Savage Mako .204

[Chief]

Just wondering if anyone has a savage Mako in a .204. I bought mine at christmas time this year. I have put a harris Bipod on it and a Nikon Monarch 4x16x42 mildot on it with leupold rings.

The first day I went to the range I shot 30 rounds through it just to work in the barrel.

This past saturday I went out with some rounds that I loaded up. The best I managed to shoot was a .456 5 shot group at 100yds. that was with:
32gr SBK
26gr Varget
CCI 450 mag
OAL: 2.250

I did load up some V-Max as well and the best I could do was 1.5inches. They were all over the place. I still have a lot more loads to try but just wondering if anyone had any comments.

One more thing I did notice in cleaning the gun it took a lot of time to get the barrel clean. I was using M-7Pro copper cleaner and Barnes.

KT
US NAVY CHIEF

[hozz57]

Welcome to the .204um Chief. I'm sure you'll find some great info in this forum along with some really good folks with a ton of experience in all areas of shooting sports.

I have 2 .204s: a Rem XR100 and a Savage FV

I have had the best results using the Sierra 39gr BK with almost every powder I've tried. You will find that those 39gr pills are a favorite for shooters and the bane of many a P-dod. Try some load work-ups with Benchmark, Rel 10X, H4895, BL-c2

32gr V-max work great in my XR100 with benchmark.

I'm sure you're going to have a bunch of fun with that Savage and don't forget to post pictures...your rifle, targets, critters.....

[Chief]

Here is the picture of my 204 and the best target so far

[Medic52]

Nice looking gun you have. I too got a new 204 last month. A Rem 700 SPS Varmint w/ Bushnell Elite 4200 6x24x40 so far the best load for me has been 40 gr vmax w/ 26.1 grs varget, winchester brass and primers. My best group has been .5 at 100 yards. I am going to try the 39 gr it seems to be a favorite around this bunch. I loaded some with BLC-2 NO GOOD.

[Chief]

Nice looking gun you have. I too got a new 204 last month. A Rem 700 SPS Varmint w/ Bushnell Elite 4200 6x24x40 so far the best load for me has been 40 gr vmax w/ 26.1 grs varget, winchester brass and primers. My best group has been .5 at 100 yards. I am going to try the 39 gr it seems to be a favorite around this bunch. I loaded some with BLC-2 NO GOOD.

Medic52,
Thanks!! I tried some 32gr Vmax in the gun last weekend they were horrible. Best was like 1.5@a 100yds.

I did pick up some 39SBK and some berger 35gr I'm going to load some of those up this week and see what I get.

I have some Varget and Benchmark powder so I will try them both with the 39's and 35's.

Chief

[jo191145]

Howdy Chief

Vargets a tad slow but can be accurate. I never did much work with it myself.
I'd suggest saving the Varget for the 39's and the Benchmark for the 35's.
That should be a good bet. Let us know.

In my expierience if your barrel is coppering excessively your just wasting your time and ammo.
When you say "took a lot of time to clean" exactly what are you referring too?

[OldTurtle]

Chief, That rifle of yours has me drooling.... it is beautiful...

If you don't have any luck with the two powders you have on hand, take a look a the Ramshot X-Terminator powder... it meters like water and burns pretty darn clean as well..

I've used Winchester 748 for the last couple of years and am just starting to switch over to Ramshot X-Terminator (.204) and TAC (.223) for the reasons stated..... Plus it's a little cheaper and requires just a little less to provide the same velocity..

[jo191145]

I'll second the 748 suggestion. As a newbe in 2004 to reloading it was the first powder to outshoot factory ammo. That first barrel did pretty well with factory stuff too.
Due to Old Turtles recommendations I bought a pound of both X-Term and Tac with my last order. Haven't had a chance to try either but the X sure looks like water. A very fine powder.

[dannybracy]

You'll just have to figure out what works in your rifle. May only like the 32gr BK and not the 32gr V-Max. My Savage will shoot 32gr BK's, 32gr BK's, 39gr BK's, 40 gr V-Max's, and 40gr Bergers, but will NOT SHOOT 40 GR NOSLERS!!!! Go figure..... If you would like maybe we could trade a few bullets sometime.....just a thought. -Dan

[Chief]

Chief, That rifle of yours has me drooling.... it is beautiful...

If you don't have any luck with the two powders you have on hand, take a look a the Ramshot X-Terminator powder... it meters like water and burns pretty darn clean as well..

I've used Winchester 748 for the last couple of years and am just starting to switch over to Ramshot X-Terminator (.204) and TAC (.223) for the reasons stated..... Plus it's a little cheaper and requires just a little less to provide the same velocity..

Old Turtle,
Thanks if I can find the stuff I will give it a try. I live in Virginia Beach, VA so there isn't a whole lot of reloading places around here. Most of the gun shop's only keep Varget, Benchmark, and H322. So everything else I have to order.

Wish I still lived in Missouri. That stuff was easy to find there.

Chief

[Chief]

Howdy Chief

Vargets a tad slow but can be accurate. I never did much work with it myself.
I'd suggest saving the Varget for the 39's and the Benchmark for the 35's.
That should be a good bet. Let us know.

In my expierience if your barrel is coppering excessively your just wasting your time and ammo.
When you say "took a lot of time to clean" exactly what are you referring too?

Jo,
Not to worried so much about speed just accuracy. I use the Varget a lot for my .308. I will try the Benchmark on the 35's and I got some 39's loaded up with Varget tonight.

I wouldn't say that it is coppering excessively. It just seems like the rounds burn very dirty. Takes about 20 patches to get it clean. I'm using M-7pro copper cleaner and M-7pro bore gel.

Chief

[Chief]

You'll just have to figure out what works in your rifle. May only like the 32gr BK and not the 32gr V-Max. My Savage will shoot 32gr BK's, 32gr BK's, 39gr BK's, 40 gr V-Max's, and 40gr Bergers, but will NOT SHOOT 40 GR NOSLERS!!!! Go figure..... If you would like maybe we could trade a few bullets sometime.....just a thought. -Dan

I definitly have about 70 32gr Vmax to trade. My gun no like at all. LOL

Chief

[jo191145]

Chief
Never tried M7 products so I cannot comment on thier effectiveness or use.

Most folks use a mild solvent like Hoppes or Shooters Choice and a bronze brush to attack the carbon first.
Once most or all of the carbon has been removed we then switch to a copper remover. Most copper removers do not work to well on carbon and vice versa.
Best copper remover I've found to date is Patch Out with Accelerator. Its the only product I use now.
If your not using a bronze brush start. They're important.

Last time I worked some loads with H-4895 I noticed what your seeing now. It seemed the carbon just never stopped coming out of the barrel.

The milder the load the more tendency to foul.

One more tip. Never mix powder fouling in a barrel when working loads. You'll chase your tail forever.

[Chief]

Chief
Never tried M7 products so I cannot comment on thier effectiveness or use.

Most folks use a mild solvent like Hoppes or Shooters Choice and a bronze brush to attack the carbon first.
Once most or all of the carbon has been removed we then switch to a copper remover. Most copper removers do not work to well on carbon and vice versa.
Best copper remover I've found to date is Patch Out with Accelerator. Its the only product I use now.
If your not using a bronze brush start. They're important.

Last time I worked some loads with H-4895 I noticed what your seeing now. It seemed the carbon just never stopped coming out of the barrel.

The milder the load the more tendency to foul.

One more tip. Never mix powder fouling in a barrel when working loads. You'll chase your tail forever.

Never knew that about mixing the powder fouling in the barrel with different powders. I have also used the barnes copper cleaner that works well.

I always thought that using a bronze brush was hard on the barrels?

chief

[jo191145]

Chief

If using a bronze brush is hard on barrels imagine what squishing a copper clad bullet down the bore at 4000fps will do
Now some custom barrel makers recommend not pulling a bronze brush back through the crown. I respect their opinion but I have no patience for unscrewing a brush for every pass. The crown gets beat up by hot gases and small specks of carbon fouling moving at high velocity with every shot. That causes far more damage than a properly fitted brush moving slow.

Never use a bronze brush with one of the more potent copper removers. It'll get ate right up.

Next time your ordering something on the web try some Patch Out with the Accelerator. You'll be grinning ear to ear as you throw away all your other noxious copper removing potions. It outperforms Barnes and Sweets by a factor of ten. Its designed to work slowly but can be sped up with a nylon brush if needed.
The same company now makes a product called Carbon Out. I have'nt tried it myself but if it works as well as their other products bronze brushes may be a thing of the past just like ammonia based cleaners.