204Ruger

As many of you know, I'm building up a custom 204 Ruger with a match chamber for fun with Skippy. You may also remember that Todd Kindler (editor of Small Caliber News, and the unofficial "father" of the 204) designed a custom match reamer for the 204 Ruger that provided for a "no-turn" neck and the proper seating of both 32 and 40 grain bullets to avoid the rediculous "jump" to the rifling as the standard 204 SAMMI factory chambers are currently cut (so the ammo is compatable/short OAL, and work with the AR platform and fit AR magazines).

Pac-Nor is producing my Super Match stainless barrel, but I had to have Dave Kiff of Pacific Tool & Gauge grind my reamer per Todd's spec's. This reamer is PT&G No. 5553, and is shown below.

Once my barrel is finished, I'll rent this reamer to any forum member that either wants a custom barrel chambered by his smith, or if you want to set-back your factory barrel one or two turns and re-chamber with this sweet match reamer. PM me if interested.

This reamer was discussed in Small Caliber News, Winter 2004 issue (Vol 7, No.4), and is also featured in his book "Terrific Twenties", along with the drawing for the 204 SAMMI reamer. If you think your 204 is accurate now, wait till you see how it will shoot when chambered properly with the correct reamer, and all the sloppy factory tolerances are tightened up as they should be for peak accuracy potential.

Man ,That fits my 35gr Berger load like a glove. I like

Hey Rick in Orgen I have to talk to PacNor But I may have to rent your reamer, But I have a Pacnor barrel and if I do my part at the range it shoots pretty good--I'm not sure how many 5 shot bug holes I have done with it. But if they tell me that the reamer will make an improvement in my chamber I'll be willing to rent it.. I'll let you know.. Thanks for the info..

Rick
.062 throat? If your going to have a reamer made,I
would suggest you go with .0 throat. I think you'll
be a lot happier!

The reamer has been modified to include a "zero" freebore, all other dimensions remain the same. I did not notice that until after posting, but good eyeball there boomwhop.

Now all you need to do is to redo your Sako and see how that works. Let me know as i'd probably follow suit with mine...

So the .062 becomes a "0"?

TD-M: Correct, zero freebore. With normal seating, I will be able to touch the lands if wanted, and be able to chase the rifling over time/erosion to keep the same ogive to land relationship.

With rat season almost upon us, the Sako won't be dinked with this season, possibly over the fall/winter when Skippy is sleepy. That rifle shoots so well, I almost hestate to mess with it.....almost.

Rambler: Let me know.

Just noticed the 1.5 degree( 1 degree 30 minute) angle in the throat.That's not like the 45 in my Savages . I thought you would be in the lands at 1.939 COAL . Is a .219 long throat normal??

Mike: The 1 Deg/30 Min leade angle is the same for the standard SAMMI 204 Ruger reamer. I'd be surprised if Savage used a full 45 degrees for the throat leade, as that would really hike pressures in a heartbeat, and from what we all know by now about Savages, they DO know how to make very good factory barrels.

With zero freebore, either 32 or 40 grain bullets still will not protrude into the powder space, and give me lots of latitude in regards to seating depth, both initially, and later when I've managed to get some throat erosion.

By the way, I got the new 6.5-20X LR Leupold from the factory. The box label even says "Custom Built for Rick V-------" This is new, sort of made me feel good. (Was gonna say "special", but then the Church Lady's "special" came to mind..... )

I seem to remember looking in my Savage chamber and seeing a steep angle.If 1 deg 30 min is SAMMI standard, I would think Savage is using it also.

We hit 92 degrees here today. It is supposed to get down to freezing tomorrow night.

Hey ya'll I thought I would add my custom reamer print here for comparison. Thanks for your thread Rick. I love this stuff.

Note the tight neck of .228 that requires a slight neck turn to improve accuracy. It also has a short throat of 1.855 so keep an eye on case growth. Case growth should be limited a bit by the sharpened neck/shoulder junction of .060 as opposed to .125 radius. It has a short freebore of .015 to keep the 40 grain bergers from being seated too too deep in the case when the chamber is new.

Ray: Are you shooting the barrel that your custom reamer was used on? That puppy should shoot to BR standards. I almost went with the .228" neck, but after neck turning hundreds of 17 Ackley Hornet and 17 Mach IV cases these past couple of weeks, I weenied out and made it a .230" neck.

My loaded WW brass all mic's at .228", so I'd need to do a light neck turn as you mentioned also. That looks like a winning reamer design for sure. Is that rifle used on colony rodents, or just primarily on paper? Either way, I bet it's a real shooter.

Could someone point to a tutorial or overview of neck turning please?

Dave is making this reamer right now and will then send it to Pacnor where they are waiting on it to chamber a 11 twist polygonal with a very heavy contour. This will give me a pair of 204s. I am itching to go on my first trip to dog town this spring. I will shoot it at paper plenty as that is what my back yard is for. I modeled this one after Skipper's reamer with a few modifications. I have turned the first 100 rounds and the clean up is so light that I have to use very little lube. When turning for my 6PPC I have to do it in three passes and even then each pass is much more work than this little 204 cleanup pass. I am only removing an average of .001 on a side with the 204. With the 6PPC I am taking off a total of .006 on a side.

I sure owe you guys a lot on this site for helping me along and holding my hand the last year. Thanks! My wife isn't altogether thrilled with all the money ya'll have spent for me though.

Long live the 204.

Rick...........way to go on the match reamer. Mine from JGS is a little tight in the web area. Mine is .371 (winchester brass only) , Neck is .2310 Throat datum is at .202 X 1.954 for a 40grn A-max. These dimentions are preaty close to your match reamer. Good luck and it's always nice when a plan come together!
later
Ray P