204Ruger

My rifle is a 1 in 10, but I've been told on the Nosler forum that the 40gr V-max is actually longer than the 45gr SP, and they will shoot pretty decent in a 1 in 12. Like I said, just passing what I heard, I've never tried it.

I havnt shot any factory 40gr v-max's loads, Only my reloads. My paper printing is as good maybe better than a 39sbk's. There are 4 others here were Im at (Watford City ND), That also shoot and reload the 40V-Max's with no problems. One gun is a Kimber, 2 Rems, and 2 Howas. I and 7Mag shoot the 45gr Hor, no problem. About the only thing that didnt group well was the 26gr Varmint Granade. We may have been pushing them to fast, dosnt matter though, the 40gr V-Max 40Gr Berg's work flawless. I mean we can have 5 shots touching in a circle between a dime and nickel. I guess we should start taking pics again of our paper targets at 100yds,300yds, and 500. (thats all the farther our local range goes)

H4895 at Max works great, with the above mentioned guns.

Dave what you say carries some truth and eveidence. My 1:9 will shoot 26 grain varmit grenades very well as they are a longer bullet. However not neer as well as 40 grain or 50 as posted. Yes I read the post I have been on this forum a long time! The varm grenades shoot ok in my gun but POI is 5 inches higher at 100. There are many variables. However, over all a 1:12 is not recomended for a bullet that heavy. I do allot of load workups in tenth grain increments. so i have a bit of background! The Bc as posted is a strong variable. I am still willing to bet with proper load workup that 1:12 will shoot 35 grainers much better! For example , 26 grainers in my gun when dialed in for them will hit a half dollor group all day! Maybe thats good enough for some? I prefer to shoot the 40 and 50 grainers and bughole dimes all day!

Valar,

I hope I didn't offend you what I said in my previous post. I haven't done as much shooting as you have, and I don't doubt you have a great deal of experience.

Just so I don't leave a misunderstanding, in my previous post, the only thing I was taking exception to was how you flatly contradicted the gentleman who posted above you without giving any evidence. That was all.

Are heavier bullets generally longer, thus requiring more RPMs (by faster barrel twist or increased velocity) to stabilize? Certainly, as a general rule, but not always. Even a cursory comparison between Hornady's online images of the 40 grain V-Max and 45 grain Spire Point seems to indicate that the 45 grain bullet is a little shorter.

I'm glad you've found a combination of bullet and barrel twist that you're happy with. Happy shooting.

The Hornady 45 gr sp is quite a bit shorter than any of the 40 ballistic tips which is why it tends to be fairly accurate. The 45's shoot little "bug holes" in all three of my 12 twist tubes.
I've posted these pics before, but as you can see the 45 gr (just right of the 39 gr bk) is considerably shorter than the 40 gr v-max and is basically the same length as the 40 gr berger.

http://predatorhuntcanada.ca/forum/show ... uger/page3

Not 45 hornady, but yesterday I played with the 40 Grain Berger. With 26.2 grains of H4895 in my 204 Ruger, it made almost one hole groups at 100yrds. At least they were all touching in each five shot group. Was very pleased with that. Bill K

I'm having trouble finding load data for the 45 grain bullets. What is everybody using? For powder I have CFE223, R10X, AA2230 and H322. I also have Varget and Benchmark but I like to save that for the 6BR.

haven't used the 45 grain sp yet but limited success with the 40 grain v-max

interesting fact: the 45 grain sp is actually shorter than the 40 grain vmax so it "should" stabilize better than the 40 grain vmax.

i had a problem with the 40 grain vmax grouping consistently, always a flier that opened the 0.5 inch group up to about 1 to 1.25 inches.

also the 40 grain is not fur friendly at all and not the best choice for anchoring coyotes, had only one get away out of 10 but that was heartbreaking enough. most of the
others needed a second or third shot to finish them off. I know shot placement is very critical but since i switched to 40 grain bergers i have not needed a second shot so far.

The berger 40 grain is a hollow point boat tail with a ballistic coef. of 0.225; that is quite a bit lower than the 40 gr. vmax at 0.275 and the 45 gr. sp at 0.245; but for some reason the trajectory of the berger 40 grain is only approx 1 to 2 inches lower than the 40 grain vmax, so either the bc is incorrect or the longer vmax is not perfectly stable with a 1-12 twist.

i have a hornady reloading manual but the powders you (Tokimini) are interested in are not listed

25.5grs of H4895 with a WSR primer @ 2.270".

START LOW & WORK UP TO THIS.

Rem 700ADL.

Thanks Glen