What is your take on the 204 Ruger.

Hokkmike · December 20th, 2015, 09:40 PM

Let me begin by saying that I made a pretty darned good one shot 250 yard kill on my doe this year. I use a 6.5x55.

I have a friend who made an equally impressive shot with his Contender .204 Ruger.

To be honest, I have NEVER heard of that caliber, much less seen it or fired one.

But from reading about it I get the impression that it is much too small for deer sized game.

My friend's results, however, belie my opinion.

Do any of you shoot this and what are your thoughts? I might have to get one.

**Delkal** · December 20th, 2015, 10:59 PM

Stick with your 6.5x55. It is under-appreciated in America but it is one of the best deer rounds out there. The bullets shoot flat and don't stop when they hit game. Penetration and bullet performance is excellent.

IMO the .204 Ruger is not even close to a deer round. The bullets are too small in diameter and penetration is iffy at best. Most are designed for varmints and he is lucky he dropped the deer.

**dkf** · December 20th, 2015, 11:09 PM

He must have hit it in the head or neck. It is much better suited as a varmint cartridge, your 6.5 is much better suited for use on deer. There are a lot of good articles out on the .204 and the Lyman AR manul has a big spread on it. What a lot of people don't know about the .204 is how much it depends on the fairly new powders which help prevent copper fouling. Without those powders I doubt it would be as popular as it is.

Hokkmike · December 21st, 2015, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by dkf

He must have hit it in the head or neck. It is much better suited as a varmint cartridge, your 6.5 is much better suited for use on deer. There are a lot of good articles out on the .204 and the Lyman AR manul has a big spread on it. What a lot of people don't know about the .204 is how much it depends on the fairly new powders which help prevent copper fouling. Without those powders I doubt it would be as popular as it is.

He hit it in the neck. My Swede wet through a shoulder first and exited the neck.

**Delkal** · December 21st, 2015, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by Hokkmike

He hit it in the neck. My Swede wet through a shoulder first and exited the neck.

If your friend hit the deer in the shoulder with the .204 I doubt you would have found it. Simply not ethical. There are many barrels you can get for a Contender that are excellent on deer. Not sure what your friend was thinking.

**Hobbs4421** · December 21st, 2015, 02:25 PM

204 Ruger is a nice caliber for coyotes and other animals around that size. It would kill a deer if shot placement was decent, bit I would not even think about using for a deer rifle. There are many better options out there

**aubie515** · December 21st, 2015, 07:36 PM

Just because you can...doesn't mean you should. As others have already stated...shot placement is going to be key. I mean you can kill a cow sized animal with a 22LR, but that doesn't mean it's the best option.

I'm not hear to judge your friend, but he got lucky this time. Neck shots aren't exactly the ideal shot on an animal known to move it's head around a lot.