204r or 20 practical?

driftbuster

New member
I have been thinking about getting a 204 bolt gun from all the great talk about them, but i bet they would be great in a ar. Anyone have some feeback? It would be used for paper,and up to coyotes.
 
Can't help you with the 204 but I have a 20pr from WOA and it shoots like a house of fire. Btween the 20pr and the 6mmWOA they are my 2 most accurate ar's that I have. I went with 20pr to be slightly different than the norm. Plus I like the fact that if I loose a few rounds here or there I won't be crying to find new factory brass. I have been running 35gr bergers and 26gr barnes over the top of benchmark and the 35's will hammer the yotes. If you use the search menu at the top of the page you will find a lot of reading. Yes the dies are a little more expensive but the cheap brass makes up for it.
 
Performance wise out of an AR they are pretty much the same. The bugaboo is that the 204 gets jammed up a bit with long/heavy bullets in a standard magazine. This can this can be mitigated somewhat by going to the longer magazines on the market like the ASC's that allow up to 2.314, stainless type NOT aluminum, to get you more room.

Additionally that little extra length may cause some feeding issues in the 204. The Wilson Combat guys swear by the Lancers to get theirs running 100%.

Personally from a $$'s standpoint the 20 PRAC is the king. I load mine using Redding 223 bushing dies, BTW I also shoot a 20 Tac, and don't regret losing a piece of brass. I shoot three 204 bolt guns also.

Last week I took delivery of a 204 Ruger AR15 upper from RPG so I can shoot a short barreled 204 and see what I think about it. I have several projects cooking and I needed one of these to fill a niche in those projects.

Let us know what you decide. No matter what it will be a learning experience.

Greg
 
I built a 20P, BHW 22", 1/10" twist on the AR15 frame.
It runs within 100-200 fps of the 204 in speed.
I went that way as stated above, brass, ease of necking down, perfect fit into standard mags, its nuts not to do a 20p or 20T.
On top of that its just nutty accurate like most 20 cals. I have no issues shooting steel at 600 yards when the winds are taking a break. 400 yards is nothing on coyote.
 
Thanks guys! The 20p is the way to go since i have a ton of brass and the ease of case forming. Only problem i see is that i might not want to shoot my 223's anymore.
Guess i could switch barrels or get a complete upper.
 
Originally Posted By: driftbusterThanks guys! The 20p is the way to go since i have a ton of brass and the ease of case forming. Only problem i see is that i might not want to shoot my 223's anymore.
Guess i could switch barrels or get a complete upper.

BTW the hot ticket to forming that brass is to run it through a standard gutted 223 die for initial sizing. You can do it with a one step bushing or the standard 20 Practical dies but as I use the bushings this is a plus for me.

Also this is a good tip to use on the 20 Practical and the 17-223. To me the less one time stress on the case the better off you are. Personal preference here but that's what I prefer to do on all my variants.

Greg
 
I love my AR in .204 Ruger... It's a heavy SOB, but it's accurate. I don't reload (saving up brass for when I do) and I shoot 1/2 MOA using a bipod and my shoulder off a table at the range. Been using 32gn Hornady factory ammo, 5 shot average was 4160 fps two days ago. The upper was made by Sabre Defense, 24 in fluted bull barrel with a 1 in 12" twist. Bought it from another user here on the forum, keep your eyes open.

- Matt

49F959DC-4165-4408-9212-121D4DB65658_zpsdlz6ftcf.jpg
 
I also love my 204 and a lancer mag is the ticket 100% mine is a Wilson Combat 18" and it shoot's great I have built 4 of them with the same barrel and all shot real good.
 
Originally Posted By: mattdenney07I love my AR in .204 Ruger... It's a heavy SOB, but it's accurate. I don't reload (saving up brass for when I do) and I shoot 1/2 MOA using a bipod and my shoulder off a table at the range. Been using 32gn Hornady factory ammo, 5 shot average was 4160 fps two days ago. The upper was made by Sabre Defense, 24 in fluted bull barrel with a 1 in 12" twist. Bought it from another user here on the forum, keep your eyes open.

- Matt

49F959DC-4165-4408-9212-121D4DB65658_zpsdlz6ftcf.jpg



Have you tried the hornady 40gr in yours?
 
I suspect nine out of ten here run Black Hole barrels for the 20P. They know a guy....

Greg

I'm one of them. I have one of the first they ever chambered.
 
Originally Posted By: tncathunterOriginally Posted By: mattdenney07I love my AR in .204 Ruger... It's a heavy SOB, but it's accurate. I don't reload (saving up brass for when I do) and I shoot 1/2 MOA using a bipod and my shoulder off a table at the range. Been using 32gn Hornady factory ammo, 5 shot average was 4160 fps two days ago. The upper was made by Sabre Defense, 24 in fluted bull barrel with a 1 in 12" twist. Bought it from another user here on the forum, keep your eyes open.

- Matt

49F959DC-4165-4408-9212-121D4DB65658_zpsdlz6ftcf.jpg



Have you tried the hornady 40gr in yours?


No, everything I've read always said the 1:12 twist won't stablize the 40gn bullets. People swear by the 35gn Bergers, and that's the first thing I'm gonna try when I get around to buying a reloading press.
 
My heavy 1-12 204 will shoot 40 gr vmax well. So I assume it would shoot the shorter 40 gr berger well also. Since it is just for pdogs I only use 32 and 34s usually.
 
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