Not sold on the 204?

R

rbboyd

New member
I have a great 204........but the jury is out on it. I have shot two coyotes with it recently and its knock down has me scratching my head. It seems as if our big western yotes can take a hit and keep on ticking. I am a little bummed with this round. 32 grain hollow. I have moved up to the 40 grain and have yet to get it out for a shot. It still is a great varmit gun and is a heck of a shooter. I have the kimber in the 84 stainless fluted, great design but I am wondering if others are having this issue. With the brush here I cant chase down wounded dogs. They are hard to trail here. BB
 
Brandon I hear ya bud.. we have had the same things happen in filming the dvd .. We quit using the 204 period.. We had 2 many runners with the 32 gr.. the 35 gr. burger and the 40 gr.. we tried them all.. in bringing the footage back and watching it in slow motion most of them should have been fatil shots.. So we quit using it.. I have heard of guys swearing by the 204... I cant mine is up for sale... Kerry
 
I had also entertained the idea of selling it. It is really a beautiful firearm. I hate selling them, but feel I need something reliable for taking fur.
Thanks for the input Kerry. Cant wait to see your video!
 
I've only killed 19 so far this winter with my .204, BUT I've been so pleased with the perfermance that I will be using it during the St. Francis contest next weekend. Shot 5 with the 35 Bergers, and the rest with 40 gr. Bergers.
I did loose one coyote so far this winter, BUT I shot it on the run and not sure exactly where I hit it, guessing too far back, and it got across a road into an area that has 40 acre lots with houses and we couldn't get access to trail it.
I will be using the 40 gr. Bergers in the contest since they do penetrate better than the 35's did. I sometimes get exits with the 40's, where as I never got any pass throughs with the 35's.
 
When we had the Dream Hunt out here Mike ( Mason Jarr) and Pat B., Steve B., Tony Tebbe and me we called in 79 coyotes in a weeks time and Mike and Pat were shooting .204es. They were also not empresses with the 35 burgers. Mike is still going to test out 45 grain bullets and see if they do better. Tony, Steve and I used .223.
We were talking that if you bring the load down to under 3500 FPS they might do better as a coyote load and not up around 3900 FPS. I know that some of the coyotes could not be saved because of pelt damage. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif GENE'O
 
Wow. I wouldn't sell it, but in I certain terrain I wouldn't want to use it for yotes either. I was in a similar position. So I got a 22-250 too. Not much tracking goes on when I hit with that. Even better is .243, then 25-06. Good thing the yotes around here aren't worth anything.
 
I have always done well with the tripple duece and a half. Also my hornet kills them inside of 150 yrds. I thought the 204 would be just fine but time will tell.
 
I had trouble with 45 grain bullets in 22-250 anchoring western coyotes everytime, sometimes it worked others I was less than impressed so I now use nothing under 55grain this has proven to be real effective. If the 204 had more bullet weight I would bet your results would change, everyone has a runner or two a year even with larger calibers.
 
Sounds like you need a.17 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif 25 gr HP Kills them dead /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
It seems whenever a new varmint caliber comes out, they always compare it to the 22-250. Long live the 22-250 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Quote:
Sounds like you need a.17 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif 25 gr HP Kills them dead


+ 1 I love the 17s /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif Kerry
 
I have two 17 cals, two 223's, a 220 Swift, a 243 Win and 25/06. And one 204 Ruger. For whatever reason, the 204 has never taken me by storm, as I prefer shooting any of the other guns. Oh, it shoots well enough I suppose, but I really dont even know why I bought it. I much prefer a 17 for ground squirrels and praire dogs out to 300 yards or so, and one of the 223 rifles for most of my other shooting. I know that there are plenty of people on the forum that like that 204 Ruger, and I'm glad as I want it to stick around- but I have other guns that I like better.
 
I am in the same boat as all of you I shot 3 yotes with mine, 2 ran a couple of hundred yards and 1 was DTR I am just not impressed with the 204. All 3 shots were behind the shoulder where I always aim. I have never had my 223 or my 22-250 let me down like this gun has. Needless to say it stays in the safe unless I shoot a few P-dogs.
 
wow !! it's sure interesting hearing everyone's viewpoint's..i was really under the impression the 204 was the cat's meo..with a 35 grain berger..good thread.
 
There was sure alot of positive things said about the 204 a year ago. Many people said it killed their coyotes DRT everytime like it was some kind of magical cartridge. My 17 rem kills cleaner than my 204 ever did.
 
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