204Ruger

Id like to post two questions.

Ive got two options for my first 204 loads. A VV-140 and VV-550. Which one would you recommend for me?

Next question regarding sizing brass (neck sizing) - is there any danger of making the neck too tight for the bullet? What effect does too much bullet grip have?

Many thanks

I've never used the 550 but the Vihtavuori N140 is great for the 204. I got a 3 shot group at 100 yards measuring .177 center to center with 27.6 grains of N140 using 40 gr Vmaxs. As for your second question, I polished a spare Lee neck sizing mandrel down by .001 and did not notice any change in accuracy. I would not go down more than that. I had a factory round with a weak case blow up in my gun once and I'm a bit leary of overpressure.

Personally don't know about too much haveing an accuracy effect..

'But if you ever need to pull bullets (and you will!! ) It really stinks when tension is really tight...

Bullet Grip (neck tension) is set either by a neck or full length die or by a totally separate system called a neck bushing die. A neck bushing is well, a bushing that puts a known amount of tension or sizing on the neck of the brass to grip the bullet. The bushing can be interchanged with other sizes to increase/decrease the grip on the brass has on the bullet. My common neck tension is .002-difference in neck diameter before and after bullet seating. Alot of neck tension can raise the pressure inside the chamber to undesirable levels. Too little neck tension and you may unseat the bullet (in or out) before you even chamber the round. If you are using a quality set of dies and running the brass entirely into the die with your seater plug appropriately set you should have adequate neck tension. Hope this helps