SmallCaliberCentral

I am new to your site, but need some help. I purchased a used .204 in a remington light varmint a few months back. Seems to do REAL well with remy factory 40gr. V-max. Tried 32gr. V-max and it "slings" them all over the paper. So I loaded some 40gr. V-max with Benchrest this past weekend and it shot ok. What I've noticed is the hotter the barrell gets, the better it shots. Never ran into this in the past. Doesn't change a bit from my loads to factory loads. Also noticed it wants to sling one out of the five shot groups. Factory and my loads. So I know its rifle not ammo. HELP!!!

My Remington LVSF shoots the same loads that my Sako uses with very good accuracy. Might want to try the 39SBK and Reloader 10x or IMR 8208 as both seem to shoot well. You'll need more 8208 to match the Re10x velocity but will gain temperature stability.

i studied the charts and picked a starting load. it gave me a good tight group with the 32g vmax so i stuck with it. a week ago i tried to slowly work up the load. the group spread out by half of an inch. that was just to confirm that i have the ideal load. i often change from 32g sbk to 32g vmax. or from 32g vmax to 32g sbk. i like the starting load because i got real lucky in finding accuracy there and can keep them in the 9 at 200 yards.

i have read a lot about most having problems getting the 40 grainers to stabilize. i stayed with the 32 grainers. have also heard some getting flyers with each group. a change of bullet or load sometimes will work from what i have read. i have not had that problem.

Over 40 years of doing this stuff, and I've bought, shot, sold, and traded at least a hundred rifles. Too frustrating to fight a poor factory rifle. I've tuned some okay shooters to better than okay, but never to great. I've tuned some good shooters to great. Never can take a poor shooter and turn it into much. Just trade it off before it sucks a few hundred bucks out of you and still doesn't shoot.
Most Savages shoot great, almost all of them can be tuned to great. Some guys are having good luck with those new fangled Coopsters too, even if they are a little frilly. Not all Remingtons are bad either, if you bought it new maybe the Remington Rep could help you.

I hope you figure it out. ihave had a lvsf in 204 and 243 for 2 years the 243 shoots great the 204 just as you describe.i tried everything floating shiming bullets and powder. One day it seems just ok about 1.25 the next time out 2 inches.really like the weight and size but just not real pleased.

That's how this one is. I have remingtons factory and custom all my shooting life. Mystory to me. Going to do some stock work. Thanks for the help.

bb73 wrote:I am new to your site, but need some help. I purchased a used .204 in a remington light varmint a few months back. Seems to do REAL well with remy factory 40gr. V-max. Tried 32gr. V-max and it "slings" them all over the paper. So I loaded some 40gr. V-max with Benchrest this past weekend and it shot ok. What I've noticed is the hotter the barrell gets, the better it shots. Never ran into this in the past. Doesn't change a bit from my loads to factory loads. Also noticed it wants to sling one out of the five shot groups. Factory and my loads. So I know its rifle not ammo. HELP!!!

What's the twist rate on your rifle ? A 40 grain is right on the edge of losing stability in a 12 twist. They really need a 10. Some rifles will shoot the 40's just fine and others won't. And anything heavier than a 40 typically won't stabalize at all in a 12. But I don't know of anybody that had a problem getting the 39s to stabalize. That one extra grain of weight makes the difference.

Of course your gun may just not like the 40 grain slugs. Feed it what it likes and forget the rest.

If you can't get the 40 ballistic tips to shoot try the 40 gr Berger HP's. There has been quite a bit of good luck with these.

GDJMSP wrote:What's the twist rate on your rifle ? A 40 grain is right on the edge of losing stability in a 12 twist. They really need a 10. Some rifles will shoot the 40's just fine and others won't. And anything heavier than a 40 typically won't stabalize at all in a 12. But I don't know of anybody that had a problem getting the 39s to stabalize. That one extra grain of weight makes the difference.

Of course your gun may just not like the 40 grain slugs. Feed it what it likes and forget the rest.

With all due respect, that one extra grain of weight has nothing to do with the stability of the bullet. It's the extra length of the V-Max 40 grain bullet versus the Sierra 39 grain bullet that accounts for the stability difference in many 12" twist barrels.

-BCB

I have one more question. I shot again this weekend and it did a lot better. .75 in groups @ 150 yrds. I took the gun out of the stock and started over from scratch. I believe the gun may have been binding up some how. The factory stock in the lvsf is pillar bedded. Does it have a specific torque or is it until it bottom's out against the pillars?

You might be on to something! 45 inch lbs (not ft lbs like the rod bolts on a small block chevy) works for me. I always torque the front one first.

Thank you BCB for making your absolutely correct observation so politely.

Welcome,bb. I have one of the LVSF .204's. I went to an aftermarket trigger at 2.5 lbs and groups improved. I, too, found the 40gr. factory Rem. ammo does surprisingly well: I've shot .5 with 'em now, although the realistic avg. is probably half-again that much. These rifles do seem to vertically-string heavily as they warm up; I set my zero on a cold barrel, as most of my shooting/hunting is intermittent at groundhogs and coyotes. My next step was to go to an H-S stock, but found a "frilly" Cooper Varminter .204 for about what the LV and that stock would have cost together. Now can't seem to let the Rem. go. This was arguably one of their better-quality models in recent years, but I'd hazard a guess the profit margin on them wasn't very high. Hang in there.

Hotshot wrote:You might be on to something! 45 inch lbs (not ft lbs like the rod bolts on a small block chevy) works for me. I always torque the front one first.

Thank you BCB for making your absolutely correct observation so politely.

Since you found it necessary to comment:

Would it have been bad to just say, "That one extra grain of weight has nothing to do with the stability of the bullet. It's the extra length of the V-Max 40 grain bullet versus the Sierra 39 grain bullet that accounts for the stability difference in many 12" twist barrels"?

-BCB