Yesterday I went out Christmas shopping for Jr. He wanted a 17HMR, so I found a Savage 17HMR with 9x40 scope in a factory deal at Gander Mountain. I stopped at another local gun dealer prior to purchasing the said gun above, and the dealer wanted to try to sell me a model "204". It's caliber was slightly larger than the 17 but the velocity was almost unbelievable.... The dealer showed me the spec sheet on the "204" and it was listed that projectile velocity was 4275 fps. That is almost unbelievable. To me a bullet travelling almost a mile in a second just seems insane. Does anyone have such a beast, and if so, can you give any info or input into this gun???

Thanks in advance,

Gary

 

I would be curious to see what the barrel life would be on a rifle with 4,000+fps. A 22-250 always worked great for me on groundhogs.

 

204 'Ruger', we have one on a G2 TC Contender. Its only a single shot, but it blows the you know what out of prairie dogs. The cartridge is based on a 222 mag., compared to the 17HMR which is roughly based off the 22WMR, its much larger and alot louder to shoot. The best deal I've gotten on 17HMR is about $80 for 500 rounds. I couldn't even guess how much a box of 20 204's are as we reload our own.

17HMR is rimfire and the 204 Ruger is centerfire and is reloadable.

How are is junior going to be shooting? I have a 17HMR too and its gets shot alot more than the 204 due to the noise and my normal shots are less than 100 yards.

 

.270 win mag
Win-X3's made into hollowpoints by a dremel tool.

You want splatter, this does the job quite nicely.

'Nothing Succeeds Like Excess'

 

I've been looking really hard at the .204 Ruger, in a Remington 700. Around here, I just wand something big enough to bring down a Coyote, and the .204 is supposed to pack almost the same punch as the 22-250, which is the standard for around here. The .223's are popular too, but the .204 is faster, and packs a bigger bite

Chris

BTW, here's the gun I'm looking at ---> Remington 700

 

I have been telling folks about those Ruger .204's
They are on fire right now.

I have also heard they have a 1000 round barrel life.
I don't have 1000 yote kills in 35+ years of hunting so it should last anyone an acceptable amount of time.

 

Jr is consistently hammering the local squirrel and rabbit population between 60 and 120 yards. He has been using his handed down grandads 1908 Remington 22LR. It's a single shot 22 but is a pain to re-load in the dark while rabbit stalking. He also likes the quietness that the 17 delivers.

The best shot I have ever seen him take was a standing prone shot, with me on the Q-Beam lighting up the eyes of a raccoon 125 yards away. It was the old grandad special, open sighted. He drilled the raccoon dead between the eyes. It was the BIGGEST raccoon I have ever seen. My guess was it weighed in at 45 pounds. The pelt would have made 1/4 of a coonskin coat....

Gary

 

I got my boy a Rossi .223 single shot. It's pretty deadly and very accurate also. I like it because it has the 410 interchangeble barrel and it's a youth model so you can lug it around pretty easy. I took it hunting yesterday and was very pleased with how easy it was to carry. Plus it only costs @ $180 (if I remember right) with both barrels.

 

If you buy a Ruger 1022, you can get a 17 HMR conversion for it. That way you have 2 calibers, 1 rifle. It is not hard to swap, either.

 

When you're talking of muzzle velocities at or around 4000fps wha t is a couple hundred fps anyway? I think the ballistics of the newer calibers are impressive, but I prefer to stick with the tried and true. The .22-250 is a good all around caliber, not too big, not too slow. Although, if report is a concern it is slightly loud. Especially with some factory Remington Premier Accu-Tip rounds.


Chris,

You will be very pleased with that 700. I have one in .22-250, but mine is the stainless lined carbon fiber barrel(zero walk) that they discontinued a few years back. I have it zeroed at 200 yds and can consistently cut cigarettes in half at that distance. (No, it's not the vapor trail knocking it over , we walk down and check each time to make sure I actually cut it!) It's a good way for me to persuade my close friends to quit smoking. I tell them that if I can cut one in half at 200 yards and they can't they need to quit. I haven't lost yet!

Speaking of coyotes I saw one yesterday in the woods and was just about to feed him a slug when he scurried after a squirrel that was making a ruckus. Probably better that way...., but man was he a big one. Nothing like the lean ones out west.

 

Cool...Probably gonna be a spring purchase after I recover from the tranny I've wanted a rifle for a while now (got a 22LR Rem 597, not enough) and the .204 seems to be the perfect caliber for around here...not too big, but big enough I should be able to take down the bigger varmints

Like the cigarette trick...might have to try it!
Chris

 

You have to buy a 22 mag version of the 10/22 if you want to convert to 17HMR. Or just buy one in 17HMR.

Dad took 3 rifles with him out west prairie dog hunting. AR-15 flattop with 24" heavy barrel, Ruger M77 in 22-250 and the TC contender G2 in 204 ruger. He said the 204 was the flattest shooting of all of them and definitely the very effective for scattering prairie dog parts all over, but its only a single shot. He was shooting anywhere from 250 to 800 yards with all three guns.

 

You are correct. I was thinking 17 Mach 2.