Three rounds at 200 yards
The holes are raggedy because it was raining. And windy.
Okay, the wind didn't make the holes raggedy, but it was windy all the same.
The group measures 5/16ths, 0.3125". I was tweaking seating depth and had four other groups the same session that hovered just above ½" but this one took the kewpie doll. My first range session auditioning RL-10X, the same rifle shot a 0.171" group at 200 yards so this isn't an isolated event.
If a rube like me can make a bullet sing like this, it must be a goof-proof cartridge. And one heckuva rifle.
If I knew a tenth about reloading that crap like this makes me think I do, I probably could get this thing to shoot like this all the time.
26" Savage 12 VL
Mueller 8.5-25×50 Eraticator
WS2-coated 32-gr Noslers
26.1 grains of RL-10X
Twice-fired, freshly annealed Hornady brass
Neck sized w/Lee collet die
2.33" COL, seated w/Redding dead length seating die
BR4 primer
~4010 fps avg MV
SD: 19.8 fps
The same load was clocking ~135 fps faster last weekend and was grouping about twice as large (~1¼" @200). Temps were in the 90°s both weekends but yesterday I kept my ammo on ice until ready to shoot it. I'd shot a .243 WSSM load on Friday (same temperature) that was ~250 fps faster than it should have been because my bullets had warmed to 90°s+. I suspect chamber pressure had to be in excess of CIP max to drive it that fast (Danger, Will Robinson!!). So I decided to try chillin' my bullets. It seems to have done the trick.
Long live the .204 
Gary
