SmallCaliberCentral

Afte lurking here for about a year, I finally took the plunge. I picked up my Thompson Center Precision Hunter on Saturday. Topped it with a Nikon 4.5-14 scope and torqued everything to spec, picked up 2 boxes each of Hornady 32 and 40 grain V-Max ammo, and headed to the range. I used a shoot 3 and clean routine 5 times and then switched to shoot 5 and clean. Sent 52 rounds downrange before the fun was completely gone out of cleaning . This rifle is going to be FUN!!!

The 32 gr bullets produced some varied groups of around 2" at 200 yds. I shot 12 rounds of the 40's at 100 yards with great vertical dispersion, 1/2 inch or less, but horizontal stringing of about an inch and a half. In anticipation of picking up the rifle I ordered several boxes of bullets. One box of 35 gr Bergers and a box each of Hornady V-Max, Nosler ballistic tips, and Sierra BK's, all in 32 grains. I've got a variety of powder on hand including Varget, Benchmark, RL 10X, H4198, H322, and H335 that should all work. Not so sure about the H4198 though.

Are the 32 gr bullets worth messing with in a 1:10 barrel? Should I start with the 35 Bergers and look for 40's?

Looking for some advice from folks with experince with this caliber since you guys got me into this mess! I know it's still getting broken in so I'm not expecting miracles.

IMHO, a 10 twist barrel would be better for the heavier pills. But you may get lucky and find a load that works for the 32's. Of the powders you mentioned, I have loads worked up for Benchmark, 32 grain bullets, RE10x for the 39gr SBK's and H4895 for the 40gr VMax. The H4198 may be better suited for smaller cases. But my rifle is a 12 twist, bolt gun.
Just be careful, and if you don't have a reloading manual, that covers the 204, get yourself one.

You can also find some reloading data for the 204 on this site.

Thanks FutureTrades. My Nosler #6 book has .204 in it but I don't have any 40 grain bullets yet. I've grabbed the data from the Sierra and Hodgdon sites as well. I was hoping that the 1:10 would be ok with the smaller bullets but maybe not. I guess I'll try the 35 Bergers with starting loads of Benchmark @ 27.5, Varget @ 25.5, and RE 10X @ 21 grs until the 40's get here. I might try a slower load in 32's as well to see if they shoot any better.

FWIW: My Pac-Nor 11-twist (on a blueprinted M700 action) shoots all the 32's just dandy with RL-10X and Benchmark, usually in the .3's, but it REALLY shines with the 39gr SBK or either of the 40gr poly-tipped wonders. Your 10-twist should shoot the 32's just fine I'd guess.

Another powder to consider for the 39/40's is H4895....excellent speed with stellar accuracy with my 11-twist, and two of my 12-twist rifles also. Just a thought.....