answer to fireballguy on extended long range 204

[browniejamie60]

hello my name is jamie brown. i'm the one thats been shooting 204 at extended ranges. ive been shooting 204 now for around 5 years. 2 years ago i had corbins make me a set of bullet dyes for the 20 caliber so ive been making my own bullets and experimenting with this before berger came out with their 55s. needless to say their bullets seem to shoot better than mine. ive made anywhere from 32s to 60 grain with a 1 in 7 o jive, a cut base flat based boat tail with a .050 to a .100 boat tail. i have done very extensive shooting and studying the 20 caliber bullet and when berger came up with their 55 grain vld they really hit a home run. i shot this bullet now out to a 1,050 yards with very good results. i read on ur question on this form that people had a lot of negative things to say about what i have done with this bullet shooting it so far. the article that everyone is referring to that i posted was a 2 day hunt and the first day we were there we had 0-3 mile an hour wind, thats when i made2 successful shots at 755 yards and missed one at 855. the second day of out hunt we had gusts upto 25 miles an hour. that day my furtherst shot kill was 624 yards. everything that day was considerably closer. also, a 1 in 9 twist works very well with a 55 grain vld with the bergers and what i build also. ive been shooting ground hogs since i was 7 years old and now im 48 years old. ive killed coyotes now for over 20 years, usually on the average of around 20-30 a winter. i have done a very extensive shooting with a 204 ruger from 100 now out to 1050 yards in 50 yard intervals. anyone that thinks this round is not very efficient needs to try it to understand. i was very scepticle about it myself until i did my homework and did hours and hours of testing. please feel free to contact me at anytime and i will be more than glad to help you if this is the project you are wanting to build, i can send u loading data and even some bullets i make if ur interested in trying them for free. i know theres been some negative things said about me on this form by people that dont know me and thats ok because i dont know them either. if people think i pee on electric fences, please go to the website northcentralohiovarmintexpress.com and look at my pictures and my footage on shooting over in ohio to see if its bogus or not. also, at a 1050 yards bergers 55 vld still had enough engergy to go througha 3/4 inch piece of pliywood so please if you need anymore information get ahold of me and i will be glad to help you if i can and anyone else that is interestd in this cartridge. thank you very much

[kenbrofox]

Hi Jamie, i can only just see to 1000yds, and i don't have anywhere i could shoot at those distances, so it's no good for me. Non the less , it's still a very interesting report.Thanks for posting it. Regards, Ken.

[Gube]

Thanks for the update and extensive report Jamie. Nice to see you back here again.

[BabaOriley]

please go to the website northcentralohiovarmintexpress.com and look at my pictures and my footage

Hi Jamie,

The only website close to that I could find was "www.ncovarmintexpress.com". There is one picture of who might be you, but no videos. Is that the correct site?

I don't necessarily need proof that someone made a lucky shot over 600 yards on a windy day, but it would be cool to see a 1000 yard target shot with a 204, and videos would be even better.

Try copying/pasting exactly what is in the address bar at the top of your browser. The line that begins with "http://...".

[Hotshot]

Jamie,
That's a great report, keep them coming. There is not enough info on very long range 20's for my thinking.

That 55 in a 204 wouldn't be for me though. I ran a balistic chart and it looks great to 600 and would be usable for 700 in the prairie dog town with mild wind. The bullet would drop almost 20 feet between 700 and 1000 yards. That might be easy to calculate at a paper target at a known distance and your good groups prove the bullet is still stable at the low speeds of those distances, but that is too much trajectory to deal with on small varmints that won't stand at known distances.

A 20-250 or maybe 20-220 would be okay to 800 with very little wind and good equipment. That's just my opinion-everybody has one.

I've had success with 39 gr bullets at 600-625 in no wind and I'm convinced that bullet is far more stable than a 55 gr from a 220 Swift at that distance. I won't shoot 27 bullets at a 575 yard prairie dog to finally luck into a hit, then brag that my 220 Swift is "good" at that distance. I want to know that if I do everything right there is a good chance I'll make the hit. My 204's with 1:12 twist are "good" to 600 yards, I haven't figured out yet if they can go 700. I hope to try that next summer.

A fast twist 20 cal is more desirable to me than a fast twist 22 or 6mm. I don't miss the recoil of 75-105 grain bullets, and I don't want a 15 lb.+++ rifle. Just another opinion. A 700-1000 yard rodent killing rifle is a tall order.

[giterdone]

Jamie, I only posted the drops and wind deflection using "Bergers" site as a source of the B.C of their bullet. By the way the 55gr. .204 bullet is NOT a VLD bullet. I shoot my .204 Savage LRPV and VLP at our 600 yard range with the 39gr. "Berger" at 3854fps. muzzle velocity. I did the math on your stated 3400fps load although I used 3800fps and the B.C. of the Berger bullet using 1,000ft. altitude. I dont doubt your shooting skills; I myself hold a "NRA Master Class Long Range" classification card resulting from shooting at 800, 900, and 1,000 yards in competition. Therefore, I feel qualified to comment on your groundhog hunt results; doing the math and posting the resulting ballistic's for the forum to peruse. I gave my opinion based on the info you and "Berger" provided. I give you credit for making some of those very difficult shots. YMMV

[Bayou City Boy]

....2 years ago i had corbins make me a set of bullet dyes for the 20 caliber so ive been making my own bullets and experimenting with this before berger came out with their 55s. needless to say their bullets seem to shoot better than mine.......

You should be able to swage custom 20 caliber bullets that will shoot rings around any mass produced factory offering in an accurate rifle....

And the word is "ogive" ("Oh-jive") ...as in 7 ogive bullets... it describes the amount of roundness of the pointed end of a two or three dimensional object, like a bullet. Depending on where the ogive is measured from on the curve of the tapered object, it may represent either a tangent or secant ogive in terms of geometric shapes....

Edited for clarity....

-BCB

[FireBallGuy]

That is really cool Jamie!! Yes, this project is VERY appealing to me in more ways than 1 for sure!! I will send you a PM with home email info as I am VERY interested in seeing what powders will do it in the 204 at long range.