SmallCaliberCentral

if you were going to buy a ruger 204 would you buy a bull barrel or regular barrel and why. HORNET

I prefer the bull barrel, even for a walk about, but then I do not mind carrying a little extra weight. I just feel the bull barrel will over the best accuracy, due, mostly to the fact the barrel is more rigid and vibrates less. Bill K

I suppose it depends more on what your shooting plans are for the rifle. If you just wanna punch paper from a bench, go bull. If you wanna hike around the sage brush and lava flows, a better option might be a lighter contour. Personally, I have a varmint contour and it's not light at all but I don't mind packing it around. That being said, my next purchase for a .204 will either be a Cooper or Sako with a sporter type contour. Of course, there is that Winchester low wall that would suit my fancy just fine.

I wouldn't want to try to shoot off hand with a bull barrel more than once or twice on a whim.

Bench or rest= bull

Walk and off hand= sporter

Why not get an "in betweener" like the Savage Model 25?

I would say first off which bullet are you going to shoot. If you are wanting the heavier bullets a 1-10 works better. Lighter bullets are good for the 1-12. I found the T/C venture predator, it has a sporter barrel that is fluted and has a 1-10 twist and it likes the 40 gr vmaxes. Also have heavy barrel rem. Have carried both, the lighter gun is much easier to pack around. But I still like the bull barrels and I feel they are more accurate.

Noise/muzzle blast could be a factor, too. To my (protected) ears, my .204 Rem. LVSF with 22" fluted barrel is significantly louder than my Cooper with a heavier, 26" one. Most of the time I would rather lug the extra weight around. Also, if you do much rapid shooting, the light barrels will heat up and start stringing shots sooner.

I like the heavy barrels myself but if I was undecided like you seem to be I would get something like a ruger predator or cz varmint.

My preference is for the bull barrels. I have no problem doing my walk-about type prairie dog shooting and my coyote calling forays carrying my heavy barreled rifles. I just feel more confident in the accuracy I'll get with this type of a barrel on my rifles. You can always have the barrel fluted to help them shed a half pound or more of weight or go with a 22" barrel instead of a 26" to cut down on the wieght a bit.

Keep in mind that I do not take many off-hand shots, but when I have to take one, I can hold the rifle steady for a quick shot, but I start wiggling a whole bunch if I have to hold the rifle up for any length of time

I have a bull barrel for shooting off a pivot bench. It was getting heavy when going coyote hunting and got a lighter weight 204. They will both have the same accuracy. I like the heavier rifles for long range shooting. If you are going to shoot high volume then get a bull barrel as they do not get hot as quickly.