SmallCaliberCentral

WJN: No worries, bud.....what you are experiencing is the very long freebore of the typical factory 204 Ruger chamber. Every one of my factory 204's will not hold a light bullet in the comparator modified case if trying to touch or 'kiss' the lands, the jump is typically about .100" and sometimes even more in some rifles. The 32 grainers are short, so many will be out of the modified case if trying to touch the lands.

These modified cases will not hold a bullet, as there's no neck tension. In use, you adjust the rod to gently push the bullet into the lands, tighten the adjustment screw on the rod, extract the tool and measure using a dial or digital caliper measure what would be the overall length of the bullet and case with the bullet inserted into the insert, and with the rod extended to the base of the bullet. In calibers with such freebore as the 204, it can be very difficult to measure unless you have three hands. Try laying the assembly on the bench on a flat rag when trying to measure if the bullet is out of the case; it prevents everything from slipping about.

Good luck, Jim....you're on the right track!

On crimping.....agree with Joe O.

I have both the Sinclair and the Stoney Point comparators, also. And I do have to agree with the other posters on the two, that the Stoney Point (Hornady), tool is the easiest way to go. Modified cases are readily available for most calibers, including the 204R. I did have to make my own modified case for my 20VT. I did use a fractional drill bit, 17/64 because I could not find a letter drill bit. This bit worked just fine.

My 204 has a factory chamber, and as Rick stated, with a 32 grain bullet just touching the lands, there just ain't enough bullet in the case to hold the bullet. With the 32 gr. Vmax, I am working with a bullet jump of around .125. With load work up, this load will group just under 1/2 in @ 100 yards. With a 39 gr. SBK, my seating depth is 1.980 with a comparator, and is still about .065 off the lands. I can not use the magazine with this load because of the length, but I only feed 1 round at a time anyway. This works good for me because I am only shooting either paper and mainly our Belding squirrels En mass.

Long throat on my .204 gave me the same problem.



Like Rick said:
Just measure the case base to rod end and then the base to ogive of the bullet and add them together.

^^^^^^ Yup that is what I was talking about. The measure I got was 2.476 and the max I could get on a bullet slightly in the case was 2.40.

Jim

Like me, you won't have to worry about kissing the lands.

Haven't found it necessary, though. Excellent accuracy with a long jump. If you go long, just try to keep enough bullet in the neck to prevent them getting offset when they bounce around in your pocket.