Midway Dogtowns

Share information about reloading the 204 Ruger.
greystone
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.204 Ruger Guns: Remington 700 VTR
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Midway Dogtowns

Post by greystone »

Still trying to fin an accurate load for Midway Dogtowns. I shot this morning using 24 grns of H322. I think I was getting tighter groups with 4895 but both me and my dealer are out.
This is the first group that I shot this morning COL 2.310, Rem cases and 7 1/2 primers
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This is the last group that I shot with COL of 2.290-same loading. This is the first 3 shots of a 5 shot group. The 4th shot was in the middle of these but I zinged the 5th one. I just hate that when that happens :x . Anyhow I'll keep working on it. I know I won't get the accuracy with these that I do with my Bergers but its fun trying. Dave
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acloco
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.204 Ruger Guns: 12FV, 12BVSS -S
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by acloco »

Welcome to dogtowns.

IMHO, believe there are a couple reasons these do not shoot good/great groups.

#1 - no way for me to prove, but do not believe the weight of the bullet is coenctrific (centered along center axis).

#2 - the large hollow point does not allow the bullet to stabilize (more on this at the end)

#3 - meplat is not straight and even


I am working on a CHEAP solution to uniform and shrink the size of the hollow point. Will post more info soon.
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glenn asher
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.204 Ruger Guns: Savage 12fvss, CZ 527 American
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by glenn asher »

My old Savage shoots them about like your pictured loads, nothing to shout about, but not horrible, either. They shoot well enough to plink with, and for short range PDs, if you don't mind a flier now and then. I was pleased with their terminal performance on some PDs last month, but it won't outdo those wonderful V-Maxes.

I don't know if I'll buy any more, but the price is certainly right on them, at least when I bought them.... I plan on plinking around more with them, and maybe using them up next year on PDs or something, and letting my V-Max supply rest for awhile, they are more expensive to replace......
Build a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life!
greystone
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.204 Ruger Guns: Remington 700 VTR
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by greystone »

I am working on a CHEAP solution to uniform and shrink the size of the hollow point. Will post more info soon.[/quote]
[quote][/quote]
I'll be interested to see what you come up with. I'm not expecting miracles with these things but they're cheap and I like to shoot. I'm gonna play around with different loads and case prep. Just havin fun :D . Dave
acloco
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by acloco »

I am hoping for miracles...HONEST!

Will let you know.
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jo191145
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by jo191145 »

greystone
If your in the mood try around 29.2gns of Win 748 with either Fed 205M or CCI-450's and FL sized brass.
Rem 7.5's and BR4's do not seem to work. At least not my lots.
748 is most easily tuned by neck tension. Usually tighter is better but not always.
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Savage VLP + NF 12x42 + 35 Bergers = .
greystone
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by greystone »

jo191145 wrote:greystone
If your in the mood try around 29.2gns of Win 748 with either Fed 205M or CCI-450's and FL sized brass.
Rem 7.5's and BR4's do not seem to work. At least not my lots.
748 is most easily tuned by neck tension. Usually tighter is better but not always.
Why do you mention FL sized cases? I have about 100 cases that are neck sized and trimmed. I like to neck size as often as I can just extend the brass life. I really haven't seen to much difference in accuracy between neck sized and fl sized cases so far but I'm working with a fairly (150 rds) new gun. I started to reload years ago but now I'm shooting alot more and starting to pay attention to the little details. Just wondering
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jo191145
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by jo191145 »

:chin: Well its like this.
After twenty or so neck size shoulder bump loadings on my set of Nosler brass and some rather hot loads I needed to shrink the web area a tad.
Resorted to FL sizing and liked the new results enough to order a Redding Type S bushing FL die.
I haven't had a chance to run through all the variables between the two yet but so far FL sizing is working the best with the load I mentioned and the load I used before it.

I've put five FL loadings on this old brass since then with my standard FL sizer and its still going strong.
A properly set FL die shouldn't age the brass to badly.
Follow the written instructions and screw it down tight on the shellholder and you'll probably chew through brass pretty quick.

I've always been a necksizer but FL is working for me now so I'll stick with it till it does'nt.
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Savage VLP + NF 12x42 + 35 Bergers = .
kevinsulikowski
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by kevinsulikowski »

I was thinking myself on a way to adjust the midway bullets . what does anyone think about filling the hollow point with wax
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jo191145
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by jo191145 »

kevinsulikowski wrote:I was thinking myself on a way to adjust the midway bullets . what does anyone think about filling the hollow point with wax

I once opined of filling them with epoxy. Can't for the life of me remember why I would think of doing that.
A cheap yote bullet maybe??? Better initial penetration than a Berger??? Actually I think it was the latter.

Not sure wax is a good idea. The extra unbonded weight and G-Forces beyond my compehension would probably cause jacket failure before it left the bore.

The epoxy idea might not fair any better in that regard, perhaps worse. Can you imagine an epoxy plug in front of a failing bullet in the bore.
I would be crazy enough to try it but it would be in one of my shot out barrels for sure :lol:

acloco works with metal. I'll bet he's close to a finished product. Maybe we should wait for him to finish.
I wish him much luck in his venture.

The reason Bergers are accurate is because of quality control IMHO.
From all accounts we're just not seeing that quality in the dogtowns. Thats to be expected with the price difference.

Tightening up the huge meplat should help. How much is the question? Theres still weight variances to deal with and some reports of .203 caliber pills.
Who knows what kind of cogs are turning in aclocos head. He's a crafty guy, maybe we'll turn his attention to alternative fuels next ;) :lol:

He might just be on his way to be becoming another custom bullet maker. That would be awesome!!!

acloco, If you decide to sell the new improved dogtowns to the masses put me down for the first box of 500.
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Savage VLP + NF 12x42 + 35 Bergers = .
acloco
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Re: Midway Dogtowns

Post by acloco »

[quote="jo191145"}
acloco, If you decide to sell the new improved dogtowns to the masses put me down for the first box of 500.[/quote]

LOL! No way could or would sell 500 pulls on the lever. But, I will provide the destructions or sell the completed uniformer to the masses.

I actually ran out of Dogtowns....believe it or not. That 20VT ran through 200 in a short amount of time.
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