.204 vs .223
- Thread starter muckwa
- Start date
pm
Did you get your pm,or can you write and not read.Iam thinking you can talk,but not listen.Iam ready to be educated,but you have nothing to teach!
Please educate us with your vast experience. Maybe head over to the precision rifles forum and teach everyone there a thing or two also.
Did you get your pm,or can you write and not read.Iam thinking you can talk,but not listen.Iam ready to be educated,but you have nothing to teach!
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
This game is all about available bullets and secondly, about velocity. Caliber and cartridge mean little.
Fire a 75gr A-Max out of that .223 and see how it stacks up against a 70gr varmint bullet from the .243 in the wind. Either will kill coyotes cleanly. The .204 Ruger seems like a great coyote cartridge, based on all the glowing reports, but there is nothing available in .204 that can come close, when the range gets stretched out...
Fire a 75gr A-Max out of that .223 and see how it stacks up against a 70gr varmint bullet from the .243 in the wind. Either will kill coyotes cleanly. The .204 Ruger seems like a great coyote cartridge, based on all the glowing reports, but there is nothing available in .204 that can come close, when the range gets stretched out...
That's a lot of bullet for a coyote,IMO. I take it you're not out there for the fur.
You'd be correct on that point! However, the price of the fur is going up, so I may reconsider my bullet.
50 grainers. My rifle twist is a 1:12 for the smaller bullets. It was a good example to illustrate the effect of the lighter bullets (204), sort of.
I've used the 40gr vmax for yote's and find they work great and hit hard as can be expected but never really considered my .204 a long range rifle and try and stay within the 500 yrd range . I understand the little bugger has limitations and accept it. It is what it is. Still very fun for sunday plinkin gun on everything from gophers, rabbits to coyotes and badgers. if i'm out for longer ranges or heavier game i grab my 25-06 or 22-250
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- near Prince Albert
I'd appreciate a side by side ballistic comparison of the 204 and 223 out to 500 meters. Voodoo only goes so far when it comes to trajectory.
According to Hodgdon's data a 40gr V-Max (.204 Ruger) with 29gr of CFE 223 has a velocity of 3769fps. A 40gr Nosler BT (.223 cal) with 29gr of CFE 223 has a velocity of 3667fps. You can go to a website like JBM Ballistics to plug the data in and get your actual trajectory drops at various distances. I'm not sure if they have the bullet BC built into their program of if you will need to find it online prior to going there. The 204 has the advantage of shooting lighter bullets at faster speeds and the 223 has the advantage of shooting heavier bullets with a high BC for longer ranges. Barrel life probably favors the .223 if that is a factor in your decision.
The JBM Calculator is a good tool and helps with doping conditions for better accuracy... as far as the bullet BC's... if you find the bullet in the drop down menu, then the BC is already recorded... if the bullet is not in the drop down menu, then you will have to input the data...
Here is a link to the calculator for those that have not used it;
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi
I must agree with gtrussell. The .204 is deadly accurate to 500yrds, unfortunately its weak point is a mild wind will set it aside. up here in the far north we have enough trees to reach out and make those long shots with the .204 comfortably, but for those days the dogs are howling and so is the wind nothing will beat the .243 with 75gr (depending if your keeping fur or not)
You will need a fast twist to stabilize those 50 or 55 grain 20 cals. I have been kicking around the next 20 I will have, and have been thinking that a 20br with a 1 in 7 twist pipe that will get the 50 grain Berger's up over 4000 fps. It will be a riot on coyotes for about 600 or 700 rounds until the throat is gone. Most of the people knocking the 204 have no expeince with the sub calibre's. The 17 center fires kill coyotes with ease and the 20's do it with authority. Alot of strange stuff happens with bullets when you break the 4000 fps mark. A 220 swift with 50 grain cup and core bullets will penetrate 1/2" steel plate but a 30/06 with 150 grain fmj will splash on the surface.
Very well put tbdtp, ^^^^^^ In my opinion when varmint hunting speed should be your biggest factor. Yotes are very jittery little critters and I want my bullet hitting to moment I squeeze the trigger because you never know when they will jitter from side to side. Energy does play a factor but 200ft-lbs of energy to the vitals on a 60lbs dog will drop like a sack of hammers, this bull sh!t of needing 1000lbs to drop a dog is for those who cant figure out shot placement.
Jordan Smith
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Placing any sort of minimum energy requirement to kill any animal is BS. There are other metrics that are better representations of killing power than kinetic energy, by a long shot.
Put a good bullet in the vitals going fast enough to expand as designed, and good things happen. The more violently the bullet expands within the vital organs, the faster things tend to happen
Put a good bullet in the vitals going fast enough to expand as designed, and good things happen. The more violently the bullet expands within the vital organs, the faster things tend to happen
I've chronographed loads with my 17FB in excess of 4400fps with 20gr V-Max bullets. I backed it off to about 4200 and it shoots very well. At 300 yards it will kill a coyote like you turned off a switch with no visible damage. As with any animal shot placement is something that you have to be aware of. My 257 is for messing things up and for longer distances. Deer and wolves are also within it's abilities. Guns are like tools, different ones for different applications.
Have you made a disition on a caliber?? Or gone out and baught one of thess guns???
