One of the more interesting announcements at
the Ruger press conference at the beginning of the 2004
SHOT Show in Las Vegas was the introduction of the new
.204 Ruger cartridge. The .204 was developed together with Hornady
Ammunition, and it fires a thirty-two grain twenty caliber
V-Max bullet at an advertised muzzle velocity of 4225 feet per
second.
After the press conference, we were loaded
onto a bus and driven to a firing range where Ruger had set up
the new rifles for us to try out. The conditions were cold and
very windy, but shooting the new rifle was exceedingly
enjoyable. We were able to shoot the new ammo from both a
Model 77 and from a Number One. Both had heavy barrels and
were fitted with Leupold Varmint/Target scopes.
Hitting small targets of opportunity on the berms at the range
was easy, once I learned how much windage to allow for wind
drift on the tiny bullets. The wind did not effect the bullets
as much as I had anticipated. Even out at 400 yards, holding
several inches into the wind made hitting a small steel plate
rather easy.
While shooting the gun in Vegas was fun, it
only made me want to further investigate this new cartridge. I
immediately put in an order for a rifle and ammunition.
The rifle sent to me for testing is the
stainless Ruger Number One Varmint. It has a twenty-six inch
heavy barrel that tapers from 1.159 inches diameter at the
front of the receiver to .735 inch diameter at the muzzle,
which is finished with a recessed target crown. The stock is a
laminated hardwood that has a mostly gray color to it. The
result is a very good looking rifle. The stock has a straight
comb and a wide fore-end, and is extremely comfortable to
shoot from a bench or a supported field position, such as from
a bipod. The stock is fitted with a stainless grip cap,
stainless sling swivels, and a black rubber butt pad. This
Number One weighs nine pounds and one ounce, without scope or
rings. The trigger pull measured a crisp four and one-quarter
pounds as delivered. I prefer a lighter trigger pull on a
varmint rifle, as I can shoot better with a pull in the one
and one-half pound range. The Number One trigger is somewhat
adjustable, but since this was not my rifle, I left it alone.
For testing I mounted a new Mueller
four to sixteen power Sport Dot scope, using the excellent
rings provided by Ruger. Ruger ships all of their centerfire
rifles with scope mounts and rings, which adds to an already
good value. Other rifle manufacturers should do likewise. The
Mueller scope has a German number four type reticle with a
one-eighth minute dot in the center. The dot is centered in
the crosshair, and appears to "float", without
contacting the crosshairs. The dot is also electronically
lighted for use in low light conditions, with eleven different
levels of illumination. This scope has a fifty millimeter
parallax adjustable objective lens and a fast-focus European
type ocular lens. Throughout the testing of this rifle, I was
very impressed with the Mueller scope. The optical clarity was
excellent, as were the fit and finish, and they are also very
affordable. The target style one-eighth inch click turrets
were easy to use and very precise. Mueller is a
relatively new optics source, and I look forward to trying out
their other available products.
As of this writing, Hornady is the only
manufacturer of factory ammunition in .204 Ruger. The 32-grain
V-Max load was the only load available to me at the time, and
proved to be plenty accurate in the Number One, grouping under
one-half inch at one hundred yards. Hornady also has available
a load using a 40-grain V-Max bullet. The 40-grain load is
advertised at a muzzle velocity of 3900 feet per second (fps).
While the 32- grain load is advertised as having a muzzle
velocity of 4225 fps, the lot of ammunition that I tested had
an average instrumental velocity of 4030 fps, recorded
ten feet from the muzzle. The cases extracted very easily,
exhibiting no signs of excessive pressure. In fact, Hornady
advertises this ammo as being loaded to normal pressures, to
promote long barrel life and good performance.
It has been rumored that the .204 Ruger is
based on a .223 Remington (5.56mm) case. As can be seen in the
photos, this is not true. The .204 has a longer overall case
length, and has more powder capacity than does the .223 case.
The .204 case is closer to the .222 Remington Magnum case
specifications.
I tried several handloads using Hornady dies,
with both the thirty-two and forty grain Hornady V-Max
bullets. The best powders for the .204 Ruger that I
tried proved to be Hodgdon Varget and Accurate Arms
2460. Both provided good accuracy and excellent velocity,
without excessive pressure. I had very little load data to go
on for the thirty-two grain V-Max bullet, and none at all for
the forty grain bullet. My smallest powder funnel was made to accommodate
.22 caliber cartridges, and would not work with the twenty
caliber case mouth opening without spilling powder. To solve
this problem, I cut off a .17 HMR case, slightly flared the
case at the cut, and pressed it into the mouth of the
twenty-two caliber funnel. It worked perfectly to pour the
powder from the scale pan into the .204 Ruger cases. I
assembled the loads very carefully, measuring case head
expansion, observing ease of extraction, and checking primer
pocket dimensions. I was able to safely achieve average
velocities of 4317 fps with the thirty-two grain bullet, and
4050 with the forty grain bullet, measured with my PACT
chronograph at ten feet from the muzzle. This is amazing
performance from such a small case, and no, I will not publish
the load data here, as none of it has been laboratory tested.
When I tried to get more than 4050 fps out of the forty grain
bullet, pressures were excessive. It might be possible, but
further testing is necessary, using different powders.
However, I was very satisfied with the velocity and accuracy
achieved.
One other nice thing about the .204 Ruger is
the lack of felt recoil. It recoils much less than a
.22-250, but achieves faster velocity by using a very
efficient case and a lighter bullet. Firing the .204 you get
the sense that the bullet is instantly on target. It is hard
to explain the feeling, but there is just instant impact, and
the mild recoil allows the hit to be seen through the scope,
without being jarred off target.
With the .204, I think that Ruger and Hornady
has a success on their hands. It is a dandy little cartridge,
and should be ideal for vermin and small predators out to and
beyond 400 yards. I look forward to more testing of the
cartridge in the Number One and in other guns as they become
available.
Check out the full line of Ruger products
here.
For ammunition, dies, and bullets, go to: www.hornady.com.
For more information on the Mueller scopes, go
to: www.muelleroptics.com.
