I hope you all can help me out there. The question first. Do you find the Ruger .204 round to be as accurate as other rounds? I shoot 100 yd dime size groups with my 17HMR, .223, and .22 Hornet (after some work on the Hornet). But, am having trouble getting consistent results with my Ruger #1 .204 and now my recently acquired .204 Kimber Varminter. I still have some experimenting to do in terms of loads and bullets for the Kimber so the verdict is still not in on it, but I think my Ruger #1 is about as good as it is going to be. So, do you find the .204 round to be inherently accurate or maybe not as much as other rounds? And by the way, this pattern has been true with factory ammo too. Thanks for your help.
.204 Accuracy?
- Thread starter Sniper66
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Incredibly accurate
I have two Savage model 12' in 204 and they are both tack drivers. The first one I bought used would shoot sub 3/8" 5 shot groupswith Hornady 32 gr. factory ammo. The other likes 40 grainers much better. I have shot lots of sub 1/4 groups with my handloads.
I have two Savage model 12' in 204 and they are both tack drivers. The first one I bought used would shoot sub 3/8" 5 shot groupswith Hornady 32 gr. factory ammo. The other likes 40 grainers much better. I have shot lots of sub 1/4 groups with my handloads.
redneck2
Member
This is good timing....I was just working up loads for my CZ 527 in .204 a couple weeks ago. Getting very frustrated as nothing was shooting better than 1", and most were worse. Some way worse.
At the suggestion of a couple of guys at The Varmint's Den (or maybe 24 Hour Campfire..I forget), I tried 39 Blitz Kings. 27.0 Varget, Fed Match primers. Shoots low .4's. Might also have something to do with having put a couple hundred rounds down the tube to get it broken in.
I have 300 Berger 30's, and a box each of Berger 35's and 40's. Might try those. If anybody has feed back on the Bergers I'd appreciate it. I did look on the Midway site. There was feedback from 5-6 guys and all gave the Bergers a 5 of 5 rating.
They also said that 34 grain Varmint Nightmare shot well. One guy was shooting .2's with Varmageddon. Hornady's typically seem to not do so well, at least for me.
One thing I figured out early on is that my CZ has a WAY long throat. I set my OAL with the 39 BK's at 2.425, which only leaves .160 inside the neck. 30's will fall out of the case before they contact the rifling. If you don't have the tools or don't know how to measure the throat length, PM and I'll tell you how to do it with what you have on hand right now.
At the suggestion of a couple of guys at The Varmint's Den (or maybe 24 Hour Campfire..I forget), I tried 39 Blitz Kings. 27.0 Varget, Fed Match primers. Shoots low .4's. Might also have something to do with having put a couple hundred rounds down the tube to get it broken in.
I have 300 Berger 30's, and a box each of Berger 35's and 40's. Might try those. If anybody has feed back on the Bergers I'd appreciate it. I did look on the Midway site. There was feedback from 5-6 guys and all gave the Bergers a 5 of 5 rating.
They also said that 34 grain Varmint Nightmare shot well. One guy was shooting .2's with Varmageddon. Hornady's typically seem to not do so well, at least for me.
One thing I figured out early on is that my CZ has a WAY long throat. I set my OAL with the 39 BK's at 2.425, which only leaves .160 inside the neck. 30's will fall out of the case before they contact the rifling. If you don't have the tools or don't know how to measure the throat length, PM and I'll tell you how to do it with what you have on hand right now.
What brand and what load??
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BigN
Member
I get superb accuracy from my 204 with 26 gr varmint grenades and RE-10x.
witchhunter
Member
My pardner shoots a 32 Vmax in front of AA2230 and CCI BR4 for one hole groups out of his Remington and his Savage, same load works on both guns. Different brass and seating depth, but the same powder and bullet.
Thanks for the input guys. Looks like I still have some experimenting to do, plus the new Kimber has only had about 125 rounds through it. I experimented with Sierra 32 and 39gr blitzkings and Hornady 32 gr V-Max with several different loads and 2 different powders, Benchmark and Varget. Seems I got the best groups with the 39 gr BKs in my Ruger #1. Used Rem primers, 7.5 BR. I have to load some more .39s to try in the Kimber. I have a ways to go before I settle on a load and bullet; now if I can just find the bullets!! Thanks for your help.
I have had good success with CFE223 with the 40 grain V-Maxes. I have been using with good results Accurate 2230 and H4895 (I think but I am not near my log. Some stick powder though) with the 32 grain bullets. The stick powder does not flow well into the tiny 20 caliber neck.
The boat tail Sierra 39 grain bullets and the 40 grain V-Maxes do react differently in my guns probably due to the different bases.
Before spending lots of time with the Berger bullets, make sure they are still manufacturing them. Some Berger bullets have been discontinued and will be hard to find. They are great bullets. My 17 Remingtons like their 25 grain hollow point.
The boat tail Sierra 39 grain bullets and the 40 grain V-Maxes do react differently in my guns probably due to the different bases.
Before spending lots of time with the Berger bullets, make sure they are still manufacturing them. Some Berger bullets have been discontinued and will be hard to find. They are great bullets. My 17 Remingtons like their 25 grain hollow point.
newfalguy101
Member
I seem to recall that Ruger #1's are sometimes tricky to get to "shoot" like they should
NCsmitty
Member
I agree with newfalguy101, as esthetically beautiful as Ruger #1's are, they are also notorious for being a bit finicky in load choices and group size, and it is often traced back to the way that the forend attaches to the barrel. I understand that often, shimming the forend will help.
Linking to www.rugerforum.net may help with the issue.
NCsmitty
Linking to www.rugerforum.net may help with the issue.
NCsmitty
You guys are correct. Ruger #1s are inconsistent. Mine shoots respectable groups, now that I have worked on it some, but not impressive Good coyote gun but not great for p-dogs. I'm beginning the process of figuring out the right set of ingredients for the Kimber; thanks for the help.
Sound Dude
Member
I have a Savage 25 in the .204 and it's easily my most accurate smallbore. It likes H335 (mag primer) behind Hornady 32 VMax, but almost every powder I tried gave respectable accuracy. Now a Marlin XL7 in .25-06 is another story. I'm about to give up on. Very inconsistent.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Be sure and keep after the bore cleaning with a good Copper Solvent.
Even a little jacket fouling is too much in such a small bore.
rc
Even a little jacket fouling is too much in such a small bore.
rc
Bush Pilot
Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2007
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- 2,394
+1, don't clean a .17 Rem sometime and see what happens.
This my Savage Model 11 in 204 (purchased new in 2004 for an obscenely low price out of the Amarillo TX Gander Mountain).
Coyote taken at 200 yards with the worst case of mange I've seen in 20 years of predator hunting.
It groups very well with Surplus WC846 powder and Nosler Combined Technology 32 grain Ballistic Silver Tips:
3 Shots at 100 yards:
5 shots at 100 yards
I have about 500 rounds through this rifle (not a lot 9 years) and it would break you heart to know how little attention has been paid to the bore (couple of pulls with a bore snake followed by a patch soaked in CLP is about all it gets).
I have never heard anyone complain about the accuracy from the 204 Ruger regardless of platform used.
If your accuracy is not where you would like it to be continue with your load development and soon you will find the sweet spot/loads your rifles prefer.
Coyote taken at 200 yards with the worst case of mange I've seen in 20 years of predator hunting.
It groups very well with Surplus WC846 powder and Nosler Combined Technology 32 grain Ballistic Silver Tips:
3 Shots at 100 yards:
5 shots at 100 yards
I have about 500 rounds through this rifle (not a lot 9 years) and it would break you heart to know how little attention has been paid to the bore (couple of pulls with a bore snake followed by a patch soaked in CLP is about all it gets).
I have never heard anyone complain about the accuracy from the 204 Ruger regardless of platform used.
If your accuracy is not where you would like it to be continue with your load development and soon you will find the sweet spot/loads your rifles prefer.
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redneck2
Member
I've heard the comment a number of times about keeping the bore clean (copper). One thing I noticed about my CZ .204 is that it was a real chore to get the copper out at first.
I'd use Wipe-Out, which usually does an excellent job in one application. I'd treat it maybe two, three. four times before the copper was almost but never totally gone.
After maybe 300-400 rounds, it suddenly settled in with the load I listed above. Shoots great now.
I'd use Wipe-Out, which usually does an excellent job in one application. I'd treat it maybe two, three. four times before the copper was almost but never totally gone.
After maybe 300-400 rounds, it suddenly settled in with the load I listed above. Shoots great now.
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