I have both a 204 Ruger, in a Model 16 Savage, and a 22-250
Rem, in a Howa 1500 Varminter. In these two rifles, accuracy
wise, they are a dead heat. The Howa trigger has been tuned
to be considerably better than the Savage "Accu-Crap" trigger.
I am not a big fan of Savage triggers /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif So which
one would I choose, and why? I would choose the 204 Ruger,
and suffer all of the comments from the 22-250 diehards /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Why? Well it is flatter shooting, and has less wind drift,
on average, when comparing .204 caliber class bullets, with
.223 caliber class bullets, fired through these two
chambers. The recoil is almost non-existent. In varmint
hunting, the 204 Ruger can do anything the 22-250 Rem. can
do, and do it with less drop, less drift, less powder, and
less recoil. Accuracy in these two cartridges, which both
seem easy to find accurate loads for, is not the
distinguishing factor in my mind. Better ballistics,
and less recoil, is a distinguishing pair of factors.
FWIW, I had re-barreled my first 22-250 Rem. chambered
Savage, to 6mm Rem., and had kind of put the 22-250
stuff on the shelf. I purchased a 204 Ruger, and had
decided that this rifle easily replaced the 22-250, where
I intended to use the 22-250. Then I won this 22-250 Rem.
chambered Howa 1500 Varminter, at a DU banquet. OK, now
I am back in the 22-250 game. I would have considered the
rifle as trade material, if I hadn't started shooting it.
It was EXTREMELY accurate, and the trigger work, brought
the trigger down to less than a 1 lb. This rifle kind
of brought me back to the fold of the 22-250 shooters,
but if I have to get down to only one small bore bolt
action rifle, the 204 Ruger, would probably be the last
rifle in the safe.
Squeeze