SmallCaliberCentral

Does anybody have a 204 with a 202022 inch barrel?

I cut an sps-v down to 20 awhile back but aint never seen one factory.

Its not factory. I had it cut. I was wondering if it hurts the accurace.

Barrel length doesn`t affect accuracy, or shouldn`t. You may have to tweek your load some though to bring it back to where it was though.
Benchrest shooters use a short barrel often to gain stiffness which they believe is a aid to accuracy.

You will however lose some velocity by cutting it back which might hinder YOUR long range accuracy

I cant get it to shoot under 1.5 at a hundered yds.

You don't say if you're shooting factory or handloads. You also don't mention HOW the barrel was cut....by a competent smith on the lathe, or "someone with a hacksaw"....... Was it crowned properly after the length reduction?

country boy wrote:I cant get it to shoot under 1.5 at a hundered yds.

As Rick stated.. And I would bet, the crown is off. Have it checked and/or redone and I would bet you improve. The fact of you having a 22 inch barrel should not cause much, if any, problem..overall. Bill K

I had my 24" DPMS reduced to 20" by my gunsmith....he recrowned the barrel, and it had no impact on accuracy at all.



I haven't checked velocity, but I'm sure it did slow it down a bit, though I doubt it would make much difference at the ranges I normally shoot at.

JMHO...YMMV.

George

PS: I just sold it.....I already have two other .204's (& two .20 Vartargs), and am having the gunsmith build me a 6X45 upper with a 16" 1 in 10 twist barrel from Black Hole Weaponry.....

PS2: you might check the bullberry.com site.....he's done some tests on the effect of barrel length on .204 Ruger velocity.....

I am using hand loads and it was cut by a gunsmith and he put a crown back on it. My brother had a 7mm wsm built by the same place and it shoots very well so i figured they would do a good job.

Well then, the variables to ponder are the rifle itself in terms of correct bedding, especially around the recoil lug, does the mag box touch the stock? Then consider that your rifle just may not like the handload recipe you're feeding it. Are you shooting 40 grain bullets in a 12 twist? Is the scope of known performance, and are the mounts of good quality and secure? Still lots of questions to sort it out.

If you give more specific information, some here may be able to offer some assistance.

It has a nikon scope and good mounts. I am not for sure about the bedding and i am shooting 40 grain noslers and vmax.

My Remington's wouldn't do much better than that at 100 yards either (w/40 VMAX), no matter what load combination I tried.

What shot the best in yours?

I know your question was directed to Jim White, but I can't help jumping in to say that I don't recall any....or at leave VERY few, who couldn't get 35gr Bergers or 39gr Sierra BK's to shoot like the dickens!

George

I have some sierra's on order.