204 Ruger

I am looking to buy an AR in either 223 or 204. One of my buddies says the barrel of a 204 will burn out fairly quickly. Do the 204s erode the barrels to fast or is that a bad rap?

Welcome to the hunting side of IDO Dave!!!

I do not know the answer to your question but I am sure that someone will jump in here with an answer soon.

Unless the barrel has some sort of goofy rifling, it should not “burn out” any faster than a different caliber.

Keep in mind how cheap you can get .223 ammo…. I would factor that into the equation.

good luck!

Thanks Steve Its the same rap the 220 swift got, loads too hot and the barrels can’t take it. Erosion of the barrel leads to accuracy problems down the line. The better performance would be nice but the 223 would be easier on the wallet for sure.

Some calibres do burn out barrels faster than others, no doubt about it. The Swift and .22-250 are well known for this. I do not know about the .204 for sure. It surely is a potent little round though. I can say that .223 unless loaded very hot are known as being pretty easy on bores.

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Some calibres do burn out barrels faster than others, no doubt about it. The Swift and .22-250 are well known for this. I do not know about the .204 for sure. It surely is a potent little round though. I can say that .223 unless loaded very hot are known as being pretty easy on bores.

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I have a buddy with a 204 Savage, and it needs to be cleaned a LOT or the accuracy suffers greatly. That high velocity bullet gets very hot very fast, so I would bet barrel wear would be greater.

So I guess That caliber would not be a good choice for a semi auto AR rifle in my opinion. I really should have bought one before now, after the Nov. 4they all went up about 500$. . I will say no more.

WOW! MY NEPHEW BOUGHT A DPS VERSION AR15 AND IS IT A TACK DRIVER!204 WORKS IN THIS GUN FOR SURE. HE’S SHOT 1000’S OF ROUNDS THROUGH IT AT PRAIRIE DOGS WITH NO ILL EFFECTS.HIS WILL SHOOT .5 MOA GROUPS AT 100 YARDS AND 1.5 MOA GROUPS AT 200 YARDS. FOR A SEMI AUTO… THATS A SHOOTER!!!

I absolutely do not buy into burned out barrels regardless of caliber. When properly maintained I do not feel it is possible for an average shooter to fire enough rounds to burn a barrel. And if you do get a new barrel. When you figure how many thousands of rounds it would take to complete such a feat, burning a barrel, replacing one wouldn’t be all that expensive. Want to keep the barrel clean at the range? Carry a Bore Snake. Takes about 15 seconds to clean a barrel. They are flat out amazing!

Exactly!

Smaller calibers generate a butt load of heat in the barrel leaving copper and lead in the groves. The bullets are so small they cannot disipate or absorb the heat. So the barrels just need to be cleaned more often. Keep ’em clean and they are tack drivers. Shooting the barrels out…I don’t think so.