sps varmint .204 leade

[1000yardstare]

Been using a Rem. SPS Varmint .204 since last Fall. Great rifle, great trigger, great price. Shoots five 32 gr. Sierras into inch and a half at 300 metres,330 yards) all day long. Using H335 at a chrono of 4010 fps. Won`t shoot any other bullet worth a damn. Most accurate factory ammo is Rem 32 AccuTip.

Various methods give an oal of 2.510 with the 32 Sierra kissing the rifling. Subtract the usual .02 gives 2.490 oal. This puts the base of the bullet barely touching the case mouth. The manuals say an oal of 2.245. Split the difference at 2.360 to have enough neck retention.

Did I get a bum barrel or did the Remington engineers decide to cut a chamber leade that has the bullet jumping one caliber with factory ammo before engaging the rifling?

 

[carsonpass]

I have the same Remington 700 rifle issue, I can seat a 40g. Sierra BT where it is hardly being held by the case and it still does not touch the lands. If I seat to 32 or 40g bullets to recommended OAL, there is far more jump than I prefer and more than any other caliber in my various Remington rifles. I wonder if the factory cut these far too long because I have no idea what bullet they though one would be using that would require this much extra length. I am thinking about having the barrel set back so I do not need to jump the extra distance. Accuracy is all over the place the way it is and has been difficult to load for, it likes sending the 40g at 3,500fps with them seat out as far as I can rely on the case still holding onto them.

Has anyone had a Remington barrel set back due to this issues?

I had the chamber cut off 1/2 inch then re-cut using custom made chamber tool that allows me to seat a 40 grain vld bullet with it seated in the neck perfectly and is just a hair off the lands, could seat to touch but found it shoots better when not touching, now it is a much better shooting rifle and the ammo can be loaded as it should be with the bullet properly seated with room to play with if you prefer it.

 

[FURMAN]

I think all factory .204s are like that. I have a Cooper and a Savage and both are long throated.

 

[fdshuster]

1000yardstare: I have a 204 Hart barrel, fitted to one of my Sako L-46s'. Had my reamer, by Pacific), cut with 0 freebore requiring everything to be seated to touch. Results with all bullets tried, 32- 40 gr. were not good: just barely held moa and no consistancy. Had .075" of freebore added to the throat, all bullets can now be seated with "jump" of as much as approx. .050", and groups have improved to 1/2 moa average, with much better consistancy. I'm currently using 27.3 of Benchmark, 32 Sierra BK, most accurate bullet I've found so far), seated with .030" of jump to an OAL of 2.378". I think,?) some ctgs. require "jump", and the 204 Ruger may be one of them, but I would agree, your throat depth seems extreme-- could it be a liability factor: a "cover your a--" issue with factory rifles? The 32 BK remain the most accurate, in my barrel), better than the 32 V-Max, were not good), the 35 Berger HP, and the 39 Sierra BK.