.223 or .204?

Originally Posted By: sumrifleOriginally Posted By: MousedipperIf you want the bullets to go crooked, get the .204. If accuracy is a priority, go with the .223,
Dave

Ha Ha Ha now we know not to ever listen to any advice from Moucsdipper ever again. It is fine to have opinions ever strong ones, but that opinion is wrong and just silly. Some may prefer the .223 over the .204 Some may prefer the .243 over the .223. That is what is beautiful variety is the spice of life and all that.

I would imagine my .204 can shoot as good or better than most .223's all day long. Some may outshoot mine. Maybe the average .223 will outshoot the average .204 I do not know, but Mousedipper saying .204's shoot crooked is just wrong.

Perhaps he just had issues with the .204 round or rifles he has owned. It should be flatter than the .223 i would believe.

Again forums are for discussions. Not for saying one is not worth giving advise.
 
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I will make one comment about the carbon buildup issue. One of the highly touted powders for the .204 was Reloder 10X and it is one of the dirtiest and hard to remove powders I have used. I quickly moved away from it in my .20Tac and my cleaning got way easier.
Try Ramshot's TAC or one of the VV's such as VV133 or VV530 they will help. I am exited to hear about the new CFE223 powder from Hodgdon as I think it will be a good candidate for the .204 according to data on their site.

Mine shoots a little crooked but not too bad.
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If I could only have one for coyotes, I would probably choose .223. I have both and like both of them. It's really comparing apples and oranges. I shoot a 60 gr vmax in the .223 and a 35 gr berger in the .204 with H4895 powder. Sure killed a lot of yotes with the .204 running 3900 fps out of my AR. I carry my 6.5 grendel AR or bolt .243 more than the other two, but that is not what was asked.

Like Venatic, my .204 shoots a little crooked, but not bad. Excuse the target...out of targets that day.

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.204
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Originally Posted By: Crowsniper.17HMRI'm for a fast...flat shooting cal... The biggest critter I plan to take with it will be the coyote. Price of ammo is a factor.

Then the .223 Rem is what you want.

DAB
 
Every one keeps asking if he reloads. While I understand where you guys are coming from, if your gonna shoot "good" ammo like say Hornady the price difference between the two nil. You can get cheaper remanufactured ammo for 5.56 but I would say the biggest advagtage for reloading would go to the .223 because of the availability cheap brass. That being said the 6x45 is better then either choice...
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I use a 204 for P-Dogs.
I use a 12 Ga. shotgun with #4 buckshot or a 243 for song dogs.

The reason for 243 is that we have mountain lion come in sometimes when calling for yotes.
 
Quote:From My personal experience, it is spot on. I have owned and loaded for 3 .204's all different brands, None would shoot less than 1 1/2 or 2 inches at 100 yds.

Sounds like 3 non-conflicting illusions defining a fact.
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Never heard of one that wouldn't shoot sub MOA with the proper load. Heck, I have a Savage 12 FCV that shot sub MOA out of the box with factory ammo and .2s and .3s with a tuned load. My wife likes to use it to touch off dime diameter tubes of Tannerite at 100 yd.
 
I have shot both 204 and 223 and Yes I suppose if you were buying cheap ammo for the 223 then you would probably definitely beat the price for factory loaded rounds for the 204 but if you are planning on saving the hides, if you are shooting coyotes or bobcats, then the 204 is the way to go. The extra speed out of the 204 is nice.
 
JDolezal -

Yup, shot crooked alright...wrong bullet. 1-12 twist is marginal for 40gr and definitely too slow for 50s in a .204. You can overcome some of that with more velocity. Not sure it's possible with a 50gr, though.

Barrels can be finicky. Mine shoots 40gr Vmax and Noslers great but does the same thing as in your pic with 39gr SBKs.

The problem is that, sometimes, a 1-12 twist is a 1-12.5 or so.
Factory barrels aren't always what they list.
 
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I knew what I was getting myself into. My rifle really likes the 40gr Noslers and shoots the 45gr Hornadys pretty well also. I was just trying to see if I could send a 50gr bullet out of my barrel fast enough to stabilize. They came around quite a bit but I gave up.
 
I carried my 204... 223... 243... and 22-250 on my little western trip last month.... but ended up only shooting my 223.

I wanted to shoot a dog with each caliber.... but the 223 ended up being the easiest to grab and go...

I think I had a couple of crooked bullets as well... on the ones I missed...
 
Originally Posted By: Crowsniper.17HMRI have owned the .243 and the .270...both are way overkill for yotes.

I don't care if I kill them or overkill them. Just as long as they are dead!
 
Tried 45gr Hornadys, myself. Didn't do too well, though. Next barrel is going to have a 1-11 twist. I'm afraid I overheated the barrel on a hot prairie dog day. Throat looks a bit toasted in the bore scope so I'm surprised it will still keep 10 rounds in a quarter sized hole.
 
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223

It is more versatile. Growing number of hunters using it for larger game as well, as the ammo being made specifically for larger game & that 223 has taken hold recently. Hard to argue against the 223 anymore.

Hard to look past the accuracy & ammo availability.

223
 
Originally Posted By: Kevin2223

It is more versatile. Growing number of hunters using it for larger game as well, as the ammo being made specifically for larger game & that 223 has taken hold recently. Hard to argue against the 223 anymore.

Hard to look past the accuracy & ammo availability.

223

x2 - used my Savage to drop 2 bambis this year via neck shots - neither one ran more than 20 yards.

It sure is nice to buy ammo for 10 bucks a box.
 
I love my CZ-USA Varmint .204 Heavy barrel Rifle,it shoots good and flat and accurate and it has put down every Coyote I have shot...still if Your Hunting in high winds or some thick cover the .223 will be a better Rifle/Caliber to use in my opinion....and if Your contemplating any larger Game like Hogs or larger Predators the .223 will have more knock-down power.


JDolezal,I'm thinking if Your bullets are Key-holeing (Shooting Crooked)You either need to clean Your barrel or go back to a lighter grain bullet,I'm thinking Your pushing it going to any bullet over 40 grains?
 
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