AusVarmint

hi all, just wondering if anyone has had a good result from a particular 'factory' brand of ammo in 204 ruger. I have been using winchester supreme in 32g silvertip and have been happy with the brand, but my dealer tells me winchester brand is very hard to get at the moment and don't know if this is b/s or if he is trying to flog me another brand. Just looking for something under the 40g mark, my rifle is a standard 1.12 twist. At this point won't be reloading ammo for sometime.
Regards, Dan

hi dan, when i first got my 204 i bought cheap winchester with the idea to reload after it was gone. i think it was 34 grain moly (black coated) hollow points. they shot really well, half inch groups and they actually made my hand loads look average to start with. the only other factory stuff i've shot is hornady 32gr vmax with great results.

i think the 204 in general has hit the market as a very accurate round.

andrewk wrote:hi dan, when i first got my 204 i bought cheap winchester with the idea to reload after it was gone. i think it was 34 grain moly (black coated) hollow points. they shot really well, half inch groups and they actually made my hand loads look average to start with. the only other factory stuff i've shot is hornady 32gr vmax with great results.

i think the 204 in general has hit the market as a very accurate round.

hi andrew, thanks for the reply. i also are very happy with the accuracy i get from these ballistic tips hence my disappointment not being able to get some more. they shoot real well through my ruger. thanks for the info.
regards, dan.

woh, very nice little cluster

but 2 short of a real group

i think that 204's by nature are just accurate. i haven't heard of one that won't shoot factory ammo well.

shooting bullet weights above its twist rate is another thing altogether though.

I have a mate that tried some winchester 34 grn .204 moly coate factory ammo in his CZ527 last wednesday at the range and they were terrible ,grouped around 2 inches or more.
Suprisingly though it shot my 40grn hornady reloads to 3/4 inch, despite a 1 in 12 TR.
Regards
native

factory hornady 40 and 32 grouped like a shotgun pattern in my VT. I wont try any factory in my current 204

the federal 39 SBK shoots quite well in my tikka when i was using factory ammo...5 shots around .75''

the hornady 32gr shoots well. And with the Hornady you get the extra velocity 4,200fps....well thats what they say at Hornady anyway.

Out of my SPS the Winchester 34gr hollow points (lubalox I think) shoot 5 shot groups all touching at 100m, actually I have done a 10 shot group doing this as well. Cost is the only reason to reload with this kind of performance.

Anything 40gr key holes into the target and groups about 6". The 32gr Vmax things group about 1".

Alex

Lix wrote:
Anything 40gr key holes into the target and groups about 6". The 32gr Vmax things group about 1".

Alex

Maybe the twist rate plays more a part in most 204's?
I had a 1:10 twist put on my 204 (rather than the standard factory 1:12) on Jimbo's suggestion, and it doesn't really like anything under 39 grains. (Which is fine by me as i only like to have 1/2 loads for each of my rifles)

hi guys, thanks for all your input really happy with the 204 in general and I've since bought some of the fed 39gr blitz kings and they shoot very well and hit harder than the 32gr. when the wind settles here i'll let ya know how they go on paper the only thing is i just about fell over when i found out the price $43 per 20, this is pretty much average for all brands also felt sorry for a fellow that bought a box of 45/70's paid $90 for 20. regards, dan

I'm currently waiting for my Ruger Predator to show up in .204, bought 100 rounds of the federal 39's, good to hear they shoot alright Will reload 39's afterwards I think as well. I see a heap of handload figures for these getting around, I'll see what this rifle prefers with some testing.

JG

JG79 wrote:I'm currently waiting for my Ruger Predator to show up in .204, bought 100 rounds of the federal 39's, good to hear they shoot alright Will reload 39's afterwards I think as well. I see a heap of handload figures for these getting around, I'll see what this rifle prefers with some testing.

JG

good stuff there mate, i'm sure you will be more than happy with your new ruger, as i'm with mine, let us know how you go with your reloads. cheers, dan

Federal 39gn Blitzkings shoot very well in my Tikka T3.

Then again I have not shot anything else... as all the reading I did before the gun purchase pointed to the 39gn as the better all round flat shooting bullet.

Lucky for me I purchased 200 Federal rounds before the price hike moved then over the $40 mark.

I now reload the shells and sticking with the 39gn BKs.

easy head shots 200-300m