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204 Ruger Ballistics

November 17, 2021 By Joshua Gillem

204 Ruger History:

The .204 Ruger is a newer centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Hornady and Ruger, making its debut and being introduced to the shooting public in 2004.

The .204 Ruger is a wildcat cartridge based on the 222 Remington Magnum cartridge case. By moving the shoulder forward and sharpening its angle to 30 degrees, the new 204 Ruger cartridge gets a definite case capacity edge over any similar wildcats based on any other small capacity case.

The .204 Ruger, at the time of its introduction was the highest velocity commercially produced cartridge, and the only centerfire cartridge produced commercially for bullets of .204 inch diameter.

The factory Hornady load is listed at 4,225 fps with a 32 grain bullet at the muzzle, which is hyper fast. To achieve these velocities, Hornady uses a powder specially formulated for the .204 Ruger.

More experience hand loaders should have no problem meeting and even exceeding the 4,000 fps, even without the use of any special purpose powder.

The .204 Ruger is definitely a varmint-only proposition as a bullet of this caliber does not have the frontal mass, or the capability to deliver enough energy, to cleanly kill anything larger.

One of the primary objectives of a good varmint round is that it should have a flat trajectory and the .204 Ruger meets this requirement with no problem.

Any decent rifle will need a good scope. Check out this one from Bushnell.

The .204 Ruger is definitely a very accurate, low recoiling, and efficient cartridge.

For a beginner just getting into the world of varminting the .204 Ruger cartridge is highly recommended.

204 Ruger Ballistics Chart:

The following ballistics chart assumes a factory loaded 204 Ruger cartridge from Hornady’s Superformance line. This chart details the 32 grain V-Max fired from a 26 inch barrel. Ballistic coefficient is .210.

Muzzle100 YDS200 YDS300 YDS
Velocity4225364531372683
Energy1268944699512
Drop-1.5+0.60-4.1

Filed Under: Ballistics, Hunting Tagged With: 204 ruger, ballistics, rifle ballistics chart

About Joshua Gillem

Josh is a lifelong practitioner and student of the gun. He grew up shooting/hunting with his dad, and was given his first gun, a 12 gauge shotgun, when just a small boy. After high school, he joined the Marines where his love for firearms blossomed as he qualified with an M16A2, an M9, and a 240G. Josh has been writing about firearms and tactics for several years, is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, and believes that each individual person has the right to self-defense by any means necessary. Currently residing in gun-friendly North Carolina, he carries a concealed gun on a daily basis, even in his own house.

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