The .204 Ruger is a
centerfire rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated ...
cartridge developed by
Hornady and
Ruger. At the time of its introduction in 2004, the .204 Ruger was the second-highest velocity commercially produced ammunition and the only centerfire cartridge produced commercially for bullets of .204 inch/
5 mm caliber.
Characteristics
The .204 Ruger was
developed from the
.222 Remington Magnum, which has the second-largest case capacity in the family that began with the
.222 Remington.
Only the European
5.6×50mm Magnum is larger, which itself is a lengthened version of the .222 Remington Magnum. The .222 Remington Magnum provides about 5% more usable (below the neck) case capacity than the most popular member of the family, the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
5.56×45mm (.223 Remington). To make the .204 Ruger, the .222 Remington Magnum case was necked down to .204 inches (5 mm) and its shoulder moved forward and angle increased to 30 degrees.
Bullets available in .204 caliber range from 24 to 55 grains (1.55 to 3.56 g).
The
Hornady factory load is listed at 4,225 ft/s (1288 m/s) with a bullet.
To achieve these velocities, the factory uses a proprietary
powder composition known internally as SMP746, specially formulated by Primex, and, as of 2013, not
available to
handloaders. The propellant features a de-coppering agent that helps prevent fouling. Reloading data from Hornady, using commercially available powders, indicate velocity peaking at just under with the bullet in longer barrels. Many
AR-15
An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle
A semi-automatic rifle is an autoloading rifle that fires a single cartridge with each pull of the trigger, and uses part of the fired cartridge's energy to eject the case an ...
rifle manufacturers now offer the .204 Ruger as an alternative chambering alongside the usual 5.56×45mm/.223 Rem.
Development
The .204 Ruger was the second Ruger-named cartridge produced by a partnership between Ruger and Hornady, the first being the big bore
.480 Ruger revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six ...
cartridge introduced in 2003 for the
Super Redhawk. With the backing of a major gunmaker and a major ammunition company, the round was an instant success, with other ammunition makers and firearms makers quickly adding the new chambering. Ruger's initial offerings included the
bolt action
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-actio ...
Model 77 MKII, and the
single shot Ruger No. 1, and Hornady offered loadings with bullets.
The .204 Ruger has proven to be a very accurate and efficient cartridge: an early tester reported
1/2 MOA groups at with the Hornady loads and a Ruger No. 1 varmint rifle. The first cartridge in the family, the .222 Remington, was a top
benchrest shooting
Benchrest shooting is a shooting sport
Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sport
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity
Physical activity is defined as any voluntary bodily movement p ...
cartridge for many years after its introduction.
The .204 Ruger was intended primarily for varmint rifles, which require bullets with flat trajectories but not much mass or kinetic energy. The .204 was "splitting the difference" between the popular .224 varmint rounds such as the
.220 Swift and
.22-250 Remington, and the tiny .172 caliber rounds such as the
.17 Remington and the
.17 HMR. The resulting cartridge provides somewhat higher velocities than any of these, giving a maximum
point blank range of more than .
Velocity
Ruger's claim to being the velocity king with the .204 was based on two points.
First, no other high-performance .20 caliber cartridge was commercially produced. Second, the ammunition used to achieve the 4,225 ft/s was available only from Hornady using a special powder not available to the general public.
[.204 Ruger by Chuck Hawks](_blank)
/ref>
Handloaders typically achieve velocities more in the area of using a bullet.[.204 load data at Hodgdon](_blank)
Handloads using bullets in other commercial cartridges such as the .22-250 Remington also achieve velocities similar to those of the .204 Ruger. The advantage of the .204 Ruger is that it achieves these velocities with less powder, less recoil, and less heat than the larger cartridges. The .204 Ruger has a maximum range of approximately .
Hornady now offers a 24-grain lead free cartridge that claims 4,400 ft/s from a 26-inch barrel.
However, Hornady's 35 gr NTX .22-250 claims 4,450 ft/s from a 24-inch barrel.
See also
* 5mm/35 SMc
* List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 HM2,2 .17 HMR, 2.5 .17 wsm, 3 .22LR, 4 .22 WMR, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm/35 SMc, 7 .22 Hornet, 8 .223 Remington, 9 .2 ...
* Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson sub ...
References
Further reading
Cartridge Dimensions
from 6mmBR.com
Guns Magazine, 2004
May 2004
External links
.204 Ruger info
at Hornady website
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Ballistics Chart By Hornady
{{DEFAULTSORT:204 Ruger
Sturm, Ruger & Company
Pistol and rifle cartridges
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2004