Is the 204 ruger dead?

[Jkean949]

Apparently not!
If I could only have one rifle, it would be a 223 no question.. Well if I could only have one I would probably jump off a tall building.
I have very limited hobbies- shooting/reloading/hunting/gun collecting- and being in the mountains. Prob. no valkyrie for me (maybe a 22 ARC). I forgot to mention my bigger varmint guns- 6ARC, 243 AI, 6 Creed, 6.5 grendel, & 6.5 Creed. And rimfire rifles... Oh and i like 3 screw Rugers, S&W revolvers and 1911's, but I don't own a glock or any double action autos.

Yesterday when my wife came home from work, I was an hour down a rabbit hole looking at German made axes & hatchets, all because of a thread on here. She said "are you going to start collecting those now?"
Well I might have to, I couldn't sleep last night thinking about this:

Helko Werk Vario Universal Hatchet

Handmade in Germany. The Vario 2000 Universal Hatchet is a durable and reliable outdoorsman's tool. At 18 inches long, this hatchet can be easily strapped to your pack for any wilderness excursion.

www.helkonorthamerica.com

...to be fair, that's a damn fine axe! haha I may need one of those too.

Same for me on the hobbies although I will admit to being new to reloading...amazing what it can do for accuracy. I kept telling myself I wanted to get into it and Covid hit and I had time, but buying components by then I had missed the boat and everything was scarce. Some patience and shootingbot helped me find primers.

I do find that the hobby list seems to always have something to do with shooting and hunting though.

 

[Jkean949]

I stand corrected. The 375 Ruger is still commercially available in both rifles and factory ammo. Great cartridge, but probably not a huge commercial success.

There's a pretty full field to compete against at 375, tough market.

 

[Unckebob]

Is there a single cartridge that Ruger developed that isn’t functionally defunct with respect to commercial ammo and firearms offerings?

I was thinking about that the other day. I was trying to think of the last cartridge, named for a rifle company, that was a really big hit?
- Most of the new cartridges are named for things like legend
- Noslers will survive as long as Nosler makes brass for it.
- 450 Bushmaster will survive because of the straight walled states, but it is a big hit imo.

 

[Bassaro]

I’m getting tired of year after year “new wonder round” marketing. Almost all these calibers have velocities that can only be hit by hand loading. And as a reloader I can tell you that even if you hit the velocity the round is being marketed for that doesn’t mean your rifle will shoot it well.

 

[ElPollo]

I was thinking about that the other day. I was trying to think of the last cartridge, named for a rifle company, that was a really big hit?
- Most of the new cartridges are named for things like legend
- Noslers will survive as long as Nosler makes brass for it.
- 450 Bushmaster will survive because of the straight walled states, but it is a big hit imo.

The big difference is that back in the day, gun and ammo manufacture was generally done by the same company, there were a lot less of them, and each one had more market share. Now ammo manufacture is separate, and new cartridges can only be a success if they are adopted by multiple gun manufacturers.

 

[aer21]

It might be dying but I don’t think it should be. Well, I’m not firm on that yet. I like the round, fast and flat for coyotes. Biggest problem for me is they marketed it for varmints and there is not a single good coyote bullet out there commercially. But I’ve found a custom to try, the 38gr Unmissig. I have a few loaded up with a very quick tune to try on coyotes before I decide if they are worth spending more time on. Haven’t shot any with it yet, missed a couple.

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

after 6 weeks of checking gun broker i haven't had much luck with a left hand 204 Ruger.

Winchester released a .223 bolt XPR extreme. should hit the shelves in late July Has 1 in 8 twist I am little concerned it might not like the 53 Gr V-max.
I think Ruger at some point will make the new Ruger American in left hand. they have a right hand 204 Ruger. I emailed them but they just say at this point they don't know. my guess is down the road they make a left either in 204 or 223
My third option it to build a NY compliant AR in 204 Ruger. Ones its New York complaint it's not really a AR as we know it. 5 round mag for hunting no threads on barrel and no pistol grip or thumbhole stock. Have to us a Thoresen stock. PLUS have to get a semi auto permit to buy one, with takes a year.

I think I rather just get a bolt gun.

 

[kswaterfowl]

after 6 weeks of checking gun broker i haven't had much luck with a left hand 204 Ruger.

Winchester released a .223 bolt XPR extreme. should hit the shelves in late July Has 1 in 8 twist I am little concerned it might not like the 53 Gr V-max.
I think Ruger at some point will make the new Ruger American in left hand. they have a right hand 204 Ruger. I emailed them but they just say at this point they don't know. my guess is down the road they make a left either in 204 or 223
My third option it to build a NY compliant AR in 204 Ruger. Ones its New York complaint it's not really a AR as we know it. 5 round mag for hunting no threads on barrel and no pistol grip or thumbhole stock. Have to us a Thoresen stock. PLUS have to get a semi auto permit to buy one, with takes a year.

I think I rather just get a bolt gun.

You could build one off a zermatt origin action. They offer left hand actions with 378 bolt face. That's probably the route I would go, if I didn't already have a Tikka.

 

[Goatie]

As a proud owner of a pretty decent custom .204 and enjoyed seeing what the caliber can do… it might not be dead, but it’s reaching .300 Weatherby Mag status. With the increasing popularity of suppressors and thus the preference for shortened barrels (neutering its speeds), not to mention boutique pricing of the ammo, it won’t be long for this world.

Call me cynical but after seeing a few of my favorite public land pdog grounds get poisoned out last year, and this constant cyclical shortage of everything but 9mm, .223, and .308…. there’s just no reason to own a cartridge that is only good for one thing. Killing really small creatures really really fast and awesomely, just isn’t enough of reason for it to survive the long term commercial market.

 

[Unckebob]

after 6 weeks of checking gun broker i haven't had much luck with a left hand 204 Ruger.

Winchester released a .223 bolt XPR extreme. should hit the shelves in late July Has 1 in 8 twist I am little concerned it might not like the 53 Gr V-max.
I think Ruger at some point will make the new Ruger American in left hand. they have a right hand 204 Ruger. I emailed them but they just say at this point they don't know. my guess is down the road they make a left either in 204 or 223
My third option it to build a NY compliant AR in 204 Ruger. Ones its New York complaint it's not really a AR as we know it. 5 round mag for hunting no threads on barrel and no pistol grip or thumbhole stock. Have to us a Thoresen stock. PLUS have to get a semi auto permit to buy one, with takes a year.

I think I rather just get a bolt gun.

Buy a left hand Savage and swap the barrel out?

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

You could build one off a zermatt origin action. They offer left hand actions with 378 bolt face. That's probably the route I would go, if I didn't already have a Tikka.

Thanks I look into that. I was sure hoping to find a factory gun to save cost, but at least if i build i get just what i want.

Buy a left hand Savage and swap the barrel out?

I will look into that, I kind of been staying away from savage. I only owned one savage and i was not very happy with it. It was one of their cheaper models. I can get a savage axis left hand 223 for $350 or a 110 elite precision 223 for $1900 This seems to be the only savages with the smaller bolt for the 204 Ruger. I thinking the axis is not worth barreling and be time I rebarrle the elite I be back to custom cost.

​

 

[MTRaine]

The 204 is only dead if you want it to be . I originally built a 20-223AI but after getting a bad reamer I had to scrap a barrel and almost gave up on my 20 cal dream. A couple months later I magically stumbled across a couple cases of ammo @ 69 cents a loaded round, and bought another blank, and spun up a 204.
The next go round I may just go 223, but I’ll worry about that in 3-4000 rounds when I run out of ammunition and reloading components. That being said if your heart is set on a .20 cal a .20 practical or tactical is an easier choice but you’ll have to reload. 204 ruger stuff can be hard to find but if it’s really what you want just keep looking but be ready to pounce when the moment comes. Moral of the story? Being lefty is hard, but if you really want to try something don’t give up. We just have to be more patient than the righties.