[cecilrad]

any one have a 204,and reload for it/what do you really think of it,is it worth it,does it fill any real need or is it just lower recoil to start a younger shooter out with it,or is it really any good for varmets.
is it easy to reload ?,small projectile big finger problems etc etc
Tell me what you think of the 204.
thanks

 

[JustMe]

I got a friend that had a .204. It was fun to shoot, no doubt. Very fast, very flat, VERY, VERY accurate!! A 5 shot group at 100yrds usually ended up being one ragged hole. It whatever you are shooting is big enough to see under 300yrds, you can pretty much hit it. With that said he didn't keep it very long. Couldn't really find a "purpose" for it. It was great at punching paper and blowing up drink bottles, but that was about it. I think that if we had groundhogs or something of that nature it would be something that I would have to have. I came to the conclusion that it has a very specific purpose. While I think it excels at that purpose, anything outside of that purpose can be done better with something else.

We never reloaded for it at all. Just shot the factory Hornady 40gr V-Max's. Most people say it is a very finicky caliber to load for. A lot of other people said that no matter what they did, they couldn't match the accuracy/speed of the factory Hornady's. That is why we never tried it.

Personal opinion is its a great caliber.....if you have a use for it. But just remember that its uses are limited in my mind. Other people may disagree.

 

[telephoneman]

I have and have been loading 20 tactical for about 5 year now. In case you're not familiar, 20 tactical is a ballistic twin of the 204. It uses the 223 parent case instead of the 222, and uses roughly 1/2gr. less powder for comparable loads.

The 20's are great at one thing: pushing light bullets really fast and accurate. Bullet weight is highly dependent on barrel twist. Some 1:12 won't stabilize 40gr bullets, and some will. The ones that won't will usually handle 39gr. Sierras fine. If you go with a faster twist, like 1:10, you can go up to 45gr. bullets (maybe heavier with some of the Bergers).

All in all it's a fun round, and its effects on varmints is truly impressive.

 

[cecilrad]

thanks ,thats exac the info i needed,you cant get any better info than from those that use it or hands on.will look into the 20-havent thought about that huuuum

 

[the_right_reverend]

I have had a .204 ruger in the Ruger M77 MARK II VT for about 5 years awesome little round, Mine shoots the 32 gr Vmax like a laser so so with anything up. Recently finished an AR15 in 204 with a 1:9 Shilen barrel so we will see how we do with a stock of various weights in 24 grain to 40 . love the 204

all things .204 http://www.204ruger.com/forum/index.php Rick in oregon is a wealth of knowledge on this cartrigde

 

[dh2]

I have had my AR-15 in .204 Ruger for about 2 years now It is every thing I wanted it to be , to me it is the ideal long range varmet rifle 1 inch group at 200 yards is no problem loading it with 34 grain dog town bullets from midway and pushing them with H335. mine has never fired factory ammo , but a 34 gr bullet at over 4000fps will go as far as you want to shoot, you will need to get a .17 cal poweder funnle which is no problem from rcbs

 

[Dickieray]

Great for groundhogs!