SmallCaliberCentral

Jim,

Yup, cleared it up.

Good point on max power, too. Especially around 20x and above for me. Gets pretty touchy.
I've found that I don't have much use for anything above 16x.

Jim, The parallax control "focus" has no control over the cross hair focus. The diopter control adjusts focus of the cross hairs to the shooters eye. The parallax control places the focal plane of the forward optical elements onto the same focal plane as the cross hairs. Some scopes (and I...

Glad it helped. What often confuses people is the manufacturers calling the parallax adjustment a focus. That isn't its real purpose. If the grouping problem isn't caused by scope adjustment, there are a few other factors that might be the problem. jrwoitalla has a good point. The base of the bullet...

Good scope. There are 2 steps to adjusting the scope. The first is to focus the reticle with the diopter adjustment. That's the one that turns the eye piece. Pick a non-detailed object to sight on...the sky or a plain light colored building wall. If there are any details on the wall, the eye will te...

First thing I'd do is call Cooper and get the exact load they used in their test. Get the powder, charge wt., bullet, primer and seating depth. Also get the torque values on the receiver screws and check it on your rifle. Try the load they used to save you development time. If the rifle still isn't ...

Never had any good luck with Butler Creeks caps. I keep bustin' them. Weak hinges.

Can't really make a recommendation on re10x from personal experience, only what I've gleaned from the forums. Seems to be a popular and accurate powder but very temp sensitive. If you want a recommendation on powder choice, I'd go with IMR 8208 XBR. Charges easily (small sticks), doesn't seem to kno...

Tony,

Are you sure it's H4198 and not IMR 4198. H4198 is a hot, high pressure powder. The only bullet Hodgdon lists for that powder in .204 is a 26 gr Barnes. Even at min load they show pressures at the 54,000 psi range.

Best source for the info would be to give Hodgdon a call. They know their powders and can give you an idea of where to start. I've found them to be very helpful.

Bingo! 36 in/lb should be close enough. I've torqued mine to 30. You can experiment with the torque to tighten your groups. Also, that lump in the stock may have been touching the barrel. That will have a big effect on your groups and consistency. If you ever want to see what effect it does have, on...

Just adding my 2 cents: Rick is right. I started off with a Leupold 4-12 x 40 and then went to a Millette 6.5-25 X 56. Waaay too much scope for the reasons Rick stated. Wanted something for both paper and critters but found myself dialing down the magnification to 16x or less. That mirage and lowere...

Yup, it's a different game when you're looking for bug hole size groups. But, it's not just this caliber. Even match quality .22s will exhibit similar characteristics if the system isn't tuned. Think of it this way, you buy an off the shelf hunting rifle, put a decent scope on it and find it shoots ...

That will work. Try moving your head in small, circular motions when you look through the scope. If the parallax has been adjusted out, the dot will stay on target. If not, you will see the dot oscillate around the target with your head movement. BTW, to see just how far off my shots would be if the...

I called them all actions screws but there are only 2 real action screws and 1 wedge screw. There's an action screw in front of the mag well and one behind it under the bolt release button. The wedge screw is forward of the front action screw. Wish I could show you what I was trying to describe abou...

Sounds like you covered the bases well. If the dollar bill will fit, it should be ok. But, if you decide to remove the stock, follow the manual closely. There is an aluminum wedge that tightens on the recoil lug. It's finicky to get it back in place. Also, there is a specific tightening sequence tha...