204 Ruger

[mausernut]

I own a Savage 12 FCV with an Accu-Stock in 204 Ruger. Was wondering how far you guys are comfortable shooting varmints with that calibre.

[Carvera]

My boy has a heavy barrel setup, and it's one of the most accurate rifles in the house.

I've witnessed 300-400 yard shot's on Utah jackrabbits that were explosive as can be. I load the 32 grain variety in his rifle and we are amazed as to the accuracy and explosiveness. If it gets real windy we don't typically shoot past 200 much, we'll consider bringing something a little bigger out at that point.

[gpsman007]

I have taken coyotes at 350 yards in my opinion for a good kill stay under 400 yards with 32 grain. And under 500 with 40 grain.
But the sweet range is the 100 to 300 yard range. You could put it on smaller game like pd's. But at 600 yards bullet energy is pretty low

[mausernut]

I find that gophers (Richardson Ground Squirrels) become a very small target at 500, But I will try it on coyotes one of these days. I load 40 grain bullets for it. My gun also has a heavy barrel on it. I notice that Savage no longer puts the AccuStock on this model, Does anyone know the reason? By the way it really does shoot.

[kkeene]

I use my 204 Ruger (Savage VLP laminated stock) for prairie dogs, these are 1/2 lb to 4 lb critters and are very small moving targets at 400 to 500 yards! I get the best accuracy in my rifle with the 39 gr BlitzKings. For me, the 32 gr bullets seem to loose steam faster and didn't have the same effect at 400 yards. Easy to spot your own shots and correct for range estimation error or wind with a 204 when it is dry (as it usually is) as you can see the dust cloud from the impact. My favorite small varmint cartridge. I am also a big fan of the 223 Remington (a more versatile caliber in my opinion), but I like my 204 Ruger much better for prairie dogs!

With the 39 gr BlitzKings I typicialy see the following results;
1) Often splits them in half out to about 200 yards.
2) Definite violent expansion / very deadly out to 400 yards.
3) Runs out of steam somewhere around 450 to 500 yards and starts to pencil hole them unless you happen to hit something solid or get a length wise shot where the bullet has more time to expand or tumbles.
4) They always exit at any distances that I have hit them with (600 plus yards).
5) I've seen jack rabbits just come unglued when hit at 125 to 150 yards, assume that the bullet hit a major bone going in.

I don't know how deep a 204 Ruger bullet would go into a larger critter if you hit a major bone at longer distances, might wind up with a nasty crippling shot that didn't make it to the vital organs. Dead coyote, just might take a couple of days and I always try for a clean fast kill. At shorter distances (150 yards based on the jack rabbit) I know that it would definitely get the job done with any good hit (probably even the shoulder joint), and much further away if you were able to thread it in just behind the shoulder angling forward. I have larger calibers that I would grab if I knew that I might get a shot at a coyote, just in case the ranges might be farther than optimum. All but one of the 6 or 7 that I've shot have been with deer caliber cartridges such as 7mm-08 or 308 with Nosler Partition hand loads while deer hunting. Those are not fur friendly cartridges but you can shoot them from any angle and they will get to the vitals no problem on a 35 lb critter and they just drop (or tumble) right there. The other coyote kill was a 17 HMR rimfire with 17 gr at about 80 yards and was trotting quartering away from me. I thought that I had hit it perfectly right behind / maybe clipping the rear edge of shoulder, but it didn't react or bite at the point of impact and I thought "how could I have missed him"? It ran about 25 feet as I was working the bolt and fell over dead before I got a second shot off.

Have fun and good hunting with what ever you use!

Keith

[1raggedhole76]

Depends on varmint. Prairie dog size out to 500. Bring it in as weight/size go up. Less than perfect shots on coyotes can be ugly past 200 yds.

[PowellSixO]

I know this is an old thread, but I've killed coyotes out to 350 yards with my 204 in an AR platform. It's a great little round, and is very accurate. I'm shooting 32 gr Noslers out of mine, with Reloader 10x. I'm shooting better than .5 moa with this rifle. It's fun to shoot and easy on the wallet to reload for.


http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/XC-SquareBush/Hunting/IMG_1044_zpsxyyrfl9f.jpg (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/XC-SquareBush/media/Hunting/IMG_1044_zpsxyyrfl9f.jpg.html)

[darkker]

I have taken coyotes at 350 yards in my opinion for a good kill stay under 400 yards with 32 grain. And under 500 with 40 grain.
But the sweet range is the 100 to 300 yard range. You could put it on smaller game like pd's. But at 600 yards bullet energy is pretty low


I agree. For coyotes, bullet selection can be somewhat important. The V-maxes, prior to the AMP jacketing, were quite infamous for splashing on shoulders. Oddly enough, the bullets being sold by Midsouth(99% sure they are Nosler) work exceptionally well. Berger, and Sierra(hard jackets) also work well.
I've now done a few coyote derby's with my second 204, with no issue if you keep energy in mind.

Also as an important note to remember.
ALL small calibers will accumulate certain types of fouling faster than larger bores. In particular, the coatings used on extruded powders that get touted as being "Extreme" *wink, wink* have a nasty side effect of creating what is known as "Hard Carbon" fouling. This fouling typically doesn't "look" fouled, but certainly is! If you have sudden accuracy deterioration, or bullets that seem to magically dissapear, that's a result of hard carbon. Once she sets in, be prepared to get a work-out with some JB bore paste! You will know you are making headway, when you see tiny little black flecks coming out. Harder than a rock.

[savgebolt]

mauser,,,,, go to Hornadys ballistic chart and look at the 40 gr v max energy at 4 and 5 hundred yards , compare it to 22-250 loads at the same distance , i found it interesting ,,,,,,