Bad 40 grain groups

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greendrywall
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Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:29 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Tikka T3 laminate Stainless, Remington VSSF 2

Bad 40 grain groups

Post by greendrywall »

I shoot a Tikka T3 1/12 twist and it does not seem to like hot 40 grain loads, it will shoot hot 35 grain Bergers pretty good but thats it. I am quite stubborn and want to find a solution because I think 40 grain will be the way to go for coyotes etc. Would it help stabilize the 40 grains better if I dropped my powder charge a bit say from 28 grains to 26.5-26? As it stands my groups are flying all over the place. :x


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wirelessguy2005
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Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:59 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Custom 20 SCC, Savage LRPV 20 Nitro , Howa 1500 204 Ruger
Location: Indiana

Re: Bad 40 grain groups

Post by wirelessguy2005 »

i don't think adjusting the powder charge is going to help much. The 40 grain vmax is a very long bullet to be shooting thru a 1-12 twist barrel. What you are experiencing is common for 40 grain bullets in a factory 12twist barrel. If you want to use the heavier bullets give the 39 grain sierra blitzkings a try, they are just a bit shorter and seem to stabilize in most factory barrels.
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DoubleUp
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Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2010 5:36 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: 204 Ruger

Re: Bad 40 grain groups

Post by DoubleUp »

Lots of 204 coyote hunters like the 35 and 40 Bergers. I believe the 40 Bergers are supposed to shoot okay with a 1x12 twist, and as wireless says most 1x12's will shoot 39 bk fine. The hardcore guys really praise the 35 Bergers.
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7mag
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.204 Ruger Guns: Rem 7, Zeiss 4.5-14x44-Rem 700, Zeiss 6.5-20x50-Cooper Pheon
Location: North west North Dakota

Re: Bad 40 grain groups

Post by 7mag »

There is also the 45 gr soft point from hdy it's quite a bit shorter than the 40 v-max and even the 40 berger.
Leave nothing in the field but your tracks.........(and a few carcasses!)
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wirelessguy2005
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Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:59 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Custom 20 SCC, Savage LRPV 20 Nitro , Howa 1500 204 Ruger
Location: Indiana

Re: Bad 40 grain groups

Post by wirelessguy2005 »

if you want a bullet specifically for Coyote i am going to be selling a 20 caliber 35 grain hollow point on my website very soon. I hope to have them ready to sell in the next 7 - 14 days. They will be very similar to the 35 grain bergers however they will have a smaller hollow point and a bit higher BC.
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zx10mike
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Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:01 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: TIKKA T3 VARMINT

Re: Bad 40 grain groups

Post by zx10mike »

i have a tikka t3,to shoot the 40 grain bullets i had mine re barreled to a 1 in 11 now it shoots .30 or under :D after great expence i learned that the 39g eiera blitzkings tend to shoot better for the sake of a grain well worth a try before the expense of a new barrel :wall: the 39s shoot well with rl 10x.
good luck
the reason by the way is the 1 in 12 struggles to stabelize the 40 grains in some rifles as your rifle could actualy be 1 in 12.4 a lot of people say that one grain difference sorts it :eek:
greendrywall
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Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:29 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Tikka T3 laminate Stainless, Remington VSSF 2

Re: Bad 40 grain groups

Post by greendrywall »

Thanks for the info, I posted this after no luck finding 39 blitzkings in Canada but with enough calls I found 200 so I will give a try and hopefully everything will pan out!
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