SmallCaliberCentral

Howdy from Fort Bend County Texas. Purchased a Ruger M77 MkII Hawkeye Predator (in 204) back in February. Only made it to the range once so far, but quite pleased except for the trigger. I had no brass, so purchased a 50 round box of Dogtown ammo with the Nosler 32 gr. Varmint and a box of 20 Hornady 32 gr. VMAX. I was able to shoot one decent 10 shot group which measured 0.78. It took me almost 30 minutes to shoot that one as I kept having to reset myself because of the rotten trigger pull. It had a lot of creep and felt like it was about 8 lbs.

Got it back home and took the trigger apart, gave it a good cleaning, reset the adjustment screws, and have gotten it down to a crisp 3 lbs. with very little travel. Looking forward to getting to the range again, but most of my usual places are shut down at the moment. I am looking at the possibilities of setting up a range at my house as I have the room for shots up to 112 yards. Just figuring out sound reduction and backstop strategies...although I have about 400 yards of very thick trees behind where I would be shooting. Nobody every goes back to that part of the property as it is a very rough and eventually makes it to the Brazos river.

Prepped all the empties I have (60) over the weekend and will be loading them up today. Gonna load 20 with the 32 gr. VMAX using BLC-2 and going load up 40 with the 39 gr. Blitzking half with H4895 and half with H335.

I spent some time poking around the site yesterday and hope to continue to get some good information for shooting my .204.

Joel

Welcome aboard Joe, you will find plenty of information and even help on this site. Your will enjoy your 204 R as much as most all of us do also. A very fine cartridge and it does a fine job on various critters, we hunt. And paper in between. Remember we like photo's of your ventures and outings. Bill K

And keep in mind the five on a dime shoot, later this spring, that Skipper buts on. Enter it and join the free fun with some of us.

JW: I'd say you're off to a very good start....new rifle, new caliber, and you are already turning in one-hole ragged groups....way to go!

The real appeal of that new 204 will really shine when you make your first shots on hair. It's an amazing little round, and the performance belies it's size. So much so, that I ended up with FOUR 204's! It's that good.

Welcome to the world of the 204, and welcome to the 204um.

Thank you Bill and Rick for the warm welcome. As this is a new caliber for me, I expect to learn a lot. I have been reloading since the mid 70's (earlier if you count helping my Dad) and currently do about a dozen calibers.

I did finish my 60 rounds today, but skipped the H335 as the BLC-2 was dropping perfectly...lol I finished with H4895.

I read in a thread or two here that those were decent powders to start. I have many others, but not some of the other favorites. I may have to pick up some RL10X, CFE 223, and Benchmark. I have a couple of pounds of Varget, but am saving that LOT for a different caliber.

I only bought 300 CCI 400 primers as this is my only SR for handloading. I recall seeing that Magnum primers might be useful in certain loads. I am a fan of the CCI BR2 primers in some of my other rifles...in others it does not seem to matter. I even still have about 2500 Herter's LR primers from the mid 60's. At best they make no difference and at worst, they can cause 1/4 inch larger groups.

Again thanks for the warm welcome and all the best.

Joel

Rick has his favorites, for his rifles. I have mine. I like CFE 223 with the 32 grain bullets I shoot, which now days in my commie state of Ca has to be lead free. Nosler's work very well and the Hornady NTX. Exterminator and RL 10 are two other powders that seem to work well in the 204R.
As for primers, I prefer Rem 7.5 or the 205M in others. You will find you should stick with the heavier cup primers to not have a piercing issue, with the high intensity cartridges i.e. 204R and that type.
Your rifle will tell you what it prefers and shoots best, so you will just have to try various one's and then settle on what is best for you. Bill K

Welcome aboard the 204um. I see you live real close to me. Any chance you are a duck hunter as well?

I don't post a lot on here but I do shoot a 204 R. It;s A Rem. 700 SPS. I use BLC (2) with 32 gr. and 40 gr. bullets. It has always been very accurate and decent velocities. I have never tried any other powder, I figure if it aint broke don't fix it.Try some Nosler Varmageddlon 32 gr. They are cheaper than other bgullets and super accurate. I worked up to a 30 gr. load, which is just under max. with the 32. But at 28.5 gr. of BLC (2) I got a three shot group that measured .169. I'm sure it was a fluke, everything just lined up that day for some reason, but I can shoot 1'/2" groups all day long. I know a lot of shooters really like the Sierra 39 gr, but I could never get much less than 1" with it. I can get 3/4 " with the 40 gr. V-Max. The 204 is a super cartridge and I have shot ground squirrels, jack rabbits, rock chucks, badgers, and coyotes withy it. When you find a load that works for you I think you will really enjoy it.

Thanks for the welcome broper. Glad to hear you have had good luck with BLC-2, I read a couple of other reviews which made me want to give it a try.

Skipper...we're practically neighbors. I get up to 10-Ring reloading from time to time and one of my best friends owns a fabrication shop off of Jones road. As far as duck hunting goes, I grew up and lived in Galveston County for more than fifty years prior to moving here. I've stomped through just about every marsh from Moses Lake to East Matagorda Bay. I'm too old now and my lower half doesn't work as well as it used too. I'm satisfied with dove hunting nowadays. I picked up a new lease near Blessing this past year, but as bad luck would have it, I had a Vascular issue pop up that kept me out of the fields. Never even fired a shot. All I can say is I can't wait until next year as I am feeling much better.