I have had the .204 Ruger for the past 6 months and am very happy so far
Its amazing what this caliber can do
I live in Ireland, so caliber ristrictions stop us from getting militiry rounds, like the .223 and .308 ect
.223s are slowly srarting to get licenced but it all depends what part of the country you live in
I shoot foxes, feral goats, and wild feral dogs that are killing livestock
The .204 seems to knock all of these critters down with no problem, up to 250+yds. Have not yet tryd it past 3oo, but am working up to it.
I know you can get cheap ammo for the .223, but good ammo for both calibers is moreless the same price over here.
Also from what I have been told so far about the .223 is that it was originally designed to wound, for the military in combat.
Im not knocking the .223, as from what I have read so fat that it is a great fun caliber for varmints
I have orderd some Factory 34 grain Winchester in .204 and am going to see how they perform, as I have only got the 32gr and 40gr v.maxes factory Hornady ammo at present and dont reload, but am giving serious thought in starting up reloading
Thanks for listening to me

Mik; I agree, the 204 Ruger is a great cartridge!
I have an Encore with a 26 inch barrel and I was getting 3/8 inch groups with Hornady factory 32 grain Hornady V-Max's! My first reloads were the 32 grain V-Max's pushed by 23.0 grains of IMR 4198 and a CCI 450 Primer!
These will print .330 inch groups at 100 yards!
Yup! Great cartridge!

Mik which make of rifle do you have the 204 chambered in ?,
im in the uk so not too far from you, so if you fancy a trip over with your 204 for some looooong range varmints, drop me a line
zoma@btinternet.com

Hi chapter 1.
I have the Ruger m77 mk2, walnut stock, toped with a S&B 3 to 12x50.
Ill have chat with the wife , and see about coming over, some time in the summer.
Ill get back to you.
Thanks for the offer.
P.S, What long range varmints do you shoot?

quick reply mik long range crows, any where from 300-1000yds

Mik, I know how you feel. I am north of the border, the bother I had over a .222 you would not believe. Not a word about my .270 though.

I have a real urge at the minute to trade the .222 off against a .204. I see reports on the web that Sako are now producing their varmint barrelled rifles in .204.

Now to try and get it past the wife.

Regards
Brian.

Hi Brian ,
Im south of the border and would love to reload, but the law on it is sticky .
So untill it is leagal, I just have to keep bying factory stuff
Getting anything pass my wife , can be as bad as applying for a high powerd rifle at the garda station .
Good luck

Mik, just treated myself to a full reloading set-up. Bought an RCBS Rockchucker kit. I am already biyung extras. Just reading up on the process in the idiots guide this week. Hope to fire my first test rounds this weekend.

How far south of the border are you? I'm only 20 miles of the border. When I master this reloading lark in a month or two, I would be happy to try and cook up some .204 stuff.

Regards

Thanks for the offer Clerat Dabler.
It would be great to have some 39 grain hollow point bergers loaded up.
Ill get back to you,
Cheers.

What a crazy system Mik. I guess a 222 Rem Mag would be ok, but not the 223....

Worse than that in Northern Ireland JB.

.243, no problem, 270, no problem. 30/06, no problem. .222 well maybe, .223, no chance in hell.

You can actually get a license to carry concealed up here, maximum calibre of .38special or 9mm. 20 rounds of ammo only allowed. But you can have a .45acp or .44 magnum for target shooting with 500 rounds for each.

I am not joking.

Regards
Brian.

Moreless the same in southern Ireland.
The only difference being its more straight farward up north, you know where you stand
Down south they make it up as they go along,
Each county varies, depending on the police.
I was turned down for a .223 so got a .204 instead and realise now I should of gone for this in the first place, as it seems to excell the .223 in most ways.
In another county I know, .223s are getting licenced pretty regularily .
The whole thing is a mess .
Another thing thats different too from the north is the firearms officers , they dont know their arse from their elbow, when it comes to knowing what caliber is what.
In the north they know their stuff better .