SmallCaliberCentral

I'm looking for someone to make me a 26" 9 twist 204 AI barrel for my savage 12 action.... got any thoughts or options... thanks...Dan

Well Dan... your kind of silly to want a 204 AI barrel, when it really is already a AI caliber... but... if your head strong into wanting one.... then I'd contact this barrel company to see if they can do it for you....

Fill in the blank.... Guys.... ______________________

Agree....there's little or nothing to be gained by "improving" the 204 Ruger case, as it's already past the point of diminishing returns (case volume/bore dia.). But if you want to pay for a cusom reamer, new barrel with chambering, fitting, and custom dies, then you can find out for yourself and go for it!

I've been down this road before.......there's a dead-end involved. You're not the first one to dream this up.

(Just gotta ask: How fast do you really think you need to go? Think 20BR or 20-250 if you have the need for speed.)

Rick.... I'm wanting to push those 55 bergers as fast as possible... so I thought an AI would do it even better

danielbrothers wrote:Rick.... I'm wanting to push those 55 bergers as fast as possible... so I thought an AI would do it even better

Daniel, there are many more suitable cases than the 204R for pushing a .20 cal 55gr bullet fast. You'll run out of useable powder space in the 204 case long before you realize anything significant in the way of speed; the case will only yield so much (think 222 Mag w/55gr bullet). It's been done here in the past and the results were "okay".

Others that wanted 55's going fast usually resort to the 20BR, 20PPC, 20-250, but then you'll lose the very attributes that make the 204 so attractive in the first place; blistering speed, excellent accuracy, excellent barrel life and see your hits/misses.

I've got six Acklely Improved calibers in the safe, and so far at least, the urge to "improve" any of my 204's has not even occured to me. But that's just me. If you do set one up that way, let us know how it turns out. You supply the reamer, any gunsmith will chamber it for you on your blank. Dave at PTG does most of my Ackley and custom reamers, but be prepared to wait, as they're quite busy at present.

danielbrothers wrote:Rick.... I'm wanting to push those 55 bergers as fast as possible... so I thought an AI would do it even better

It's my understanding that Berger discontinued the 55gr bullets in 20 caliber, so if that's why you want to AI a 204, your out of luck right from the get go.

Berger told me that their next run will be next Feb

I fiddled with the 204R AI last winter. I just used an old Savage 26 inch 12 twist barrel. Set it back a 1/4 inch and rechambered. Win brass held 1 1/2 to 2 grains more than standard. This is a very straight case as well as slightly increased shoulder. Velocity did increase about 150fps. Does require fire forming which I hate to do. I went with 20BR with a faster twist for even better performance and no fire forming. There was some discussion on Saubier at the time, I don't know if anybody did a whole bunch with it but several had tried it. Couple of the members over there had reamers, I won't name them without permission. Somebody might sell you a barrel.

danielbrothers wrote:Berger told me that their next run will be next Feb

That is excellent news!!

I just checked Bergers website and the 50gr 20 caliber bullets are back up, but out of stock. RIO, (or anyone else) any idea how far they would carry? I had my 204 at a 1000 yard range recently and at about 600 yards the 40gr bullets fell out of the sky. I'd really love it if I could get my girl to reach out to 1000 yards, if for no other reason than to get my son with his 300 WSM to shut up.

Tokimini, dunno for sure, but from reading old TK stuff right after the 204 was released, he opined that the caliber would be competitive at 1K yds with the right twist and high BC 50 and/or 55 grain bullets. If I knew the expected velocity, I could run it through my ballistics program to get a theoretical answer to that question. I'm certain the caliber is capable of work at this range with the right mix of hardware and ammunition, but I would not expect much in the way of terminal performance in regard to "field rat-o-batics", but a grass rat would be dead indeed if smacked by one of those babies at extended range. They'd sure poke a deadly hole in a coyote too; the BC of the 55's is purty dang impressive.

Using the 204 case, the AI version would be about the max case volume you could obtain, and as one of the attributes of the AI treatment is performance with heavy bullet for caliber, it would/does work as advertised, albeit with mundane velocities compared to the 32/40 grain terminal field performance. But as 90% of my 204 shooting is inside of 600 yards at grass rats (love the 'launch-factor'), the AI version does not interest me, but I can tell you lots of stories about 15 years in the field with my 223AI and 50gr NBT's. (That's an entirely different story. )

Field partners in the rat patch:



Right now it's 12*F here, and I'm already gettin' worked up just thinking about springtime, green grass and sunshine......and of course Skippy and his pals out in full force!

I agree with much of whats been said in prior posts. I will add that in my personal opinion running heavy bullets in the 204 ruger is just a trade off and not really worth the time/effort. Even if you AI the case you are still loosing alot of velocity going from a 40 grain bullet up to a 55 grain. While you will gain BC you are loosing so much velocity that in the end you walk away with a net gain of very little. As mentioned above if you want to shoot the heavies go with a 20 BR, 5/35 SMC, or 20 x 47 lapua. Don't get me wrong i am a huge fan of the AI cartridges and have a few of them myself.
A friend of mine in Wyoming did some testing with a 204 AI recently, if i remember correctly he was getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,200 fps with 40 grain bullets.

Brad

and he is getting 55's to fly at 3650 fps...which means less wind drift at 500 yds. My purpose would be 100% long range coyotes. The 40's will... and have killed plenty of dogs... but the 55's would just be better in my thinking.

Thanks Rick.