Needing a backup PD gun 204 vs 22-250

[jayb8407]

I have a 223 for PD that I like very much, heavy barrel with a brake. This gun does not more when shot and I can see the hit in my scope. I want a different caliber to shoot when in the towns. I am between the 204 or the 22-250 any thoughts

Jay

[visigoth]

I have a 204 and I am really happy I picked that round. Loaded with 39gr Blitzkings to around 3800 fps, it has an awesome trajectory and bucks the wind better than all the .22's. Here is a wind drift comparison I did with PointBlank 1.8, using published the published BCs from each company.

Bullet Weight/Type BC Cartridge Name Velocity 400 yd 10 MPH wind Drift
39gr Sierra Blitzking 0.287 .204 Ruger 3750 11.5"
40gr Hornady Vmax 0.275 .204 Ruger 3900 11.5"
40gr Nosler BT 0.239 .204 Ruger 3750 14.3"

40gr Sierra Blitzking 0.196 .223 Rem 3700 18.6"
40gr Hornady Vmax 0.200 .223 Rem 3700 18.2"
40gr Nosler BT 0.221 .223 Rem 3700 16.0"

40gr Sierra Blitzking 0.196 .220 Swift 4250 15.6"
40gr Hornady Vmax 0.200 .220 Swift 4250 15.2"
40gr Nosler BT 0.221 .220 Swift 4250 13.5"

40gr Sierra Blitzking 0.196 .22-250 Rem 4150 16.1"
40gr Nosler BT 0.221 .22-250 Rem 4150 13.9"
40gr Hornady Vmax 0.200 .22-250 Rem 4150 15.7"
55gr Sierra Blitzking 0.237 .22-250 Rem 3680 14.8"
55gr Nosler BT 0.267 .22-250 Rem 3680 12.8"

My current load burns 24.8gr of Reloder-10x, so its pretty cheap to shoot all day, and I don't have nearly the amount of barrel heating that the big .22's have.

[1kstr]

One more thing to add to what Vis said is that you also won't have the recoil of the bigger .22's and can stay on target better with the .204. I currently have a .223 and 22-250 and a couple friends use a .204 in the dog towns and I have been extremely impressed with the performance of that round. My next dog town gun will be chambered in a .204.

That is not to say that the 250 doesn't work well. It is one heckuva round and if loaded with a 40gr. Sierra will have exceptional wheels. This comes at a cost however.
1kstr

[Waltech Jim]

Originally Posted by jayb8407

I have a 223 for PD that I like very much, heavy barrel with a brake. This gun does not more when shot and I can see the hit in my scope. I want a different caliber to shoot when in the towns. I am between the 204 or the 22-250 any thoughts

Jay

I have all three and use them a lot for pd work. Go with the 204. You can see the impact easily with a varmint weight barrel and don't need a brake.

I used to shoot the 39 Sierra and its accuracy was excellent in my Savage, but I have gone to the 40 gr. Berger. I could see a slight advantage at extended distances with the Berger.

Jim

[FRANK21]

204 all the way- higher BC bullets(40grns), higher velocity, less powder, less heat.

[kgpcr]

I am a 22-250 guy after the .223 but thats just me. easier to keep one cal of bullets on hand and easier to clean the the squeak bores. The .204 is a heck of a round though!

[VarmintGuy]

Jayb8047: Buy the 204 Ruger and use your 223 as the back-up!
I have 4 Varmint Rifles in caliber 204 Ruger now and its head and shoulders above both the 223 and 22-250 when all around performance and efficiency are considered.
I guarantee your heavy barreled 204 will be your favorite Rifle when you are in a Prairie Dog Hunting situation!
Just today I was reloading for some of my Rifles in 204 and some of my Rifles in 22-250 calibers!
The 204 load I use that outperforms the 22-250 uses a lot less powder to get that better performance!
Visualize a lot less barrel heat as well!
Think about throat erosion.
Think about no recoil vs. image loosing amounts of recoil!
Go with the 204 Ruger and don't look back.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy