoot while at the range waiting for the 22-250 to cool down. I can get a great deal on the rifle new in the box and am wondering if it is the right gun for me. I am looking for pros and cons of the rifle and cal. Thanks

One last thing, I would save up and replace the plastic stock down the road.

What type hunting do you plan to do? If it's varmints of coyote size and down and you plan on shooting paper, as well, the .204 is a good choice IMHO. As you've seen from the numerous posts, the .204 Ruger is an exceptionally accurate round with enough punch to drop coyotes at 400 + yds. I've popped a prairie dog at 650 yds. with mine. Luck might have had something to do with it. All I know is I put the crosshairs on him, squeezed the trigger and he went Tango Uniform.

Hunting is not the #1 reason for the rifle? I have a 22-250 for hunting yotes. I want to punch paper and have fun shooting and reloading. I want small groups without breaking the bank.

Sounds like the .204 will do you well in that case. Doesn't take a lot of powder to load. Components are readily available and it's a fun rifle to shoot.

Keep an eye on your post. Rick in Oregon will probably add some suggestions. He's been shooting .20s for quite a while.

Check out both the 204 Ruger and the 20 Var Targ. They both shoot super, are cost effective and just plain fun. Bill K

I decided on a Savage after reading all the good reviews. I picked up a 12FV about a year and a half ago and have had a ton of fun with it. Its a nice bench gun and although its long and heavy, I take it hunting as well:



After putting 1029 rounds through it, I decided I wanted better accuracy (was getting 1/2"-3/4" groups. I purchased an action wrench, barrel nut wrench, go gage, competition recoil lug and a CBI (Kriegers button rifling devision) match grade hand lapped 1-11 twist barrel. After the quick install I was shootin consistant groups in the high .3's with no load workup (just loaded 40 V-Max with a mild load of RL-10x)! Here's the new barrel:



Its a fun gun that wont break the bank, and barrels are easy to swap yourself. Its not as pretty as my cooper, but that means I can hunt a little harder with it . I would recomend it for your purposes.

wisconsinteacher wrote:Hunting is not the #1 reason for the rifle? I have a 22-250 for hunting yotes. I want to punch paper and have fun shooting and reloading. I want small groups without breaking the bank.

Then you are on the right track for sure . And should you choose to hunt with the .204.. .well... I'm gonna say that your 22-250 will end up in the closet .

I have a Savage 12 Varminter Low Profile in .204.

Con: It's heavy.

Pro: It shoots like this:



And those, BTW, were shot @200 yards. The larger of the two measures 5/16" C-C.

Copy pasted by me, from The Savage forum.


Something I gleaned from a previous post. I do not know from whom:

I thought I'd pass along this info;

The other day I had a informative conversation with Mr. Chris Bezzina (main engineer at Savage Arms) who played a key part in the development of the AccuStock. I wanted to get detailed information on torque specs for the 10 LE weapons series. There is a sequence for reassembling in the manuals but for ultimate accuracy wanted by advanced shooters the recommended sequence is as follows.

Proper Adjustment of The AccuStock
There is a specific technique for assembling the action into the AccuStock, and it needs to be strictly adhered to as follows:

1. Ensure that the recoil lug “wedge” screw is backed out to the point where the wedge has sufficient vertical movement to allow the recoil lug to seat against the bottom of the aluminum rail.

2. With the action inserted into the stock, justify the action toward the rear of the stock to allow the recoil lug on the action to be seated against the boss on the aluminum rail.

3. Tighten the forward most screw to 10 in.-lbs. to seat the action against the aluminum rail boss, then back out one-half turn.

4. Tighten the middle action screw to 10 in.-lbs.

5. Tighten the rear action screw to 10 in.-lbs.

6. Tighten the forward action screw to 10 in.-lbs

Repeat steps four through six and increase torque value in increments up to a final torque value of 40 to 45 in.-lbs.

Note: It is extremely important to tighten per the instructions above because when you are tightening the action down into the AccuStock you are spreading the aluminum side rails and evenly moving the action down onto the base of the rail, ensuring positive engagement.

—Chris Bezzina, Savage Arms

Thanks, Claimjumper.

I have the Savage 12 VLP in 204. Liked it so well that I wanted a lighter 204 for a carry rifle. I got the Savage 11BTH, a thumbhole stock. They would both shoot 1/2 inch groups or better out of the box. I could not be happier with them. I have shot prairie dogs at 600 yards with it, so far as well as sage rats at shorter distances. You will not shoot your 22-250 much after you get a 204, I predict. I know my brother does not take his 22-250 out any more. He just had a custom rifle made for the 55 grain 204 bullets for long shots. You can see the hits in the scope, so much more fun that way......red mist in full view!

Well after a lot of thinking and looking, I am now saving for a Savage 12FV and reloading supplies. I plan on getting a Boyd's thumbhole stock after I am up and running.

My son has a Savage model 12 in 300WSM. As Neil said, they are not especially pretty rifles but my son's is very accurate. If your getting a good deal I'd go for it.

I recently bought a Savage 12BTCSS. It is a thumbhole stock from the factory. Great shooting gun.