|
|
|
Discussion Forums
Forum Index
> Precision long range hunting and shooting
> .204 reloading and general
.204 reloading and general
@ 02:21 am (GMT) |
jason brownfor a while iv wanted a small calibre long range varmint/practice rifle, mate for my sendero.and a small calibre to re-load for. i wanted the same action and stock so the two rifles felt the same. the remington vssf is just that, in short action. but i wanted a fast twist 22-250 or fast 6mm. but i would next to never find that second hand. so at this stage im about to get a second hand vssf in .204 i would like to re-barrel it in one of the fast twists, but at this stage i dont have the money. so im wondering about powders and primers others have had good luck with. its the standard 1:12 twist, so i also wonder if others can stabbilize the 40 grain projectiles in this twist. any other .204 tips would be nice too. thanks. |
Replies
@ 12:34 pm (GMT) |
faulknerRe: .204 reloading and generalThanks for the encouragement, you guys really are a bad influence eh, LOL. Its nice having a Tikka in the house again, the last one was a 25-06 but in a moment of clarity I sold it, what a dumb move! I had a 5 round mag with that one and I had an issue with it so I pulled it apart, when I re-assembled it I used 404 locktite so I am thinking that the 223 mag will be easy to modify to run the 80 grain Amax!?The only real dilemma is where I am going to find a 1000 goats to shoot around here? LOL Thanks again all, I'll keep you posted once I locate rings and finish breaking in the barrel. Aj |
|
@ 12:46 pm (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generali will do the measurments, but it looks like i will try to make the magazine longer. im not looking for 1000 goats, but i do have 600 coming, it was just what i was able to get. |
@ 03:23 pm (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: .204 reloading and generalJason, please do not alter the magazine at this stage. Test shoot the rifle and see how it goes.If it turns out that the bullets have to be seated close to the lands, then we can look at mods but do not attempt any mods without contacting me first. If you simply remove the rear plastic block from the magazine, the magazine follower will flop around inside the mag box. When you go to cycle ammo, rather than feed, the follower will nose dive along with the bullets. To fix this, half of the rear block needs to be re-filled with Stabilizer compound. The front then needs to be filled with Stabilizer compound to control the movement of the follower. After this, a groove can be cut at the very front to allow bullets to sit forwards. Then after all of this, the bolt stop may need altering. The bolt stop definitely needs altering when modifying the T3 mag box for the WSM's. I can't recall at the moment whether the .223 bolt stop is set at .223 length or set for the .308. It takes about 12 hours to alter a T3 mag box. |
|
@ 01:11 am (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generalthanks nathan.i will be sure to contact you first, before i start the chainsaw. or maybe just send it to you if you can fit it in. i dont even know where the bolt stop is. so just start at mag length with different powder weights and see how it goes? i will put up some numbers when i get my loading material gets here. thanks. |
|
@ 01:59 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: .204 reloading and generalMeasure the mag box, then load ammo 1mm/40 thou shorter than the max measurement to ensure smooth feeding. If you want to, you can sneak in about .2mm/10 thou but do not go any closer.Its no different to the .308 really- and We expect extreme accuracy from the .308. The 7mm-08 is the same with the 162gr A-Max, we could throw other cartridges and combos into this mix also. Even if you can get the .308 and 7mm08 close the the lands, it is often counterproductive as it leaves the bullet sitting too far out into the case neck, poor concentricity/ bullet to bore alignment. Its nice to get close to the lands (I try when possible and practical) but often we can't and sometimes we don't need to. Much depends on the neck design of the cartridge. |
|
@ 02:03 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: .204 reloading and generalBesides, you were getting a half inch with factory ammo, no load work, huge jump. Chin up old chap- hope for the best. |
|
@ 02:39 am (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generali thought i added, but anyway when i first shot it. getting some at half inch and some touching was at just 50 yards. its all i had that day.im still getting used to it. finding my groups get better as the day goes on, or maybe its the fouling that helps, i dunno. at 100 its looking like i should get half inch. for some reason i just had thoughts of the 80gr amax being seated too deep in the case. as in the ogive inside the neck. but i think that idea came from the ar i was thinking of buying at one stage. mag length is 2.3 inch. in general, if you have a load that it fine to shoot pressure wise, and you seat it deeper. what happens pressure wise? does it increase? does one have to re-work that load to be safe? (this is more my 7mm) i understand going from jump to jammed increases pressure. i also seen my first muzzle break being fired at the range on a 300 wsm. i am never getting one of them! |
|
@ 02:45 am (GMT) |
Nathan FosterRe: .204 reloading and generalThe deeper you seat, the lower the pressure. |
|
@ 02:59 am (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generaljust an update for anyone interested.with the magazine when seating the 80gr amax at mag length the ogive was inside the neck. so i sent it away and got it made bigger roughly 2.5 inch. i went to the range today with the 80 amax seated to 10 thou off the lands using 2206h fed primer lapua brass. the most promise was 22 grains but between 2490 and 2526 at the book max of 24 grains i got 2805-2835 with rather flat primers on a couple of cases no other signs. i was kind of wishing for 3000, but that doesnt look possible. so my next move is probably to try different seating depths at 24grains. hoping to keep the speed but get better accuracy. |
|
@ 08:47 pm (GMT) |
faulknerRe: .204 reloading and generalThe Tikka is impressing, finished breaking in the barrel prior to mounting a scope. Well the scope went on (Leopold 4.5x14) and fired a few groups with 50 gr Vmax load that I developed for a different rifle and five round groups ran .4 to .6 MOA. Barrel is fouling nicely. They really are a quality rifle for the price, thanks guys for putting the idea in my head, I am really looking forward to building a couple of loads for it now!:) |
|
@ 04:39 am (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generalwell the 80 amax is shooting well for me. the one group iv tried at the 330 yard range was 3 shots at 1.4 inches.i havnt found any rabbits in the field, but i got two magpies at 240 yards. the birds must be soft and the amax fairly heavy for varmints. the first bird i thought i missed. it did a half ass fly about five metres. but the second one didnt move. there was a few feathers but mostly a clean pass through. it will be interesting to hit bones on the likes of rabbits. so far, not explosive at all. i guess the targets are light weights. lots more range is looking possable. the magpie at 520 was lucky i did a bad wind call. but its all practice for me. |
|
@ 04:12 pm (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generalhi nathan, i was wondering your thoughts on seating the amax (im using 80's) in the hornady seating die. after searching the web, its seems common for the amax to get a bit stuck it the seating stem and leave a ring below the tip of the projectile. i have given the stem a bit of steel wool in the drill, but it didnt do much, if anything.i know there is a .224 amax seating stem, but thoughts on the internet are 50/50 it improves anything. do you know if it is any different to whats in my die, or if it will improve things. i dont have this problem with my hornady die and standard stem in the 7mm. |
|
@ 12:45 am (GMT) |
jason brownRe: .204 reloading and generaljust an up date for anyone reading or following this thread.iv fired 350 rounds now. most of which are load developing and shooting targets. iv taken a few rabbits at about 350 yards with the 80 amax, iv mostly hit big bones but they open them up well! my dog can only expect half a rabbit usually. the amax seating stem did nothing! still ring marks on the projectiles. I have a 65gr gameking load now, something a bit tougher for close shots on small deer goats. it was developed to have about the same scope zero as the 80gr amax, its doing 3000 fps I tried a 55gr remington core loc but it didn't shoot well. and now I have a 50gr vmax load doing about 3350 fps I also put a egw rail on the rifle, a 20 moa one still gave me a 100 yard zero with my sightron big sky scope. so far its become a fairly versatile rifle with bullet weights from 50-80gr. |
Please wait
ABOUT USWe are a small, family run business, based out of Taranaki, New Zealand, who specialize in cartridge research and testing, and rifle accurizing.
|
KNOWLEDGEBASE |
KNOWLEDGEBASE |