Ranging was not at all necessary, as I knew the target was within 265 yards, and that meant that I had a straight-line sight picture with no holdover whatsoever, as I had a 200-yard dead-on zero. At the shot, the 'chuck simply rolled over a couple of times and lay dead-still on the flat rock ledge above. Farther down the ledge I caught sight of additional movement and promptly located target number two. My crosshairs settled on the large pair of ears and equally large nose looking straight down my sights. With a slight squeeze of the trigger, the rifle cracked, this time pushing the big critter clean off the rock.

This gel test was performed with the new 32-grain Federal loading. Note the early separation of the bullet nose section close to the start of the wound channel. Parts of the bullet that continue almost all the way across the gel block indicate that this bullet can hold together upon impact.

Over the course of the day, we managed to glean almost 70 rockchucks, when the total from each hunter was added up. The .204 Ruger came away with some good numbers, as even in midday high crosswinds I was able to make a series of three first-shot kills at more than 400 yards uphill.

What I did find regarding the new 32-grain bullets in the Nosler BT design was that, unlike several other brands of .204 pills, these bullets were better suited to hanging together on large rockchucks. Some prairie dog shooters had indicated that the 32-grain Nosler BT bullets tended to pass through prairie dogs and not upset at all. As to that observation I would have to agree.

Back In South Dakota on my home range of prairie dogs, I set out to run my own series of controlled tests that not only employed prairie dogs but made use of Perma Gel ordnance gelatin. What I found was that the Nosler bullet retains its base as a complete and recovered unit to a weight averaging 10.7 grains. This is unlike other brands of .20-caliber needledrivers, in that most of them come completely unglued upon any target contact. In effect, the Nosler 32-grainer retains almost one-third of its total bullet weight after expansion and eruption of the front half of the projectile.

Contacting Nosler, I requested information as to the 32-grain Ballistic Tip being the very same one used in several other .204 Ruger cartridges currently being offered by other manufacturers. The answer was fast in coming. Yes, all Nosler 32-grain bullets--save for surface dressing, coatings and tip colors--are the very same pill.

My gel-block testing indicated the very same medium contact reaction regardless of brand when the 32-grain Nosler was shot through any one of three rifles. These rifles included the new CZ 527 Varmint, the H.S. Precision Series 2000 and a single-shot turnbolt Cooper Arms benchrest/ varmint rifle. Federal's loads performed very well in each of the three rifles and in all cases shot sub-MOA to sub-half-inch MOA much of the time. That is, when I could find a range day lacking those South Dakota spring winds.

FEDERAL FACTORY .204 RUGER BALLISTICS
CARTRIDGE	BULLET MFG.	BULLET WT. (grs.)	BULLET TYPE	MUZZLE VELOCITY	100 YD. VELOCITY	200 YD. VELOCITY	300 YD. VELOCITY
.204 Ruger	(F)	39	Sierra Blitz	3,750	3,363	3,008	2,682
.204 Ruger	(F)	32	Nosler BT	4,030	3,465	2,968	2,523

FEDERAL FACTORY .204 RUGER BALLISTICS
MUZZLE ENERGY	100 YD. ENERGY	200 YD. ENERGY	300 YD. ENERGY
1,218	979	784	623
1,154	853	626	452

FEDERAL FACTORY .204 RUGER BALLISTICS
100 YD. TRAJECTORY	300 YD. TRAJECTORY	400 YD. TRAJECTORY	500 YD. TRAJECTORY
+0.8	-4.7	-14.1	-29.9
+0.7	-4.7	-14.9	-33.1
Velocity figures are in feet per second. Energy figures are in foot-pounds. Trajectory reflects a 200-yd. zero.