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

Guns Magazine, Oct, 2004 by Dave Anderson

The test rifle on loan from Ruger is the model 77 Mark II Target Rifle with laminated stock and 26" stainless heavy barrel. I used the Ruger rings to fit a Leupold VX-II 6-18 x 40 scope--the Competition model with target turrets--a most excellent, reliable scope. Other than cleaning the bore and checking action screws for tightness I shot the rifle just as it came from the box. The two-stage trigger is especially pleasing, and after initial take-up it breaks cleanly and consistently at 2.75 pounds. Functioning proved to be smooth and completely reliable. Ruger offers the .204 in five variations of the model 77 and No. I single shot. Rate of twist on Ruger .204 rifles is one turn in twelve inches.

Initial shooting was on a bright spring day, and the temperature was a crisp 38 degrees E Twenty rounds over the CED Millennium chronograph averaged 4,021 fps with the screens centered ten feet from the muzzle. I was a bit disappointed the average wasn't closer to the claimed 4,225 fps. but I suspected temperature was a factor. A couple days later it warmed up to 68 degrees and I chronographed another 20 rounds from the same lot of ammunition These averaged a more pleasing 4,126 fps. I still have one box of ammunition from the same lot and when the temperature gets above 85 degrees, I'll see what the remaining 20 rounds will do.

Accuracy proved superb from the start. Five-shot groups at 100 yards averaged .57", with the biggest group .74" and the smallest group .42". All this with off-the-shelf equipment and ammunition, no carefully developed handloads, no bedding, tweaking, tuning, adjusting or fussing. What equipment we have today!

This isn't meant to be a reloading article, but I had .204 Ruger dies from both Hornady and RCBS on hand and couldn't resist loading a few rounds. I used Hodgdon H-335 powder since it had given excellent results in the .223 Ackley Improved, a case similar in capacity to the .204. For bullets I had some of the discontinued 33 gr. V-Maxes and the 40 gr. Berger with its long boattail and high ballistic coefficient. As my loads haven't been pressure-tested I prefer not to list them. In this rifle, using my components, I'm satisfied velocities of 4,200 fps with 33-gr. bullets and 4,000 fps. with 40 gr. bullets can be safely achieved. Use only loads from reputable loading manuals which have been pressure-tested and found to be safe.

Re-Thinking?

For thirty years my Ruger 77V in .220 Swift with Weaver K10 scope has been my number one hotshot, flat-shooting varmint rifle. I first used 55 gr. bullets loaded to 3,800 fps, and more recently, as 40 gr. bullets became readily available, I loaded them to 4,300 fps. Trajectory charts show the .204 Ruger shoots as flat as the Swift and resists wind drift as well. And that, my friends, is running with the big dog. What the charts don't show is how much more pleasant the .204 is to shoot. Report is noticeably milder, and recoil is so light the sight picture barely moves, allowing the shooter to see the bullet strike.