Hi all
What in your opinion is the most accurate factory out of the box brand for the 204 Ruger caliber?
I would like to hear from actual owners and users please.
IE not "the M700 is the most accurate factory etc etc"
Thanks in anticipation
APB

My 2 top picks are CZ & Savage. I have a Savage Model 10 with a heavy barrel in .223, and a CZ 527 in .204 on the way. Both have stellar reputations for accuracy, great triggers out of the box, and are reasonably priced. The 527 action is shorter than the standard short action, making them easy handling even with a 24" barrel.

I too would recommend the Savage or CZ.

Savage 16FSS Weather Warrior with AccuTrigger is very accurate out of the box, even with factory ammo. I was surprised.

Although I'm still waiting for a standard taper barrel from Blaser for my R93. I have purchased a Kimber LongMaster Varmint in 204 Ruger.

With the loads tested so far, Hornady 40gr factory and Hsm 39gr Sierras's it is a sub 1/2moa shooter.

A bit pricier than the Rugers and Savages, but it is a very nice looking rifle.

I like my Kimber. Pricier but well worth it. Would you want to be seen in public with a Ruger or Savage?

Dang right I would be seen in public with my Ruger V/T .

Feeding is smooth . Bolt travel is smooth . Excellent accuracy and excellant trigger right out of the box. Barrel is smooth and cleans real easy . There just isn't anything to complain about .

If you want "nicer" you could get a Kimber or Sako , but you got zero garuntee they'll shoot one bit better than a $600 Ruger or Savage .

#1 cooper
#2 - kimber
#3 - remington xr-100

Personally, I always get a kick out of taking an "el-cheapo" ugly rifle and out-shooting a fancy high-dollar rig. Give me function over form anyday.

A CZ 527 in a heart beat. The American is a nice rifle if you're looking for something light and the HB makes for a nice walking varmint rifle. I couldn;t decide which I like better, so I bought one of each. Make a visit over to the Saubier small caliber list and you can see discussions of the results other shooters are having with their CZ 527s.

quote:

Give me function over form anyday.

Buy a Kimber and you can have both. I don't think anybody said a cheaper rifle can't shoot just as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Trouble:
Personally, I always get a kick out of taking an "el-cheapo" ugly rifle and out-shooting a fancy high-dollar rig. Give me function over form anyday.

If that were the case for me I would drive a Yugo or Moped

Cooper for pretty and functional. My first 2 groups last friday were .168 and .221 with factory 40 grain hornadys. I'm shooting up some factory stuff for brass. 40 rounds and couldn't see a spec of dirt in the barrel. I also have a ruger light weight carbine in stainless. A decent shooter with the 32's. I just ordered a CZ American. Hoping for a nice piece of wood.

quote:

Originally posted by Trouble:
Personally, I always get a kick out of taking an "el-cheapo" ugly rifle and out-shooting a fancy high-dollar rig. Give me function over form anyday.

Trouble, I own both high dollar and "el-cheapo" rifles and I agree. There is nothing like the satisfaction of taking a “turd†and out shooting some smug guy’s high dollar “looker.â€

If you are worried about impressing people with your rifle’s looks, may I suggest you apply for “Extreme Makeover.†It won’t make you a better shot, but you will look good even when you miss.

“You look marvelous.â€
“It’s better to look good than to shoot good.â€

(Billy Crystal as Ricardo Montalban)

Remember, animals don’t fall down dead when you pull out that fancy high dollar rifle.
You actually gotta SHOOT them…

Oh, BTW, a Cooper rifle in .204 Ruger starts at about $1000 and ends up around $2500.
For $1000-2500, they BETTER shoot well. Although some might consider differently, I wouldn't consider a Cooper a factory rifle.

Buy a Savage stainless with a laminated stock (Model 12VLP). Will run about $650 and will out shoot much more expensive guns. Use the extra $350 you save to buy a better scope.

Whenever I see a .204, out of the box, albeit handloads were the ammo, that shoots a 500 yard, yes that's 500 yards, not 100 yards, group that tops what my SAVAGE 12VLP did.... .440", I'll buy it!! Until then, I think I'll keep shooting the Savages!!! By the way, a dime covers up that group with a s...load of room to spare!!! And it was witnessed and attested too!! SAVAGES out of the box for their price(and you can spend a s...load more), won't be beat!!! I have a uncatalogged Remington number, 700 Laminated Stainless, 26" barrel, ventilated forearm(same as the XR-100) that won't do better than 2.25" with factory stuff!! It wears a 6-18 LEUPOLD in Leupold rings and bases, I have free floated the barrel(when you spend $600.00 plus on a rifle it ought to be floated from the factory!!) Not bedded yet, but with handloads can stay around 1"!!! If it was mine, it would be sent back!!! But it isn't and I'll get paid to "fix it"!! That's inexcusable!!! A varmint round that using factory ammo is at 2"+!!!! Never hear that lament from Savage stuff!! A lot of that has to do with the fact that they don't subject their barrel metal to a machine beating the hell out of it!! Don't get me wrong!! I've been accused of having John Deere/Remington green blood!! But this one sucks!!! GHD

quote:

Give me function over form anyday.

Yup, thats how I used to pick my girl friends! Then one day I thought "hey, I wanna be able to look at it too!"
I would love to own a Cooper and someday will, but for now my itch is being scratched by a plain jane Remmy SPS .204 and a Nikon 4.5-14x40sa. I needed a knock about trail rifle for ground squirrels and coyotes. A Rifle Basix trigger installed and it shoots very well.
My future "form & function" .204 will be walnut and blued steel and say Cooper on the barrel! BT53

Blacktail, You've got a good piece of glass on it!!! That NIKON 4.5-14 sf is the best kept secret in optics!!! The old 4.5-14 standard front focus was (and is!!) still wonderful!!! The NIKONS are the unsung heros of the optics world!!! The Buckmasters, the Monarchs, the Monarch Golds......affordable and equal to, or superior to, the Big Dogs!!! I shoot them all, test them all and without a hesitation recommend, NIKON!!!! Best kept optic secret out there!!! 'course in about a year, after they get noticed as the top of the heap, their prices will change to reflect the market!!! Buy yourself some NIKONS now!!! GHD

GHD, you are absolutely correct!!!

Savages shoot VERY WELL and Nikon scope are very good.

Proving yet again, cubic dollars don't mean squat, real world results do.

quote:

Originally posted by Blacktail53:

quote:

Give me function over form anyday.

Yup, thats how I used to pick my girl friends! Then one day I thought "hey, I wanna be able to look at it too!"
BT53

I love superficial people. That leaves the “really good deals†for the rest of us.
I have seen many lookers in my day (this applies both to women AND guns) and many, if not all, were too high maintenance (or in the case of the women, high drama).

I married one of those high maintenance women . Should have known better…
Got rid of the last one, and I do mean THE LAST ONE.

For the $1500 it costs for a decent Cooper (sans scope), I can have the 12VLP AND a
$900 scope. And the $1500 Cooper still doesn’t have glass yet!

Best of luck to you in your endeavors.

here's one of my ugly savages i did i little work on ,only its a 22-250

srw: Sweet gun! I'm also a lefty; where did you get the stock? Did you inlet and finish? I'llbet the stock was as much as the gun!

quote:

Originally posted by srw:
here's one of my ugly savages i did i little work on

Doing a little work is ok. Here is my M700 in .204 Ruger that I had a little work done on.

Srw, is that an Elk Ridge Wildcat Stock on your "ugly" Savage? If not it sure looks like one.

They run about $175 +/- depending on the color. How was the inletting, etc?
I was thinking of buying one for an "ugly" gun that I have.

Very nice gun.

Congrats.

APB: I have purchased three new 204 factory Varmint style Rifles in the last year and a half. They all shoot very well indeed!
All three shot Hornady factory ammunition when they were new into great 5 shot groups. Then when I had enough brass I began handloading for each Rifle.
Again they all three shot splendidly with NO tweeking of bedding or crowning or etc.
I did do a trigger job (myself) on each of my Remington 204's.
I will let you decide how well they shoot - so I will just list the Rifle and the last groups they all shot!

Remington 700 VLS in 204 Ruger = last two 5 shot groups at 100 yards of .480" and .398"!

Remington XR-100 in 204 Ruger = last four 5 shot groups at 100 yards of .322", .402", .374" and .421" (two different loads - first two and last two groups)!

Ruger 77 V/T in 204 Ruger = last two groups at 100 yards of .595" and .374"!

All of these groups were fired on calm days and not much group dispersion can be attributed to "conditions"! I have decided on the loads from each of the above Rifles and they won't get shot much from now on except at Varmints. Range sessions with them will be rare. I realize these are small samplings but I think they are valid and there won't be much follow-up range shooting with them.
I have shot right along side 3 different CZ Varminters in 204 Ruger and their accuracy is notable and impressive. Dang hang down magazines really turn me off to them though. I hope you are not as hard to please as I am! If so maybe you can live with the "styling" CZ's and of the savage Rifles in 204?
I can't.
Best of luck with which ever 204 Ruger you choose. I say get a 204 Rifle on line ASAP - as spring Colony Varminting is just around the corner!

I have two friends with the Remington XR-100's in 204 Ruger and they are BOTH exceptional shooters! I have seen targets they shot but no numbers avaliable (group size) in my memory bank.
In addition I was just out on the west coast last week and fired another friends EXCEPTIONALLY beautiful brand new style Remington 700 VSSF in 204 Ruger! This new style Rifle has a brand new Varmint style stock and has incorporporated a paint scheme that is also new - its in green color that is splashed in with the black paint job on the nifty new styled stock!
This all stainless steel, fluted barrel Rifle was just wonderful to look at!
I put 8 rounds through it into a rather pleasing 1.100" group at 100 yards!
Why was this 8 shot 1.100" group pleasing you may ask? Because the rain was coming down in a horrific torrent that was driving it sideways in a constant 20 to 25 mile an hour wind!
I can honestly say this was by far the worst shooting conditions I have ever shot from a bench in!!!
5 of those 8 shots went into .500"! The dispersion was all horizontal, of course!
This again is an especially great looking Rifle.
I will relay any more info I get on it when my friend shoots it out there on a more "normal" day!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

srw

That's a real fine looking gun. It may just help some guys get their mind around that barrel net.

Varmintguy
Thanks for the feedback. I am currently using a .222Imp for volume rabbit shooting in NZ once a year. I am getting sick of the hoop jumping required to export then reimport my rifle each time I fly from Australia.
i have a couple of firearms in NZ with a friend already and am thinking of getting a centre fire to leave there as well.
The .204 seems to be setting a trend of being an inordinatly accurate round through factory rifles with factory ammo.
this is why i am keen on one plus the light recoil to allow spotting impacts on your own combined with good BC [especially in 40gr] and flat shooting.
The ability to purchase accurate factory ammo is a big plus for me.
APB

APB: Yikes and sorry on the hassle you down under folks (and many others in the "free" world like England and Scotland) must endure to enjoy your sport!
It must be frustrating to put up with the bureaucrats when you want to go Varminting in New Zealand!
Yes those are the main three reasons I am so "high" on the 204 Ruger:
#1 = Almost universally great accuracy from factory Rifles!
#2 = Amazing trajectory and wind drift performance!
#3 = Virtual non-existent recoil resulting in being able to spot ones bullet impact!

All three of my factory 204 Varminters shot the Hornady factory ammunition very well indeed!
I have not tried any of the other brands of factory ammunition to date!
Best of luck if you decide to try one!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I doubt that you can repeat on demand a .440 group at 500 with any gun.

the Remington will shoot,no doubt in my mind.
700 VSSF-II,2 ounce Jewel,8.5-25 LRT.40 V-Max Hornady prepped with CCI-br primers and an overload of H-4895 for 3850 fps.

2 three shot groups I fired in some nasty mirage at 12x at 400 that avraged 1.40 inches.

Groundhog devastation: I have some time on my hands as I sit here by the phone today. And I had time to look up my latest shooting results with my two Remington Varminters in 204 Ruger caliber - when I was finishing up shooting factory ammo.
What I was doing on these last groups with the factory ammo was getting some brass for my handloading tests.
The following results are from the two factory stock Remingtons and they are three shot groups unless otherwise noted. Again the reason I was doing 3 shot groups was it fit in my regimens at the time. And then I was getting low on factory ammo and was using it up.
I have of course quit using factory ammo since brass has become readily available.

Info to follow:

Remington 700 VLS in 204 Ruger shooting Hornady factory 40 gr V-Max ammo, two groups listed in my notes, 3 shots apiece at 100 yards = .336" and .330"!

Remington XR-100 in 204 Ruger shooting Hornady factory ammo 40 grain ammo - 3 shots at 100 yards = .682" and .752". Same Rifle shooting Hornady 32 grain ammo - 3 shots at 100 yards = .326" and .439". This Rifle showed the obvious preference for the 32 grain factory ammo.
So my point is that my two stock Remingtons shot well with the Hornady 204 ammo.
And further I have been in direct contact with many other "happy" Remington 204 owners that are impressed with the accuracy of their Rifles!
Next item on my posting agenda here - has that Remington of yours perked up any with handloads or with any tweaking that you may have done? I am using 45 inch/pounds of torque on my action screws.
I hope it has already perked up for you.
Long live "Big Green".
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Mr. Big: I have done at least my share of shooting and load testing (in the distant past) under hazy, hot, windy and nasty mirage conditions!
My question to you there in Gladdice, Tennessee, is why you shot the groups at significantly lower power than you had available (on your 8.5x25 Leupold) to you?
I mean why would you shoot if you could not use your full 25 power?
Where you committed to shooting that day and the mirage came up so you kept at it? Or did you think that by lowering the power on your variable it would somehow mitigate the effect of the poor conditions?
By lowering your power you automatically give up a certain amount of accuracy potential in your Rifle - is that not correct?
I am curious.
When I am doing range work anymore I simply wait for no wind and no mirage conditions!
If I have to get up at 0500 hours to get to one of my ranges and get set up to shoot before the mirage starts I do so. Or if (as often is the case!) I have to wait 5, 10, 15, 20 or more days for no wind conditions - I do so!
I long ago proved to myself that loads tested under even mildly detrimental conditions that shot "poorly" and then were tried again on excellent condition days those loads would very often shoot much, much better!
Were you just "killing time" on the hot hazy day you were shooting there at 400 yards (at 12x!) or did you have other reasons for carrying on then?
On a day when you can turn up your Leupold to full 25x what kind of groups are you getting with that beautiful Remington 700 VSSF-II in 204 Ruger?
I can never recall "turning down the power" available to me on a variable scope during range work/load testing in the last 40+ years of doing "range test work".
Again you have piqued my curiosity.
Hoping for cool mornings and no wind down there in Tennessee for your shooting!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I had missed a coyote at about 450 a day or 2 before and hadn`t really got used to the way the new rifle shot.more than anything I wanted to know how many I had to come up to get on at 400 and 500 yards.

I can see about half my 80 acres from the front porch and like to know what the rifle will do under real conditions if the need to stop something from getting a newborn calf.

I leave the 204 zeroed at 300 and set on 12X for moving targets with the ability to crank it up on crows or smaller targets.

honestly I havent done alot of paper shooting with this rifle,as it has proved to me to be able to average in the high .3`s or low .4`s MOA at most any range.

Honestly considering a 4.5-14 to replace the 8.5-25.

Mr Big
Before you change scopes could you run a quick test and report?
As your rifle is accurate could you pick an ideal day as VG shoots and check point of impact with a group on 12X then 25X?
Cheers
APB

I shot a group with that scope when it was on a VSSF 308 with 168 Berger bullets and A-2520 powder.

I shot 0ne shot with the scope on 10,12,14,16,18,20,22,and 25 power the 8 shots measured .425.

after that I never worried about the zero at any power setting.

For me and my budget, I molested a 700 LVSF today that will be my next purchase. Already have a 700 Varmint Spcl in 6mm and really want something light in 204 ruger. I can't take the looks of the CZ and that clip. The Rem light varmint is sweet looking light (under 7lbs) and a friend with two of them has had very good results with handloads. I have a Tikka, 3 rems that all shoot very well with handloads and all have factory hammered barrels. I don't care if a barrel is hammer forged, buttoned, cut whatever, as long as I can make it shoot. One 500yrd group as excellent as it was doesn't convince me all others are anchors.
Steve

Anyone got some nice pics of the sweet XR100 !!

I have the CZ Varmint and a Savage 10 Varmint (I don't remember the official designation) in 204 Ruger. They both shoot about equal IMO. The CZ cost about $30 more but is much nicer looking and easier to carry as a walk about varminter. I also had the barrel chopped on the CZ to 22" long. The Savage will be for little critters at long distance, since it weighs quite a bit more than I like to carry around. I like both and feel for the price they are the best. Both were under $500, and shoot fantastic.

PC: I only have 35mm photos of my XR-100 but here is a link to the Remington site and you can follow the way to Centerfire and then to the XR-100 - a couple of nice pics there.!
Wish I could be of more entertainment value for your viewing pleasure but I am a bit behind the times in computer tech and the latest in photography to go along with that.
Heres the link: http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_r...-100_rangemaster.asp
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I have a CZ(Love it) and I have shot a savage. Both are awesome considering price and accuracy. Can't go wrong for the money on either.


make every shot count!!!