What's your favouritest varmint round between 17 hornet, 204 ruger and 223?

not graphic enough.... .40 grains of bullet with a ballistic tip smashing into a gopher at 4000 fps makes for a spectacular show. Pink mist, Viscera flying in one direction, and a sodden mop of fur flying in another direction.

The ability to call your shots over 600m is impressive on the whistlepigs, seeing the bullet trace, and the results? Priceless.
 
20 bucks for 50 204 loads?!? These prices make me think I did my math wrong and I suck at math. 20 tac is based off a 223 casing right? Screw 17 hmr is all I can say now haha...liked it while it was cheaper but not now
 
Mike112288 said:
20 bucks for 50 204 loads?!? These prices make me think I did my math wrong and I suck at math. 20 tac is based off a 223 casing right? Screw 17 hmr is all I can say now haha...liked it while it was cheaper but not now
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Yeppers. I used mettallic reloading calc, 35-8/k primers, 39.lb powder and then the bullet cost. Brass cost is mitigated to 1.00k because i have accumulated a lot of 204r brass, and have even used 222 rem mag and resized to 204.

when you do the math, the hi vel rimfire 17's look a lot less attractive....


http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp
 
For me the classic 30-30 for varmint....does the trick on coyotes every time no problem...my uncle in Alberta would be a 300 win mag splits the gopher and Prarie dogs in two haha one half about 5 feet each way.
 
Mike112288 said:
Darn impressive! Cheaper than me shooting the cheapest federal 223 fmj's
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Surplus 223 will always be cheaper than .204. However, when loading for balls out accuracy, the cost of reloading a premium 223 or premium 204 is a moot point when using projectiles from the same vendor.

223 brass is so plentiful it is silly, and a few people make a 20-223 based cartridge that gives up a little velocity, but is more powder efficient than the 204 :)

with the KISS principle in full swing, it is hard to beat a .204 Ruger as it was originally designed. I buy perhaps 500 rounds of .204 every 3 years to keep a supply of 1x fired handy.

I fully admit, I sold my soul to this cartridge. Is a 22-250 better? Sure under certain circumstances. Is 220 Swift harder hitting? Yes. Can .223 compete? Sure.

but the .204 matches and exceeds the qualities of 223, 22-250,220 swift under 90% of my shooting circumstances . Bullet placement, and knowing the limitations of a .40gn projectile plays into this.

if you need more range, or more power (longer shots, longer shots at bigger varmints) that is where 22-250 220 Swift, and .243 come into play.

But for high volume gopher fields, less barrel heat, less bullet drop, hilarious backflips, reasonably cheap, the 204 always comes out ahead of my fellow shooters' 220 swift and .223 guns.


A 17hmr is woefully inadequate when comparing to a .204 Ruger. 17 remington is wonderful, but is handicapped by low bullet weight. 20 calibers 20-223, 20 vartarg, 20 practical, 20-243.... the list goes on and on. Which really proves how versatile a 20 cal can be
 
hoytcanon said:
You said "favourite" in the title, but "cheap" was the theme of your post.

Favourite = .22/250

Cheap = .223

I have owned and loaded for a couple dozen Hornets and K-Hornets (never a .17 H), they are a pain... it is easy to download my .223's to Hornet levels if I want, and I have "worked-down" reduced small game loads for all of my .22 centerfire rifles. I don't think that I will ever buy another Hornet... unless one chooses me and follows me home.

Can't help you on the .204, thus far I have been able to resist.
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I have to agree with Hoytcanon's assessment.
 
hoytcanon said:
You said "favourite" in the title, but "cheap" was the theme of your post.

Favourite = .22/250

Cheap = .223

I have owned and loaded for a couple dozen Hornets and K-Hornets (never a .17 H), they are a pain... it is easy to download my .223's to Hornet levels if I want, and I have "worked-down" reduced small game loads for all of my .22 centerfire rifles. I don't think that I will ever buy another Hornet... unless one chooses me and follows me home.

Can't help you on the .204, thus far I have been able to resist.
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Are you crazy?! How have you not tried a 204 yet?!
 
sharp shooter said:
Are you crazy?! How have you not tried a 204 yet?!
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There are a lot of cartridges out there... when they intorduced the .204, I was busy playing with Hornets and PPC's, and when I tired of that, I reached into the back of the cabinet and pulled out the .223's and .22-250's again... somehow the .204 got lost in the shuffle.
 
What kinda varmints you shooting?

If its gophers the .204 is wicked but all three will work. I tend to side with gotjuice? Though for gophers.

If its just the odd crow or groundhog you can take your pick

I own a 17hornet, two .204's and a .223 and they've all got their intended purposes. The 17whore gnat is great on smaller properties. .204 is great for volume gopher shooting at centerfire ranges, as well as predator hunting. The .223 is very versatile, mine is only a sporter weight gun, kind of a walking varmint rifle, I use it mostly for coyotes and wondering around sniping magpies and crows. I've also downloaded it to rimfire levels as well as loaded it for and shot deer with it.

I really wouldn't wanna be without any of them. Lol. A person even really needs to add more. Can never have enough varmint rifles I feel.
 
sharp shooter said:
From the posts I've read of yours you seem like a nice guy. Do yourself a favor and get one.
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It has been on the backburner since its introduction... I have shot and loaded for more than 15 small bore cartridges in many platforms... I have a couple leads on nice .204's... will try to pick one up and give it a go.
 
hoytcanon said:
It has been on the backburner since its introduction... I have shot and loaded for more than 15 small bore cartridges in many platforms... I have a couple leads on nice .204's... will try to pick one up and give it a go.
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I have a CZ 527 Varmint and it shoots many loads under half and inch. My hunting load is a 40gr V max that shoots .5" consistently at 100 yards traveling over 3900fps and the trigger is awesome after I adjusted it.
 
Thanks man :)

I kind of feel like owning all three lol....I like seeing my hits through the scope. My cooper 204 was decently heavy but jumped a little bit on the rest. Not much tho. The 17 hornet would not jump like any I'm sure.

I was thinking of 17 wsm last year but am a tad Leary. The new volquartsen 17 wsm in the equipment exchange is interesting me too I'm just scared to buy an expensive gun and end up with an extinct round. Not sure how the 17 wsm is looking. Hardly any new news about it it seems.
 
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