204 Ruger Seating Depth

[lancexxx]

What seems to be working the best for you. In the lands, .005 off, .010 off or what. Also, what bullet shows signs of the best accuracy, or what load.

 

[Silverfox]

lancexxx--Many .204 Ruger reloaders, myself included, have found that their .204 Rugers like quite bit of distance between where the bullet is seated and the lands. Most of the factory chambers are cut in such a way that if you try to seat the bullet so it is touching the lands there is so little of the bullet base left in the casing that the bullet might not even stay in the neck.

My load for the 32 gr. V-Max bullets is .052" off the lands.
My load for the 35 gr. FB HP Berger is .111" off the lands.
My load for the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing is .0835" off the lands.
My load for the 40 gr. Nosler BT is .056" off the lands.

I like to use the magazine in my Savage 12VLP and therefore I seat my bullets deep enough so they fit the magazine. I do fiddle with seating depth a little bit and think I have the most accurate OAL/seating depth for the bullets I shoot at the particular speeds I shoot them.

 

[wildcat284]

Lancexxx

I'll second Silverfox on that one. I have a Kimber .204 and to hit the lands with the 39gr Sierra Blitz King meant that the bullet wasn't even being gripped by the neck!

As I want to use this rifle as a repeater, I load the cartridge for the longest OAL for the magazine. Mine ended up at 2.280. I was still able to get between 1/4 & 1/2 MOA for 5 shots at 100 yards.

In my rifle, bullet runout seems to be way more important than distance from the lands.

Regards,

Michael.