.204 Ruger and .17 remington

[Newgun123]

what are some of the ups and downs of these two calibers and what bullets are best shot out of them? Just wondering if any one had a lot of experience with these two I have recently purchased a 204 and a 17.

[GMFWoodchuck]

I want a .17 remington myself. I'm intriqued with thought of keeping my eyes on the target through the scope as I fire.

I have no experience though. But I hear good things. Accurate and perfect for varmints. The only "downfall" is that while some people use the .22's calibers for deer with the right bullets, there are zero bullets/ammunition on the market that allow for anything bigger than a coyote for the 20's and the 17's.

You would be happy with one. Again, like I have said in many other posts, it's not so much the caliber or even the manufacturer of the gun. But how you like the way it feels when you are holding it.

[Bindernut]

I've known friends that have used the .17Rem with 25gr HPs for years on varmints and furbearers up to coyote size.
It's a great little prairie dog & fox round but if shot placement isn't "just-right" on a coyote it can run out of steam on longer shots (200yds or more) or sometimes just "grenade" on the hair if you're pushing the velocity to max load levels. The .17 isn't all that great at bucking wind either...those 25grs get pushed around pretty easily.

I just picked up a .204 a few weeks ago but am still waiting to get it scoped out so I haven't spent any time with it on the range or in the field yet. It's an impressive cartridge on paper and it's lethal on prairie dogs. Retained energy, trajectory, and wind drift are darn near identical to the .22-250.
From what I've been reading and the few shooters in my area that are shooting the .204, typically you'll have better luck with 35gr or lighter bullets. Some rifles will group with 40gr and some won't... I'm hoping that my new .204 will group good with 40gr as I think that'll be a little better bullet weight for coyotes, but I'll have to see how it fares.

If you're just vaporizing varmints, then either cartridge will work great. Once you get into coyotes, I'm still undecided if I'm gonna stick with the .204 or if I'll go back to the .22-250.

[muddober]

If you compare the cross section/area of a .224 bullet and that a .204 bullet, the .224 bullet has a little over 17% more surface area. Meaning that if both loadings were at any given same pressure (pounds per square inch) the .224 bullet will have over 17% more force pushing it then would the .204. That is why one can drive a 40 grain bullet well over 4100 fps second from the 22-250 and has to drop down to a 32 grain bullet to make 4000 fps from the .204. I know the published velocities for the .204 are more than I am stating herein but publishing and running the shots over a chronograph more often than not show that published velocities only works to sell guns. For my money one cannot beat the 220 Swift because it will do anything the .204 or the 22-250 will do, but only better and when you add heavier bullets to the mix it makes the Swift even more versatile. That is my 2 cents if it is even worth that.

Ron

[Tony22-250]

You can take standard white tail deer with the 22-250 if you use the right bullet like a 60gr lead tip, but shot placement is key! I wouldnt try that with any thing smaller. For plinking i use 45gr rounds at 4000 fps and for longer ranges i usualy use 55gr at 3680fps. as for the 220 swift.... its a good round but the 22-250s case design is more versatile in the reloading realm. the 17rem and the 204 ruger are fun rounds but they are pretty much limited to smaller game/varmints.