The 20 VarTarg. In the 70's I had a *Mod 70 22-250 and 2 Hornets (martini and a savage) and was constantly wanting something with the manners of the Hornet and the capability of the 22-250 and a while after that the 17 came about on the rem and the Hornet case. There were so many reports of the fouling and wind problems at any distance that I never considered this caliber so when the 204 Ruger entered the field it made an impresssion although I still considered it a bit more than necessary for absolute efficiency and through that if they had used the Fireball case (like the 17Mk1v} instead of the 223 mag case it would have been ideal so I googled this combination and the 20 VarTarg came into view. There were many sleepless nights deciding on how to best go about getting my hands on one and in the end I ordered a Rem XR 100 BR actioned 204 Ruger. I bought a packet of ammo (just the third packed of factory I had ever bought) just to see what it was like but it lived up to my concerns of explosive results on the rabbits so I sent the rifle to the GS to have the barrel shortened by 16.5mm and rechambered for the VarTarg and this has been my small game rifle ever since. It has given me the very best accuracy of any rifle I have ever had in hand with .25 groups expected with one bragging group of .084 to hang on the wall.
The rifle as bought and after re chambering to 20VT with the 6-24 scope installed. The thumbhole stock was ok on the bench but horrible in the field.
