22-204

[Bill K]

You are correct, should read 222 Rem Mag, not swift. That round/cartridge case is the parent case to the 204 Ruger.

You need to check those dimensions..

 

[AWS]

And again you need to check the dimensions. You need to think like a wildcatter.

The 204 Ruger is NOT a 20-222 Rem Mag, it is a 20-222 Rem Mag Improved 30 degree. The 204 uses the same head diameter and case length, but the shoulder is moved forward(shorter neck), body slightly straightened and the shoulder angle changed to 30 degrees.

 

[alf]

And again you need to check the dimensions. You need to think like a wildcatter.

The 204 Ruger is NOT a 20-222 Rem Mag, it is a 20-222 Rem Mag Improved 30 degree. The 204 uses the same head diameter and case length, but the shoulder is moved forward(shorter neck), body slightly straightened and the shoulder angle changed to 30 degrees.

More appropriately, it would be a 20-222 Rem Mag Gibbs Improved.....

 

[MEdude]

Once I ream the chamber to 22-204, how should I re-identify the barrel / firearm as such?
If I get hit by a bus, how will the next user know what it really is, as the barrel says .223 REM?

 

[Denver_AR]

Once I ream the chamber to 22-204, how should I re-identify the barrel / firearm as such?
If I get hit by a bus, how will the next user know what it really is, as the barrel says .223 REM?

The handful of barrels I've had installed, the gunsmith has laser engraved caliber info. Personally I wouldn't care how they overwrote or obscured the previous caliber info.

 

[AWS]

Noo need to get the magnifying glass out, the barrels are covered anyway.

 

[nakneker]

My 22-204 is sitting at the house, arrived today from from Old Dominion Custom Rifles, I’ll
post a pic when I get home in a couple days and shoot it a bit this weekend. Had to do it after all the
positive comments on this thread, mostly Alf’s fault. I used Alf’s reamer print and it has a 1-8 twist, should be fun. Built on a Tikka action.

 

[Ackman]

As to magazines..........

A trick I came up with on Remington 700's was to take a 223 magazine box, remove the spacer in the rear, then take a machined follower and grind/file the sides till it slides up & down in the mag box w/o binding.

Now you can utilize the full 2.800" mag box length for seating the bigger bullets out where they belong, with plenty of room to spare.

Bonus, now six rounds will fit down in the magazine, with one more in the pipe.

Reading this thread again and saw your post. My 22-204 had a block for single shot, with a .020' freebore chamber the round was just a tad too long for the mag box. Finally got around to fixing things, but a bit differently. Made an aluminum spacer about 1/2 the thickness of a .223 spacer, and used the stock follower. The spring needed to be slid back a bit in a (stamped) follower to get the proper angle, now it works ok even on the last shot. Doing it again I'd probably use your method.

 

[nakneker]

I was out of town a couple, came home this afternoon and the 22-204 build from Zack/OCDR was waiting. The 22-204 is in the McMillan stock on the left, rifle on the right is a stock Tikka 22-250. Got the brass, got the dies, the bushings, Berger 80s are waiting. Just need to get it going, should be shooting it’s first groups this weekend. Prepped brass tonight….


Gonna need a mag that allows a longer OAL, found one, pictured below. Not cheap but they are good mags and give me what I want.

 

[17VLD]

Beautiful build Nakneker I bet it shoots very well. Have you wrung it out yet?
You,AWS, and Alf are detrimental to my wallet.I have a new take off Varmint weight Rem 700 barrel in 223 and 1700 pcs of 222 mag brass that need to be used in conjunction with some 53 Vmaxs.Time to order a reamer, fireforming on pd’s and chucks won’t bother me at all. Thinking the 22-204 will be my new favorite winter coyote rifle.

 

[MEdude]

This thread has been motivational! I am currently working out reamer details.

Simultaneously, looking to start working on cases. I’ve been reloading for about a year. First time I’ll be working on anything other than standard saami cartridges.
What tooling / process is being used to expand the neck on the .204 brass?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Denver_AR]

This thread has been motivational! I am currently working out reamer details.

Simultaneously, looking to start working on cases. I’ve been reloading for about a year. First time I’ll be working on anything other than standard saami cartridges.
What tooling / process is being used to expand the neck on the .204 brass?

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I recommend JGS for the reamer. Although they won't advise on reamer dimensions they can provide specs for 22-204 reamers they've made in the past (and have been released to public).
I'm running an RCBS Universal decapping die with a 22 cal tapered expander ball. I've run about 50 Nosler and couple hundred Winchester cases with no split necks as yet. I have the die installed in station 4 of a Dillon 650 press with no other dies in place. As the case goes by station 3 I hit the inside of the case neck with the lubed Qtip. Not sure any lube is necessary but not a big deal to apply.

 

[HillbillyLongRifle]

22-204 has become my Favorite Coyote Cartridge!

 

[AckleymanII]

JGS has my reamer print on file for the 22/204 with .020 freebore, it is open for the public to use.

in the 12T barrel, I shoot the 53g V max at 3700 and the 55g nosler ballistic tip, 29.2g of IMR 8208, Win case, CCI br4 primer, and please work up to this load in your chamber.

Tac works well with the 53 and 55, just not quite as fast. A friend is working on a load with AR Comp with 55's.

I also have a 6/204, shooting the 70g tnt and ballistic tips at 3500 with amazing accuracy.

I use Redding S Full length and Busing dies, and forster 222 Mag die where the reamer has ben ran in.

I have a 9T Shilen, and the barrel absolutely loves the 69g Sierra punching a single bullet hole at 3150 with a max load shoting in the high 3's at 3350 fps.

 

[G Love]

Been on the mind again. But I have a question now that I'm not sure anyone has asked. If I wanted to run DBM (which I do) what would the best option be? 223 mag and modify it?

 

[kochie]

Thanks, that's what I want to hear! BTW, do you get 50 mpg with that hog? Cool little ride for hunting.

There’s really nothing new out there but what ever trips your trigger.

 

[Denver_AR]

Been on the mind again. But I have a question now that I'm not sure anyone has asked. If I wanted to run DBM (which I do) what would the best option be? 223 mag and modify it?

I have found this may not be a simple answer and will depend on bullet and OAL you want to run. I'm still waiting on my 22-204 barrel to return from 'smith but here's my current experience with two mags that allowed me to run up to at least 2.500" OAL with 223 AI.

My goal is to run heavies (80gr - 90gr) and of course run them as long as feasible, keeping the boat-tail junction just above the neck-shoulder junction in the case.

The MDT metal mags can be modified to handle up to about 2.500" OAL with an easy modification to plastic liner. (See pic in this link) My only problem with the MDT mags is the feed lips are a bit short for my Terminus action. I would occasionally have rounds release from the mag before bullet entered chamber resulting in a feed jam (running a 223 AI cartridge at 2.450" OAL).
I've since moved to Accurate mags (still with the 223 AI). With some additional modification they can take up to 2.630" OAL. My 22-204 cartridges are currently 2.620" and I could probably get another .025-.050" but waiting to get some rounds through barrel to see if it warrants the effort.
Here's a video showing modification to internal liner on the Accurate mags.

 

[Denver_AR]

I just completed my 2nd 22-204 build. Needed something for Pdogs so built up an Aero Solus with Mullerworks 24" (12 twist) barrel.
Final load will be 53 Vmax over 27.5 gr H335, averaging 3380 FPS. Was just starting to see some primer flow with non-magnum primers at the 27.8 load.

 

[alf]

While we're doing updates, I'll post mine.

This is the 1 of 2 that I built as twins, this was the winter time one, S/S 700, 24" Krieger 8" twist in a Rem Varmint contour, McMillan Marksman stock, with a 3.15x50 NF on top.

Got my longest kill with this one at 550 yards.



I put it on a weight loss program starting off my getting the barrel fluted, which dropped 12 ozs, & mounting a Leupold VX-5 3-15x44 Firedot on top. Decided to paint the barrel white too.



Next step was for cost savings, I sold the Leupold, & mounted a Sightron S-Tac 3-15x44 on top, as the gun has languished in the safe due to zero daytime hunting. And, I took that ugly white paint off. Load is still the same, Berger 80 VLD's over Varget at 3025.
Sorry, no pics in it's current form.

 

[alf]

Now it's other twin took a radically different form from when it started.
Originally the exact same specs & build as the white gun.



First step was to get the barrel fluted, & I requested to take off as much as possible. So using a wider cutter & going deeper, exactly one pound was taken off. A year or 2 later, I wanted to set it up for a night time gun, so I had the barrel cut back 6 inches to 18 inch & threaded 5/8x24 for my can. Interestingly, velocity dropped less than 100 feet a second, going from 3025 to 2935 with the 80 VLD's.

Next, I replaced the stock with a Manners lightweight EH1, cut for M5 bottom metal, making it easier to stay legal between stands. American Precision Arms BM with MDT polymer mags lets me run the same OAL as before. I sold the NF, and mounted another S-Tac in case I decide to hunt day time, but probably unlikely.

Here it is in it's latest form with the thermal mounted ready to rock & roll.




Accuracy is as good, if not better, than previously. Anybody that's sighted in a thermal before, can appreciate these groups when checking zero set from the previous year.