Have 1 Krieger,2 Criterian,1 Excaliber,& had 2 Savages, 4 were LT Varmint, 2 or HV Varmint All 26 " the Savages were 1 in 12 " Twist ,all others 1 in 11" twist, Shot out the Savages & 1 Criterion,got over 3200 on Krieger Still shooting, got approx 5,000 out of the savages, 4000 + out of the Criterion , when the groups open up over 1/2 MOA it's time to replace them. Tried 32 gr Hornady Nosler, Sierra,. 35 Bergers, 39 Blitz king, 40 Bergers,40 Noslers & 40 V-Max out of these barrels, anything a 32 grain will do the 40's will do better past 250 yards the 40 V-Max always shot the Best out of each barrel , The 35,30 grain bergers were close; but at $10-15 a box more than the V.Max. My Go to Powders are Varget, Win-748, IMR 8208 XBR, H-4895. Got the most velocity out of H-4895. H 322 &H-335 also shot good with the 35 & 40 grain Berger & 39 Blitz King, have also tried BLC-2,Benchmark,TAC, CFE 223. None of the Ballistic Tables are even close at 800 to 1000 yards with the 204 Ruger & 40 grain bullets. ,I'm shooting at 1260 ' Altitude; the drop at 1000 yards is amazing,almost 40 MOA but the 40 V-Max hang together. Had Never shot at distance until a friend Bet Me it couldn't, Should have seen the face of another shooter with a 338 lapua,when he got Waxed by a .204 & 40 grain bullets @ 1000 yds ,Priceless !Sounds like a fair bit of experience with the 204 Ruger. Mind if I ask about your preferred barrel twist & your barrel life experience with the 204 Ruger?
Have the 40gr vmax been the most explosive for you? Ive probably shot a hundred crows w my 204 since bought new in 2005. I shot quite a few w 40gr vmax and it wld just put a big hole on the other side. Switched to the 39gr blitzkings and they came down in different pieces! 24.6 grs 10x - ruger 77 target gray.Have 1 Krieger,2 Criterian,1 Excaliber,& had 2 Savages, 4 were LT Varmint, 2 or HV Varmint All 26 " the Savages were 1 in 12 " Twist ,all others 1 in 11" twist, Shot out the Savages & 1 Criterion,got over 3200 on Krieger Still shooting, got approx 5,000 out of the savages, 4000 + out of the Criterion , when the groups open up over 1/2 MOA it's time to replace them. Tried 32 gr Hornady Nosler, Sierra,. 35 Bergers, 39 Blitz king, 40 Bergers,40 Noslers & 40 V-Max out of these barrels, anything a 32 grain will do the 40's will do better past 250 yards the 40 V-Max always shot the Best out of each barrel , The 35,30 grain bergers were close; but at $10-15 a box more than the V.Max. My Go to Powders are Varget, Win-748, IMR 8208 XBR, H-4895. Got the most velocity out of H-4895. H 322 &H-335 also shot good with the 35 & 40 grain Berger & 39 Blitz King, have also tried BLC-2,Benchmark,TAC, CFE 223. None of the Ballistic Tables are even close at 800 to 1000 yards with the 204 Ruger & 40 grain bullets. ,I'm shooting at 1260 ' Altitude; the drop at 1000 yards is amazing,almost 40 MOA but the 40 V-Max hang together. Had Never shot at distance until a friend Bet Me it couldn't, Should have seen the face of another shooter with a 338 lapua,when he got Waxed by a .204 & 40 grain bullets @ 1000 yds ,Priceless !
To help us through we can share experiences & live vicariously through these shared experiences.Gonna be a long winter
I agee but i will add my other findings. I have shot every 20 cal bullet except the customs. #1 wld be the 39gr sierra. I will say the speer 39gr tnt is also very explosive, but nowhere close to as accurate as sierra. Good short range varmint. Really pops. Hard to beat the vmax’s for price. The greatest 20 cal coyote bullet we ever had was the 45gr hornady soft point! Yes sir, and shot better in 12”tw for me than 40gr vmax. Sierra needs to make a 39gr GK sp. i have shot 50lb male coyotes here. Leave the plastic tips for crows. HP for dogs. Also the cheap 34gr dogtown is a good short range calling bullet.The 39BK is without a doudt the most explosive 20 cal i have seen and ive seen or shot just about 90% of the 20 cals bullets out there other than a few customs.
Little pricey for my high volume shooting though.
Feel free to share more on the 45 gr SP. I have a good supply to use yet.I agee but i will add my other findings. I have shot every 20 cal bullet except the customs. #1 wld be the 39gr sierra. I will say the speer 39gr tnt is also very explosive, but nowhere close to as accurate as sierra. Good short range varmint. Really pops. Hard to beat the vmax’s for price. The greatest 20 cal coyote bullet we ever had was the 45gr hornady soft point! Yes sir, and shot better in 12”tw for me than 40gr vmax. Sierra needs to make a 39gr GK sp. i have shot 50lb male coyotes here. Leave the plastic tips for crows. HP for dogs. Also the cheap 34gr dogtown is a good short range calling bullet.
Not trying to hijack the thread here. Im jealous of your stash of 45’s. Its the bullet that added the most diversity to the 20cals imo. It always shot good for me and feed well through a mag well in 3 different rifles. It wld put a nickle size hole through a 50lb male coyote. I shot it often w H4895. Cheaper than the bergers.Feel free to share more on the 45 gr SP. I have a good supply to use yet.
Ill never understand y they stop making some bullets. Like the 6mm 70gr sx also. Probably dont sell enough. I think youll find they work great - if not, then ill take em. Just kidding.Yea I have been troubled as to why the 45 gr sp was discontinued. At the time they were being discontinued they were liquidated for a fair price. So I stocked up not realizing at the time they were being discontinued. Well life happened & I tapered off on hunting in a drastic fashion for a while. Now I am getting back in to it & have a fair amount of old stock bullets to put to use.
For whatever reason the 45 gr SP never caught on with many 20 cal fans as high speed plastic taped offerings seemed more sexy or something. Was bewildered why this option was halted. Seems this could even do well in the 20 VT for relatively close work where the lions share of my shooting is done. Yet it seems everyone suggest the 45 sp is to heavy for a cartridge this efficient. I aim to prove that mind set wrong.
And some folks feel the barrels are, simply consumable.I can assure you I could smoke a 220 swift barrel in 1 day in a good rat patch. 2 max.
Well to a certain point, it's why I dont just take my 20BRA to a P.D or sage rat patch if I do I take 40 or 50 rounds and that's it.And some folks feel the barrels are, simply consumable.
Haven't shot any crows ,sadly lol, I'm loading them at 3800 + to 3950 + velocity depending on powder. last summer @ 100 degrees got 4000 fps @ 27,5 gr H-4895 ,Max is 27.7 have never gone abouve 27,5 gr. What velocity are you loading the 40's at ??Have the 40gr vmax been the most explosive for you? Ive probably shot a hundred crows w my 204 since bought new in 2005. I shot quite a few w 40gr vmax and it wld just put a big hole on the other side. Switched to the 39gr blitzkings and they came down in different pieces! 24.6 grs 10x - ruger 77 target gray.
I agree - shoot only 32’s in my Vartarg and get lots of air time if you know where to hold. Well past 300 is doable and I use the 20 Tac with 40’s if I need to get to 500.I shoot 32's in my Vartarg with plenty of doubles and a few 3 'fers with plenty of "air time" out to 250 no problem.
All the 40gr vmax i tried early on w my 204 were factory. Didnt like em so i gave up on em. Never chronograph’d those factory loads. Thats when i got some 39gr blitkings and 10x @3700 never looked back. I shot many many 32’s and always liked H4895,Benchmark.Haven't shot any crows ,sadly lol, I'm loading them at 3800 + to 3950 + velocity depending on powder. last summer @ 100 degrees got 4000 fps @ 27,5 gr H-4895 ,Max is 27.7 have never gone abouve 27,5 gr. What velocity are you loading the 40's at ??
