40 Berger vs 40 Nosler vs 39 Sierra?

[crashcarruthers]

I have had no luck shooting 40 grain Vmaxs, Nosler 40 grain work good, 39 Sierra work great. I have just got some 40 grain Berger Bullets and have not had a chance to try them. The 35 grain Berger are fantastic. I have several 204 rifles (Kimber Pro-Varmint, CZ Kevlar, Tikka Varmint, Browning Varmint and Comp. Stalker). I was wondering if some has compared 40 grain Berger. Opinions appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Silverfox]

I shot some of the 40 gr. Berger Length Tolerant Bullets in my Savage 12VLP back in late September and October 2004. They shot pretty good, but not as good as the 39 gr. Sierras or the 40 gr. Nosler BTs. Powders that worked good for me were H322 and H4895.

The 35 gr. FBHP Bergers shoot fantastic in my rifle and have proven to be a pretty good fur-saving bullet on coyotes. Like you, I have had no luck with the 40 gr. V-Max.

[Sidewinderwa]

Crash.......
What a nice collection of 204's! Which rifle is your favorite and why? Is one more accurate than the others? I have a Savage 12VLP and am looking for a lighter carry rifle. I have had good luck with the Sierra 39s. The Berger 35 gr bullets did not group that well for me, double he size of the Sierra.

[Lee C.]

Crash, I shoot both the 35gr and 40gr berger bullets in my 12fv. The 35gr bullet i use h4895 and the benchmark powder really made the 40gr bullet give up some nice groups. I played around with the 39gr sierra but really didn't do a good testing with them. I may go back and try the sierras agine some time.

[jo191145]

The barrel I'm shooting now seems to like the 40 Bergs with BM or H-4895. The three previous tubes I owned would throw any 40gn pill around like rocks. They all preferred the 35 Berg.
The 32 and 39bk's always gave me trouble in those first three tubes. Keyholes or blow ups.
My new tube seems to tolerate them, at least the lot # I'm using now.
I'd like them to work for me as they do for so many others. The BC is good for longer range work.
Some preliminary development points to the fact the 39's just might work as well as the 40 Berg for me.
The 39 didn't turn to dust until I hit 4015 fps which is way to far over max to use anyway. I tend to hotrod my Audette ladders just to make sure I'm not missing anything. Usually accuracy is terrible up there but every once in a while...... CCi -450's seem to handle this abuse much better. Not sure if they're helping in the accuracy department yet.

Using Win 748 and FL sized brass (an extreme rarity for me) I pulled a load out of an Audette ladder that put 6 rds into .446 at 200yds.
Sounds good but I fired eight rds of that load. The two huge fliers opened it up to 1.382. Totally unacceptable.
Maybe when I'm done getting my brass bodies back into shape and return to shoulder bump neck sizing things will improve with some tweaking.

Shot a ladder using 748 and 40 Bergs and it looks much worse Haven't tried any groups yet but it doesn't look good.

Bottom line, only your barrel can tell you what it prefers.

[crashcarruthers]

Favorite rifle in .204, Tikka T3 Varmint for long range with Meopta 4-16x44mm scope. Browning Composite Stalker for walk around, truck gun (Light and it has a plain jane Nikon 4X40mm Monarch UCC scope). CZ Kevlar is a great gun, but CZ bolts are rough in their sliding.
Kimber is great , but not a great value IMHO. Once you spend that much you can build a custom gun. Browning Varmint Brush has DuraTouch which I really like, but the Browning Stalker shoots just as good and is lighter.
I can not honestly say which is the most accurate, because they all shoot around .5 inch 5 shot groups at a 100yds with the right loads. This is my limit not the guns. I don't punch paper alot except to build loads. I own a pecan orchard and critters are always a problem.

[Sidewinderwa]

OK, where is everyone getting these Tikka 204 rifles? They are not in their US catalog. Our distributer at work does not have them listed. Are there special purchases? I am in Washington state and cannot find anyone that sells them. I do not have a Tikka yet and I like trying out different brands. The 204 is my favorite varmint caliber, it is such a sweet round.

[crashcarruthers]

SidewinderWA I PM you where to get T3 204.

[WHISTLEPIG]

Is it a secret?

[CooperRandall]

Scheels in Sioux Falls, SD has three plain ones and two that have been camoed out. $749 for the black ones. They are $100 cheaper at one of the Scheels stores in IA.

[K_Hini]

scheels will match other scheels stores!!!

[Silverfox]

Early last fall, I was in a Scheel's store in Billings, MT and they had the Tikka Varmint T3s in stock in .204 Ruger caliber. The salesman said Scheel's had an exclusive on the US market on that particular caliber for the Varmint T3s? I can't verify that. However, this past winter and spring, I have noticed the Tikka Varmint T3s in .204 Ruger on the shelves at Scheel's stores in Minot, ND and in Bismarck, ND.