223 and/or 204 ?

[Hammer]

.

Will be adding a couple of rifles to the prairie dog and rockchuck battery.

Obviously, these will not replace the tried and true 222 Remington, 222 Remington Magnum, 219 Donaldson Wasp, or 220 Swift.

Nor are they intended to replace good wildcats like the 14 Walker or 22-6mm. Or the 257 Weatherby as a stopping rifle.

But considering adding either two 223, two 204 Ruger, or a 223 and a 204 to the mix.

Yes, there are already several of both, but want to add two more rifles.

Mostly in case I need yet another loaner for a guest.



Which do you think is a better situation to have as standby in the war wagon ?

Two 223 ?

Two 204 ?

One 223 and one 204 ?

For otherwise identical rifles, the 204 are $160 cheaper a piece. But ammo is more.

.

[dcloco]

Don't think you could go wrong with one of each or a pair of them.

Have you thought about a 223 AI? (just had to throw that in the mix!!)

[kkeene]

Me and my buddies get to shoot prairie dogs about 4 times a year. Hands down the 204 with 39 gr BlitzKings over H4895. The 204 extends the range of the 223 by 150 yards.

[leather5to1]

The 204s are great, but if you don't have a 223 I'd say you definitely want at least one of them. If for no other reason than to always be able to get ammo. Has to be one of the easiest guns to buy ammo or load for. Every time I go to the range I come home with a fist full of brass I found. You won't be gaining anything over the 222 mag (mag has a hair more power) and only a little bit on the 222, but not in accuracy.

[nova1194]

I would go with 2 223s, you can shoot heavier bullets on windy days, and ammo is available under almost every rock and its less expensive also.

Mike

[bluealtered]

Consider it this way, if it's going to be a loaner then the person using it won't be familier with the rifle, so giving them the most stopping power may help them to make a drt rather than a runner. blue

[Hammer]

.




... so giving them the most stopping power...




So a 257 Weatherby with Nosler Partitions ?


.

[laportecharlie]

Either a couple of the Weatherbys or a brace of 223's. Our loaner guns are Stevens 223 Rem's and we have had no complaints thus far.
Charlie

[NATTY BUMPO]

Well, I was going to get a Weather Warrior, but since they discontinued the .204 Ruger chambering in it, it looks like I'll be getting either a CZ 527 American or a Marlin 338. I was wanting a walkabout coyote calling rifle, but all they are offering now are the heavy prairie dog models. It sucks to be me and left-handed, I guess.

[laportecharlie]

CZ527 is a great choice for a walking varmint gun. I had a LH 223 rebarreled to 221 Fireball and it is my "go to" gun for Prairie Dogs.
Charlie

[Hammer]

.




... a great choice for a walking varmint gun.




A walking varmint gun ?

Next think you know you will be suggesting that the shooter has to physically move the gun himself.

The shooter should just grunt "pirouette" to the driver of the war wagon so as line up the horizontal and hit the toggle switch to raise or lower the vertical.




.

[Uncle Jack]

How does one apply for your guest list?

uj

[Hammer]

.

There are a lot of hoops to jump through.

You have to like eating red meat, pork barbecue, fried whole catfish, fried okra, blackberry cobbler, etc.

Have to like John Wayne movies.

Have to like western cow ponies, personal airplanes, and old jeeps.

Big block V8s.

16 gauge side-by-side shotguns, 44 revolvers, and 45 1911s. And shooting them everyday.

Wood burning fireplaces.

Johnny Cash music.

There are a lot of hoops to jump through.

Most consider it too much to bear.

.

[Uncle Jack]

Sounds good to me, although I'm not sure about the 16 gauge. Can we talk?

uj

[Hutch]

Can you say QUALIFIED!!!!!



Hutch

[macon]

204 hands down, but when i go doggn i take 17hmr, 1 223, 1 204 204 is a 222rem mag case in case you didnt know that.i load 39 gr. sierra blitzkings with rl10x powder i have shot same hole groups at 200 with this combo. the most important thing is to have good scopes on all your guns.you have to be able to see them little doggies.

[quickkillaught6]

ok to the qustion on hand. My friend and I are from Indiana, we started going to south dakota to hone our coyote skills or get better equipt with our rifles. We kill on average 50 coyote fox skunk a year giver take. He has a Rem.700 26" stainless fluted 204 (the expensive one) whatever the heck it is in rem. language. Its cambered in 204. I took a 350dollar sps 223 for cost i have a savage 110 i swat them at long range with in 30-06 long story short. he was one of those hornady is the fastest gotta be the best ammo guys so off to the range. he was shooting 2" groups with a pentax 3/9x50 leupold bases and factory hs stock i said WOOOOWa we gotta fix this. for saving money the 223 is the better gun reloading cheaper and with a slower twist a heavy bullet choice. we loaded both 700's with varget powder tho mine like h322 an 52 grain hpbt sierras better. for time sake we both shot 40 gr. vmax. bullets over varget powder
The Pros.
both guns shot .5moa at 100yds.
both guns very accurate
the cons
his gun got hot much quicker even with the fluted barrel
he had a average of about 125 yards further kill rate giver take a few. but on the other end of the spectrum he also had a 6onz. trigger and i had a 400 dollar set up. for cost and avial. i would go with a 223 hands down the 204 is a great mouse killer at 400 yards not a good choice imo for coyote or pd's out that far. you hit a blade of grass its over

[BoilerUP]

Using Federal factory ammo (223 Rem with 40gr Nosler BTs and 204 Ruger with 39gr Sierra Blitzkings), the 204 has greater velocity, greater energy, and less drift against a 10mph wind and MUCH less drop from the muzzle to 500yd.

Comparing factory Hornady Loads (204 40gr V-Max against 223 40gr V-Max), the gulf is even larger in favor of the 204 downrange. 204 also betters all the .223 with 55gr V-Max numbers, and even Hornady's 223 Superformance with 53gr V-Max betters the 204 for energy but not drop or veloicty.

Of course that doesn't mean anything if you can't get your rifle to shoot a given load...

[JCalhoun]

The last I heard, Hammer was planning on getting the Union Pacific to run a rail line to his prime prarie dog town. They will use a special steam excursion train complete with club car, private births, arms/ammuntion cars and a flat car converted into a raising shooting platform. There will be a Boss 429 powered CJ7 for a run about.

I'm not sure if Emeril will be there or not. May have to pack a lunch. ;)

[quickkillaught6]

+1 boilerup, i agree and have seen both calibers do what they do. if your gun wont or dont shoot a good load its justa stick to beat stuff with.
I have a buddy with a 204 Ar that has lost 5 dogs this year, but its about shot placement i would much rather have a very very accurate 22 rimfire than a 50 cal that wont shoot straight. every idiot gets lucky once. i would say for cost though that the 223 is the better choice if cost wasnt an issue go with the 204 for just pd's id be fine but the limiting pill weight is a factor. in both calibers its torque to hp where you give you get and get with give. so its a double edged sword.