Sighted In a .204 Today

[Coltdriver]

Finally got an Encore together with the long (26") barrel in .204.

Put a Luepold 4-12 X 40 on it. Initially set the scope by looking down the barrel and then getting the cross hairs close to the view through the barrel.

When I took it to the field today (Pawnee Grasslands in Northern Colorado) it was only off to the right by a couple of inches at 50 yards. Got that corrected and set it to shoot about two inches high at 50 yards.

That was way too much at 100 yards, it was about 6 inches high. So I got that lowered to about 2 inches.

Then backed up to 200 yards and got it dialed in to shoot about an inch high.

Then backed up to 300 yards. Got it set where I could hit the bulls eye dead on at 300 yards.

I used a bore snake between every shot to keep the barrel clean. The barrel never heated up like my .223 does.

This .204 is a very neat cartridge. Shooting what you are looking at through the scope from 300 yards is a new experience for me.

I was using the factory 32 grain Hornadys to get it dialed in. When I tried some of my hand loads they fell a bit low at 300 yards. It will take a little more experimenting to get my hand loads to match the factory ballistics but there are a few combos known to give 4100 to 4150 fps now.

The primer that I used, federal match primers, looked perfectly normal, no flowing or cratering or any signs of excess pressure. Some others using the same powder/primer combo I used have seen pierced primers or cratering but I got none of that. I do have some thicker CCI BR4 primers for my next reloads.

I owe a rancher a couple of coyotes after he let me deer hunt on his property last fall. Cant wait to give it a try on a song dog. Getting within 300 yards of them is not difficult.

 

[Sunray]

You think it'll have enough energy left at 300 to cleanly kill a coyote? 469 ft/lbs or so sounds a bit light to me. Ok for praire dogs and ground hogs, but it maybe a bit light for a 35 or 60 pound coyote at 300 yards. Although, I suppose with the right bullet. try putting up a 40 or 50 pound steel plate at 300. If it'll knock that over and your bullet is the right one, it should deal with a coyote. I think.
You using the 32 grain bullet in your handloads too? You should just have to adjust your sights if they're a bit low. Mind you, just being on paper at 300 after switching to handloads is impressive.
Ain't it a pain buying something brand new? Brass, ammo and data can be difficult to find. Bought a .41AE barrel for my High Power when it was new. If I hadn't had enough sense to buy 500 cases too, I'd be screwed now. Of course, now I'm having trouble finding cast .410" 200 or 210 grain bullets.

 

[rockstar.esq]

Sunray, Denver Bullet Company Check them out.

Coltdriver, I shoot in the Pawnee as well! Small world. I'm glad to hear that somebody's trying out the new Ruger cartridge. I hope it gets more popular. Sounds like you've got a great shooter and a lot of fun to come.

 

[Coltdriver]

There is a ton of good reloading info and knowledge over on www.204ruger.com As a member of the official gun nut crowd I had brass, bullets and dies before I got the rifle in my hands!

My initial hand loads are under the max discussed over there. But they are only a half grain off of a couple of the loadings others have tried. I wanted to do my own experimenting with pressure signs before moving them up any more. What is amazing to me is the primers look utterly normal.

From an accuracy perspective I find an enormous difference between bench shooting and field shooting. Kind of like the way I am pretty good at a driving range but can not hit the ball to save me on a golf course

So I am working to get the bullets to go consistently into about a 6 inch circle either off hand or from a sitting position. I have been able to hit the target off hand from 100 yards, no problem. At 200 yards I have to steady the rifle against something.

I went back up the the grasslands today and fired off another 50 rounds. Someday I will get the the range at Cherry Creek and see how it works from a bench.

On both days this weekend when the weather was lousy around Longmont it was absolutely pleasant in the Grasslands!

 

[Coltdriver]

This is a picture of a 40 grain VMAX fired from a .204 into a water jug at 480 yards. These remains were strained out of the jug through a coffee filter.

This is the reason these bullets work so well on thin skinned varmints. When the bullet upsets at the incredible rpm it is running at the effect is all out of proportion to the theoretical energy available at long distance. P.O. Ackley made this same observation with the .220 swift and concluded that it was not the energy (at very long distances) that was so devastating but it was the explosive fragmentation of the round.

I am not suggesting I would try to shoot a coyote at this range (I ain't that good to begin with ), just that these bullets have the ability to be very effective at 300 yards.

Soon a bullet manufacturer will come out with a 35 grainer that is mostly copper so that the explosive effect will take place a bit deeper in the target. Then the full potential for this round on coyotes will be realized.

Hey Rockstar, yesterday I got harassed in the Grasslands by some poor devil that has been getting his fence wires broken by people who hang targets on his fences and then miss the targets and break his wires. I was shooting parallel to the fence line at a target that was 250 yards away. But about 50 yards from me were a couple of left over targets hanging on his fence! Boy did I look guilty! I was afraid he was going to kick my butt so I just focused on getting him calmed down. This was about a 300 pound fellow that probably throws hay bales all day. sheesh!

 

[El Rojo]

I have shot coyotes with 168 gr. Sierra Matchkings out of a .308 and watched them run off out of sight. My shot placement wasn't all that great. I shot a coyote in pretty much the same place with a 110 gr. V-max with the same .308 and he went 10 yards and stopped. He was still alive, but not going anywhere. Shot placement is the key. I think if you hit a coyote with a 35 grain bullet that goes fairly fast, he is going to die. Maybe not right away, but sooner or later. I guess the only way to find out is try it.

 

[Gewehr98]

Hmmm...

I have shot coyotes with 168 gr. Sierra Matchkings out of a .308 and watched them run off out of sight. My shot placement wasn't all that great. I shot a coyote in pretty much the same place with a 110 gr. V-max with the same .308 and he went 10 yards and stopped.

You don't suppose bullet construction had something to do with that, do ya, Red? Being that a V-Max is one of those plastic-tipped hollowpoint thingies and all, made to open up and expand in soft tissue. Contrast that to the HPBTM MatchKing, one of those bullets not intended for hunting and capable of passing through an entire deer with very little blood trail.

Sonds like Coltdriver is a convert to the Church of the .204 Ruger. Some things still don't make sense to me, particularly with only a .020" difference in bore diameter:

The barrel never heated up like my .223 does.

If you take the time to boresnake the barrel between rounds, I'll wager it'll cool off somewhat, or not heat up as quickly. Or are you using less powder than the .223 Remington to create that 4100fps muzzle velocity?

I'm curious if anybody's compared a 40gr V-Max out of a .223 Remington vs. a similar-weight bullet from the .204 Ruger.

 

[Coltdriver]

There is a factory load in the 40 grain v max.

It would be interesting to chronograph that against a 40 grain in .223

I have a .223 load that is 28 grains of varget under a 40 grain sierra bullet. I have never chronographed it. The powder grain measurements between the .223 and the .204 are the same. They range from 27 to 29 grains of powder.

I have read the 40 grain .204's come in at around 3700 to 3800 fps. Most shooters like the 35 grain bullets better than the 40. The 40 seems to be at the limit for the available twist. Some even report slightly better results in accuracy from the 39 grain bullets that are available.

I ran some 5 shot and 10 shot strings between bore snake cleanings yesterday. The barrel of my .223 Ruger would have become too hot to touch after the kind of shooting I did yesterday (50 rounds in about an hour and 15 minutes). The barrel of the .204 was warm but not too hot to touch.

I am a confirmed member of the church of my latest gun, what ever that may be This .204 is just my latest craze. But it sure is fun to shoot something this fast!