Hello all

[ACLakey]

A little introduction. I have been shooting and hunting all my life and love to shoot varints. I am looking to get a Savage Predator Hunter soon and the .204 caliber has been calling me. I have owned 22-250 and .223 varmint rifles and would loke a change. My only concerns are shooting Coyote and Cats with the .204, I am sure it will get the job done but I have no experience with the round. How many here use the .204 for both varmint and predator hunting?

[Glen]

Welcome to the Forum AC!!

Search out the posts by Silverfox here & I think you'll get a good idea of what the 204 does on quite a few coyotes every year.

[Silverfox]

ACLakey--The .204 Ruger is every bit as good a caliber for cats and coyotes as your 22-250 and .223 rifles, but then that's just my humble opinion Over the years I have used the .243, 22-250, and .17 Remington for coyotes and fox, but once I purchased a Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger in June of 2004, the .204 Ruger is THE rifle that comes with me on my coyote hunts. For prairie dog shoots, I use my .204 Ruger and a couple of custom built .17 Remingtons. I can usually shoot at least 70 to 75 shots from each of those rifles before accuracy starts to drop off a little bit and then I can switch to a different rifle if I don't want to stop and take the time to clean the barrel. Every once in awhile I even trot out my Tikka Master Sporter in 22-250 and shoot a few prairie dogs. Here's the Tikka with a satisfied prairie dog customer that took a 50 gr. Sierra BlitzKing from 250 yards away:



I used the 35 gr. FBHP Berger bullets for coyote for the 2004-05, 2005-06, and 2006-07 fur seasons and was happy with the results. Very little fur damage and most of the coyotes were dead in their tracks. This fur season I decided to give the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKings a try on coyotes. The 39 grain Sierras have a waaaay better BC than the 35 gr. Bergers--.287 for the Sierras as opposed to .191 for the Bergers. If all my shots were in very low wind conditions and 200 yards or less, I'd probably still be using the Bergers. However, the wind blows almost constantly here in North DaColder and using the higher BC Sierras gives me less wind deflection and a flatter trajectory way out yonder.

The .204 Ruger is like any caliber though, you have to place your shots properly or you'll have runners, ripped fur, etc. I think you would really enjoy the .204 Ruger caliber. Let us know what you decide.

[ACLakey]

Thanks for the information. The rifle will be a predator/varmint hunter, not the other way around. I know I may be splitting hairs, but don't want to be "under guned" so to speak. Concidering most all shots will be under 300 yards I feel the .204 will work very well for me. Have you killed any dogs with the 39 grain Sierras combination? When I mean cats I am refering to Cougar as well...any thoughts. Thanks for the replies.

[jayph]

Not going to tell you they won't work but this is what I was told by Siera.

I had a buddy that was shooting blitz kings out of his .220 swift and we actually had a bullet come apart on the hide and make a small surface wound. He put him down with a second shot thats how we know. I got curious and emailed Sierra. Heres the exact reply from the email.

"Hi Jason,
This is one time when the internet was right.Sometimes the BK's will start expanding right on the surface of the fur.With a coyote carrying his heaviest fur then,sometimes the BK's just don't get deep enough on a coyote.A better all around bullet for coyotes in winter is the 55 HPBT."

He says the internet was right cause after this happened I did some research and found other reports of the same thing happening with tipped bullets at high velocity. So I included that with our expierience and said. I don't believe everything I read so I came right to the source.

I would go with the 35/40gr Berger specially for a cougar. Just my .02

[Silverfox]

ACLakey--I don't have much experience with the 39 Sierras on coyotes--only four coyotes with that bullet so far. On those four there was no exit on three of them and on the fourth there was a tiny entrance hole and a tiny exit hole. Shots ranged from 40 yards to about 100 yards. The male coyote I shot this past Wednesday was a bit over 75 yards away and the bullet passed through. In the summertime my load for that bullet gives me about 3,900 fps at the muzzle.

I have had extensive experience with the 40 gr. Nosler BTs on coyotes when I was using my Tikka Master Sporter in 22-250 on coyotes for about three years. The only bit of surface splash I had was on one coyote where I hit the left front shoulder bone. There was a 50¢ sized splash wound on the hide, but the bullet penetrated the shoulder bone, pole-axed the coyote right there and never exited. The load I am using with that bullet gives me 3,936 fps at the muzzle.

I know lots of other folks have had negative experiences with the "varnint" style bullets like the Hornady V-Max, Sierra BlitzKing, and Nosler Ballistic Tips, but so far (knock on wood) I haven't had that problem. I definitely WOULD NOT use this type of a bullet on big game, but so far the BlitzKing and Nosler BTs have worked well for me on predators and varmints.

If you are wary of surface splash, then by all means go with the 35 gr. FBHP Berger or even the 40 gr. Berger IF your rifle will stabilize those 40 gr. bullets. Like I mentioned earlier, the 35 gr. Berger will do quite a bit of deflecting in the wind compared to higher BC bullets, but if you do you homework and practice on the rifle range before you go out, you should have no problem on coyotes out to 200 to maybe 250 yards. As for cougars, I have absolutely no experience with them, but I would much rather be shooting a 40 gr. Berger bullet on those felines than the 35 gr. Bergers. However, if you are up close and personal to the cougar, then the 35 gr. Bergers should work OK. JMHO and it is worth what you paid for it