SmallCaliberCentral

Back when I first got my Pacnor barrel for my 204, I worried that the throat was so short that I was loading 40 grain bergers and the base of the bullet was all the way down into the body of the case when jammed into the lands. I tried it anyway and was eventually pleased with it's performance.

I decided to go ahead and get another 204 barrel from pacnor but this time I wanted to chamber it with my own reamer and then get custom dies for sizing and seating so I would have a consistent system I could count on from barrel to barrel. I called Pacnor and Penny and Rich sent me prints of the two reamers that they had and one that had .138 of freebore and the other had 0. That's right, zero throat, not even a 1.5 degree lead. It just starts full rifling at the end of the chamber. This one was made by Dave Kiff and is the oddest thing. Dave said and I agree that it will have a lead in a certain number of rounds by natural erosion.

I spoke with Skipper and he has a reamer made by Dave Kiff as well. I got a copy of that one and made a few changes. I shortened the neck for a 1.855 total chamber length instead of 1.862. His had a .228 neck which requires a slight neck turn which I kept as I believe it is required for maximum accuracy. His had a .057 freebore which I shortened to .015 to give maximum throat life while still being able to reach the lands in it's later life. I made one other change. Skipper and Pacnor's reamers have a .125 radius at the shoulder/neck junction. I changed this to a .060 radius because I agree with P.O. Ackley that this will help reduce the case growth that we have been fighting with this cartridge from time to time.

There it is, a Dave Kiff made modified match reamer for the 204 Ruger. If anyone is interested in this reamer print let me know and I'll let you know how to get it. Keep in mind that this reamer results in a chamber that will not shoot factory ammo. It will require a .011 neck turn which is around .001-.002 cleaned up off a pc. of ww brass. This will be a switch barrel for my 243 ai twin to my 204. Both rifles are built on Shehane tracker stocks with Savage target actions and zeiss 6.5-20 scopes. The 204 has a Jewell trigger but I'll never talk Arnold Jewell out of another one for this second rifle.

I can't wait to get all this together!

Ray

On Speedy Gonzales' advice I sent that reamer back to Dave and had the .057 freebore taken to zero just before they forwarded it to Speedy. I didn't shorten the neck like you did though. I should have. Anyhow, it should be a long time before I have to worry about not being able to reach the lands. For the life of me I can't figure out why most manufacturers cut the throat so long. This cartridge really comes to life with the bullets jammed into the lands.

We'll have to get together and shoot some when you get it.

This is an ancient post that's been ressurected, but I'll just add that when I had my custom 204 Match reamer ground by Dave at PT&G, I tightened up all the sloppy SAAMI tolerences, especially the neck I.D. Factory spec neck chamber I.D. is a sloppy .232". Most loaded 204 rounds in either Norma or domestic brass will mic at about .228" at the O.D.

So for a very accurate barrel that offers a nice tight neck, but WITHOUT neck turning, a .230" neck is about perfect, and will yield the best accuracy possible. I also had my reamer designed with minimal freebore to get rid of the rediculous SAAMI .100"+ freebore in factory barrels. This allows me to either seat to the lands, or to "chase" the lands as the barrel wears without having to set it back a couple of threads every couple of years. Now this particular 204 is set up with a match chamber that is basically the same as a match 222 Rem or 6mm PPC chamber in regards to dimension tolerences and freebore.

To date, my 11-twist Pac-Nor custom M700 204 Ruger Match is still shooting bugholes on targets, and launching Skippy and his pals with either 39gr SBK's, or with either Nosler or Hornady 40 grainers. It's all in the dimensions......

Hey guys, this "danielharris" is a spammer. "He" needs to be deleted.

Trent, don't you want the BEST penny stocks? I wonder if they are like a McMillan or, if they are ugly like a Choate stock?

Thanks Rick! I got your spec reamer in yesterday and the LRPV is going off to Kevin Rayhill for a blueprint and set back the Shillen select match 1-10. I can't wait to see how it shoots!

No worries m-power, good luck with the project. Do know though, that shooting factory ammunition in a chamber cut with that match reamer is not advised due to the lack of SAAMI spec freebore. Once cut with the match reamer, it's a handloading proposition from then on. That chamber design will allow you to seat bullets 'normally' in relation to the lands as in all other CF varmint caliber chambers intended for peak accuracy.

If you're like me though, it's not an issue, as none of my rifles has ever had a factory round through them, but something to consider if you're new to such matters. Once she's finished, let us know how she shoots.

Rick. Is that the main difference then in the 204 Match chamber, if ordered via Pac-nor ? Less or no lead in the throat, in other words ? Bill K

Bill K wrote:Rick. Is that the main difference then in the 204 Match chamber, if ordered via Pac-nor ? Less or no lead in the throat, in other words ? Bill K

Bill - Yes, that's one of the primary differences. The neck dimension is also tightened up considerably, the leade was shortened to .015" along with all the body dimensions, as it's assumed that one with this chamber will shoot dedicated brass in it, and not factory ammunition.

The reamer drawing below from Todd K. is the one I based mine from, but made my own changes as to chamber neck and leade, but otherwise it's very similar to mine. Dave Kiff also ground my custom 204 Ruger Match reamer; it has a different Print No. though because of my changes.



One of the nice things about having Pac-Nor do barrel and chamber work for you is the chamber guage they supply from your barrel blank, chambered with your reamer so you'll always know if your brass will chamber properly, and also to keep track of throat erosion for bullet seating purposes.



I still have the reamer, and when it's time to set the barrel back, it'll be like Day One again. And oh-boy, does that 11-twist shoot!

I do not have any factory ammo for the .204 The gun is going off next week, and I can't wait for it to get back!

moorepower wrote:I do not have any factory ammo for the .204 The gun is going off next week, and I can't wait for it to get back!

I can feel the excitement from here.

Once you get her back and on paper, let us know how happy you are then. I predict a Happiness Level of about Ten....top-o-the-scale.

Rick -

Did you have new dies ground for sizing or will Redding .204 dies get your cases into the chamber?

Hedge wrote:Rick -Did you have new dies ground for sizing or will Redding .204 dies get your cases into the chamber?

Hedge: Normally I order a Redding die blank and have it reamed with my own reamer, but this time with the "no-turn" neck, the Redding dies produce cases that just fit the chamber without any custom machining; about perfect.

This is minimum spec chamber, the same as the Redding dies, so the combination worked out quite well.

Rick in Oregon wrote: One of the nice things about having Pac-Nor do barrel and chamber work for you is the chamber guage they supply from your barrel blank, chambered with your reamer so you'll always know if your brass will chamber properly, and also to keep track of throat erosion for bullet seating purposes.

Rick...is that something Pac-Nor normally does or is it something you have to ask for (chamber gage)? I like it the thought of it myself.