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

See... this thread is too good not to keep around. Quality data here. No name calling. APPRECIATE THIS VERY MUCH. Bill

When I go PD shooting I bring several guns including what I might be shooting game animals with in the fall. I usually bring a boomer too - great practice.

One of the issues with PD shooting is that now and then a fellow gets into a field that the local boys have not shot their AR’s and their 22’s, so there is lots to shoot.

When that happens it’s a good idea to have several rifles along so you don’t over-heat the barrels.

My PD rifles include the 204 and a couple 223’s.

I find that .224 bullets are often cheaper than other calibers, so the .223 gets used a lot.

There are better cartridges than the 223 perhaps, but that is the one I shoot the most - cheap brass and cheap bullets and cheap shooter.

BTW: Wyoming doesn’t (or had not last I shot there) require a license to shoot PD’s. Call their Game department and they’ll fill you in on where the best shooting will be. The last time I went to Wyoming there were four of us and I brought 6 rifles. There were a lot of hot barrels. We shot for a full week.
The place was near where the North Platte comes out of Colorado - on the plains. I ran out of ammunition in 5 of the rifles. A rancher found out what we had done and begged us to come to his ranch, but ammo was nearly gone and time to go back to work. Nearby was a free campground where we stayed.

Saratoga, WY was a nearby town.

Bugger: I am notoriously CHEAP and a notorious "non-hotrodder" handloader - I am still trying to ascertain if 223 Remington brass or 204 Ruger brass gives me more firings per brass's lifetime?
I also shoot a lot of both the 223 Remington and the 204 Ruger and the "cost" difference in reloading the two is negligible (not a factor to me!) and remember I am notoriously CHEAP when it comes to purchasing staples like reloading components, food, clothing etc).
Basically I am saying the costs over the lifetime of a piece of brass, comparing the 204 Ruger to the 223 Remington, is not much/not a factor for me.
Both the 223 Remington and the 204 Ruger are very fine and very useful Varminting cartridges but for all around Varminting (including night calling, Colony Varminting, predator Hunting, Badger Hunting etc) the 204 Ruger, in my EXTENSIVE experience, wins hands down - the amazing accuracy of the 204 Ruger, the extreme lack of recoil, the amazing lethality and the slowness to heat a barrel are just a few of the many attributes of the 204 Ruger that give it the "superior" rating in my book!
Long live the amazing 204 Ruger.
And this, trying the wildcat 20 Practical and its significant added expenses, for less performance, has never even seriously crossed my mind!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Now is the time to get into one, AR's are at a all time low. You can get into a build yourself for about 500.00 to 600.00