If I had only one P-dog rifle, it would be the 204 Ruger, and for me it would be an AR-15. I don't have one P-Dog rifle, and just that thought makes me shiver!
So here is what I learned over the year. I first started out with a 22-250 Rem, 223 Rem, and a 204 Ruger, in bolt guns. Somewhere along the line, the 204 Ruger, which I loved for P-dogs, got converted to a 260 Rem. because I needed a another deer rifle more than I needed a varmint rifle. But I missed the 204 Ruger, so much, on the next WY trip, that I built a 204 Ruger upper, for the next WY trip. The 223 Rem. bolt gun got replaced by a 223 Rem. AR-15, and the 22-250 Rem. bolt gun gathers dust, while a 6mm WOA AR-15 does the windy long range day duties on the P-Dog fields. I love the fast follow-ups the AR-15s bring to the table, and with three of them, as soon as one gets warm, it cools, while one of the other AR-15s, get some work. But again, the compromise rifle, of these three would be the 204 Ruger, launching 39 gr. BKs. Flat, decent wind ballistics, doesn't warm as fast as larger cartridges, and violent hits make the 204 Ruger an easy choice.
Squeeze