Ruger .204 and .223 WSSM

crazy_train04

crazy_train04

New member
Has anyone here shot any of these new cartriges??
If so do you have any insight for me on how they perform. I am really interested in the .223 WSSM

Thanks
 
You will find a lot of people with a lot of opinions here but the way I see it and I own a .223wssm is..........
Both of these casings are expensive to shoot the brass is not readily avalible.
The wssm is a shooter if you get the right one which can be said for any gun. If you are not a reloader you can have some trouble because they are REAL finicky ( I own one) but that is not to say they are bad just take a little fine tuning like a good woman!!!!!!
I do not own a .204 as I am having a tac.20 built the cartridge will shoot but is expensive and hard to make your own brass for reloading.
IMHO .204 for varmints .223wssm for varmints and small deer and antelope size animals
 
crazy_train04--I have not shot the .223 WSSM, but I do own and have shot a Savage 12VLP in the new .204 Ruger caliber. The factory Hornady 32 gr. V-Max cartridges leave a great deal to be desired in the accuracy area. Although, to be fair, I am getting 5 shot groups that are just a tad over 1". The factor fodder is averaging around 4,090 fps at the muzzle. I have been spoiled by my .17 Remington rifle which is a tack driver with my reloads.

I did try some once fired Hornady .204 casings and shot a .390" three shot group with the 32 gr. V-max bullet and the average muzzle velocity was about 3,860 fps. I am going to try to get that velocity up around the 4,100 to 4,200 fps range if I can maintain well under 1/2" accuracy.

The Remington 222 Magnum brass is not very difficult to fire form. I have posted this information before, but I'll repeat it here with a photo. I take a 222 Mag casing and run it into my full-length sizing die just enough so it sizes a bit of the neck so when the casing is chambered, the donut crush fits against the .204 Ruger chamber. The main reason for the crush fit is to avoid a headspace problem. The rest of the neck is left at the stock 222 Mag size.

Fire_Forming_Casings--small.jpg


On the first five casings I fire formed, I used the 40 gr. V-Max bullets the bullets so they were about .002" into the lands. I used a load of 27.0 gr. of H4895 and the casings formed just great!! The average velocity was about 3,710 fps. The five-shot group was 1.375".

The last 27 casings I fire formed I seated the 40 gr. V-Max bullets about .007" off the lands and increased the load to 28.0 gr. of H4895. The average muzzle velocity for these 27 shots was approximately 3,880 fps. The casings formed just fine, but the primers were flattened. I will back off on the powder load to 27.5 to see if I can get around 3,775 fps. I want to use these fire forming loads on prairie dogs. The 27 shots gave me a group that was in the 1.5" neighborhood, but I think if I back the powder charge down a bit, I may get groups closer to the 1.25 to 1.375" area and I can hit prairie dogs with that accuracy at 100 yards if they are standing up and at 200+ yards if they cooperate and lay horizontally for me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif :eek:
 
Crazy,

I have not had the pleasure of shooting a .204 Ruger as of yet, but do plan on buying one in a Savage before too long. I do own a .223 WSSM in a M70 Coyote. I have had nothing but good luck with mine. It shot well out of the box with factory ammo, but really started to shine when I reloaded. I can only tell you that it is not a practical high volume caliber (p-dogs, etc that you shoot alot of rounds for a sustained period of time).
It does very well as a predator rifle or for few long shot on p-dogs. It will reach out & touch em'. I am actually working up a load with Barnes triple schock for Antelope this fall.
If you are willing to reload, I would think either would make a fine caliber. Just know that every caliber has its strengths & limitations. If you play to their strengths it is hard to go wrong. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
why is the 223 not a good high volume caliber is it because of cost to shoot or what, i was thinking of getting one some day thanks.
 
The .223 WSSM will shoot out a barrel in a hurry on a good P-Dog town, 17. It heats up really fast after just 3 rounds are fired pretty quick and this out of my heavy barrel Rem.
 
I don't see the 223 WSSM as a high volume # whatsoever either. I think it's niche is gonna be as a long-range coyote sniper. If u can get the accuracy out of the case, there are some bullets out there that'd probably get u out to 6 or 700 yds.-- probably. 26-28" barrel, maybe tight-necked. I see a properly outfitted WSSM as the perfect mate to the laser rangefinder.
 


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