Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 20 cal for Your Predator Hunting

Yup, vmaxes are ok, but the BT's are more better. And you'll eventually be switching anyway, to the nozzies or to the boyguhs.....(joizee accent)

The 40 gr V-max's are hit and miss with most factory 12 twist tubes as they are right on the edge for stabilization. I have found that most tubes work well with the 39 gr BK's. The 40 gr nosler Bt's tend to be a bit more stable than the V-max's as well. Even the the hornady 45 gr SP's are more stable than the 40 V-max due to its shorter overall length. The only way to find out is to give em a try. If the 40 v-max gives you "bug holes", then consider yourself one of the "lucky ones".

I've got two T/C 17 Remingtons, but with Savage bringing out the Predator in left hand in .204 Ruger, I WILL have one of those before the year is out!! And I may go back and get another one in 6.5x284, too!!

I will purchase one also.

I had a couple bum factory .204s so it took me a while to warm up to it, but a 700 with a PacNor barrel made me a believer. I shot the first barrel out. Since a lot of my rodent whackin' is at modest distance and I acquired a .17 HMR that does it well with less garage time (cleaning, reloading) thus more shooting time, when I rebarreled the .204 this last time I went light ... 23-1/2 inch factory sporter contour, fluted, stuffed in a McMillan Hunter's Edge stock. Yeah, callin' rifle indeed.

Unlike the first PacNor barrel, the new one shoots the 40 grain VMAX well. Soon as I shoot up my other ammo, that's what I plan to switch to. Interestingly enough, other than that one difference, the two builds with different length and contour of barrel both like exactly the same handloads.

Basically, I run a 39 or 40 grain bullet with 27.5 grains of Varget or a 32 grain bullet with 28 grains of H335, all with WW cases and Rem 7-1/2 primers. I'm loadin' with RCBS X dies so there's no trimming ... it's so simple it's almost too simple.

Tom

Try the Berger 35 gr Match HP with 28 gr of H4895.

Ever have any temp. sensitive issues with H335?

I ask because I have...but always when you chamber a round into an already Hot barrel from extended shooting, and let it sit a miute or two...pressures go crazy! Ive shot Sage rats out there, so I'm familiar with the kind of volume you are shooting...figured you might have seen this issue....

I am happy with the 40 NBT pushed by 27 grains of Varget in my 204 AR. Shot off bags it keeps 4 in 1/2", usually one opening it up to 3/4" which may be me speeding up the pace seeing the tight group.


This is in a gun that the factory says won't shoot anything over 39 grains.

Allen

Ingwe - the 40 VMax is very destructive on rock chucks. The 35 Berger somewhat less so, but still very effective.

A .204 is much fun to shoot, but I have to admit that I don't like handling the itty-bitty bullets when handloading. Still, a pound of powder does create a lot of ammo.

Guy

Soooo...it oughta give our Mt. Gophers a real "lift"....

I'm not sure. I definitely had a problem but there were several potential contributing factors. The firing pin hole in the bolt on my .204 is a little sloppy, I had a weak firing pin spring, I was using soft Fed 205M primers, and H335. Plus pushing my loads a little too hard.

In any event, I started out the day quite early (almost frosty) and shot up some leftover shells with H335, then switched to part boxes with other powder and finished those up. When I switched back to new shells with H335 (same load, I think ... it was a few years ago and I'm going by memory of how it all went down) the temp had gone up 25-30 degrees and I may have left my range bag w/ my ammo exposed to sun.

I fired a couple shots, no problem, then pierced a primer which vented back through the bolt and out through the trigger. WTF? Fired a few more shots w/o any problem, then it happened again. That f*cked the gun ... firing pin would not stay back. Basically it smacked the sear surface together hard enough to break one of them. The .204 was done for the day.

My gunsmith checked things out ... the firing pin spring was weak. He set me up with a GreTan firing pin plus a heavier than factory firing pin spring. I had to send the trigger back to Jewell for repair. And I switched to Rem 7-1/2 primers.

The firing pin hole is still a touch sloppy but I've put some thousands more rounds downrange without piercing another primer.

I just don't push the .204 anymore, not like I used to push the .223. Fixin' stuff is expensive and I don't like having my gun out of commission.

Tom

Thanks for that input...the issues Ive had were with middle of the road loads in a .223 and it did more than vent gas back through a ruptured primer, it damn near welded the case to the bolt face, all three times I saw it happen,we had to use pliers to get the case off the bolt..

In case you are wondering, once I would blame on a snafu in my reloading room, twice...never, the third time was a pard shooting a mid-load, and he's conscientious as all get out....

Always the same...shell sat for a couple minutes in a hot chamber...never an issue otherwise...

Lets see how I do describing what was happening to me.

Because the firing pin spring was weak, upon firing apparently the pin was being pushed back because each case had a little tit of primer face protruding back into the bolt face.

If the pressure went up just a teeny bit ... not necessarily excessive so far as what the gun would contain, but too much for the primer face metal to hold back w/o firing pin support, then that little tit got the top sliced open and the case full of powder would vent back through the bolt body.

I don't usually shoot my rifle to the point it gets hot, but when I do, I've always gotten that weird twitch and decided to clear the chamber so I don't have a powder charge heating up. Yeah, I think H335 would be among the worst that way.

Most of our shooting around here doesn't lead to really heating up a gun. A few times, but those were rare ... rarer than I wish. Its good fun when y' gotta defend yourself from wave after wave of marauding squirrely bastages.

Tom

You MAY, or may NOT, have issues with 40 Hornadys, they are a fuzz longer than the others at that weight range, and the twist rate (nominally 1-12") is very, VERY marginal for a bullet that long. My two .204s don't like 'em at all, they don't keyhole, but they shoot like poo. The 39 Sierra, a bit shorter, shoots great, but for publicity purposes, the .204 was designed for the 32s (4200FPS!!!!!!!) and the Hornady 40s might not be a good choice.
The differences don't look like much, but they sure make a difference in how they shoot. Here's a pic I took, that they use on www.204ruger.com , they liked it so much, they made it part of the site.

The best load for speed AND accuracy, with the heavier bullets, in my SAVAGE rifle, was/is 27.5 IMR4895/Rem 7.5 primer/Winchester cases, all under the 39 BlitzKings.

IF your rifle will shoot the 40 Hornadys, it'll shoot 'em like a house afire. If it doesn't like them, it'll shoot all to schitt. It all depends on the ACTUAL twist rate of the barrel. A lot of the factory pipes actually measure 1-12.25" twist or slower, not the stated 1-12". Savages, CZs, and some Remingtons are notorious about that. Ruger seems to be able to stick with the actual 1-12", or so the posters on that website seem to be seeing. I'd listen to 'em, they've been at it awhile now.

Load is duly noted...Thanks!!! Ive got a buttload of IMR 4895....

We will frequently heat a barrel to the point where you can't touch it, occasionally Ive heated the gun to the point where you couldnt touch the floorplate, and once we got a heavy Ruger bolt gun ( .223) so hot that it cooked off a round.

Soooooo...I kinda got to pay attention to what happens in a truly "hot" chamber....

ingwe, you are going to love that 204. I've got a 34gr. load, 35gr. load, 37gr. load, and a 45gr. load. My favorite is the 37gr. bullets by CRT with the Berger 35gr. a close 1st. I was using H4895, but recently switched to IMR 8208 XBR which I consider the 204's friend. After mouthing all of that, I'm still a 17 Rem. fan. 1st.

A recent critter that fell to the 204 and a 37gr. CRT bullet. No exit.

Your Ingwe-ness, if you get into trouble with the 40s, lemme know, and I'll scrounge up my 32gr. data for you. My rifles tend to like the 32s better than heavier bullets, YMMV, of course, but I've not had any issues hitting PDs with the 32s, even on the Rosebud, where the wind is always howling. I even shoot coyotes with the 32 Nosler BTs, it's a teeny-tiny hammer on dumb coyotes (the only ones I can get to sit still long enough to hit). I like the VMs pretty well, but the Sierras are a touch more tender on pasture rats, and the splatfactor is a little more noticeable with the green tips. The BTs splat 'em good, but are a touch "harder" than the VMaxes.

If you have to go 32, try H-322 or Benchmark, but H4895 will work, it just won't go as fast. H-322 is the ticket.........

OK thanks guys! You got me chomping at the bit...might even hafta do a little fur hunting next year.....


And yeah...it can be windy on the Rosebud...you oughta try the Rocky mountain front on for size! If the wind stops blopwing up there, all the cows fall down.,....