.204 reloading issues

Cyres

Well-Known Member
Took a call from a mate last night who has a .204 Howa.

He has never been able to get good accuracy and recently purchased a COL guage.

Last night he was reloading some .204 with 35grn V max's and it appears that the chamber is overly long. I cannot remember the exact dimensions but if he loads these bullets only 20 thou into the case they are still well over 20 thou off the lands.

The cases are once used Hornady and have not been trimmed.

Suggestions


D
 
Don't worry about where the lands are. I've shot some loads with 150 thou jump. I expect to shoot loads in the future with bigger jumps. I suggest he seats the bullet securely in the case neck, works up his load carefully and goes shooting.

Regards

JCS
 
Interested to hear this one:)

Ive just recently got a howa 204 and just started reloading but i am a bit of a newbie at loading. I was using 28gr h335 with 32gr vmax with a oal of 2.250 and getting 1/2 inch and less at 100 yards
 
Don't worry about where the lands are. I've shot some loads with 150 thou jump. I expect to shoot loads in the future with bigger jumps. I suggest he seats the bullet securely in the case neck, works up his load carefully and goes shooting.

Regards

JCS

I agree with John, a 20 thou jump is nothing, I have found little or no correlation between being close to the lands and accuracy.

Get your reloading procedures correct, brass prep is important - get the resizing and seating dies properly setup, the bullet far enough into the case that it is held straight with the correct tension.
 
He is quite an experienced reloared and has a competion set of dies, how far does the bullet need to be in the neck to provide adequate support and tension?

The v max's in question are flat based.

D
 
He is quite an experienced reloared and has a competion set of dies, how far does the bullet need to be in the neck to provide adequate support and tension?

The v max's in question are flat based.

D

I would start with the bullet a calibre deep - ie .204 down into the case neck. Focus on seating depth and straightness, forget about OAL as long as the cartridge fits in the rifle...
 
base to tip 2.250 seems very common.the 204 seems to like the jump from what i have heard.i'm just trying to get mine to play as well.
 
I have to concur with the lads on here a shooting mate has a 204 his has a 50 thou jump and he has now sorted his load and it shoots like a dream,

he purchased his 204 from gun watch and the owner was only down the road from him(in selby north yorkshire) and when he spoke to him about loading he explained the reason for selling it was he had only shot factory loads and was not happy with just over 1/2" groups at 100 yards.

needles to say Biscuit is well happy with his cheap 204 :)

bob.
 
Like has already been said, don't worry about the jump to the lands. If your mate is not getting good results with his current set up the try different bullets, try some 32's or some 39/40's etc, then he can experiment with different powders if need be but doubt it will come to that.

what sort of accuracy is he getting at 100 yards for example?

Steve.
 
204tend to have a long jump to the lands, mine is set at 2350 if my memory serves me right, try the 39 grn sierras shoot well in the Howa but 40 don't found 10x a good powder for the 204
 
not aware that 20 tac factory ammo is for sale in the uk as yet ?

bob.

and i think there is a little more than 2 gr differance in the loads,

read it here, http://www.6mmbr.com/20Caliber.html


I meant ant buying factory 204 as an option.

i use a .204 with. A 39 grain bullet and 25.4 grains of Reloader 10 at 3890 ftps, your link provides identical data with identical results with the same amount of powder, there is no advantage especially when you can buy factory ammo for the 204 as a choise. :D

They are identical so no advantage in he Tac, you just can buy factory ammo in .204 if you want to!
 
same result using less powder :)

bob.


I was on about the same result as in DEAD :)

and reloading a 20 tac you can acheive the same results as the 204 using less powder, providing other thing are in the same ball park

IE:barrel lenth etc

Im very happy with mine and my shooting buddy is over the moon with his 204, so we are all happy :)

bob.
 
Steve identical
that's like pulling a 410 out of the cabinet and calling it a twelve bore :D
Don't you think I would have bought a boring factory jobbie and ammo to match
wheres the fun in that :stir:

Regards pete
 
Steve identical
that's like pulling a 410 out of the cabinet and calling it a twelve bore :D
Don't you think I would have bought a boring factory jobbie and ammo to match
wheres the fun in that :stir:

Regards pete


Hi Pete

hope the new ones working well,

regards

bob.
 
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