The .204 Ruger is the purest varmint cartridge in common use: nobody buys one to shoot deer, so every factory load in it was built for exactly what you are doing.
Thirteen of them, and the newest is the fastest thing on this site — the 24 grain NTX Superformance leaves at 4,400 feet per second.
The loads
| Brand | Load | Bullet | Grain | BC | Test barrel | Muzzle | 300 yd | 500 yd | Muzzle energy | 500 yd energy | Drop at 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornady | Superformance Varmint ★ | NTX® | 24 | 0.170 | 26” | 4,400 | 2,504 | 1,604 | 1,032 | 137 | -33.0” |
| Federal | V Shok | Nosler | 32 | 0.206 | — | 4,030 | 2,523 | 1,755 | 1,154 | 219 | -33.1” |
| Hornady | Superformance Varmint | V-MAX® | 32 | 0.210 | 26” | 4,225 | 2,683 | 1,899 | 1,268 | 256 | -29.0” |
| Nosler | Trophy Grade Varmint | BTLF | 32 | 0.288 | — | 3,800 | 2,478 | 1,783 | 1,026 | 226 | -34.5” |
| Nosler | Varmageddon | FBHP | 32 | 0.131 | — | 4,000 | 1,832 | 1,053 | 1,136 | 79 | -62.1” |
| Nosler | Varmageddon | FB Tipped | 32 | 0.204 | — | 4,000 | 2,487 | 1,718 | 1,137 | 210 | -33.9” |
| Remington | Premier Accutip-V | Accutip-V | 32 | 0.210 | — | 4,225 | 2,652 | — | 1,268 | — | — |
| Winchester | Varmint X | Varmint X | 32 | 0.210 | — | — | 2,526 | 1,770 | 1,137 | 223 | -32.9” |
| HSM | Varmint Gold | MVFB | 35 | 0.179 | 26” | 3,829 | — | — | 1,140 | — | — |
| Federal | V Shok | Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint | 40 | 0.239 | — | 3,650 | 2,421 | 1,766 | 1,183 | 277 | -36.5” |
| HSM | Varmint Gold | Match Varmint Boattail | 40 | 0.277 | 26” | 3,581 | — | — | 1,139 | — | — |
| Hornady | Superformance Varmint | V-MAX® | 40 | 0.275 | 26” | 3,900 | 2,755 | 2,133 | 1,351 | 404 | -28.1” |
| Remington | Premier Accutip-V | Accutip-V | 40 | 0.275 | — | 3,900 | 2,677 | — | — | — | — |
What I would buy
The 32 or 40 grain V-MAX, and the choice between them is wind. The 40 grain carries a 0.275 ballistic coefficient against the 32 grain’s 0.210, and by 500 yards that is the difference between 2,133 feet per second and 1,899.
The 24 grain NTX is a specialist, and worth understanding before you buy it. It is lead-free, it leaves faster than anything else here, and it sheds that speed faster than anything else here too — 4,400 at the muzzle down to 1,604 at 500 yards, and 137 foot-pounds left. Inside 250 yards it is spectacular and it will not exit. Past 350 it is the wrong choice on this page.
Nothing here is a poor coyote load, which is the advantage of a cartridge nobody has tried to make into a deer round.
The full chart
Every load, every published figure, from the muzzle to 500 yards. It scrolls sideways.
| Brand | Load | Grain | Bullet | BC | Muzzle | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | Muzzle energy | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | Zero | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hornady | Superformance Varmint ★ | 24 | NTX® | 0.170 | 4,400 | 3,667 | 3,046 | 2,504 | 2,023 | 1,604 | 1,032 | 717 | 494 | 334 | 218 | 137 | -1.5 | 0.6 | 0 | -4.3 | -14.3 | -33.0 |
| Federal | V Shok | 32 | Nosler | 0.206 | 4,030 | 3,465 | 2,968 | 2,523 | 2,119 | 1,755 | 1,154 | 853 | 626 | 452 | 319 | 219 | — | 0.7 | 0.0 | -4.7 | -14.9 | -33.1 |
| Hornady | Superformance Varmint | 32 | V-MAX® | 0.210 | 4,225 | 3,645 | 3,137 | 2,683 | 2,272 | 1,899 | 1,268 | 944 | 699 | 512 | 367 | 256 | -1.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | -4.1 | -13.1 | -29.0 |
| Nosler | Trophy Grade Varmint | 32 | BTLF | 0.288 | 3,800 | 3,311 | 2,875 | 2,478 | 2,114 | 1,783 | 1,026 | 719 | 587 | 436 | 317 | 226 | -1.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | -5.1 | -15.9 | -34.5 |
| Nosler | Varmageddon | 32 | FBHP | 0.131 | 4,000 | 3,148 | 2,438 | 1,832 | 1,347 | 1,053 | 1,136 | 704 | 422 | 239 | 129 | 79 | -1.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -7.1 | -24.8 | -62.1 |
| Nosler | Varmageddon | 32 | FB Tipped | 0.204 | 4,000 | 3,433 | 2,934 | 2,487 | 2,081 | 1,718 | 1,137 | 837 | 612 | 439 | 308 | 210 | -1.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | -4.8 | -15.3 | -33.9 |
| Remington | Premier Accutip-V | 32 | Accutip-V | 0.210 | 4,225 | 3,632 | 3,114 | 2,652 | 2,234 | — | 1,268 | 938 | 689 | 500 | 355 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Winchester | Varmint X | 32 | Varmint X | 0.210 | — | 3,449 | 2,962 | 2,526 | 2,129 | 1,770 | 1,137 | 845 | 623 | 453 | 322 | 223 | — | 0.7 | 0.0 | -4.7 | -14.9 | -32.9 |
| HSM | Varmint Gold | 35 | MVFB | 0.179 | 3,829 | — | — | — | — | — | 1,140 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Federal | V Shok | 40 | Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint | 0.239 | 3,650 | 3,200 | 2,793 | 2,421 | 2,079 | 1,766 | 1,183 | 909 | 693 | 520 | 384 | 277 | — | 1.0 | — | -5.4 | -16.9 | -36.5 |
| HSM | Varmint Gold | 40 | Match Varmint Boattail | 0.277 | 3,581 | — | — | — | — | — | 1,139 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hornady | Superformance Varmint | 40 | V-MAX® | 0.275 | 3,900 | 3,482 | 3,103 | 2,755 | 2,433 | 2,133 | 1,351 | 1,077 | 855 | 674 | 526 | 404 | -1.5 | 0.7 | 0.0 | -4.3 | -13.2 | -28.1 |
| Remington | Premier Accutip-V | 40 | Accutip-V | 0.275 | 3,900 | 3,451 | 3,046 | 2,677 | 2,336 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Notes on the data
These are the manufacturers’ published figures, not chronograph readings of mine, and where a maker publishes nothing the cell is empty rather than guessed. That is why the HSM and Remington rows stop at the muzzle: those two publish a muzzle figure and nothing downrange. Sources: Hornady, Nosler, Winchester, Federal, Remington and Browning.
★ marks a load added in the September 2026 catalog check. The bulk of this table was compiled some years ago, and re-reading the manufacturers’ current line-ups turned up loads that had never been in it. Where a load in this table is no longer in a maker’s current catalog it stays, because a discontinued load is exactly what you want to look up when you have half a box on the shelf.
Test barrel lengths differ between rows, and it matters more than people expect. Read that column before comparing two muzzle velocities.
Know a load that should be here? Tell me and I will add it. And check your state’s rules before you go.