.204 Not Grouping

kerryltz

I have just got my new .204 Remington and wnet about setting it up i got a couple of boxes of different rounds to see which works best. The gun groups 32g Hornady very well but I have tried the Hornady 40g and Remington 40g but they are both all over the place. Any suggestions.

It wasn't me!

kerryltz wrote: »

I have just got my new .204 Remington and wnet about setting it up i got a couple of boxes of different rounds to see which works best. The gun groups 32g Hornady very well but I have tried the Hornady 40g and Remington 40g but they are both all over the place. Any suggestions.

Just one: Shoot the 32gr.

johngalway

I don't have a .204, but I have heard 39 grain rounds grouping much better than 40 grain (they may be handloads, check for factory availability of 39 grain loads).

kerryltz

I think I can get Federal 39g but the thing is a friend of mine has a identical gun and his is perfect on the Hornady 40g

tomcat220t

Most .204 rugers wont shoot the 40 gr ammo .They need to be shot from a tighter twist barrel (1/10 or 1/11)!It should shot the hornady 45 gr because of it shorter bearing surface .The king of the .204 is the federal 39gr which has a higher B/C than any of the 40 gr and should shoot very well out of your remingtion .How well does the 32gr shoot?

kerryltz

1/2" groups at 100 yards so very happy with 32g

tomcat220t

You need to get your hands on a box of federal 39 gr ,bud .I find them very good out to 600 yards .The 32 gr ,imo are limited to about 350 yards !

bunny shooter

I have had a few 204's and my brother is currently using one.

As the lads said get the Federal 39 grain.

I found the same with a Remmy I had. It loved 32 grain and hated 40 grain Hornady

Nice to see there are a few more 204 Ruger shooters out there.

Recon I'll be going to one again myself as soon as I find one I like

270WIN

i too have a remington 204 that hates 40 grain ammo. it will shoot half inch groups with 32 grain hornady or 34 grain winchester hollow point. still a brilliant calibre and will never change:)

tomcat220t

270WIN wrote: »

i too have a remington 204 that hates 40 grain ammo. it will shoot half inch groups with 32 grain hornady or 34 grain winchester hollow point. still a brilliant calibre and will never change:)

How do you find the 34 gr winchester ?Never shot them yet

bunny shooter

tomcat220t wrote: »

How do you find the 34 gr winchester ?Never shot them yet ?

Seen them ages ago, never tried 'em, not seen 'em for a long time

270WIN

tomcat220t wrote: »

How do you find the 34 gr winchester ?Never shot them yet ?

they are very accurate in my rifle tomcat. they are not as explosive as the 32 grain hornady vmax bullet ....but there are no survivors after the 34 grain either!! they are also molycoated and the barrell doesnt seem as dirty as with other bullets. I have never tried the federal 39 grain ,, where can they be got and and what price?.

tomcat220t

The federal 39 gr and hornady 45 gr are the only ammo i use in my .204 .Even with a my custom barrel the 40gr dont shoot great !

tomcat220t

270WIN wrote: »

they are very accurate in my rifle tomcat. they are not as explosive as the 32 grain hornady vmax bullet ....but there are no survivors after the 34 grain either!! they are also molycoated and the barrell doesnt seem as dirty as with other bullets. I have never tried the federal 39 grain ,, where can they be got and and what price?.

I buy them from John Greene in waterford for 23euro a box .

tomcat220t

bunny shooter wrote: »

Seen them ages ago, never tried 'em, not seen 'em for a long time

I say its going to be hard to beat the federal 39 gr for the longer shots!They are crazy accurate past 400 yards .

270WIN

tomcat220t wrote: »

I buy them from John Greene in waterford for 23euro a box .

thanks tomcat, i will try them out.

Hartman

the ammo isnt the problem, its the twist rate, check what the twist rate should be then have a riflesmith check what it actually is... It wont be a fast enough twist to stabilise the bullet.

Id be fairly sure somebody made a boo-boo in the factory the day that batch of barrels were cut...

Try it.

foxshooter243

Hartman wrote: »

the ammo isnt the problem, its the twist rate, check what the twist rate should be then have a riflesmith check what it actually is... It wont be a fast enough twist to stabilise the bullet.

Id be fairly sure somebody made a boo-boo in the factory the day that batch of barrels were cut...

Try it.

I reckon the twist in the barrel wont be 1:12 it will be nearer to 1:12.5 which causes the problem, it seems to be a common problem in the remmy 204 barrels...from what I see on the US forums.

dwighet

Hartman wrote: »

the ammo isnt the problem, its the twist rate, check what the twist rate should be then have a riflesmith check what it actually is... It wont be a fast enough twist to stabilise the bullet.

Id be fairly sure somebody made a boo-boo in the factory the day that batch of barrels were cut...

Try it.

It has happened before...I think I heard it from the same sourse as you Hartman..

dwighet

you can check the rate of twist yourself by using your cleaning rod and some patches...
1st. insert your patched rod into the chamber until you feel resistance then stop.


2nd. now carefully insert your rod until it has done 1 revolution...Now measure how far the rod has travelled down the barrel....Do this a few times to be sure...

Now your twist rate will be the distance the rod travelled down the barrel to complete 1 revolution....ie. 10inches of rod in the barrel for 1 revolution will give you a twist rate of 1 in 10...

Hope this helps..

tomcat220t

I have an exact 1/12 twist with my .204 and can only get 1" at 100 yards with the factory 40gr hornady !Got some hand loaded 40gr hornady and got a few 10-12mm groups at 200 yards .Go figure ,that .

foxshooter243

tomcat220t wrote: »

I have an exact 1/12 twist with my .204 and can only get 1" at 100 yards with the factory 40gr hornady !Got some hand loaded 40gr hornady and got a few 10-12mm groups at 200 yards .Go figure ,that .

probably due to the handloads being faster, which affects the stability and therefore the accuracy..

tomcat220t

foxshooter243 wrote: »

probably due to the handloads being faster, which affects the stability and therefore the accuracy..

Maybe so....but at 400-600 the federal 39gr factory shoots a good bit tighter than the 40gr handloads.It seems even if they were to stablize as factory ammo they are not as good down range as the 39gr ,imo.

foxshooter243

tomcat220t wrote: »

Maybe so....but at 400-600 the federal 39gr factory shoots a good bit tighter than the 40gr handloads.It seems even if they were to stablize as factory ammo they are not as good down range as the 39gr ,imo.

I reckon, the twist is marginal for the 40 grainers , the handloads group better at 100 or so cos they have the speed to stabilise better than the factory stuff, but they quickly lose that down range and go back to being unstable and less accurate.
the 39 grainers are working better at staying stable on out and giving you better accuracy..some lads in the states are loading the 40 grainers as fast as they can to overcome the problem ac cording to what im seeing.

measure the length of a 39 grain bullet against a 40 grain bullet and check the difference in overall length

Jonty

foxshooter243 wrote: »

probably due to the handloads being faster, which affects the stability and therefore the accuracy..

If anything the handloads will be slower. the powder used in factory 204 rounds is not available for reloading.


http://www.chuckhawks.com/204_ruger.htm

tomcat220t

Jonty wrote: »

If anything the handloads will be slower. the powder used in factory 204 rounds is not available for reloading.

I did not chron... the 40gr handloads but they seemed slower and had a lower point of aim the the factory 40s .

Hartman

dwighet wrote: »

It has happened before...I think I heard it from the same sourse as you Hartman..

I imagine so.. Could be truth in the rumour eh

foxshooter243

Jonty wrote: »

If anything the handloads will be slower. the powder used in factory 204 rounds is not available for reloading.


http://www.chuckhawks.com/204_ruger.htm

lads in the states are using hogdsons BL-c{2} powder and reckon its duplicating factory loads quite easily, for both velocity and accuracy.
The loads listed in the reloading manuals will be showing a conservative velocity and a conservative maximium weight due to the threat of litigation...couple that with the fact that factory ammo speeds shown on the box are very rarely gotten from a sporting rifle..they probably used a 26 inch test barrel to get the velocity..and youll find theres not much difference if you want to load for speed between the two..thats just my opinion all the same..feel free to differ:)