Anybody shooting 45 grain Hornady's?

General discussion and information about the 204 Ruger.
sevensandeights
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Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:02 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Remington 700 VTR

Anybody shooting 45 grain Hornady's?

Post by sevensandeights »

I bought a box of these on sale last year from a sporting good store that was consolidating 2 locations into 1.

My rifle is a Rem 700 VTR with 1 in 12 twist barrel and the only factory ammo it will consistently shoot well is 32 grain Hornady's. However, I ran out of 32 grains so figured I would try the 45's. I had a horrible experience with the 39 grain Hornaday's so I was skeptical. Much to my surprise, they shot just as good as the 32's (several 1" 3 shot groups at 100 yards). From what I've read, the 45 grain bullet is shorter than the 39 grain bullet so it still can be stabilized by a 1 in 12 barrel.

Anybody have a similar experience with these? My 204 shoots Pennsylvania woodchucks exclusively and but I have always wanted them to explode like a PD, maybe the heavier bullet will help!
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Great White North
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Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 2:25 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Tikka T3

Re: Anybody shooting 45 grain Hornady's?

Post by Great White North »

I have shot factory loaded 45's The shoot under 1 MOA in my rifle, but only just. I have never bothered hand loading to try and get better performance from them, as the 39 Sierra's and 40 Bergers shoot great one hole groups out of my rifle. I have only used them to test on paper and have not shot anything with them yet.
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Joe O
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Posts: 449
Joined: Sat Jan 09, 2010 6:20 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Savage LRPV,Ruger K1V,G2 Contender
Location: Upstate SC

Re: Anybody shooting 45 grain Hornady's?

Post by Joe O »

I loaded some 45s in my 1:12 twist Ruger K1V,and was surprised that I could easily touch the lands,and how accurate they shot.I believe the longer bearing surface accounts for this.Base to ogive is much longer than the lighter bullets.
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