40 grain vmax.... my thoughts.

[tonyb]

G`day everyone,
For the first time ever i loaded some 40gr projectiles for the 204, only EVER used 32`s ,, and you know..... i think i will still only use 32`s... the 40`s were ok and i hit everything i shot at but they havent got that ????????? i dunno , you know what i mean the grenade type of explosion when they hit, and the 32 seems to shoot flatter, it probably should`nt but it does, sight in at a 100 , and you can still hit a roo in the head at 300 aiming at it , where as the 40`s you gotta hold over a bee`s di%k, maybe way out there at 500 the 40`s might be better , i dunno , .
Thats what i found anyway folks ,

Cheers Tony

[Tadunga]

I don't really care for the 40gr V-Max either.

Have you tried the 39gr Sierra's? They are my favorite for 500 yards, plus they seem to have a lot of explosiveness on 1 gallon water jugs at that distance. More than my 30-06 with spire points.

[tonyb]

I have not tried the 39 sierra , i didnt think that there would be much difference between the 40 and 39 `s , Do sierra do a 32 or thereabouts grain for the 204 ? As much as i am happy with the 32 vmax , i have always used sierra projectiles in everything in years gone by, its just i havent got a up-to-date Sierra handbook, mine is about 35 years old and hasnt got these more modern cartridges in it, having said that , it has been by bible for reloading for yonks ( a long time ), must get a new one, one day.

[Tadunga]

Sierra does make a 32gr & they are the most accurate through my rifle.
At first I had problems with them because the jackets are very thin & when I first started using them, they would tumble. Sierra told me it was from my barrel being rough, so I ran JB compound on a patch through my barrel about 200 times to smooth it out & every since then I have not had a single problem.

[tonyb]

Thanks Tadunga, i will see if i can get some to try

[ryutzy]

+1 on the 39 grain SBK!!! It has a slightly better BC than the 40gr vmax which means it'l shoot flatter. The 39 will be flatter than the 32 at longer ranges than 300 yards. I was quite impressed with my 500 yard range shooting with my AR. Give them a try, doubt you will be disappointed.

[tonyb]

Gee wizz, i would not have thought that 1 grain of bullet weight would make the difference, but i guess the shape will , i guess that SBK means sierra blitz king, have thay got that sill plastic tip or conventional composite ? and another thing..... whats the story with the 204 in regard to bullet seating depth ? I mean you cannot get the projectiles any where near the lands if you want to use the magazine, mine are seated as far out as possible so the just fit in the mag. but are still a good 1/8 inch off the lands, does it make much difference in the 204 ? , mine shoots well anyway i guess but i just wondered.... And another thing.... how many shots can the normal 204 have with a perfectly clean barrel before it starts chuking them all over on account of it needs cleaning again, I can clean, shoot the eye outa a bird flying for a dozen shots and then miss a barn door at 50 paces ??So clean again and so forth , ( i cant really shoot the eye outa a bird flying but you know what i mean )

Dont get me wrong, the rifle is awsome, even with the 32 vmax`s , but there is nothing like a bit of experimenting eh ? .

[jo191145]

Tony

Just a paper killer but.....
The 39 should offer you the explosiveness your looking for with better BC.
As noted before, it has a thinner jacket and even the core "feels" softer.
Some rough barrels can run into trouble with these pills occassionally.

Factory tubes have long throats. The 204 will jump bullets just fine, don't sweat it.

If your barrel is going nuts after 12 shots it means one thing.
Its not happy with the powder your using. Its either burning too clean or too dirty.
Been down that road many a time.
Some JB may help, it won't hurt. Powder selection is everything for extended fire.
WW-748 and naked 35 Bergs will run 400+ rds through factory tubes without cleaning.
Its not the easiest powder to find a load tho.
I've found these factory small bore high velocity barrels are quite sensitive to powder selection if your looking for extended periods of fire between cleanings.
Tell us what your using now and perhaps we can offer an alternative.

[tonyb]

Hi jo191145, The load i am useing is .... 32 vmax, cci400 , rem cases , and 28.5 grains of ADI2206H, the powder equivelates to H4895...IMR4895...Tu5000...AA2460 . In Tasmania most powders are not available any more so at the moment i can use ADI powder or Winchester , I have chronographed the rifle and it is doing 4040 fps , not that that means anything much , but i did notice it is about 150 fps quicker than my old 204 ,M77 MK11, with EXACTLY the same loads, same cases , same bullets. I think the pressure is up a bit on the new one ,M77MK11 predator, the primers have the very slightest of raised edge around the firing pin indentation after firing where as the old one didnt, you mentioned about powders , after shooting about 20 rounds, if you look through the bore there is no noticeable residue in the bore, it doesnt look bright and shiny but it is not like there is unburnt powder in there, visibly anyway, unlike the .17 Remington i had which after 20 rounds would be obviously fouled, The last 100 rounds i loaded i used Federal gold match primers cause maybe they have a thicker cup, have not tried them yet, and whats this "JB" stuff ? Is it a lapping compound or something ? how do you use it and will it stuff anything up ?

Here is a link to the ADI powder equivalents chart if you want to have a look to advise me on a better powder,
http://www.adi-powders.com.au/handloade ... alents.asp

I have some old W748 powder that is 20 years old in a tin , it still smells ok and burns, it has been sealed up and i wonder if it would be ok to try ,or does it spoil after that long ?

Cheers Tony.

[Tadunga]

Hey Tony,

The JB is a mild abrasive cleaning/lapping compound.
I have tried the w748 but didn't get good results from it. The load that was suggested to me from a friend was 250+ fps slower than he was getting, so I tossed it & just stick with H4895 & Benchmark powders. The Benchmark powder works best for me on the 32gr V-Max & 32gr SBK. I see from your chart that AA2015 is simular to Benchmark. Maybe give it a try.

Good luck.

♣ Michael

[tonyb]

Thanks Micheal, The rifle is definately getting better in regard to the amount of shots before cleaning is required, maybe it has a tight chamber and barrel, so just keep plugging away eh , Benchmark 2 would be ok i guess , according to the charts the pressure would be up by heaps, prehaps i should try magnum caps. Or prenaps not anyway tks. for the input.

[Tadunga]

I use Remington 7½ with 27.5grs of Benchmark, I get just over 4000fps with both Hornady & Sierra. I have shot good groups with 26.5grs as well, but they were around 3850fps. I use the Remington brass because the Winchester brass didn't preform with the 27.5gr loads.

Have you tried this website? http://www.reloadersnest.com/frontpage. ... iberID=357
They have a load with 2015 using a M77, but the load is for Nosler 32gr bullets.

[jo191145]

Tony

Your 20 yr old 748 should be fine if stored half properly. I have some powders much older than that including 748.
If it does'nt smell like rotten eggs and you see no rust color its good to go.
How many rds down the tube?
You say its improving. Thats common.
Might be a good time to try some of that old 748. Theres no better way to smooth up a new barrel than with a powder thats IMO midway on the carbon scale. Carbon helps alleviate copper accumulation. Too much carbon is no good either tho.
Getting some bullets to ride down the bore without leaving traces of themself behind is a good way to smooth it up.
Could be you'll find nothing as accurate as your accustomed. What has worked for me might not work for you.
If nothing else pay attention to how long whatever level of accuracy lasts without cleaning.
That lesson alone is worth the effort.

I now have three competition rifles that shoot spring,summer and fall without ever seeing a cleaning rod.
The only exception is if they get subjected to high humidity. I'll give em a dry patch to remove the green crap.
It took some effort to find the correct powder for each to accomplish that. It was necessary to have winning rifles capable of running 80rd strings without a rod.

Looking down the bore through the action will tell you nothing. You can peek down the muzzle and look for copper streaks.
Never saw a 204 yet that shot its best with copper streaks near the crown

If nothing else your chrono is telling you whatever worked in your last rifle is not going to work for this one.
It happens. Good luck

[Valar]

I was talking with my uncle a couple weeks ago about copper fouling in stock rem barrels. It really take accuracy south. He said Rem makes a excellent barrel, but they just dont clean them up very smooth. He recomended using lapping compound as well for copper fouling? It makes sense to me !

[oldguy]

Just begin reloading for my 204 using 35 and 40 gr Berger's overall at this point I found using H335 gives better accuracy most groups under .500 shot a couple groups of .250 what I found odd that the 40gr vmax commerical ammo gives some fantastic groups of less then .200 rare that I find a rifle that shoots better with commerical then hand loads in time I may find the right combination of hand loads that will match the vmax. I'm a target shooter so velocity is not the issue but accuracy is.

I've also noticed the barrel of my new T/C Icon with the 5R rifling has very little to no fouling unlike my Savage and Remington rifles.

Lots of good info on this forum, keep the ideas coming....!!!