How destructive is the 204 ruger?

land308

land308

New member
I have a buddy that is about to purchase a 223 remington for mainly chucks, yotes and ground squirrels. I am trying to decide if i should influence him into getting a 204 ruger. my question is how much damage can one expect from the 204 on ground squirles etc. I ask this because A few years ago the talk was all about the 17 hrm and how it could bow a tuna can to shreads. my nephew bought one a out 200-300 ground squirrels only about 10 exploded. most just grabbed their chest and fell over. My 22lr can do that. I like to be able to see chunks a 200 yrds. my 223 rem will do this. will the 204? thanks for any input
 
Shot some sagerats Thur. Had some good hang time. Close range jackrabbits can soil your clothes with a 32 gr v-max. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Yea, petty much devastating. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
The 204 shoots very fragile bullets much faster than the 223. This allows it to shoot flatter and deliver lots of energy to ground squirrel sized targets. As for damage it's more comparable to a 22-250 than a 223.

I'd think you would be able to see the difference.
 
Ive owned a 204 since 2004 and shot it lots.on prairie dogs it blows the small ones(young of the year) in two or more. on mature dogs it usually tears parts off as you have to hit a dog just right to explode him with any calibre. on coyotes if you hit a bone it blows a soft ball size hole with ballistic points. this calibre is powerful and explosive as well as flat shooting. my savage zeroed at 200 yrds hits 3 inches low at 300 yrds. beyond that i can't hold it steady enough and any hit after that is luck.
 
Here's a sequence of pictures of a prairie dog shot at about 100 yards with a 40 gr. Nosler BT out of my Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger. The bullet leaves the muzzle at about 3,865 fps and is DEVASTATING on prairie dogs!!! Here, the photos speak volumes:

Two little prairie dogs just out sunning themselves:

Air-time-1--small.jpg


One little prairie dog experiences lift-off!!!!

Air-time-2--small.jpg


The flying prairie dog coming down for a landing!

Air-time-3--small.jpg


His buddy scurried back into the den just before the flying prairie dog came down!!

Air-time-4--small.jpg


However, if you take a larger animal like the coyote and use the 35 gr. FB HP Berger, you will get little or no fur damage and very dead coyotes.
 
Thanks for all of the info. I talked to my buddy and he is sticking with the 223 rem just because he already has the dies for his dillon and he has bags of brass he was given for free. I do think that when I rebarrel my savage 12fv 223 I will go to 204. What can I expect as far a barrel life?
 
Quote:
Thanks for all of the info. I talked to my buddy and he is sticking with the 223 rem just because he already has the dies for his dillon and he has bags of brass he was given for free. I do think that when I rebarrel my savage 12fv 223 I will go to 204. What can I expect as far a barrel life?



You should get between 2000 and 4000 rounds thru it before it starts showing throat erosion. Mine is in a CZ Varmint and the 1 in 12 twist should give good barrel life. Keep in mind that a barrel is not very expensive for the fun it generates.
 
Quote:
I've had pretty good damageon gophers with the white box 45 gr. in 223. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



Yeah they pop pretty good with those. Had some this past year get some serious air time with those. Plus they are relatively cheap. I got some on video but haven't had a chance to put it on the computer yet. I love shooting gophers. I think I'm headed to Sask in June to plink one to two.
 
Quote:
I ask this because A few years ago the talk was all about the 17 hrm and how it could bow a tuna can to shreads. my nephew bought one a out 200-300 ground squirrels only about 10 exploded. most just grabbed their chest and fell over.



Thinking of the 204 as something to compare with the HMR is like comparing firecracker damage to a Honeywell Grenade Launcher when it finshes with a burst of grenades.
 
Back
Top