SmallCaliberCentral

I'm gonna start reloading my 204R. What the best bullets for yotes, bobcats and other varmits.0 to the 500 yard range. 39GR blitzkings or 40GR Vmax?Thanks

I use Vmax bullets because they are a little less expensive. They shoot fine and do the job. I am sure ether one would be fine.

After researching around the net, and this has been a little while ago, I settled on the following:

26.5 grains 10X
Federal 205 Match Primer
32 Grain Hornady Red Tip
Winchester Cases

The results were better than acceptable with consitent 2 shot groups with all touching at 50 yards. Velocities in the high 3900, giving a very solid wack on impact with rat. I tried larger bullets with limited (although acceptable) success.

These details, particularly powder charge are from memory. Yep, I'm using 26.5gr 10X, the Federal 205M, and the Hornady 32 grain V max. The 39 Bergers I tried didn't do well in my rifle. Your experience of course may vary.

39 grain BK's all the way! Has the highest BC of all the mainstream 20 cal bullets and has proven effective for me from just off the muzzle out to 500 long paces. It is my all around "go to" bullet for all my varmint hunting in the winter. Where I live the ranges shorten up greatly in summer....at this time I usually go with a lighter bullet as drift and drop is not an issue at 300 yards or less. All around the 39 BK is the king of 20 call bullets and in my gun the 26 grain barnes VG is SUPER accurate and will make a great short range summer bullet. Have fun and let us know how it works out!

It seems, more often than not with the factory barrels the 39 SBK's are more likely to work than the 40 H-VMAX's. Mind you, both may work great or not at all.

I've always used the 39's because when I got my 1st 204 it was truly my 1st varmint rig so I wanted the long distance stability it provided over the 32 grains. The 40 V-MAXES were adequate but the Sierra's were far more accurate. Since then I have aquired 2 more rifles and I'm about to see if my new Remington shoots them, I'll know on Tuesday. If it doesn't, I'll try some 26 gr, 32 and maybe Berger 35 grain pills.

Jim

I would have to vote for the 39gr BlitzKings as well.... just based on experience... Another factor is that I used to live about 40 miles from the Sierra plant and could buy their 'seconds' for about 1/3 of the regular market price... Out of about 850 bullets, I only had to discard about a dozen due to deformed tips and they even shot well....most were just discolored due to a flaw in the copper..

Accuracy wise, the 39s shoot slightly better than the 40gr V-Max in my barrels with a moderate charge behind them.. The same holds true for the 50gr SBKs vs the 50gr V-Max....in my .223s...

The only way to find out is to shoot some of each out of your rifle.I use both of them;the v-max are usually $3 to $4 abox cheaper; which helps paying for primers.Ask around maybe you can trade someone a few bullets of one for another.

The 39gr Sierra Blitzkings is my favorite bullet for the 204.

My Remington will shoot the 39's just fine but it doesn't like 40's. If you can, try out some of each and see which your rifle likes. I'm going to give the 40's a try in the new Cooper to see if she will like them. Gary

Someone please refresh my memory: which of these two penetrate better? I'm thinking the Sierras, but it's been a couple years since I tried 'em. The Vmaxes seem to have too much splat for larger game, IMO.

My last trip to the range. 10 shot group of 39 SBK's (factory Federal load) at 100 meters.

Awesome group! My Savage really likes 40 grain Noslers, so I've standardized on them. Last weekend I made up a load development board (18 dots on a board in 6 inch squares) and shot 5 shot groups at each dot, starting at the beginning recommended load of RL10x - all the way up to the max load in 2 tenths grain increments. I cleaned the barrel after each group and let it cool so results wern't skewed. It was really amazing how much difference in group size I saw. With my rifle there were three magic numbers where the 5 shot group was like that posted above. The rest of them were easily "minute of rabbit" (like factory ammo), but it sure is nice knowing I have a known tack driving rifle!

39gr BK!