204 Midsouth 34grn

[Song Dog]

These 34s shoot pretty darn good out of the 20Tac.
I am going to filter them into the 204 with either Varget or H4895.
Does any of ya have experience with either of the two?

[Darkker]

Well into my second thousand out of my Ruger predator.
Fooled with 748 for a bit, but have (had) a few 8# kegs of CFE, and a load that is scary stupid accurate. Bullet also is amazing for coyotes.

Can't say enough about how thrilled I am with them. Was specifically told I was NOT allowed to bring that gun to a local egg shoot this summer.

They are an absolute steal!

[Bill K]

I am like Darkker. I shoot thousands of them. Both from Midway USA and Midsouth Shooters. I use the .17, .20 and 224 calibers in various rifles and find they preform pretty darn good, for the money. Now for pinpoint target work, maybe not, but I can shoot them at or under MOA in all my rifles and they do a good job on putting down varmints. You can work up a decent load and have no problem with them. And save some money while enjoying a lot of shooting. Bill K

[WesF]

Do any of you find the lower ballistic coefficient to be a limiting factor at longer (200+yard) ranges?

[Bill K]

Do any of you find the lower ballistic coefficient to be a limiting factor at longer (200+yard) ranges?

In the 204 R or the 20 SCC I can not see any disadvantage, even out to around 300 yrs. They hit and tear up my varmints plenty good. Bill K

[WesF]

Thanks Bill, I was hoping you would say that. I am looking forward to shooting an inexpensive yet effective round.

[WesF]

Has anyone used these bullets on top of IMR 4198? I checked the Nosler load data for these bullets & they claim 4198 is the most accurate powder they tested for these bullets in 204 Ruger. Just wondering if Nosler is pulling my chain or there are shooters here with experience with this combination.

[Bill K]

Has anyone used these bullets on top of IMR 4198? I checked the Nosler load data for these bullets & they claim 4198 is the most accurate powder they tested for these bullets in 204 Ruger. Just wondering if Nosler is pulling my chain or there are shooters here with experience with this combination.

More than one of the 20 caliber shooters do use 4198, and other powders. Nosler makes the Midsouth and also the Midway USA bullets, so they may favor their data. Others do about the same with their products, stands too reason But you will never know if that is best for your rifle until you check out various loads, bullet depth, etc. That is just part of the fun we have. If you read and check out the 204, you will note 4198, exterminator and Rl 10 and some others are favored by a fair number of shooters. So all I can say, is start checking out a few, again in your rifle. Each one is and can be a different beast. Bill K

[WesF]

With the powder market conditions the way they are, I was unable to find IMR 4198. I did find a pound of CFE 223, which has gotten some good commentary here and on other forums. I also picked up 100 CCI 450 primers for my initial testing. As soon as it warms up a bit here I will get to the range and commence with the fun. With temperatures hovering in the low teens around here, I doubt my shivering would yield very good groups

[Darkker]

Think you'll be very happy with CFE, I am. Don't need to push hard for accuracy with it.

[ClaimJumper]

Best powder for those 34's is X-Terminator 24-25 grains.

[WesF]

I finally got some Midsouth 34 grain bullets late last week. I'm loading them in new WIN brass on top of CFE223, starting at the minimum load listed on the Nosler web site and incrementing up 0.3 of a grain up to the max load listed. I'm hoping to get these to group well enough so I can shoot the 5 shot group challenge and get the target back to skipper by the end of the month. Stay tuned.

[Darkker]

My experience with CFE may blow your skirt up.
The load I found works fantastically in two different rifles, as in choose which eyelash you want to hit.
Oddly enough, when I chrono'd the loads, they are:
1) rather slow.
2) have an ES of about 100 fps

That "Should" mean it is not an accurate load, but all evidence to the contrary.

[WesF]

Gentlemen, I didn't get these loaded to enter the groups for the challenge. I would have liked to as these little gems produced 1/2" groups a 100 yards. I did however load some for my South Dakota pd hunt in mid June and was pleased with the performance, several dogs fell to these bullets. My problem with these loads is that I had to load them into my Savage 12FV one at a time as the hollow point of the bullet would hang up on the face of the chamber, I couldn't load them from the magazine. I'm wondering of this is a function of bullet seating depth or if my rifle doesn't like these bullets loaded from the magazine. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[bythebook]

The 204 I have now is my third one and I have use Midway and Midsouth 34 grainers in all of them. I also used BLc-2 with most of them, also have tried other powders but went back to BLc-2. I had a Ruger 77T that got me to two second places and 1 first place at an egg shoot at 200 yds. My current 204 is a model 12 action with a B&C stock and a Ross muzzle brake. I have worked the trigger and skim bedded the action in the stock. I hope to do some shooting with it soon, it seems like it wants to shoot.