The newest .20: Ruger's .204 varmint vanquisher

Guns Magazine, Oct, 2004 by Dave Anderson

The new .204 Ruger is a varmint shooter's dream cartridge. It shoots flatter and resists wind drift better than the .22-250 Rem., better even than the mighty .220 Swift. It does so with a third less powder, meaning longer barrel life, less cost, lower recoil and milder report.

Like many avid varminter, I've come to depend on two classes of .22 centerfires. For windy days or for ranges over 300 yards, I like a big-case .22 such as the .22-250 Rem., .22-250 AI, or .220 Swift. Problem is, these speed demons burn a lot of powder. On days when a lot of shooting is expected I leave the blazers at home and select a .22 Hornet, .222 or .223 Remington. Smaller powder charges mean less barrel wear and less time waiting for barrels to cool. The lower recoil and milder report leave the shooter feeling fresher at day's end.

The .204 Ruger combines the laser-like trajectory and resistance to wind drift of the Swift with the milder report, lower recoil and longer barrel life of the .223. Now that's a worthwhile concept.

An Old Idea?

Uncommon in America, .20-cal. rifles and cartridges actually go back a long way. German, Swiss and Mexican cartridges in .20 cal. date back to the late 1800s. Since these countries use the metric system of measurement, and since .20 cal. is approximately equivalent to 5 mm, it was a logical enough choice. People do like to use round numbers.

.20 cal. wildcats popped up now and again in file U.S., often promoted by wildcatters bored with standard cartridges. Shortly after the .222 Rem. appeared in 1950, C. H. Stocking of Minnesota necked the case to .20 caliber. With bullets of his own making he used the .20-.222 extensively for a couple of decades.

In 1965 Bob Forker developed the 5 mm.223. He candidly stated his motivation was simply to come up with something that hadn't been done before. Forker had to persuade P.O. Ackley to make him a barrel and RCBS to make dies. With no bullets commercially available, he swaged his own jacketed bullets in 31 and 36-gr. weights, using dies from Frank Hemsted and Ted Smith (SAS Dies).

Another wildcatter, G. O. Ashley, had an article in the 1973 Gun Digest on "The Little Twenty--a Wildcatter's Wildcat!" Ashley based his .20 on the .222 Rem. Magnum case, calling it the .20-28A, 28 referring to powder capacity. In appearance and performance the .20-28A is very similar to the new .204 Ruger.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 was a blow to wildcatters. It probably set back development of the .20 caliber by 30 years. Previously anyone could buy swaging dies, bullet jackets and lead, make oddball bullets not readily available from the big outfits and sell them by mail order. Alter GCA '68 banned mail-order sales, many of these small makers found it uneconomical to get the required license, keep detailed records and ship through FFL dealers. Ashley's 1973 article makes reference to bullet makers forced out of business by GCA '68.

Major bullet manufacturers have given us an excellent .selection of bullets. Nonetheless they need a reasonable sales volume to justify the costs of tooling up for a new bullet, especially for a new bullet diameter. Someone has to convince them there is a market.

Bullets Galore

In the smallbore field, that someone is Todd Kindler. Kindler is a devoted varmint hunter, experimenter and an enthusiastic, articulate advocate of small bore cartridges. He says these light-recoiling, fun-to-shoot cartridges are ones you'll actually use, while the big-bore magnums we talk about so much mostly sit on the rack. Kindler's business, the Woodchuck Den, stocks and sells an amazing array of products for the small caliber enthusiasts. He publishes a quarterly report, Small Caliber News, with articles by and for small caliber enthusiasts. The Den and the magazine have become "small bore central" for information, data and equipment on calibers under .22.

Fortunately Walt Bergen rounder of Berger Bullets, and Sieve Hornady of Hornady Manufacturing, are avid shooters themselves. Kindler was able to persuade them to produce .20 cal. bullets even at a time when sales prospects must not have looked very good. Thanks to them we now have several superb bullets and the prospect of more to come. The Tactical .20 has become Kindler's best-known and most popular wildcat. Based on readily available .223 brass, it provides impressive performance. I've shot one extensively through an AR-style upper built by Lee Mosher of ISSI. The Tac .20 should remain popular as long as surplus .223 brass is readily available at modest cost.

Ballistically, Ruger and Hornady have taken .20 cal. performance a step further. The .204 Ruger case resembles the .222 Rein. Magnum case in appearance and capacity. Like Todd Kindler's Tactical .20, it has a 30-degree shoulder. In terms of water capacity (filled to the brim) Tactical .20 cases on hand averaged about 28.5 grains. My .223 Ackley Improved cases hold 32.5 grains of water, while fired and resized .204 Ruger cases average 33.5 grains water capacity. Factory ammunition is loaded with the sleek, beautifully-accurate Hornady V-Max bullet weighing 32 grains and the claimed velocity is 4,225 fps. Shooting Fun