SmallCaliberCentral

Hello,

I am ordering a Kreiger barrel for my Rem. 700 in Ruger .204.

The gun will be shot primarily at 300 yards at varmit shoots, or on occasion, praire dogs. Accuracy is the most important issue here. Has anyone had exceptional accuracy with bullets larger then 32 grain with the correct twist rate?

Thanks

The 32 and 39 grain bullets, especially Sierras 39 BK, work very well in the 204 Ruger, most prefer the 1/11 twist. I personally have not tried any faster twist and heavier bullets. Bill K

Thanks. I dont reload. I have had excellent groupings with 32 grain. Not so with 45 grains. I wonder if I had different twist rate if 45 grains would do better. What are advantages, if any, of .45 grain bullets?

You will probably need a 1:10 twist to stabilize a 45 grain bullet. Contact the manufacturer and get their recommendation.

Thank you.

My 1/12 savage shoots 45 grain factory ammo better than 32 or 40. Ragged hole accuracy. Im not convinced that 12 twist isnt enough

Thanks.

After talking with Kreiger and deciding to shoot 40 grain rounds, they reccommended 11 twist. I opted for full bull barrel for added weight and less recoil.

Hope its a tack driver...

Check out Pacific Tool and Gauge. They can build a custom reamer to cut the chamber for your new barrel. Some members of this forum, me included, have reamer plans on file with them that let us jam our bullets .010 into the lands without really trying. Then give the machinist you use to chamber your new barrel the custom reamer. They can also use it on the cut off piece of the barrel to use as a reloading guide. Keep your new reamer for future use when it's time to re-barrel again.

Add a Jewell trigger and a decent stock and then top it all off with a Nightforce scope and you'll be ready for some benchrest shooting.

Good afternoon to all the Ruger members. I'll go out on a limb here. I have two custom chambered 204 Ruger's with Hart barrels. At the time when I build both all Hart offered was a 1-12 twist. My call to them was how close are there twist rates? They told me + or - 1/4. Well both are on a trued Remington 700 action and bullets from 35 bergers to 40 grain bergers, 40 Hornady and the 39 Sierras into 5 shots groups of .200 or less if I do my part at a 100 yards. So Im guessing my barrel are on the minus of the twist side. I will say my Hart Barrels are spot on of the 20 cal diameter of .2040.
Enjoy and lot good choices. Enjoy and have fun.

Later
Ray P

6.8: If you go the custom reamer route, pay close attention to freebore and neck diameter. Seeing as you don't reload (yet), you will want to specify a factory spec (SAAMI) neck diameter. Most custom reamers, mine included, are ground for minimal clearances to attain the highest degree of accuracy, and therefore usually have very tight neck dimensions.

An example of this is my own 204 Ruger Match reamer that has a neck dimension of .230". Great for handloading for accuracy, but precludes the use of factory ammunition in that rifle due to the tight neck. Factory ammunition usually has a loaded neck O.D. of around .234"~ or thereabouts, so can't be used in my custom chamber. This is not an issue for me, as none of my rifles has ever had a factory round through them anyway.

If you are taking the time and money to create a true custom barreled rifle with a custom reamer ground for your chamber, you'll really want to consider getting into handloading, as with a full custom barrel and shooting factory ammunition amounts to driving a Porsche or Ferrari and using regular gas in it.



My custom 204R wears an 11-twist barrel, and shoots any of the 40gr bullets just as well as the 32's, and after multiple rat shooting seasons, I would not change a thing. I don't think you'll have any regrets going with an 11-twist barrel.

My custom M700 204R Match in the rat patch wearing her Pac-Nor 11-twist tube: