.204 Ruger

Somewhere in the heartland in the summer of 2002, Dave Emary and Doug Derner ran out of chat. So they started talking shop. Specifically, .20-caliber centerfires. Both men have worked at Hornady's plant for years. Both are accomplished riflemen. Both thought the .222 Remington Magnum could be reshaped.

Late the following year Hornady announced the .204 Ruger. Developed jointly with the firearms company and first chambered in a Ruger No. 1, the .204 kicked a 32-grain V-Max bullet from a 24-inch barrel at 4,225 fps. In 2004 Hornady trotted out a 40-grain V-Max load at 3,900 fps. Winchester loads a 34-grain hollowpoint (pictured). This past summer there was talk at Hornady of a 45-grain XTP load. Alas, initial tests showed poor accuracy, so the project was shelved. I suspect a heavy-bullet load will come.

The .204 hull is a .222 Rem. Mag. slightly straightened; same .378-inch base; essentially the same 1.84-inch trim length. At 30 degrees, the .204's shoulder is 7 degrees steeper than the .222 Magnum's. Loaded length is the same: 2.26 inches.

Suitable Use

Shooters have gone ga-ga over the .204 Ruger. Mostly, they like its laser-flat trajectory and rimfire-like recoil. Prairie dog gunners note that you can see the effects of your hit, whereas with a .22-250, recoil often obscures it. Lethal? The .204 V-Max vaporizes small rodents and kills coyote-size game like the hammer of Zeus. In Texas, rumor has it that deer hunters are swapping out their .22-250s.

Accuracy has generally exceeded expectations. I've fired one-hole groups with a Les Baer autoloader (yes, the round works fine in an AR). Even factory rifles from Ruger, T/C and Savage leave sod-poodles quaking in their dens. Concerns that the little bullet would capitulate to every zephyr were soon laid to rest. Like the .220 Swift and super-fast wildcats such as Kenny Jarrett's .243 Catbird, the .204 seems to burn its way through wind. Deflection is less than you'd expect.

Is it a deer cartridge? No--though a .204 spitzer through the forward slats will kill deer-size game. A 45-grain controlled-expansion bullet would deliver more predictable penetration than the V-Max. This is a moot point in states nixing sub-6mm bores for big game.

Ballistics

The .204 Ruger is the fastest commercial cartridge around now, eclipsing the Swift. Both the 32- and 40-grain bullets hold velocity at long range better than the 40- and 50-grain Swift bullets. In fact, at 500 yards the 40-grain .204 V-Max delivers as much energy as the 50-grain .220 Swift. A 200-yard zero makes sense. Point-blank at midrange, you'll hit less than an inch high--a requisite for tiny targets.