What is the best way to achive fastest speed with .204?

[Varoum]

Barrel length?
Ammo?
Twist rate?

First speed then precision

Thanks

[Hedge]

Simple answer: Lightest bullet and lots of powder.

Not sure I can get my head around your goal, though. The guys I shoot with and many in the various forums choose their loads for accuracy and accept the velocity at which that occurs. Most rifles don't shoot their best accuracy at max velocity.

Give it a try if velocity is what you want. Pick a bullet and powder from a load book, work carefully towards max and see where
your accuracy goes.

[NESHOOTER]

Varoum
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Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:24 pm
Barrel length?
Ammo?
Twist rate?

First speed then precision

Thanks

You got it covered well
barrel length min- 26'' to 30''
Ammo - Hornady varmint 32gr v-max
Twist rate - 1/10 to 1/14 depends if you'll use more lighter projectiles

And as for speed, my accuracy work my hand loads to be acceptable to 400 yrs on p-dogs.

[Varoum]

My goal here is to build a rifle around a bullet. The 32gr has a good combination of speed and energy.

http://www.hornady.com/store/204-Ruger-24-gr-NTX/ The fastest but has less energy then the heavier bullets.
http://www.hornady.com/store/204-Ruger-32-gr-V-MAX/
http://www.bergerbullets.com/Products/V ... llets.html 30gr and 35gr I can not find a ballistic table for those bullets. Help!

Twist rate could be 13

Barrel length is confusing to me. It could be up to 30in. It would not matter how heavy the barrel. Since I intend to get a carbon warp barrel.

Thanks!

[Jim White]

For me, I use heavier bullets because they buck the wind better and will in most case out travel their lighter counterparts. I also shoot for accuracy over speed.

HTH,

[ryutzy]

Varoum--if you are looking for the flattest shooting bullet for the .204 it is the 39grain Sierra Blitzking. It has the highest BC of any 204 bullet I have seen. I did not check the BC of any 50 grainers because that is not what I or you are looking for. I shoot the 39 SBK myself and it's a great bullet. If you think you will ever shoot much past 300 yards then you will want a heavier bullet than the 32s. Typically for the 204 you will get the most speed out of a 23-24 in barrel. Others have tested this and found that the 24 in barrel actually shot faster than the 26 in.

If you shoot the 32-35s a 1:12 twist will work. If you are shooting over 35s typically a 1:11 or 1:10 works best. I would certainly not get a 1:13 twist for any 204 bullet. If you go with a 1:11 twist and a 39 sbk and persistantly play with powders, neck tension, seating depth, etc you should be able to hit 3900+ fps in a bolt action gun. This would give you better performance than the 32 at 4100 fps.

[Rick in Oregon]

ryutzy: You're spot-on in all regards.....good advice.

(Been there, done it, got the t-shirt. I know you've been there too...... )

[Bayou City Boy]

This may raise some eyebrows, but prior to the introduction of the 204 Ruger in 2004, there were only two factory bullets that were obtainable, and not always easily. One was the 33 grain Hornady V-Max and the other was the relatively short 36 grain Berger HP.

And for years, a very common barrel twist used in 20 caliber rifles was 1 in 13". Keep in mind that these 13" barrels were all good custom barrels. Then the 204 came out with 40 grain bullets and the 12" twist factory barrels, of which twist rates vary from one factory barrel to another, and some factory barrels even vary in twist within one barrel length.

With a good barrel and the right bullet, a 13" twist barrel will shoot very well. I personally know of one 13" twist 20 Tactical belonging to a friend that shoots 39 grain Sierras extremely well. But for a lot of us old time 20 caliber shooters, the real value of the early 20 caliber cartridges was accuracy at reasonable distances and not just sheer velocity with hopeful accuracy at extended distances.

The 204 advertising hype changed all of that without it achieving higher velocities than what had previously been seen in the 20 caliber wildcat world.... Often times seen with 13" twist barrels.

I probably wouldn't buy a 13" twist custom barrel today for use with heavier bullets, but if you think 13" twist barrels don't work, you haven't been around very long and you have only seen what the 204 Ruger has allowed you to see and believe in 7 years.....

-BCB

[Varoum]

From the link above. Here is what Berger has to say about twist rate for their bullets.


20 cal 30 Grain Match Varmint 0.204 30 0.149 N/A 14
20 cal 35 Grain Match Varmint 0.204 35 0.176 N/A 14
20 cal 40 Grain Match Varmint BT 0.204 40 0.225 0.115 12
20 cal 50 Grain Match Varmint BT 0.204 50 0.281 0.144 9
20 cal 55 Grain Match Varmint BT 0.204 55 0.381 0.195 8

[sharptailhunter]

These are some good points being shared. I'm relatively new to the .204 and so I like to show it off when a friend asks about it. In my recollection, the first question somebody has always asked upon seeing the cartridge is, "How fast does it shoot?". Not one person has ever first asked, "How accurate is it?". So, is the .204 by mandate a "fast" cartridge that nobody cares about its accuracy? Whereas the .308 is the "accurate" cartridge that nobody cares about how fast it goes, just as long as they all go through the same hole?

[Glen]

You can have both with the 204. Mine shoots 3/4" @ 200yds with a 39gr BK slogging along at 3900fps.

[Bayou City Boy]

You can have both with the 204. Mine shoots 3/4" @ 200yds with a 39gr BK slogging along at 3900fps.

You can have both with just about any cartridge you want to spend time loading for. No cartridge is more "inherently accurate" than any other, and all will achieve top velocities with generally very good accuracy.... The type of rifle they are generally chambered in and the typical use of the cartridge determines what factor wins out. For example, the 308 Win is generally known for accuracy due to its military applications in sniper rifles. Put it in a lever gun like a Browning lever and some of the accuracy potential goes away. That's not the fault of the cartridge

Some cartridges just get hyped for one thing typically............ Initially with the 204 Ruger it was velocity. "Faster than the Swift, etc."

All I was saying in my earlier post is that for a lot of 204 shooters, this was their first venture into the 20 caliber world while a lot of other folks had known about the ballistic advantages the various wildcat 20 caliber cartridges offered for years. For many new 204 Ruger shooters, they became so enamored over the cartridge that the Kool-Aid became very thick with sugar very quickly. Its a good cartridge, no doubt, but, if it walks on water, it doesn't walk on water by itself..... It has good company if you look a bit further back than 2004.

If I were to post a picture of a 20 Terminator wildcat, 99 out of 100 folks would say its a 204 Ruger. It's not..... It a 20 caliber wildcat that looks extremely similar to the 204 Ruger case design and both are parented directly by the 222 Rem Mag case. Guess which came first....
And the internet's new and "recently invented" 20 Practical that's slightly newer than the 204 Ruger....? Back in the 1970's and 1980's it was typically called the 5MM-223 in 20 caliber wildcat circles.

Again........ The 204 Ruger is a good cartridge, but it's not a new cartridge design in any way that suddenly conquers cancer and kills PD's at any distance you want to shoot them at... Its just the latest rage for many folks who fell madly in love with an old lady in a new dress...

-BCB

[moorepower]

One thing the .204 has, that the others do not is it is a factory loaded round, that I would guess a quite a few folks don't reload, they just buy the ammo and shoot. I will kind of split hairs on the .20 practical, but its free bore is set so one can touch the rifling with a 32 grain bullet, and it is a fairly tight neck round. If you really desire a hot rod, I would look at the .20br. They are also quite accurate.

[Bayou City Boy]

Whoops....!! Double posts.....

-BCB

[Bayou City Boy]

moorepower:

Point taken on the factory availability of 20 caliber rifles. The 204 Ruger did provide that long overdue bit.

My only comments are based on my objections to the constant barrage of sometimes pure mis-information and mis-representation thrown out by "experts" on something that 5 years ago they didn't even know existed - the 20 caliber. It has been around in the wildcat world since the late 1940's in various forms.

As for the 20 Practical.... Just about every shooting board has maybe 2 or 3 members who are related by marriage, 12 times removed, to the guy who "invented" this totally new round to go along with the 204 Ruger. In reality, the new internet cartridge was first talked about way back in the late 60's and was pushed by a guy named Bob Forker who for years was a writer for Guns and Ammo magazine. He called it the 5MM-223. Its latest name came from one of the numerous inventors who was so creative that he named his new idea/cartridge the 20 Practical. Go figure....

I just hate seeing some folks take de facto credit for what others did long before today.. And some are "expertly" spreading misinformation about barrel twists, etc., that they've never even seen or tried. Since the 20 Practical is being mentioned, someone will probably come along soon and tell us an advantage it has over the 20 Tactical is you don't have to fire form cartridges. Anyone who says that read it somewhere and they've never been around a 20 Tactical which comes out of form dies about as shaped as 95 % of factory cartridges are for the chamber they're fired in. Firing a piece of newly formed 20 Tactical brass improves the case neck and shouldler angles a very small amount and nothing more.

I own two 20 Tactical rifles and I shoot the exact same load in new brass as I do with fire formed brass, and the velocities are exactly the same, and the point of impact is exactly the same with either... Everyone else I know who owns a 20 Tactical does the same... Another myth.... And the chronied velocities of my 2 20 Tactical rifles is slightly greater than the velocities of my 2 204 Ruger rifles with about 1.5 grains less powder. The 20 Tactical is a more efficient cartridge in fact if those kinds of things appeal to anyone ... Other will tell you the same whether its factory or custom 204 Ruger chambers. Some will deny it vigorously even though they've never seen a 20 Tactical but they own a 204 Ruger...

Anyway........... I'll get off my soap box once again.

-BCB