My first .20 caliber

[Wingnut00]

I always took it at face value, that the twist of the barrel matched the published literature. Then I measured a couple of my Rem 204 Rugers. One was a 13 1/4, the other a 9 1/4. Maybe Savage is true to their published literature, but it is easy enough to check. It might change your approach.

Agreed. I will check twist rate as soon as I have it. Thank you! Hopin it it's faster twist for sure.

 

[Predator1]

I’m kinda late to the discussion, but my 2 cents ain’t usually worth 2 cents but here goes. I have shot the 40gr Berger in my 12 twist and it shot great. The first loads I tried were the 39gr sierra with H4895 and accuracy was super. I tried the Berger with the same powder and you couldn’t tell the diff from one bullet to the other. Both shot amazing. I mainly shoot the sierras cuz they are cheaper and have a better BC but I wouldn’t hesitate to throw in the 40 Berger and roll with it.

 

[Wingnut00]

Well I got my gun today so now just gotta get a scope mounted up and do some barrel brake in. Thanks for the advice so far and will try to update when I get er slingin lead.

 

[Laurie]

I too had a Savage 12 in 204 some years back - an LRPV and 26-inch 12-twist barrel. It shot the 40gn Berger BT very well over a relatively low velocity (3,300 something fps) Viht N140 load - well enough for the rifle / load combination to win the UK BR Association national 100 yard 'Factory Class' that year.

It shot all 39/40s I tried at least reasonably well. The VMax gave mixed results in that one combination with it produced my smallest 5-shot 100 yard group of all time with the rifle, somewhere in the high 'ones', but was never repeated so had to be regarded as a fluke. Overall, it was noticeably less consistent than the 39gn BlitzKing or 40gn Berger, so may have been only just stabilised.

Some factory 204s that we played with in the early days of the cartridge, in particular the Howa 1500 Varmint, would shoot factory 32gn ammunition superbly but struggle to get under 1 or even 1.5-MOA with Hornady factory 40gn VMax and/or many 40gn handloads.

The range used is just under 1,000 ft ASL and normally sees cool temperatures, above 20-deg C (70F) being unusual.

 

[D-mon]

40 gr vmax was working very well into my savage predator with a 21" barrel once it was properly bedded into a laminated Boyd stock and the barrel had a suppressor fitted . On top of my head I was using around 28 gr of Win 748 ( approach carefully as I think it is on the upper limit of the books)with federal match primer, and hornady brass.