Tell us about yourself...

[futuretrades]

Welcome to the 204um. If you are still looking for a funnel, Go to Sinclair Int'l. Saturn makes one that is dedicated by caliber, or better still try Brad @ Custom reloading tools. Best set-up I have found for powder dropping. Same funnel works for almost any caliber just by changing the bottom of the funnel for any caliber you like. Brads stuff is all quality, and well thought out, before production, and Brad is a member of this forum! I believe his add is at the top of the page you are looking at.

[Buckeye Bill]

futuretrades,

Thanks for the welcome and the advice on a funnel. I will take a look and order one. You have provided valued information that I appreciate.

Bill

[rsbenden]

I live in uppermost NE Pa. along the shores of Lake Erie and have been a hunter my entire life,I learned to reload my own ammo by 12yrs of age and have owned nearly 75% of all the popular calibers in exsistance. I shot my first deer with a 222 rem,second with a 222mag,since then Ive went through em all and I find myself back at the 222mag necked to .204
Woodchuck hunting is a religious experience for me,I love it and have been hunting them with either a 22lr as akid cuz I had no money which helped me hone my craft,17hmr.223, 22-250 or 243 which are all highly effective.
realizing and knowing the 22-250 andthe 243 ballistically overlap drove me nuts and the muzzleblast from a max load 243/55gr pill kinda thunders residential areas I sometime frequent. as an alternative i tried.223,17hmr.....eh. no reach.I dont like to dial up and want a round effective 0-350 with little or no holdover.

I had been mislead by the"internet experts" on the merits of the .204 and told that the wind blew it round like a leaf,which by the way is what happens w/a .17,I hated that round and had too many crawl offs. Boy were they wrong, after several days of research,which equates to lack of sleep(some of you here will know what Im talkin bout) I took my Savage 22-250 n traded it for a TC Venture predator .204 1-10 twist,(used to have the same rifle in 22-250) 5 boxes of 40gr hornady superformance ammo MOSTLY FOR THE BRASS pound of 8208 XBR n a box of Seirra 39grBK. I topped this rifle with a Nikon monarch 4x16x50sf and after a trigger mod last night she's ready to rip.
I average over 100 woodchucks a summer between Pa.and NY and cant wait to be able to see impact for any necessary adjustments,normally I just hear the thump if i connect and if I miss cant tell where I hit.
Im sure its not as dramatic as a 243 but am excited to try a new caliber thats easier on the ears,less recoil and reaches the distances I shoot with little holdover.
There will be a premium set on shot placement more so with this rifle but Ive always been that way because a 15# woodchuch shot in the guts with a 30-06 is going to get in his hole just as easily. Ive always aimed base of the neck n up. I dont start hunting chucks till the end of turkey season in May so the pups can be weaned and also reseed the feilds for the next yr. Good luck my hunting brothers and remember to leave a few.......

[futuretrades]

First off, Welcome to the 204um. You will find that the people on this site are always willing to help with any problems or thoughts you may have about the 204. I shoot mostly the 32grn V-max, but I do shoot the 39grn SBK's when the wind kicks up or when I shoot targets beyond the 300yd distance. My targets are a lot smaller than your woodchucks, so I don't believe you will see real devastating impacts, that we see out here in the west, on the targets that we shoot. But, the more you shoot that 204, I believe you you will be more than satisfied, and you will fall in "Love" with the round. Your hold over at 300 to 350 yards, with the 39grn pills, is minimal. I sight in, dead on, at 100 yards with my Leupold VH reticle, witch is basically a mil dot scale. My hold over with the 39's is between the cross hair and the first mil dot for ranges between around 250 yards and out to about 300 yards. I use the first mil dot for ranges over 300 yards to around 375 yards. the rest of the mil's I use out 600 yards. Any thing beyond that is purely guess work on my part. Besides, my targets are really hard to see at that range anyway. Our targets out here are about the size of a beer can.
I know, with practice, and getting familiar with the round, that you will be more than able to, "head shoot" your vermin at 300 to 350 yards.
Enjoy the experience with that 204!

[savgebolt]

Rs,,,,, tell me about your trigger work,,,, i have the venture also,,,, and the trigger sure needs work, do you have any tips
ty ,, Steve

[Redhawk75]

New to the 204 & also this forum. Just purchased a stainless Howa varminter with 24" tube. Will only have the rifle home in 4-6 months thanks to our draconian license laws in South Africa, but will lurk here & soak up all the info I can in the interim.

[Davelarkins1]

New to the 204, originally from the uk chasing foxes pigeons etc, for the last 12 years ive been living in Perth Western Australia, here ive been hunting pigs, foxes, roo, feral cats rabbits, mainly use the 243 but found the properties getting smaller and the need for a smaller caliber arose, the 22lr too small and the 243 too big so started researching the 204, last week i picked up a cz527 varmint topped off with a bushnell elite 6-24×50, loaded a few 39gr blitzkings and found a sweet load norma brass federal 205gold and 25.7gr of adi 2206h equivalent to h4895 i believe, .310 of an inch at 100metres was pretty impressed shame about the feeding from the mag

[futuretrades]

New to the 204 & also this forum. Just purchased a stainless Howa varminter with 24" tube. Will only have the rifle home in 4-6 months thanks to our draconian license laws in South Africa, but will lurk here & soak up all the info I can in the interim.

Welcome to all newcomers! Redhawk, when you get that Howa in your hands, I think you will be a very happy guy. I am also shooting a Howa Varminter in 204R. Been shooting this rifle since 2007. With the addition of a Timney trigger set at around 15ozs, and some load work, she will shoot into the .3's with 39SBK's, and under 1/2 inch with 32VMax's all at 100 yards. Let us know when you get your rifle!

[autoxforfun]

Hi Forum. Great to have found a group focused on what looks like a great round. Waiting to get my Savage 12 VLP .204 out of jail here in CA. Have a lot of experience with Savage .223 Rem variant and really like the capability of that combination. I'm looking forward to the .204, especially for 300+yd shots.

[Mkhead83]

Just ordered a .204 upper and am excited about this round. I don't reload however and would like to get some .35 berger rounds. HSM doesn't currently have any they told me. Does anyone else sell these? I've ordered some Fiocchi 32gr VMAX but would like some bergers to add to the arsenal. Thanks for anyone who can help me. I'm in the DFW area.

[milesh]

Hello my name is Miles. I'm from central NY. I live for anything outdoors from hunting, hiking, shooting and camping. I work in a machine shop for my father-in-law as a CNC machinist. I am currently building a 204 on a rem 700 action, Pacnor 1-11 twist match barrel. I have already done the action work myself. My question is does anyone have a 204 match finish reamer i can rent? I also reload for my other rifles using Hornady comparator so any starting load recipes would be appreciated.

Thanks for any help,
Miles

[Jim White]

Welcome aboard.

I can't help out at all with the reamer portion but under "Reloading the 204" tab there is some info there regarding some loads.

HTH

[milesh]

Thanks I'll do some searching. Going with the match chamber I plan on getting rid of alot of the freebore. Just want to be cautious of pressure you know.

[Jim White]

If you go with short throats the published reload data will probably be of little use because the cartridge and ballistics were developed with the long throat and 32 grain bullets.

HTH

[Sigfla]

Hello all. Been lurking for some time thought I should introduce myself. My name is Sam and I currently have 3 .204's including my wifes and am trying to resist another CZ 527. I am about to begin reloading and will likely have plenty of questions. I got hooked this year on a Groundhog hunt and even though I had my .243 with me I couldn't put the .204 in the rack no matter the distance. I was hooked at the first pull of the trigger. Looking forward to hand loading my own and getting the most out of my guns. Next project will likely be to re-barrel my 527 with a 1/11 Pac Nor. Shooting lefty limits me in many respects to gun choice however in this instance I am more than happy with CZ. Just wish they would release a HB varmint in lefty, lol.