Throat a standard 204 Ruger for 55gr Bergers?
- Thread starter Marksman
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Totally
B23
Gold $$ Contributor
Why do people say the 204R isn't well suited for shooting the Berger 55's? Plenty of people, myself included, shoot 52-55 gr bullets in 223's and the 204 not only has more case capacity then the 223 but the Berger 55 has a much better BC.
When I run numbers through a ballistic app with a 204R shooting 55's against a 223 shooting a 53 Vmax, which has the best BC of any mid weight 22 cal bullet, even at 150fps faster then the 204R by the time you get to 300yds they're even with each other and the further you go past 300 the 204 W/55's continually pulls away in all departments.
The only real downside I can see is once you get a 204R throated properly for those longgg 55's you very well may be committed to just running the 55's because the 40's and lighter bullets may not shoot well jumping them that far.
When I run numbers through a ballistic app with a 204R shooting 55's against a 223 shooting a 53 Vmax, which has the best BC of any mid weight 22 cal bullet, even at 150fps faster then the 204R by the time you get to 300yds they're even with each other and the further you go past 300 the 204 W/55's continually pulls away in all departments.
The only real downside I can see is once you get a 204R throated properly for those longgg 55's you very well may be committed to just running the 55's because the 40's and lighter bullets may not shoot well jumping them that far.
Hotshot
Silver $$ Contributor
Of course the 204R will propel the 55 Berger bullet at high enough velocity to be interesting. The down side: 9 twist probably won't work well with lighter bullets, long throat might not work well with lighter bullets, single shot only as the long 55 Berger won't allow the use of a magazine. Pretty much leaves it dedicated to only the 55 or custom made bullets that are expensive and often times hard to find. That doesn't appeal to me but to each his own. Good luck with your project.
Gain in FPS, etc would not b
e much, in my opinion. If you want to shoot 55 gn Bergers in a 20 cal, go to a larger 20 cal cartridge, say a 20-2 50 or such.
If the reamer is to SAAMI specs., perhaps noting to gain: free-bore is already 0.100", with a 1.5 Deg. (1 Deg-30 Min.) leade angle, and a .217" long neck. The SAAMI free-bore is a LOT for bullet lengths in the 35-40 Gr. weight range. The SAAMI spec stipulates a Max OAL of 2.260".
Here's a pic of a 53 Gr., [tangent] 10 ogive BT bullet seated to just touch the leade of a 0.060: free-bore: The OAL is 0.125" longer than the SAAMI spec. Max - but, for single loading, who cares! Of course, there will be some variance from bullet type to type. However, a SAAMI spec. reamer would be reasonably close to the required/desired free-bore, while a custom reamer is likely, "a whole different animal".
That stated, moving this bullet out for a 0.100" free-bore and 1.5 Deg. leade - about 0.040" longer, wouldn't be all bad. RG
P.S. - cropping made for a lousy pic, but it still displays the point.
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L.Sherm
Silver $$ Contributor
It is unless you step up to a BR size case, only thing smaller that i would consider is a PPCAI case.
The nice thing with the BR and PPC case is the long neck lets you get away with very little freebore for the 55 and still plenty for a 39-40 bullet.
Rick in Oregon
Gold $$ Contributor
Part of the allure of the .204 caliber is speedy bullets giving flat trajectory and "rewarding" visual terminal displays. Shooting 55gr bullets removes all that with slower speeds, arced trajectory, and lacks that "happy ending" most shooters are looking for when out varmint shooting.
Personally, all my varmint rifles shoot "correct for caliber" weight bullets for the attributes listed above. I don't distain those who shoot those heavy for caliber bullets, I just don't understand what they're trying to accomplish by doing so. There are much better choices for launching a 55gr .204 bullet.
Personally, all my varmint rifles shoot "correct for caliber" weight bullets for the attributes listed above. I don't distain those who shoot those heavy for caliber bullets, I just don't understand what they're trying to accomplish by doing so. There are much better choices for launching a 55gr .204 bullet.
B23
Gold $$ Contributor
I know the rifles factory chambered in 204 Ruger have quite a bit of freebore.
The CZ 527 204R I had a 32gr Vmax was 2.408 OAL at touch and the Tikka I have now is close to the same which leaves those Vmax 32's nearly falling out of the case before they touch the lands.
I certainly don't disagree there are better choices out there if you want to dedicate a 20 to shooting the Berger 55's. I have a 20-250 which was specifically built to only shoot the 55's and the other 20cal rifles I have are for the 40's and lighter.
The CZ 527 204R I had a 32gr Vmax was 2.408 OAL at touch and the Tikka I have now is close to the same which leaves those Vmax 32's nearly falling out of the case before they touch the lands.
I certainly don't disagree there are better choices out there if you want to dedicate a 20 to shooting the Berger 55's. I have a 20-250 which was specifically built to only shoot the 55's and the other 20cal rifles I have are for the 40's and lighter.
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TRSR8
Silver $$ Contributor
I still admit to a soft spot for some 22 CF’s particularly historic ones launched out of highwalls and spent much of my youth assassinating crows and chucks with 22-250’s and various 17’s, but the, IMHO, perfect, bar none, varmint combo, is a TAC 20, firing Lapua cases with 40’s humming along @ 3900 + fps or 32’s @ 4100-4200 fps….everything else is 2nd, 3rd best…..carry on.
For punching holes in paper or hitting gongs the 55 could be fine in a 204 Ruger. But for critters (especially at distances where the 55 would finally outpace a 40) the terminal performance is fairly lame. Minus high velocity the 55’s can and do pencil through with almost no expansion. I base this statement upon real-world experience.
The 1-8 twist, 3 groove prefit I ordered only had slower options than the 204, otherwise I would have gone with a bigger case. I figure I'll punch paper with the 55's and if I really want to go lighter I could try mono bullets. Not cheap, but if killing stuff I'd rather pay for a quality bullet. It's good to hear that the factory throat is long enough.
NorCalMikie
Gold $$ Contributor
With THAT in mind, consider going ZERO freebore on your chamber.
That way you can jam/reach the lands and as the throat wears you can go to a longer OAL and still reach the lands.
Nothing worse than finding YOUR LOAD, the throat wears and YOUR LOAD can't be found anymore. (been there and learned about TOO long of a throat)
Don't like a SHORT THROAT? They make a "throat reamer" to lengthen it as needed/desired without bothering anything else.
Yep. Plenty long. They went with the Weatherby concept for freebore in the 204.
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
I wanted a repeater with no feeding issues, went 22/204. 53g V max and 55g Nosler BT at 3700 fps is real world with 1/4" groups using IMR XBR 8208 with cci br-4. This load smacks large coyotes HARD!
The 223 AI will push the 55's this close to 3700 with extreme accuracy with N-135, cci BR4's, but getting them to feed is another issue where you need the length of an internal box magazine.
I don't know what the velocity loss would be with 55's in a 204. A friend was shooting 55s in a ppc and he canned the project due to too many coyotes running off where 225-325 yd shots are common.
The 223 AI will push the 55's this close to 3700 with extreme accuracy with N-135, cci BR4's, but getting them to feed is another issue where you need the length of an internal box magazine.
I don't know what the velocity loss would be with 55's in a 204. A friend was shooting 55s in a ppc and he canned the project due to too many coyotes running off where 225-325 yd shots are common.
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