204 or 223 for gophers
- Thread starter shikaree
- Start date
I just spent all day yesterday in an infested field, I took 200 .204 Rounds and ran out in 3 hours, Its my gun of choice for the grass maggots. Between the two of us we shot over 500 rounds of center fire, and countless .22 lr. With the 204 I seen all the shots in the scope, with my buddies 22-250 and 243, you couldn't see the shots unless you looked up from the scope right away to see them falling from the sky. The owner of the land just called me, he said we didn't even make a dent in the population, going back out today with 300 more loads I did last night. If you handload, go with the 204, if not, .223, to expensive to buy factory 204 for massive shoots.
Exact same with Hakx & I, lotsa rounds, lotsa kills. Only to come back the next day with just as many as the day b4.
The 2 main reasons I went with a 223 (aside from it calling my name loudly) is because I can watch kills in the scope and it is cheap to shoot/reload. As well it does not have a rep as a barrel burner but that was only an extra. Muzzle brake??? WTF are u shooting in it??? Sorry but recoil is NOT an issue with the mild 223 even loaded relatively hot. My CZ527 is a tack driver and has a 6-16x Nikon on it.There is no problem watching hits in the scope.
I have both 223 and 204 in model 12 Savage, the 223 is a real tack driver and viewing impact is not a issue. The 204 is a real barrel fouler and has more frequent flyers than West Jet. Have 500 rounds through it and finally gave up. I am going to order a prefit Shilen in 20 Practical from Jerry, it's not the round but the barrel, just left a poor taste for another 204.
I started with a 220 Swift for gophers/varmint and worked my way down the cal. ladder and found the .204 Ruger to be amazing in the gopher patch. Ive got a heavy varmint rifle and the rifle does not move when you pull the trigger which allows me to see impact shots.
The .204 will flip a gopher in the air 5 feet if you hit him in the right spot. A 32 gr. V-Max at 4220 fps does some impressive damage
You will have no problems finding components for the .204 seems like most shops Ive hit have lots of brass and bullets. Good luck with the primers though
Cheers!!
The .204 will flip a gopher in the air 5 feet if you hit him in the right spot. A 32 gr. V-Max at 4220 fps does some impressive damage
You will have no problems finding components for the .204 seems like most shops Ive hit have lots of brass and bullets. Good luck with the primers though
Cheers!!
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I have shot gophers for years with a heavy barreled .223 and, other than adding a Timney trigger, it has shot well without a lot of modifications. It has killed a lot of gophers. I bought a .204 Remington SPS this winter and have worked up some excellent loads with Hornady and Berger bullets. I tried the SPS out on a field of gophers last weekend and was really impressed. I can't always see my hits with the .223 but you certainly can with the .204. And if you use Berger bullets, there is a lot to see. Whoa!
Either one is a good choice but at the moment I am leaning towards the .204.
Either one is a good choice but at the moment I am leaning towards the .204.
O.K. Guys. Flame me if you want, but what happened to the good old .22cal. long rifle. Gads, using .223 .204 .243 .270 Why not use a 30.06 or 7mm. Are these special attack gophers or something? I thought the idea was to rid the farmers's land of the pests not to oblitorate the creatures. The other problem is that even a .223 45grain will probably keep on traveling a long distance after destroying the gopher. There may be cattle or houses out there that could be hit. Besides all this, the idea is to sneak up on the colony and see how many you can pick off. Most of the time a .22LR can hit near a gopher and it will just wonder what's going on until you take the next shot.
- Location
- Lloydminster
Actually, one problem with the 22 lr is that the bullets are not fragile enough at their velocities to come apart on impact. Likely, more ricochets with a 22 than any other rifle.
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I was wondering about that also. I think that is probably right. It was my understanding that thin jacketed bullets were especially frangible and would disintegrate on contact with the ground on those unthinkable occasions that you uhmmm, missed. . .
If so, one more reason to use them.
I have a 204 and love it for gophers, see the hit every time if I have a good rest. Like others have mentioned if you plan to reload I would give the edge to the 204 but if that is not an option then go with 223, ammo is much cheaper and easier to find.
I used to think this way till I tried it and it is just way to much fun, great for practicing your marksmanship including range and windage estimations. The frangible varmint bullets are much less likely to ricochet than a solid lead .22 RF bullet. In my experience on the farm gophers soon become smart enough that if you are within 100 yards they stay down, with a centerfire you are only limited by wind conditions and your own skill. The .22 RF is definitely my #1 goto cartridge for gophers. Especially in a field that has never been shot where the gophers are plentiful and dumb, but when they have been shot at for years it takes a little more gun to reach them.
I used to think this way till I tried it and it is just way to much fun, great for practicing your marksmanship including range and windage estimations. The frangible varmint bullets are much less likely to ricochet than a solid lead .22 RF bullet. In my experience on the farm gophers soon become smart enough that if you are within 100 yards they stay down, with a centerfire you are only limited by wind conditions and your own skill. The .22 RF is definitely my #1 goto cartridge for gophers. Especially in a field that has never been shot where the gophers are plentiful and dumb, but when they have been shot at for years it takes a little more gun to reach them.
- Location
- Lloydminster
Yes, I meant they do not come apart.I wish we had gopher colonies in BC...
The place I was at isn't a colony, its a freaking infestation, I got my record (3) twofers, thats 3 sets of 2 gophers fighting and taking them both out with one shot. Bits flying everywhere, its something to see, I wish I could get a camera hooked up to my scope sometimes. There creepy critters to, looking through the scope and seeing them pulling there buddys dead carcass back down the hole to do god knows what, its rather disturbing through a scope, so its best to dispatch the dragger as well
If your ever in the area from BC, lemme know, I'll gopher guide ya 
I was out blasting the squeaks this morning with a pal using a 22wmr, almost every shot you could here the ricoshet, with my 204 using 32 gr amax very few, also made my best shot yet, 400 yards measured with the Leica, took 2 to get the wind drift down then splat, being able to see the hits is huge for the long stuff IMO, my buddy didn't believe I got him but when we drove over it was a confirmed kill, try that with any rimfire!!
The place I was at isn't a colony, its a freaking infestation, I got my record (3) twofers, thats 3 sets of 2 gophers fighting and taking them both out with one shot. Bits flying everywhere, its something to see, I wish I could get a camera hooked up to my scope sometimes. There creepy critters to, looking through the scope and seeing them pulling there buddys dead carcass back down the hole to do god knows what, its rather disturbing through a scope, so its best to dispatch the dragger as well
Bwa,ha,ha,ha,ha! Infestation. That is the word to describe gophers in Alberta, that's for sure.
Everyone uses it!
