204 Ruger, effective killing range.

[247sniper]

Here is a taster of my custom.204 in action, shooting the 39 grain SBK,s.

 

Small gong at 450 yards ins some wind too.

 

https://youtu.be/qaxbeff3-GU

[gbal]

Try 'you tube' Richard Utting "435y rabbit with 204 Ruger".

 

1st shot : rabbit (confirms kill capability).

2nd shot :clean miss (confirms everything else about lr capabilities).Same conditons,place,wind 5mph from10 o'clock,not extreme.

Maybe you'll buy the "rushed shot" excuse; 8 secs+,and ask why? But it's a miss.

 

gbal

[247sniper]

Try 'you tube' Richard Utting "435y rabbit with 204 Ruger".

1st shot : rabbit (confirms kill capability).

2nd shot :clean miss (confirms everything else about lr capabilities).Same conditons,place,wind 5mph from10 o'clock,not extreme.

Maybe you'll buy the "rushed shot" excuse; 8 secs+,and ask why? But it's a miss.

gbal

Yeh but he did shoot over the top off it, the miss was not down to a poor windage call and adjustment. Just a bad shot, the windage correction was spot on !

[Tikka4Sika]

Yeh but he did shoot over the top off it, the miss was not down to a poor windage call and adjustment. Just a bad shot, the windage correction was spot on !

Agree with that , bad shots happen in the real world , the only way to reduce them is practice , practice, practice.

[palo]

To the OP; energy really isn't your concern at all but it will be YOUR ability to judge and correct for wind which will affect the outcome at longer range.

 

My tip, as a 204 user (for what its worth);

Set your scope to 1" high at 100 yds and then limit yourself to 300 yds and you can't go far wrong plus that way your only thing to correct for is wind.

Good advice.

I'm using a 204 for a good few years now and that's exactly what I do. I have target turrets on my scope but when out lamping you don't have time to mess about dialling etc, so I just leave mine 1 inch high at 100 and it works fine out to around 300 yards.

[gbal]

Palo,agreed-see my reply to Eldon's similar experience/advice-won't be many 300y lamping shots,but a tad hols over is indicated-cenre group is 3 inches low,so add in group dispersion up to 3"+ and a few shots will be very iffy withoudt a do-able hold correction.

 

247-good shooting,it can be done by a very good experienced shot under favourable conditions;but not by everyone.....

 

T4S ...yes,and with one hit and one miss,maybe more practice is indicated. On gongs though,not rabbits etc.Note,the miss shot was identical to the hit immediately before,,so unlikely to be 'calculation' error etc....I wonder if 'bad shoots' are more likely when a cartridge is pushed beyond it's reliable performance envelope....? see comment to Palo above....

 

Let's look a little more...the "435 rabbit with 204 'video' ends woith the comments "good stuff...that will be one of the last 400y shots with the rifle,as it's about to be rebarrelled in 223AI. It was a nice memorable shot"...

...well,the penultimate was,the second was a clean miss,memrable for the wrong reason...but good luck with the 223AI,though perhaps not quite a quantum step up...will it better the 204 40@ 3900 13/15...maybe,and maybe we'll see evidence from more than one shot.

But what's this...more on the same rifle earlier in 204 "Varminting with the 204 Ruger"...so let's see-

"A beautiful evening,strong steady wind...camera pans to excellent Kestrel set up 5+ mph .."that's good -it was double that a minute ago' (make a note-strong and steady v 5-10 variable)...first shot is a good head shot rabbit at 275y ('13 mph wind');then a missed head shot at 300y ('14 mph wind-it must have been a 1/2 inch miss that skimmed past it's ear")-No,it was a shot that hit the fence wire an inch+ below head,which otherwise would have been a clean chest kill,but a couple of inches low....and an edited in text confirms the wire hit),second shot was a body hit;then a final 240 yard clean body shot("wind dropped"). So at 240 to 300 body shots are successful (the head shots are 275 hit/300 miss...another bad,or pushing the accuracy ....?)

 

OK,commentary had also panned off into distance "early ,it was miraculous that I missed an 1100y rabbit three times."

Hmmmm....40g Noslers@ 3625 BC .229 d/d at 1000y - 419/183 inches

40 Rem Acc Tip @ 3900 BC .257 328/154

40 VMax @ 3900 BC .275 283/137

 

...whatever the ammo,it won't better the 40Vmax (esp with NoslerBC)....1100 yard d/d are even more catastrophic,of course, so I'd have reserved the description "miraculous" for a hit (impossible to judge if 'splash' might have been visible.)

 

The 204 Ruger is a very fine varmint round,used within it's performance envelope.

Maybe we can agree that 1100 yards is outside that?

4-500y may be possible at non sentient targets,with careful set up,and a very fine shooter with top gear.

Out to 300y it is a very effective varmint cartridge;and 250y does not need an highly practiced expert.**

 

gbal

 

** there is a US you tube video where what looks a fairly short range rabbit destruction is followed by a miss,but no cartridge is immune from downright poor shooting-it can happen... ;-)

[gunner]

Many comments on this it interesting hearing peoples thought on it . I cant help thinking that if i wanted an out & out fox gun i stick with traditional 224. Bullets in 222/223 as im worried about surface splash / wounding with the .17 & 20 cal bullets , in my mind there not primarily designed for fox / coyote size quarry . I know a sweed shot or front bib will be clean but theres always the element of doubt which is why id err on the cautious side . Without being negative id stick to 50 plus grain .224 bullets if regular 300 yard fox at any angle had to be taken . Any further and id either use heavies in 223 / 22br 22/250 or go up to a 6mm with 70 plus grainers . But at lesser ranges the 17 & 20 would be fine , id limit 17rem to 250 and 204 / 20practical to 300 yards . Im nearly 40 and think that as you get older you get more cautious , iv chaged caliber because of fear of richochet from 223 ai/ heavies to 20 cal fast frangible / safer slightly going off the op now sorry .......

[247sniper]

Gbal,

 

Just to clear up, their 1100 yard shots at rabbits were not taken with a 204. Richard and Si use 6.5x47 and 6.5x284 for their ultra long range stuff like this.

 

Just thought id clear that matey.

 

Steve

[gbal]

Thanks,Steve.....there is no mention of that in the video.....some have claimed accurate shooting from a 223 at (to me) implausible distances....BUT my main point was the use of 'miraculous' to describe three shots/three misses...I would not say a hit with a 6.5x284 at 1100 yards was miraculous,or even that three from three was miraculous,but it would be shooting of a very high order. I took it he meant they were 'near misses'-whatever that really means (remember his "1/2 inch whizz past the head" ,that in fact impacted the wire around mid chest....but to describe one's misses as 'miracles'-ie extremely rare events needing diving intervention is ...missing the main point,too,in an indulgence of self congratulation.

Language and descriptions seem cavalier throughout-it isn't precision linguistics-it is not clearly and accurately reported.

The shooting is not completely atypical,but at least it's honest enough not to edit out the misses.

The actual performance on rabbits is consistent with the ranges already suggested(sub 300y).

 

g

[gbal]

Thanks,Steve.....there is no mention of that in the video.....BUT my main point was the use of 'miraculous' to describe three shots/three misses...I would not say a hit with a 6.5x284 at 1100 yards was miraculous,or even that three from three was miraculous,but it would be shooting of a very high order. I took it he meant they were 'near misses'-whatever that really means (remember his "1/2 inch whizz past the head" ,that in fact impacted the wire around mid chest....but to describe one's misses as 'miracles'-ie extremely rare events needing diving intervention is ...missing the main point,too,in an indulgence of self congratulation.

Language and descriptions seem cavalier throughout-it isn't precision linguistics-it is not clearly and accurately reported.

The shooting is not completely atypical,but at least it's honest enough not to edit out the misses.

The actual performance on rabbits is consistent with the ranges already suggested(sub 300y).

 

g

[Alycidon]

 

Hi Buddy.

Yes a 300 yard clean kill shot on a fox is very doable, although much will depend on the shooting conditions.

The fly in the ointment with all the light weight bullets , is wind drift. A mild 7 mph cross wind can push the bullet wide of the kill zone and result in a wound or a miss..

 

On a more technical note - how you will allow for the drop and drift - are you going to dial in - or aim over ?

If it is the later - have you got a reticule that assists this. I assume you also have a range finder.

 

If you can hit a clay pigeon sized target every time, then you can put the pill into the kill zone of a fox with sufficient energy to ensure a clean kill. Realistically 350 yrds - in perfect conditions and well practiced , with a diallable scope .. is the furthest I would shoot a fox.

 

500 or 600 yrds as been suggested on this thread is WAY too far to be confident of a clean kill on an animal the size of a fox IME..

 

 

Nice set up BTW

 

 

ATB

S

Agreed, certainly 300 yards is do able, in ideal conditions with a sideways on boiler shot then out to about 350. Beyond that there is just to much to go wrong on a fox but on a rabbit/crow or similar then 500 would be ok as a hit anywhere will be fatle pretty fast.

 

A

[sussexsteve]

Yes 300 yards no problem

[Ah8217bris]

Agreed but in practice most of mine are less. 3 foxes in last 48 hours with NV between 124 and 172 yards.