Im looking for a new rifle to hunt bobcats and coyotes. I need a minimum entrance and exit wound so the pelt can be sold. In another forum I got some good ideas on the .17 rem, but the availability of rifles is giving me a headache. If the .204 will do the same as the .17 and with the same minimum of damage I will consider it. Anyone??????????

Dude! hows it going? Man I saw you where from Tombstone........my old stomping grounds.Anyhow I cant go into what the .204 stats are.But in my expierence go with the availability of whats on the market.
 Can you find more ammo choices in the .17 versus the .204? Personally I'd go with the .17.And what do you think of the .223 as another option?Daniel

The problem with the .223 is the exit wound. Again, Im trying to avoid the mess and have a pelt to sell. In a perfect world, I want small entrance, massive expansion and no exit. Or at least not often. Well, if the world were perfect, I could use snares and catch all of the critters and have no damage. But unfortunately.... an old and crusty hunter once told me " son, if its working, its probably illegal " and after a bunch of years I do believe he was right

Either caliber would make a fine coyote cartride.  If you are interested in the .17 send me a PM and I might be able to help you.  The new Ruger cartride has lots of potential, but would appear to be best if you do your own reloading.  However, the same is true for the .17 Remington except that factory cartridge are a little cheaper than those for the new 204.  The 222 is another good choice using the varmint type bullets.  Most of the time you will get an entry hole and no exit wound.

IF you want good fur I would use a .223 55 grain FMG or if you could a get a 22-250 with a FMG that would be even better.

Mark,

If the point is to not have an exit hole, nothing I know of in .223 or 22-250 will suffice...

My .223 with ballistic tip bullets will blow through them at over 300 yards. The hole is about the size of a .50 cent piece.

AZH,

One of our members, GMoney has a new Savage in .204 Ruger, but, I'vee not seen him on here in the past week or so. He would tell you more I'm sure. I know it shoots well, I just think there have not been enough hunters with them to make a real good analogy on what it does to fur under different circumstances...

Rockinbbar

Hey Mark, I purchased a .204 ruger this summer and I am going to use it this year on varmints...however I do not have much field info first hand to share with you because landowners for some reason don't like you doing a lot of shooting when it is still deer season...lol.. All the info I have on it is word of mouth....I have a friend who does some testing fir gun manufacturers and he has shot 2 yotes and a cat with it with both the 40 and 32 grain bullet.... from ranges of 100-200yds.....  none of them exited and the animals never moved after the shot.....he dissected them and the insides were mush....He let me shoot it and it has no recoil at all...you can almost watch the paper in your scope when it fires....I am shooting the 32 grainer because I believe the animal will be just as dead as the 40 grainer and there will be less chance of an exit...I know this word of mouth stuff sometimes isn't too reliable and I hate giving out info on word of mouth but its all I got....
 
It is extremely accurate and it is a screamer....4225fps...
 
I'll let you know when I shoot something besides some jackrabbits....
 
A lot of coyote hunters swear by the .17 Remington including our own AZkiote....now that guy can tell you about some coyotes.... I just wanted to be a little bit different but I believe that this fur season it will be very good on furs and a quick killer..... laters

Im just curiuse what a .204 Ruger Trajectery is. Wouldnt a bullet the 4000 FPS + range would burn out your barrel quik? Sorry I have no clue

Ruger and Hornady teamed up and developed a new powder for the .204.....they guarantee your barrel for the life of the gun....in other words they say it is an absolutely non-issue...If you zero the .204 in at 200 yards with a 32 grain pill you are .8 inch high at 100 and 3 inches low at 300..... or something like that...it is very flat shooting....take care

Well, I did the dirty deed and ordered the rifle. I got offered to good a deal on a savage combo gun. Hopefully the Cats and Coyotes hate it. Im going to junk the scope eventually, but Ill make due with it this season. Ordered 20 boxes of ammo too. 15 of the 32 gr, 5 40gr just to be safe. Hope to have it by end of next week and shooting by following week. 15th of dec is my weekend so I hope to get out and shoot something. Ill post as soon as I get going with it   Thanks all    Mike

Wow, you are going to be doing a lot of shooting...if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay per box of ammo? Some people say they get better groups with the 40 grainers.....I don't know...my gun shoots the 32 grainer just fine and dandy....Good luck with your gun....I know you'll like it...G

Have fun and enjoy, and let us know how it does and what it likes.

I've had a Ruger # 1 in the .204 for about 8 months now, in January I'm hoping to get a bobcat.  I've had good groups with the 32 gr but havn't had a chance to try the 40's.  Here's a thread on a predator forum that addressed pelt damage with the .204:

http://texaspredatorposse.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=3299

Gmoney said:
 

QuoteA lot of coyote hunters swear by the .17 Remington including our own AZkiote....now that guy can tell you about some coyotes....

Azhdryder and I exchanged some PM's on another forum recently, and I think that I sent him a link to this forum.  Mike lives about 20 miles from me, so maybe we can get together and try out his new rifle on a coyote or two.  What do you say, Mike? :)
 
My thoughts are that the .204 is going to exit a little more often than the .17 Remington does, but it should be a little more forgiving on a questionable shot in regards to killing ability.
 
Accuracy will depend on the particular rifle, but Savages are well known for accuracy so I'd bet you'll have a fine small/medium sized critter rifle!
 
Good luck!
Daryl

Where you been man? Did you get my email on the pics?