Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Thoughts on Cooper 21 in .204 Ruger

I am contemplating a trade involving a Cooper Model 21 in .204 Ruger. Anyone with experience with either or both these? Tell me what you like or dislike about the .204.

Thanks!

I have three Cooper model 21's in 223, one Classic sporter and two Varminters. They were all are very accurate out of the box (5 shot groups of 1/2 or less at 100 yds) needing nothing except putting on a scope and shooting.

As far as the 204, I had one model 21 Varminter in 204, I no longer have it. I will let other chime in with their choices but my tag-line says it all for me.

drover

Thanks - I have 2 .223s. A heavy, short barreled Savage model 4x4 for shooting off bags and a CZ 527 American for walking around and targets of opportunity. The Savage has shot a boatload of prairie dogs between my son and me. The CZ gets used less but is a good gun for called coyotes and has shot a lot of ground squirrels walking around on ranch land/barley fields. It also accounted for my son's javelin. I let the Savage cool off by shooting my Kimber Longmaster .22-250. I like seeing the hits, though, and the .22-250 mainly lets me see them airborne after the shot.

I also have a mini-14 and an AR in .223/5.56. The AR is set up for varmints with a heavy 20-inch barrel.

The Cooper is a Varminter.

Everytime I have posted this statement it has ended up with a lot of backlash from 204 lovers but here we go again.

I bought into the 204 myth early on, you know the one - it recoils so little that you can see your hits, it shoots so flat that there is virtually no hold-over, etc. I already had my Cooper Varminter 223 and I shoot 40 gr bullets in it, so I bought a Cooper Varminter in 204 to take advantage of this magnificent new cartridge. To my horror the 204 had the same recoil as my 223 - how can that be? All of the gunwriters raved on and on about the magnificence of the 204.

Well some things do not change - one of them being the law of physics. The 204 and 223 use virtually the same amount of powder, so using 40 gr bullets with the same weight bullets out of identically weight rifles, with the same stock configuration - the felt recoil will be the same.

The only way to have less recoil (which helps to see hits) is to use less powder, use a heavier rifle, or go to a lighter bullet. If I recall correctly the 204 with a 32 gr bullet has about one-half fl lb less recoil than the 204 with 40 gr bullets, or the 223 with 40 gr bullets. It is easy to calculate recoil by going to JBM ballistics, inputting the required data and it will give all of the recoil results.

In the end I decided to stay with my 223’s since I shoot identical bullet weights and identical velocity loads in all of them. By doing this it keeps my life simple by only having the same drop and drift ballistics for all three rifles. Within 300 yards, which is where most varmint shooting takes place, the 204 does not offer any real ballistic advantage over the 223.

I use 40 gr bullets in my 223’s at 3700 -3750 fps and unless I am in an awkward, contorted position I see my shots at 100 yds and most of shots in as close as 50 yds.

The only 20 caliber I would consider is the 20 Vartarg and to be honest I do not want to go that much trouble making brass. The 20 Vartarg uses about 8 grs less powder than the 204 and the recoil difference between the 204 and the 20 Vartarg is noticeable.

p.s. - I have sold off all of my22-250's except one, I too like to see my hits/misses which is more difficult with the 22/250.

drover

Thanks for the info. I also load 40 gr bullets for my .223s to the same level you do. I load my .22-250 with 50 gr bullets to about the same speed to minimize differences between the two. The Kimber shoots very well and I won it at a FNRA dinner, so it cost me $25 for the ticket. (Side note: the Kimber has an oversize chamber, well over SAAMI specs. Kimber says it is within specs, so will do nothing. I have to necksize to avoid case head separation. So much for Kimber's "match grade" barrel and chamber claims...) It works to give my .223 a break when the shooting is hot and heavy.

I am retired and no longer have the discretionary cash I used to, so the trade is a possible way to add to my varmint rifle battery without being out of pocket. It will come with dies and a large supply of bullets. I enjoy reloading, so that is not a problem. It sounds like the .204 does not do any more or any less than the .223.

Well, here are a couple of more thoughts on it.

I think you would like the Cooper very much, they are my favorite varmint rifles, if you can trade into it for a decent price then jump on it.
The nice thing about a Cooper is that they shoot very well out of the box, they spoiled me for my other varminters.
They also generally appreciate in value rather than dropping like a lot of other firearms.

caution - take a good look at the throad before making the trade, 204's are a little harder on barrels than 223's, the 204 is burning the same amount of powder as the 223 but down a smaller diameter hole.

Your comment on using 50 gr bullets in the 22/250 caught my eye, that is the same reason I used 50's in my 22/250.

drover

I have a cooper, but not in 204. However I have two Rem 700 s in 204. I think it’s a terrific cartridge for PDs and works quite well on coyotes.