First day with H&R ultra varmint 204, a little disappointing

[doninva]

Took the ultra varmint 204 out today. Had some hand loads with varmint nightmare bullets and 25. 6 and 26.4 grains of Benchmark. Cleaned the gun after every 5-10 shots. Trigger was a little better than I figured it would be, but groups were dismal. Got a lot of vertical stringing with the 25.6 loads, about 5". The 26.4 loads would group 2 and then open up to about 3". I am going to try some 26.4 grain loads and seat the bullets out some. If I can't get any better groups the gun will be for sale. I may try some different powder and bullets but don't have any right now. I'm a little bummed but I guess I shouldn't have expected any better, without a lot of work. I was shooting off sand bags so the gun was not on anything hard. I have had a few encores and this made a lot of difference. I guess a bolt gun would have been a better choice but I didn't have enough money at the time. Don

[Hotshot]

Don,
Try more than one bullet for your loads. That rifle may hate one and love another.
Although 3-5 inches is extremely bad, many barrels take significant breakin-like 100 or even 200 rounds. It should get better as you go.

[doninva]

Thanks, I loaded some different loads tonight to try. I am going to give it another shot tomorrow. Don

[jdefranc938]

Ya I agree. It took me about 10 different loads with several different powders and I finally got mine to shoot hole for hole. However, now I'm just fightin with the brass. Make sure everything you do is consistent and eliminate all controllable variables. From what I've seen and read, the 204 is a pretty stable shooter. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[JBinMontana]

doninva - I don't have the Ultra Varmint in 204 but have the regular 22" 204 barrel for my Handi Rifle. If this were brand new, I would be going down the bore with JB bore cleaner before even firing it, just as I did with my 7mm-08 barrel. That pasty stuff works for getting out any imprefections in the bore, just as it would if you fired 100 shots down the bore.

I'm going to see what this barrel likes myself... my loading dies are not here yet, and the previous owner stated that it did like the Hornady 32 gr V Max quite well and was pretty dog gone accurate. I will be probably waiting to shoot mine until after I get my dies, brass, powder, primers and bullets together. I could also just pick up a couple of boxes of Hornady 32-gr V Max's and hit the range.

No matter how I do it, its gonna be fun anyway.

[doninva]

I went to the range today. I stopped and got a plastic washer and an O rings as suggested on GBO. I installed the washer and it wasn't enough to get the barrel floated so I put the O ring in it also. Stringing problem gone. I don't think the gun likes the varmint nightmares or the Benchmark powder but at a 100 yards, I can get about 2" now. Time for some different loads. Thanks for all the advise, Don

[Wade]

I am currently shoot the H&R ultra varmit in the .204, the loads I started with are 39gr BK, with 25 grain imr 3031 at about 3800fps shooting in the low .5 groups, I am thinking overall length 2.30 using the CCI 450 primers. Trigger and the washer is the ultimate fix for these guns. I am also shooting 26gr VG, 26 grain 10x at about 4200fps, I cant remember the overal length. For the money, they shoot really well.

[stevecrea]

doninva:

I do not believe that you said which bullets you tried. If you are using some of the heavier ones (39 grains and up), you may wish to look at other posts on this site regarding inaccuracy issues in many .204 rifles. Many shooters have commented that their rifles do not shoot the heavier bullets well, and even keyholing is a problem.

One of my friends bought a special run Browning A-bolt in .204, and experienced some keyholing, but now he has gone back to 32 grain bullets and its not a problem.