Hi Brickhill.
I was a long time before i started reloading, 223, and 243, but im glad i did.
With the 204r lots of people are happy with the 32g Hornady v-max, sort of most make seem to shoot them accurately, you talk about 4225 fps, this might be what it says on the box but chances are unlees you have a 24-26" barrel it wont be doing this speed, this doesn’t make it wrong though.
Ive read about 39/40g v 32g bullets, and i think its owt after 150yd+ the heavier bullet retains more speed and ft lb due to its superior bc, so in most cases this is the better option.
It is said that some 204's wont shoot the 40g Hornady v-max but will shoot the 39g blitz kings, the thing is with reloading you can alter the powder charge and seating depth to make "most" bullets accurate, and example of this is my Tikka in 223, it has the worst grouping of all the bullets ive tried with Factory 53g v-max (fantastic bc of .290) but with the same bullet head home loads sort of go through the same hole, mine is like "Elliotts" it like the long seating depth.
Dave (warbucks)
Theoben Rapid MK1 177
AA S410 22
Bushnall Scout Range Finder
Hawk 3 x 9 x 40 m.a.p scopes
Deben mini pro lamping system
.22LR CZ452; .22 Hornet CZ527
Tikka T3 Varmint .223; .204 Ruger CZ527 Varmint;
6.5 Creed Bergara B14 HMR
Thanks Dave, I mostly shoot pest birds (crows, magpie, jay) with mine with the odd fox, rabbit, hare, between 120 - 250 yards. If my shot is square I’ve never had so much as a twitch from the target with the 32g Hornady vmax. Gun is a Tikka T3. I’ve heard very favourable reports regarding the 39g blitz kings and fancy loading a few to try.
That's not strictly true though is it, perhaps any bullet within a given length range? Powder weight and COAL will help with barrel harmonics and shrink groups, accuracy has a lot to do with stability, my .223 AI is fiendishly accurate but its set up short throated for bullets 50 gr or less so its a 1:14 as that's optimum for that weight / length, it needs bullets <0.800" long. If I load 55 gr SBKs or v-max which are longer it shoots about 1.5" because they don't stabilise.
Same as your .223 if a 1:12 won't shoot 69gr or if a 1:80 90 gr bullets.....
Thanks for looking
Superb grouping. Really like the stock you have on the 204 now.
Going back to the 204R
Most of the shops "when they have stock" its 32's and 40's, ok if you rifle likes either You can buy up to you limit, in my case this would be 200, now depending on your shooting its quite easy to end up in a situation where you are going through the bullets quicker than expected, you then go to the shop for some more, only to find out they have none left, and it can be months before they get some more stock, you quickly try other shops to find every one else is quickly buying up the remaining stock.
With reloading you can buy as much as you want in componants so you have a reduced excuse for running out.
Bc's of 204 bullets
32's .210
39's .287
40's .275
With the Sirra blitz kings in 39g your going to get the best long range performance, some say that it can out perform a 22-250 at distance ?
Dave (warbucks)
Theoben Rapid MK1 177
AA S410 22
Bushnall Scout Range Finder
Hawk 3 x 9 x 40 m.a.p scopes
Deben mini pro lamping system