should I convert my AR to .204, if so please give advice!

Hibs

Hibs

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Hey fellow predator masters, got a question for you all. I built my first AR a year and a half ago, spending some good money on it buying descent parts. Rock River Arms predator pursuit 20" upper in .223 wylde, assembled a spikes lower with RRA 2 stage trigger and LPK, lightweight yellow springs, leupold Mark AR scope, etc etc.... anyways, to make a long story short, I built this gun as a coyote/fox hunting rifle for back home in the midwest where we often have long shots in wide open fields. My first outing with it left me struggling to connect over 300 yards (no rangefinder) meanwhile my father in law uses a 22-250 that is like a darn laser beam at any distance. Looking at the ballistic charts, it's no comparison... so that got me thinking... An AR in 22-250 would be great, but there doesn't seem to be many available offerings. From what I can tell, a 204 is darn near identical to the ballistics of a 22-250.... and it seems to be an easy swap on my current AR. Though this poses a couple of questions...

I do not reload. But I maybe shoot only 30-40 times a year. Will I be ok with the availability of factory loads for a 204?

From what I can tell, I can simply swap the barrel on my upper to a 204 and be off to the races. Some also suggest a bolt swap. So... should I modify my current upper, or just sell it and buy a 204 upper?

Any and all suggestions are welcome! And since I know every loves pictures, here's my AR in it's current configuration. Even though the .223 wasn't ideal last year, it still proved successful
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ARs are commonly known as "Lego" firearms....If you have the proper tools, you can swap barrels yourself, as well as make most other modifications...Unless you have a bunch of wear on your current bolt, the one you have should not be a problem...You can use the same bolt carrier if you want to change it out...There are numerous written and video instructions for doing so..

With the exception of some of the polymer magazines, the switch between .223 and .204 is relatively painless...For convenience, you can just get a .204 upper and switch them out and keep your .223...

As to using factory ammo, there is a company called HSM that used to produce .204 rounds with various bullets from Berger, Hornady, and Sierra in a variety of bullet weights from 32gr to 40gr...I have a couple of boxes of each from when I got my first .204, while looking for the most accurate, before I started reloading...Hornady and Remington also produce factory rounds, but in much more limited choices...You might do a search on HSM and see what is currently available....Obviously, hand loads are the ultimate in accuracy and effect...

Your optic for a .204 is about as important as the round itself...My AR .204 was built for Varmint shooting and I've gotten familiar enough with the Mil Dot reticle that I don't have to spin the turrets for a target rich situation and my optic is a 4-16x...I have a trajectory calculation for my rounds that has been verified at various ranges, so it's just a matter of see and shoot...You will find that within reasonable distances, the .204 is much more versatile than the .223 when applied to small game....
 
Thanks for the sound advice. I think I am going to try and get a DPMS barrel, as they seem to be the best fit in my budget. I assembled my lower myself, and have watched the videos of doing an upper. Definitely a task I can handle.

Looking at MidwayUSA, there does seem to be lot of factory loads that were made at one time, but very little available right now. I assume it's because all manufactures switched to producing the most popular stuff to get caught back up on all the scare buying? I'll keep an eye out on the ammo availability though the next couple months before I go changing barrels out.

My Leupold Mark AR scope is a standard 3-9x40 but does have Mil-Dot reticles that I plan to get used to. I am also buying a range finder here soon, so I know that will help (even with the current 223 configure). I'm not trying to make those 500+ yard shots all the time, but I would definitely like less of a bullet drop in the 250-400 yard range then what my 223 has!
 
Keep your upper and build a .204 upper, makes changing a lot easier. I love to be able to swap them out whenever the mood strikes me.

I have a 24in bull barrel Specialized Dynamics .204, one of the first that Scott ever built and I got mine for much the same reasons that you are looking at.

My friend Smooth and I were prairie dog hunting one trip and my 16in .223 Rem was just not getting it done well enough. I too wanted the ballistics of the 22-250 and being a AR fan I asked Scott to build up a .204 upper for me. Those prairie dogs aren't laughing so much anymore. It does a good job on coyotes as well. Not really too good for saving fur unless you get the right combo of bullet and speed.

I have a Bushnell 6-24X44mm scope mounted on it with a custome trigger that Scott did up for me. I have shot it out to 850 yards in long range precision rifle competitions and you are right it is like a laser.


Yote 2 2 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr
 
I would also keep the .223 upper and buy a complete .204 upper. You can get uppers on Gun Broker with Schilen barrels for $550 I believe. Comes with everything but the BCG. I've had a complete DPMS LR-204 on order for 5 months now and they are saying it could be another 5-6 before it arrives.
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Try to get the 35 bergers to try if you are hunting coyotes.. great trajectory bergers are a little tougher to penetrate a coyote. 32 vmax or bk maybe not quite as tough.

Some others may weigh in with thoughts for 204 bullets for coyote hunting.
 

The 35 gr berger is good coyote medicine for a 204. I have tried several brands of factory ammo and it shoots tight groups with VMAX and BK but there is something special about the devastating effect that the berger bullet has on a coyote.

Originally Posted By: ilmoTry to get the 35 bergers to try if you are hunting coyotes.. great trajectory bergers are a little tougher to penetrate a coyote. 32 vmax or bk maybe not quite as tough.

Some others may weigh in with thoughts for 204 bullets for coyote hunting.

 
I have had no experience with the 35 grain Bergers, but I hear a lot of good things about them. I do know a lot about the 39 grain Blitz Kings, having reloaded them for my grandson, Josh. He had been shooting lighter bullets and having coyotes get up and exit the field after knocking them down. That quit happening with the 39 grain BK, and it will flat out group too.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. Anyone ever deal with J&T Distributing? I just found them via Google search, seem to have a descent priced 204 upper.... it's 20", which I would prefer for a carry coyote gun, though I know people say 24" is the way to go on these 204 rugers... does that 4" really make a noticeable difference in ballistic performance?

http://jtdistributing.net/store/product186.html
 
To keep the full benefit of the .204 cartridge, stick with a 22" barrel as a minimum...Remington, at one time, produced a shorter barrel for on of their ARs in 18" and finally dropped the line due to complaints...But then, I think some were trying to make the .204 into a "do all" cartridge, which it is not...It was originally developed as a low recoil, flat shooting Varmint round...

When I had my custom .204 upper built, my initial thought was for a shorter barrel, but fortunately the builder talked some common sense into me and I settled for the 22" and have been happy that I took his advice...
 
Originally Posted By: OldTurtleTo keep the full benefit of the .204 cartridge, stick with a 22" barrel as a minimum...Remington, at one time, produced a shorter barrel for on of their ARs in 18" and finally dropped the line due to complaints...But then, I think some were trying to make the .204 into a "do all" cartridge, which it is not...It was originally developed as a low recoil, flat shooting Varmint round...

When I had my custom .204 upper built, my initial thought was for a shorter barrel, but fortunately the builder talked some common sense into me and I settled for the 22" and have been happy that I took his advice...

Thanks... there is a brand new DPMS 24" upper for sale on GunBroker right now. I might try to sell my Predator Pursuit upper to swing it...
 
A good, and accurate in my .204 rifles, factory load is Hornady's 45gr soft point.....''

I'm inclined like others here to suggest that you hang on to that .223 upper.....I suspect down the road you'll wish you had it.

Tactiko Arms down in TX has had 20" Shilen .204 barrels for sale at reasonable prices.

I picked one up and had my gunsmith put together the upper shown here.

You could do it yourself, but I'm just not that mechanically inclined....


 
Well, sold my RRA upper... and decided to build my own 204 upper. I built my own lower, but this will be my first upper. I'm confident it should go just as easy.

Went to JoeBobs and they were running a sale on blemished uppers, so I picked one up along with a BCG, gas tube, and forward assist/dust cover kit. Got a notification that it all ready shipped, woohoo! Price total is as follow:

JoeBobs Blem upper receiver $61.95
JoeBobs BCG $99.95
RRA forward assist $13.95
RRA dust cover $8.95
Spikes rifle length gas tube $15.95

Total came to $190.71 with my military discount and free shipping.

Went to Brownells and back-ordered a DPMS 24" 1x12 twist fluted 204 ruger barrel. Total came to $236.88/shipped. Hopefully doesn't take to long for the barrel order to fill.

Only things left to buy are charging handle, barrel nut, and handguard. I'm leaning towards an AP Customs 15" carbon fiber free float guard to keep the weight down, since it all ready will be heavy with the 24" barrel. It's pricey, but sure looks like it will fit the bill.
 
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Sears was running a sale on a 6" bench vise. It was a discounted price, plus free shipping to your door. I went ahead and snagged it up, as I'll need it for assembling the upper. Not to mention, I've wanted a bench vise for a long time now. Came to $68.52/shipped. Then $5 at home depot for bolts to mount it.



No word on the barrel yet. MidwayUSA has the same barrel listed as backordered, with an expected in stock date of January 8th 2014.... hopefully Brownells isn't much later then that!
 
Im late, but was going to add I have 2 AR15s in 223 w/20" barrels and hove no problem shooting and dropping coyotes to 400 yards, even at night w/my NV setup.
That said, I do spend a lot of time at the range shooting using just the mildots on my scopes. I chrony everything and use ballistic charts taped to the stocks w/those speeds out of that gun.
I shot a pals .204 AR at the range last week, 24" bbl and popped 500 yards w/ease. So as long as you put in some range time I feel you will be good to go with your new build.
Keep us posted when you get it all done.
Amazon is you friend for AR15 parts also...all of them and less than other places.
 
Originally Posted By: mpitmannI would also keep the .223 upper and buy a complete .204 upper. You can get uppers on Gun Broker with Schilen barrels for $550 I believe. Comes with everything but the BCG. I've had a complete DPMS LR-204 on order for 5 months now and they are saying it could be another 5-6 before it arrives.
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I see DPMS 204 uppers for sale on GB all the time.My step father picked one up there a couple months ago. You might want to cancel your order and go to GB and pick one up.
 
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I got notification from Brownells yesterday that my barrel shipped! woohoo! Guess I need to order that handguard and last few pieces faster then I thought!
 
Talked to my local gs last weekend and they think it should be coming pretty soon, as DPMS is finally getting caught up on orders.

I talked to a DPMS rep in the summer and he said due to the little demand for the .204 AR's they only due a few big builds a year to fill orders and call it good until they start to pile up again.

I'll play the waiting game for a little while longer.
 
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