SmallCaliberCentral

I have been shooting 32vmax hornady factory with about .7 groups and decided to try the 40gn vmax hornady factory.The groups jumped to about 5".
What could have made such a change in grouping. I 'm shooting a h&r ultra fluted varmit 204 with a 24" barrel, 1 to 12 twist. I am planning to reload the hornady brass
and was tring to decide which bullet to start with, 32gn vmax, 39gn seira bk, or the 40 gn vmax but after seeing the groups from the 40 vmax I'm not sure the two heaver
loads would shoot well in my gun. Any help or suggestions!

There have been many reports here of folks with 12” twist barrels that will not shoot the 40grain but do just fine with the 39 gr. SBK and other less than 40 grain projectiles in factory or handloads. If they don’t chime in soon with specifics “search” will get you plenty. Enjoy, and Howdy to the forum.

I have to agree with RoadKill's suggestion that your 1 in 12" twist barrel may not be capable of stabilizing the 40 gr. V-Max bullets. My Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger and a 1 in 12 twist did not handle the 40 gr. V-Max well at all. It did, however, shoot the 40 gr. Nosler BTs quite accurately. When you compare the length of the boat-tail and the shank on those two 40 gr. projectiles there is some difference. To the naked eye, both bullets look to be pretty much the same length and the V-Max has a longer boat-tail. The plastic tip is shorter on the Nosler and the shape of the bullet from the ogive to the tips are slightly different. Whatever the differences are, the Nosler shoots fine and the V-Max was not nearly as accurate.



If you want a heavier bullet that might work better in your 1 in 12 twist barrel, try the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKings. They work fairly good in most 1 in 12 twist barrels.

It is not uncommon for rifles that will not shoot the 40 gr VMax bullets will shoot the 39gr Sierra Blitzkings very well. My 204s love the 39gr BKs pushed by some H4895 powder and Remington 7 1/2BR primers.

My sav 12 vlp handles the 40gr fine and as well as the 32gr, what it doesn't like so well is the barnes 26gr as far as chambering a round also the midway dogtowns... I accept that each rifle likes what it likes and it will let you know.