skipper wrote: ↑Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:20 pm I've been using a K&M arbor press with dial strain gauge. Helps getting consistent neck tension.

Wow! That thing would look great on my bench! Thanks for sharing the pic!

Hi Bitter Clinger, This is an interesting question and one I ponder myself. I think the .204 is relatively kind on barrels and is less "overbore" than other cartridges but I'll leave it to others to chime in on this. On a .25-06 of mine, I've seen .005" throat erosion over 450 rounds ...

Here's a link to an article on understanding tech tension. http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/reloading/neck-tension-not-just-bushing-size/ Thank you for this! I'll give it a read. In the meantime, I have finally ordered a Redding FL Bushing die with both .224 and .225 bushings. We'l...

204Luver wrote: ↑Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:40 am I settled on the Redding 225 bushing for my Hornady brass. After loading they measure .226. Seems perfect.

Thanks. I'm going to pursue the Redding die with the 225 bushing myself.

I'm thinking .001-.002 neck tension is probably ideal based on my experience with my 6.5 but perhaps the comparison is not valid? Anyway, I did seat these a quite a bit shallower (Cartridge base to Ogive (CBTO) at 2.040") with the 39 SBK. This is a change from CBTO of 2.000" and I'm still ...

It seem like the Redding die is the ticket, just like it is with my 6.5, where I'm using a .289 bushing and achieving .001+ in neck tension. It shoots very well with less than a minute of vertical dispersion at distance. I had my .204 to the range last week and had 4" vertical spread at 300 yar...

Guys, I'm trying to reduce my extreme spreads and have started to pay a bit more attention to neck tension and other things in order to do so. I just checked some brass I sized and it measured .222 (OD) at the neck. A loaded round (39 SBK) was .226. This is Remington Brass sized in a standard RCBS d...

Well sure enough, last trip to the range I was 5" low at 300 yds (Chrono @ 3510 avg.) and this was at a 200 yard zero setting (.9" high POI 100). I'm gonna run a little ladder up to 27.7 grains just for fun and see what happens. I'd like to flatten things out a bit. Wish me luck!

First off, Wicked Wanda has a set of Buick Vents on her that won't quit! No Prarie Dogs in my neck of the woods but plenty of whistle pigs. My 204 is ready to go with the 39 SBK so now I gotta work out a load for Wanda's cousin, (I haven't named her yet) who has been making white tails do backflips ...

Congratulations! The build quality on a CZ makes them a really good bang for the buck (if you'll pardon the pun). I have 2 of them, both rimfires so I can't really comment on the 527 (but have my eye on one in 7.62 X 39). I would second Rowdy's recommendation on the Tipton (or Dewey) nylon coated ro...

With my 204 my magazine prevents me from getting anywhere near the lands. Doesn't seem to matter, though -- with SBK's I get good groups (average in the .4's), with both the 32's and 39's. I'm having similar results. I typically use a Hornady OAL gage and bullet comparators and start .020" off...

Typically, I start out seating everything .020" off the lands (ogive measurement) but this is perhaps, an oversimplification in this case. I use a Hornady OAL gage/bullet comparator to determine this but Rick's right - the generous throat in the .204 combined with the short length of the pills ...

Sounds good, I will have to invest in a set of Redding dies, what is the model to get for the 204? Hi Sundby, The Redding competition bullet seating die I am using is the PN# 55287. Currently, I'm using this in conjunction with an RCBS full length sizing die and I'm getting 1/4 MOA out of a 27.2 Va...

Redding dies rock! I have them for my 6.5X47 Lapua and my .204. I had previously had the RCBS competion seater die for the .204 but was not impressed as it always produced .004" to .006" runout. With the Reddding seater dies, I basically don't even need to check for concentricity anymore, ...

Well Hodgdon's data sheet show 3647 FPS with a load of 28.1c with a 40 grain bullet. So you load of 27.2 and the 39 grain would be about right. You could bumped it up some, by working up one tenth of a grain at a time and gain some, but do it slow and easy, watching for pressure signs to rise fast....