.204 ruger and 34 gr. dogtown bullets
- Thread starter whiter02
- Start date
BigDMT
If you don't mind an extruded powder, 28gr of IMR 4895 worked well for me. Ramshot X-terminator works well too with about 27 gr. But who knows what your rifle will like...
What I have found interesting on a couple of other sights is that now that Nosler is selling them as their own, some folks that did not use the Mid Souths bullets, because they did not shoot as well, have discovered since they say Nosler on the box, how much better they shoot than the V-Max! There is some good load data on the 204 Ruger sight for them.
BigDMT
Midway dogtown bullets ARE made by Nosler. Always have been. They are just a cheap bulk bullet that Nosler produces for MidwayUSA.
I knew it before Midway let the cat out of the bag too because there's only one company that has the black seal with white writing on bullet boxes. The 100 ct Midway dogtown boxes always had that same Nosler seal. Then Midway finally admitted that Nosler made them.
I knew it before Midway let the cat out of the bag too because there's only one company that has the black seal with white writing on bullet boxes. The 100 ct Midway dogtown boxes always had that same Nosler seal. Then Midway finally admitted that Nosler made them.
I know that the Midway and Midsouth bullets are Nosler. My point was that there are folks on other sites that said they could not get them to shoot, "plain labels" until they found out they were Noslers, and now they are the best! Kind of like Big Green and Yellow! The Nosler is always best guys. I agree they are good bullets, but don't seem to shoot any better than V-Max and Blitzkings.
Well i have not had any luck getting them to shoot well. I have tried bl-c2 and benchmark from min. Load to max in half grain increments and have not had anything to group much less than 1 moa. I was really hoping i could get them to shoot somewhere around .5 moa since they are a lot cheaper than the 32 gr. V-max that i shoot in it now.
you may have missed the accuracy node for a small case.
The 34's are a 200-250 yard bullet max. Asking .5MOA from the "Cheapest" bullet made is unrealistic.
They have a
Sectional Density:0.117
Ballistic Coefficient:0.135
The BC of a 2X4 is not conducive of accuracy less than 1moa past 100 yards IMHO.
BigDMT
A_Gamehog said:
Lets see.... hmmm. wrong. I shoot the 34 gr Midsouth Varmint Extreme Nightmare bullets in my .204 Ruger and my 20 Vartarg. They are the Midway Dogtown bullet in all appearances but only cost $40 per 500 from Midsouth Shooter Supply. The pics below speak for themselves.
10 shots, rapid fire with no barrel cooling time whatsoever from my 20 VT using a bipod off the tailgate of my truck. I pulled a couple shots from a not-so-steady rest and still managed this 10 shot group.
5 shot group using the same bullet. It may not look like it, but I swear to you that those first 4 bullets went in those 2 different holes. I think I got a little excited and puled the 5th shot
Still impressive nonetheless.
3 shot group with a different charge of same powder
Another 3 shot group with same bullet in a whole different powder
And another powder with 3 shots
So cheap bullets aren't always "CHEAP" bullets if you know what I mean. And my furthest shot to date was on a prairie dog at 368 yards. But to about 300 yards is where they shine, then you'd better have a really fast and accurate load to make up for low BC on any shots at further distances. But I can make 200-250 yard shots on gophers and P-Dogs ALL day long with my loads. So that's definitely NOT their MAX range. I'd say more like 400 yards on a calm day with an accurate and speedy load.
Keep trying different powders and you'll get it eventually whiter02
Give Reloder 15 a shot with 30 grains and IMR 4895 with 28 grains in your .204 Ruger. Both of those powders seem to be consistently accurate in all my varmint rifles. The Ramshot X-terminator and AA 2230 are kind of hit and miss for me when loading. These rifles just happened to like them. Although it wouldn't hurt to try those powders too. Don't give up on those bullets after only trying 2 powders! You haven't even touched the possibilities with the vast variations of powders available to you. Take care and good luck!!!
"The BC of a 2X4 is not conducive of accuracy less than 1moa past 100 yards IMHO."
you proved my point, only 100 yard groups. nice shooting though.
1/4 mile with a 135 BC bullet? and you still get UNDER 1MOA?
here is a 3 shot 300 yard group in a light wind, never shot it that good since. Then 200 yards benched.
not saying it can't shoot, just any wind messes your day past 150+ yards.
you proved my point, only 100 yard groups. nice shooting though.
1/4 mile with a 135 BC bullet? and you still get UNDER 1MOA?
here is a 3 shot 300 yard group in a light wind, never shot it that good since. Then 200 yards benched.
not saying it can't shoot, just any wind messes your day past 150+ yards.
BigDMT
A_Gamehog said:
All my loads hold sub MOA all the way out to 400 yards. 1/2 MOA or less to 300 yards. But anyhow, enough of that. I have no more points to prove. They shoot good for me and I save a ton of money loading them so I will continue to use them.
whiter02,
Although the cheaper bullets shoot great for me, I will admit that my favorite .204 Ruger bullet is the 39gr Sierra BlitzKing. Those things are ridiculously accurate in my custom Rem 700 .204 Ruger. Using either 30gr of Reloder 15 or 30gr of Hogdon BLC-2 they shoot in the .3's at 200 yards. That's sub 1/4 MOA. I say when all else fails for finding accurate loads with a .204 Ruger, go for the BlitzKing. You can weigh every bullet in the box and they'll be within .15 grains of each other. And that's the extreme spread. Not hard at all to find matching bullets within .04gr for load testing. I'll have to take pics of my 200 yard targets and post them. Every load I tried at 200 yards was sub MOA, and most were sub 1/2 MOA, and in a couple cases sub 1/4 MOA.
I think a fella has 500 of them for sale on here for $93. That's a bargain and if I didn't have enough right now, I'd buy them myself. Give them a shot if anything else.
V-Max bullets might work ok, but their weights vary so drastically (as do ALL Hornady bullets) you tend to get quite a few inaccurate fliers at ranges beyond 300 yards. If not planning to shoot beyond 300 yards. they might work well for you. But the Sierras are about the same price and much more consistent.
I also use the 75gr Sierra HP Varminter Bullets in my factory heavy barrel Ruger M77 6mm Remington. I know this is all kinda off the subject, but just for fun, here's a pic of what those Sierras do for me in a 100% factory rifle of old. The rifle is 34 years old to be exact
areaone said:
I'm using that bullet in my TAC 20 with 22.8 Gr. of H4198. MV3909 fps
will shoot sub .5 groups if I do my part. Rips Prairie dogs in half literally.
I am using it in my 20VT with AA2200 @ 4100fps. Something like .040" off the lands with .002" neck tension.
All 3 shot groups @ 100yds. Deadly on coyotes and ground squirrels.
Adam
All 3 shot groups @ 100yds. Deadly on coyotes and ground squirrels.
Adam
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