After my recent "Heart Re-Plumbing" I'm on the mend but won't be able to shoot for another couple of months. When I do get back the Doc has suggested I stick with something "Low Recoil'". Have a friend at the range who had the same surgery a while ago and when he came back he did so with a new .204 Ruger (Savage). Seemed to be a super accurate round out to 300 yards.

I am seriously considering the purchase of one, most likely a Cabels's Savage 12FV that has the top bolt release so I can use an aftermarket trigger. Does anyone have a .204 Ruger in any manufacturer's rifle? How do you like it? Do you reload for it? Would you do it again?

Let me know. I have a .223 bolt action that's low recoil but the rifle is almost 18# which will be a little heavy to pack around. The Savage 12FV is just under 9# w/o scope so I figure around 10-11# fully dressed. Right at my Doc's prescribed weight limit

Let me know, I'm interested in all feedback. (BTW, I trust reviews posted here a lot more than those "published" by writers who got the loan of a rifle to evaluate and are expected to say good things.)

I have a 204 savage model 12 lpv. It was very accurate with the factory barrel. I ended up shooting the barrel off of it and had benchmark re barrel it. This gun is lights out accurate. If you load for it I would suggest 39gr sierra blitzkings. They are the best bullet for the 204 and most twists will shoot it well. The standard twist is 1 in 12 and those have a tougher time stabilizing the 40gr vmax and larger. My benchmark barrel is a 1-10. My 204 is my favorite gun and I would buy it again for sure. It's the only gun I have shot a 1/4" 5 shot group with. My load is 26gr benchmark with a 39gr sierra blitz king.

No experience with a 204 but I do have a 12fv in 22-250 and its first three rounds were inside a quarter. Bad ass rifle for 300 bucks. (Cabelas sale) I have to me of these new Boyd’s stocks coming in zombie green for 180 bucks. The 12fv has a garbage stock, I believe it’s on

http://www.atonegunstocks.com/

My Dad has an AR chambered in .204 Ruger. He loves it for plinking and varmint shooting. I’m relatively sure it even used his 5.56 mags. Might be the same bolt face so conversion could be a snap. He reloads, but hasn’t done any of these as of yet.

Helped a guy sight in his .204 this last week at Hunter Sight In. First I had ever heard of it. It seemed like a nice gun with light recoil and he was shooting very tight groups.

I don't know anything about .204, but I'm amazed by Mike's genius here. This guy can turn dogshit into gold.

Most people:
Massive heart surgery = OMG, lifestyle change, check your fun life at the door

Mike:
Massive heart surgery = New rifle, new caliber, new branch of the reloading hobby

I’m running a AR15 with a 24” Shilen. I reload for it and finding Winchester or Remington brass is difficult. No problem finding Nosler brass but it is expensove. I’m sitting on 6 bags of 100ea of new Winchester brass. If I had to do it sll,over again I would go with 20 Practical as it uses necked down 223 brass.

Building a 22 Nosler now which will more than likely take over for the 204Ruger because it can shoot the lightweight and heavy bullets. .223 40gr vs .204 40gr is pretty much a tie at 3750fps.

Have a Mossberg MVP in 204 and an AR in the chambering, super accurate round and super fun (I think). I’ve had my eye on that Savage 12FV too, but I thought they stopped making those? One note for the AR platform, I never found 204 specific mags (though I’ve read there is a company that makes them), since the shoulder is higher on the 204 case than a 223, I filed off the inside rib of a few Pmags, the mage rib is located just where the 223 case necks down, but on 204 the case is still full diameter, so filing this down eliminates any mag “bulging,” hope that makes sense. +1 for the 204, & congrats on getting back into the swing of things Mike!

The .204 is a great caliber, with the exception of brass availability. It's accurate, low recoil, and great for varmints. Barrel heating is less than with the .223. You need a tiny cleaning rod, too.

When reloading, you have to make sure you don't get bridging in the neck if you use stick powders. I bought 500 rounds of Hornady ammo to get used to the caliber and harvest the brass. I got a great deal on it on Gunbroker.

Still available. Looks like a 100 dollar mail in rebate. Combine that with 18% off Cabelas gift cards from eBay and maybe a military discount and you got yourself a inexpensive tack driver. http://www.cabelas.com/product/SAVAGE-F ... 994604.uts

Excuse me sir for askin'? But did you say your bolt action .223 weighs 18 pounds? Is this a comp-target?

It's a custom I built on a Remington SPS-Tactical action. 26" Benchmark 3-groove barrel in the MTU profile. Barrel alone is over 7 lbs. Barreled action is mounted in a Bell & Carlson "A-5 Style" Tactical/Varmint stock. Add a Harris Bipod. Ken Farrell Rail, Seekins, and a 8-32X50 scope with 30mm tube and it all adds up.

It was built to shoot heavy .223 bullets and it drills nice small groups at 300 yards with 80.5 Berger Full-Bore bullets. Fun to shoot but until the Doc says OK to carry it, I'll probably have to hire a "gun bearer" like on an African Safari.

I was seriously looking at 17 Remington but now this thread has me equivocating and vaccilating and stuff.

Suggestion for low recoil:
Get Savage 99 in .250. These were the grandfather wildcat round of the .257 Roberts and .243 later on.
VERY low recoil.
If you reload,I'll get you started on .250 brass since you're on the mend.

Gunbroker is a good place to start.
The Savage Lever action rifles are super accurate out to 300 yards.

Deadshot2's main purpose in life is to reload.