40 Gr. Ballistic Tips in 12 twist .204R barrel??

[SBS]

Like most, I found that the 40 Gr. V-Max did not shoot well in my 12T Savage .204 Ruger barrel and have been using the 39 Blitzking. What about the Nosler 40 Gr. BT in this barrel? Haven't seen much posted about it; anyone have some good groups with them?

 

[TAJ45]

No first hand experience but do a very precise twist check on your rifle. It may be a bit slower than intended.
Many factory cf bbls have finished .3 - .5 slower. Meaning 12.3 - 12.5 which will make a difference, especially when on the edge of heavier for cal pills.

 

[JB10]

When i got my 204r i read about issues so i just settled on 35gr bergers. They kill pretty good. When i built another 20cal i ordered a 1:10 twist so i could shoot the 40s and it does it well.

 

[Hotshot]

Years ago I used 40 grain Nosler for my prairie dog loads and they were very accurate. At some point the Nosler bullets became hard to get so I switched over to Sierra and Hornady. First loads I try in a new 204 are the Hornady and they seem to work well in most factory rifles. If the rifle doesn’t like the hornady then I go to the ridiculous priced sierra’s.

 

[SBS]

The 39 Blitzking does very well in my factory barrel 204R, but sometimes hard to find, so wondering about using the 40 BT in it?

 

[Fern]

I like you did not have good luck with 40g vmax. I never found noslers to try. I traded some Bergen’s for 39sbk and got ok groups but not great.
At that point I decided to have my rifle re barreled with 11 twist and groups vmax just fine but 39sbk really shine

 

[L.Sherm]

I would stay with the 39BK just buy enough to last the barrel or go lighter bullets. Another option is rebarrel to a 3G11 twist then no problems with any bullet up to 40gr.

 

[Tommie]

Considering VMaxes wont stabilize in your barrel, the Noslers at best would be marginally stable.
Very marginally.

 

[SBS]

Considering VMaxes wont stabilize in your barrel, the Noslers at best would be marginally stable.
Very marginally.

Don't think it's the 1 gr. difference that makes the 39 BK shoot well and the 40 V-Max shoot poorly. Length of bullet and the weight distribution are different. Still would like to hear from .204 owners who have had experience with a 40 BT in a factory 12 twist. Guess I'll have to buy a box and see.

 

[Tommie]

Don't think it's the 1 gr. difference that makes the 39 BK shoot well and the 40 V-Max shoot poorly.

Not disagreeing with you.

A true 1-12” twist will stabilize the VMax. Production tolerances being what they are, some factory 12” barrels have been measured as slow at 1-12.7”. So what I’m saying is your particular barrel is likely slower than 1-12 and switching to Noslers is unlikely to produce great results. Sierra recognized the inconsistent barrel twist issue and designed the 39 BK.

 

[varmit_hunter]

I have some but never tried them. I started out with BK 39gr . Went to Berger 35gr bullets. Been shooting since. I have some Berger 40gr bullets too. I made try them see how they group. My 204 ruger is a 1@10 twist barrel. If I wasn't shooting Berger bullets. I would go back to BK 39gr bullets.