35 gr bergers OR 40 gr hornady v-max

[RedTwo]

i am considering purchasing my own reloading equipment pretty soon here and was wondering what your guys' opinions were on both these bullets. i am shooting the 40 gr Hornady's right now and they do the job, but i have heard a lot of people swear by the bergers. also, does anybody have any suggestions for reloading equipment (the basics) that could set me in the right direction. thanks.

[Hawkeye Joe]

If splating rats is your game the 40 Vmax's might be more fun. But if coyote's are teasing you, the 35gr Berger's are the proven ticket. My brother just tried my 26.6gr Benchmark load(Fed 205m primer, OAL 2.260) with the 35gr Berger's out of his Savage VLP. The first group with SHORT brass was about a inch. The second (with proper length brass) put 4 in one hole and the 5th about .050 low. I think the group was in the mid 2's. I guess you could say I'm a Berger boy to the core. I love the accuracy I get with their bullets. All but one of my bolt guns get bullets from a yellow box!
As for reloading equipment, LEE makes a nice kit to get you going for about $105. Buy dies and a powder trickler and your good to go. If you have some extra cash buried in the back yard, get a Forster press,Harrell powder measure and a Acculab scale. Forster or Redding competition bullet seater dies are a must have item. Other dies are to inconsistent with runout tripling that of a good competition die mainly due to their lock ring design.Or should I say "lack of". All my dies sport Hornady lock rings because I've found them to be the best for "squareness"(holding the die center line and lock ring face at 90 degrees) when mounted on a die. A VLD 22 degree inside chamfer tool is also a must have item.

[RedTwo]

yeah, i had a feeling the bergers would get a lot of thumbs up. I will definitely try them out once i get reloading. also, does anybody have any great 'recipes' for reloading the .204 that they have found successful?

[tt35]

It depends on what you're going to be using your .204 to shoot. As stated before, the Bergers are THE choice for coyotes. They generally don't exit minimizing sewing. They are also very accurate. The 35 gr Bergers are one of the most accurate bullets I've fired out of six different .204's. The only downsides of the Berger is the BC is rather poor compared to,say, a Sierra BK and they don't cause quite as much carnage as v-maxes or Blitz Kings. But, if accuracy is your goal, you can't go wrong with the Bergers.

I've had good luck with Benchmark powder and Fed 205M primers but 4895 is also good and you'll find a lot of recommendations on powder. Use whatever powder gives you the best velocity and accuracy. Your rifle will tell you what's best. The .204 seems to be really easy to load so you picked a good cartridge to start reloading.

Good luck to you.