Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Feedback on 204 Ruger or 20 Practical

That's a screamer.

I have 2 20P, one is a rebarreled Ruger American and the other is an 18" X-caliber barreled AR I built. Both will shoot the 35gr burgers into 1/2" groups at about 4K fps. At the time I built them 204 brass was not as easy to get as it is today. I have no regrets though. 223 brass is cheap and forming is simple.

Have used them both...custom set ups...Pac Nor barrels

Ballistic twins...Practical brass is always available..223......

I have a p/dog set in 204 Ruger here now F/S...heavy gun..11 twist....

PM me if interested....Savage solid bottom s/shot...very very low rds out

I like the 20 prac over the 204 simply the availability of brass. 223 FL bushing die with a .226 bushing will neck down just about any 223 brass for the 20 Prac. Except maybe Lapua. LC brass is very good. A 11twist will cover anything from 32-40 gr.

Side note. With the popularity of the 20P, I'm surprised no one has offered a factory load for it.

It could be argued that the 204 is more "practical" due to the presence and selection of factory ammo.

There is no forming with the 20 Prac. It's just a 223 necked down. No different then shooting new factory brass.

A few comments:

I tried the .204 when it first appeared, and it shot noticeably flatter and drifted less in the wind than the .223 out to "normal" ranges with the same bullet weights, say 400-500 yards. In several rifles it also shot more accurately than the .223, on average, perhaps because of the quality of early factory ammo, but perhaps not.

I soon ended up with several thousand rounds of .204 brass, but then the Obama Shortage hit, and .204 brass was one of the casualties. That's when the .204 Practical started to become more popular, because .223 brass was still available. If you were a handloader (and most avid varmint shooters are) the .20 Practical made more sense. If I had started down the .20 road at that time, it would have made more sense. But general .223 brass isn't as high quality as the .204 brass I have on hand. If somebody actually likes (or has the time) to sort .223 brass for consistency, or turn the necks, or whatever, then the .20 Practical will do the same things.

But the Obama Panic is over, though some other shooter panic will no doubt occur in the next few years. They have been, regularly, since the 1990's. But I don't really care, because of my thousands of rounds of high-quality .204 brass, and from from what I see on the Internet, there's plenty of .204 brass available now.

And there is no presence of good quality factory ammo, either.

Good that makes me love it for the exclusivity of it all the more....

I'm a handloading varmint shooter......not a store bought ammo shooting varmint shooter...

And that is why there is a multitude of very good calibers so that we can all have our favorites. Merry Christmas John. I hope we're able to get together in the spring of 2019.

If you do a Tac20, I'd HIGHLY recommend Greg Tannel's method of chamber reaming. Kindler's
reasoning of bumping back the shoulder of the .223 case makes no sense at all. IIRC, he
bumped it back .010". Go ahead and ream the chamber so that the cases need no bump back
at all, so that the die only sizes the neck, just as in the 20 Practical.

In my experience, no need to fire form the cases with squib loads, just go with the lower
recommended loads. They are just as accurate as loads in formed cases.

I had a barrel done with the shorter chamber and it just makes for more steps and little to no
more gain. Even at that, 24gr H4198 gets 32gr Hornadys to 4100fps with no pressures signs
in an Encore barrel. Accuracy puts my Ruger American Predator in .204 to shame.

Good Thread. I am tipping it to the top as it is no longer in view of the casual page peeper. Thanks, it fits my current Savage Single Shot Project. Any one have any thing to add?

I have appreciated all of the information and comments.

Thanks to all.

If the stars align my plans are to go with the 20P. I need to pick up a action and a barrel and be ready for June .

PM sent on 204R

high mileage 20 Practical.....Pac Nor 12 twist......40 V max..3 @ 100

Having had both think as far as noticeable use there is NO difference. Several years bac I purchased a Remington XR-100 in 204 and at that time 204 brass was as easy to find as Unicorns. Purchased a 20 Practical reamer as I had 500 rounds of 223 Dakota (Lapua) brass.
The rifle served me well then it was stolen,after looking for a replacement I found a AS New XR-100 in 204 now that 204 brass is readily available it serves the purpose.

Both of these rifles would shoot .3 groups with the 204 having about 100 FPS more velocity on paper there was no measurable difference as I have targets to verify.

From a Resale point the 204 is by far the better choice as factory ammo is available

Good Luck

Jim

I had a 700 and a #1 in 204. They shot OK.

I have a CZ in 204, accuracy is excellent.

Hippy: Sad to hear about your stolen XR-100 in 20 Practical - I will keep an eye out for it here in the Rocky Mountain west.
I was SO impressed with my first XR-100 Rifle in 204 Ruger (its accuracy, flat trajectory and lethality) that I bought a second XR-100 in 204 Ruger!
Hoping that the second XR-100 in 204 would shoot NEARLY as good as the first one. It did - it shoots every bit as well as the first!
I use them almost exclusively on Colony Varmints (Ground Squirrels, Prairie Dogs and Rock Chucks) and Badgers.
Wonderful guns these XR-100's I own additional XR-100's in 223 Remington and 22-250 Remington as well.
The stocks are just about perfect for me while shooting afield and from the bench.
Last year a member here listed another XR-100 in 204 Ruger for sale on our classifieds and I ended "adding" that third XR-100 in 204 Ruger to my, now for certain, "lifetime supply".
Why Remington Arms Corporation quit producing XR-100 Rifles is absolutely baffling to me!
Again sorry to hear about your stolen Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Craigster: I own one of the Ruger #1-V SS Rifles in 204 Ruger - this is the heavy barrel model with gray laminated stock - it shoots rather well with the high power Leupold variable scope I have on it.
And a Remington 700 VLS in 204 Ruger was the second Rifle I purchased in 204 Ruger caliber - it is quite accurate. I checked my loading log and the last four times I took this VLS to the range for sight in verification (in four different years!) the average of those four sight in verification groups (5 shots at 100 yards) comes to .386:!
That is splendid accuracy in my experience.
I have as yet to encounter (buy for myself!) an "in-accurate" heavy barrel Rifle in caliber 204 Ruger.
I own 8 (eight) Rifles in 204 Ruger currently.
I think the 204 Ruger is one of THE most inherently accurate Varmint cartridges ever developed!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy