Gang,
A friend of mine won a M77TGT 204 back in 2005 at DU. Four years later we still haven't put it on meat, after two barrels and a custom chamber rework.
So I have a couple questions to you who have 204s.
What brand?
What sort of accuracy?
What are your loaded lengths?
Done anything special to the gun?
Any issues?

Have a 77 VT and a Vanguard varmint special

About as good as I can hold for 5 shots , 1/2 moa for each or so

just short enough to work thru the magazine

Nope on the Ruger , adjusted the Vanguard trigger

Nope

Kimber 84M Varmint
1/2 for five, an occasional 1/4
Don't recall, in my ledger
Nope; feeding it Nozzy, Hornady or Norma cases gives you more 1/4s without sorting.
No issues.

I had bad luck with my Remington LVSF 204.I then ordered a three groove Lilja barrel and a complete smithing job by Clay Spencer. Reloader 10X and 35 Bergers groups in the .3's on a regular basis.

The 204 likes a little jump before hitting the lands.

These were it's first customers last March. Bang-flop and a little tail quiver.

I've got a Tikka Varmint Stainless in 204 -

Recoil is so light I watch my impacts all the time, accurate a a Tikka, and I like seirra 39 grain pills.

Spot

Where are you at on throat contact and loaded length, Spot? You too, Wade...

700 LVSF rebarreled to a 700 VSSF type setup with an HS Precision stock and PacNor barrel. Low .3s with Sierra 39s and 27 grains of Varget. OAL = 2.350 .. had to seat 'em out a bit. I'm using the same OAL and a half grain more Varget with the 40 grain Nosler for .375 to .4 inchs for 5 shots.

I've had 2 other .204s prior to this build-up, one a 14" contender barrel, the other a 700 ADL. Neither shot well.

I had one of the gray metal / laminated stocked Ruger 77 target/varmint rifles in .25-'06. That was a real booger to get to shoot. There were a lot of bedding issues ... high spots, low spots, etc. Even after I glass bedded the action, it was still inconsistent day to day. I finally got pissed off at it and took an impact driver to the front stock screw. Once I torqued it down like that, the gun shot a lot better. All that really means is there were still some unresolved bedding issues I abused into submission.

Tom

My first 204 Ruger was a T/C Encore with a heavy barrel. It could not shoot anything smaller than 1� groups no matter what I did. Then I bought a Kimber Varmint in 204 and it consistently shot �� groups right out of the box. The T/C sat in the gun room and was eventually sold. My loads for the Kimber are:
32-grain V-Max (moly), 26.5 grains of H335, Winchester cases, WSR primers, 2.350� OAL, 4000fps
40-grain V-Max (moly), 26.5 grains of H335, Winchester cases, WSR primers, 2.380� OAL, 3800fps
40-grain V-Max (moly), 24.9 grains of RL 10X, Winchester cases, WSR primers, 2.380� OAL, 3800fps

A few weeks ago I went on a 3-day prairie dog shoot in north-central Montana and took the Kimber. 300 yard shots are so very easy with this rifle. I do have to pace myself though to keep the barrel cool. I want to keep this accuracy for a long time.

I took the 204 out last night and I'm just snarling. Basically a "final shoot" --
Fired four different loads, three "old" and one current. The current load, virgin brass, is in the .8s and .9s and the cases come out every which way but straight. In general, these are all seated about 5 thou off a short custom throat.
None of the loads fire to the same point of aim, in fact, we are talking two to three inches away from each other at 100.
The "old" loads are all sorted brass, whatever fireformed on center with about half rejected.
One 39BK load shot a .513, which included the fifth shot off the paper. Shot a couple others, in the .6s, right? So, to finish off, I shot three rounds of another old load on 32 BKs. Those were way off the other way...I don't know for sure, but it looks like all three shots went into the same hole for a .071. At least two DID go in the hole....I hate this rifle.

I have two heavy barrel savages that shoot quite well. One is a VLP and the other is a BTVSS. These are the loads I use for them.

35 bergers, 25.5 gr of RL-10X and 26.8 gr of benchmark
40 bergers and 40 V-max, 24.5 gr RL-10X and 25.5 gr of H-4895
39 sierra BK and 40 gr Nosler , 25 gr RL-10X and 27.5 gr of H-4895
32 V-max and 32 gr nosler, 26 gr RL-10X and 27 gr H-322 and Benchmark
26 gr varmint grenade, 26.3 gr RL-10X and 23.3 gr H-4198
45 gr hornady sp, 24.3 gr RL 10X

All of these loads will generally print out 1/2" groups or better out of both of my savage 204's.
These loads may not work in your gun so REMEMBER to start below these and work your way up at approx .2 to .3 gr at a time.

For yotes your best bet is to use the 35 and 40 gr bergers or the 45 gr Hornady sp's.
Wildcat makes a 38 gr hollow point that should be excellent for yotes as well. I am hoping to have some test loads of these soon and will probably be using them this season.

The ballistic tips will work for yotes as well, but if you hit bone they may splash and can produce some very large holes. My favorite for prairie doggin and other small critters is the 39 gr sierra BK. Has a high B.C., good mist and lift action, and best of all is the "giggle" factor of seeing your hits through the scope.

There are no factory loadings for bergers or wildcats in Canada. The Hornady SP's are available as factory made bullets and most 204's shoot them okay as their overall length is shorter than the 40 gr V-max.
Ideally you will want to re-load to get the most out of your 204 for accuracy and once you do you'll find it very addictive.

I did purchase another 204 a couple of weeks ago. A T3 lite, grey laminate, with the stainless barrel. I wanted a lighter carry rifle for yotes. Just waiting to put some glass on it. This one will probably be dedicated with the 35 & 40 bergers, the hornady 45 gr sp's and the 38 gr wildcats for yotes. Of course it will have to "tag along" out into the p-dog fields in order to help keep the other two 204's barrels cool. You just can't have to many barrels out in a rich target environment.

I had a 204 if that says anything. I hated it and it didn't shoot worth a hoot. My 223 would shoot the eyes right out of the 204. HAPPY HUNTING

So Skinner , you are saying after TWO custom barrels , the 77 won't shoot ?
Hard to figure....


By the way , both my guns are pretty nuts on with about any reasonable load . With the Ruger I switch from 32 gr Sierra or Nosler to the 39 Sierra or 40 V-Max in the field all the time without re-sighting .

SD, what are your load lengths and jump? I have been loading to 5 thousandths, which initially was 2.407 with 39 BKs and nothing else would reach; now with the new throat and smaller neck (.230) both the 32 and 39 BKs are touching at 2.285 and seated to 2.279.
The barrels are both factory. The first would not shoot worth beans, the second was only a tenth better, then I had it customized on the back end but not customized enough. An expensive mistake.
I am going to try to buy a threaded but unchambered barrel from Ruger and cut it the way I think it should be cut. This SHOULD be a great rifle. It is properly bedded and lapped, slicked. It is physically easy to shoot, but it is not a shooter.

As a for instance , my OAL with the 40 gr V-max is 2.30 . It has the usual 204 freebore , it would take well over 2.4 to be near touching the lands .


A thought , how tight do you make the middle floorplate screw ?

Don't hate the cartridge, hate the gun?

You might be right Greg, but I still wouldn't trade my 223 for any 204 as of yet. Maybe a custom sometime would be nice and see just what they will do. HAPPY HUNTING

Most of the guys on .204ruger.com have found their rifles like a jump, big or small, to the rifling. Some have built custom BR-grade rifles and still found the same thing. You DO have to seat the bullets as straight as possible for best results, too. It can be a pain in the neck to get there, but the results are usually worth it. FWIW, most guys are seating to a length of, or near 2.26", something in that range, and even with factory rifles, are very happy with their groups. Most of us are using Savage rifles, though it shouldn't make much difference.

Overall, Rugers have been pretty problematic for accuracy when chambered in .204, and we have no idea why. Remingtons often cause fits, too. Most Savage shooters seem satisfied with their rifles.

I bought a Contender .204 barrel, I have never had such an easy to load for round, it seems to shoot everything I have loaded for it under an inch and a few much better. Settled on the Berger 35 gr. at 2.260" lots of jump, but it works!

So they ALL have that dang long throat, eh?
I WISH I could load these things straight, it shoots good fireformed brass reasonably well. If I could have virgin cases blow out straight, instead of banana, that would make a world of difference. Having a chamber that was five thousandths smaller in the base region would be nice, too.
But yeah, I'd not give up my 223s to get a 204. No way.

The Kimber has a VERY short throat, no bad chamber either and a tube that has yet to be cleaned after 500 rounds....

I'd take a 204 over a 223; then again, I have no affection for the 223, more the two carts it supposedly replaced (grins)

Does any one have some hard data on 204 barrel life with moderate use. Thanks

Dave_Skinner: I have 5 Varmint weight Rifles in caliber 204 Ruger as of today.
Three of these Rifles are Rugers and two are Remingtons, each and every one of them are VERY accurate for factory arms!
I have two Ruger Model 77 Varmints in caliber 204 Ruger and the reason I bought the second one was because the first Rifle was so accurate!
By the way, there is NOTHING in the Varminting world that a 223 Remington can do that a 204 Ruger CAN'T DO BETTER!
I base this sweeping and startling observation on over 5 years of extensive range and field use with the 204 Ruger versus my personal very lengthy "career" with many and varied types of 223's!
The 204 Ruger cartridge is so far superior to the 223 Remington for all around Varminting that they are not even in the same ball-park!
Get that 204 Rifle perking here soon, or get rid of it.
The cartridge is just so fantastic that your invested time in THAT Rifle is now detracting from your "lifes experience" - I mean 4 years with that amount of investment is PLENTY!
My latest Ruger 77 V/T in caliber 204 Ruger last two groups (5 shots at 100 yards) measured .347" and .378"! This Rifle has a Leupold 8.5x25 variable scope on it and is all factory stock!
No issues with any of my 204's.
To tell the truth I had not been a big fan of Ruger Varmint Rifles for many years.
That is until I bought my 77 V/T in 204 Ruger back in early 2,004. I bought my latest 77 V/T 204 Ruger in January of this year.
My other Ruger Varminter in 204 Ruger is a #1-V-SS and as previously mentioned it shoots quite well also. It has shot groups (5 shots at 100 yards) that AVERAGED .569" since day one!
This average includes all load development groups as well as sight-ins and my final chosen load!
Now, one of your later posts I didn't fully follow - is it shooting better now-a-days?
I hope so.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

So that explains it. VG bought up all the good ones.
VarGuy,
You didn't tell me your loaded lengths and where throats are. And how is your brass fireforming?

Today I finally got the new Bushnell 5 x 15 mil-dot remounted on a new Savage model 12 in the 204 caliber. All my buddies have been raving about this tack driving caliber, so I thought I best check things out and I did do so.

Now down at the gunclub I watched a couple of young shooter print groups well under 1/2 an inch all morning. They let me shoot their rifles and I was very impressed. So I purchased me one and my rifle today was shooting .980 with factory 40 grn bullets. However, with my reloads it shot much better than 1/2 inch. My best group measured .265 and the worst was .490 with reloads using 32 grn bullets.

I have a Ruger#1v That will shoot 1/2 in. groups with everything I've put in it except 45gr. bullets they keyhole or worse at 100 yds. I haven't even tried 50's. But I can't see as though I have a need to try eitherof them.

Do not bother with the 50s, they are for custom-barrelled rifles with a faster twist(1-9 or faster) than the nominal 1-12" factory barrels. The 40 Hornady V-Max is problematic in a large percentage of factory barrels, it's a bit too long. The 45 grain bullet is a bit shorter, and SHOULD shoot a bit better, but that's the old "individual rifle" thing going on. My rifles seem to favor the 32 grain bullets, but I keep getting decent results with 4895 and Sierra 39s, too.
All in all, it's really hard to beat that 39 Sierra, fully half of the .204 shooters on the 204um favor that bullet.

Contact Silverfox on the .204ruger.com forum, he's kept excellent records on his Savage. He's got at least 2500 rounds thru his early rifle with no signs of letting up yet. It doesn't matter anyway, barrels are easily swapped out when they go south. That's why they're threaded into a reciever........

I hated my M700 204 until I tried one of Gmoney's loads. Bergers and Benchmark are a magical combo in my 204. I went from 1.5-2" patterns with Sierras and Hornadys, to .4" five shot groups with the 35gr Berger. I am learning that all my varmint guns prefer Bergers, so I am making the switch over.

Sweet...

I'm back in the .204 game recently after dumping all of them in favor of all my stuff on the .233 case...

I couldn't pass it up...grin...

The coyotes I have met, hate the 204.

Yup...

I'm gonna try the 40 Berger in this next one and see what happens...

I'm a constant fiddler...

I shoot 40's in my 223AI, so I cover all the bases, LOL. 35's in my 204, 40's in my 223AI, and 55's in my 22-250AI.

I've got 4 but my Cooper is the best of the bunch. It likes about anything I shoot thru it. I just loaded 50 39 bk's to see what they'll do. My pet load is H4895 and 35 bergers. locally Cooper's are outlawed from factory shoots.....should say something right there.

Dave, this I just don't understand: "Four years later we still haven't put it on meat, after two barrels and a custom chamber rework."

I think I had my .204 just long enough to sight it in, and then I started whacking rock chucks with it... Seriously, I think the barrel was broken in on varmints...

I'm using Wilson dies, the Hornady 40 gr V-Max and BLC(2) for 3800 fps from a factory built CZ varminter.

Regards, Guy

GuyM,
The rifle is not consistent. On approved loads, with sorted, centric fireformed brass, it will group pretty well, just over a half inch. But the groups are widely separated. And I don't have many cases, the cull rate was around 50 percent for HDY, RP and Win.
Fireform loads in virgin brass are another matter entirely. Stuff flies every which way. Since I use misses to figure out where to hold on second shots....that's an expensive idea these days.
This is one of those rifles that showed initial "potential" but has just not behaved. It loathes all except one factory fodder, which it didn't like much. The "good" loads shoot far from each other.

Dave_Skinner: Could you clarify this point for me?
Are you saying that the Rifle in question (with carefully selected brass) produces groups "just over half inch" - BUT those same recipe handloads will then group in ANOTHER PLACE on the target the next time you try for group?
Then - the last sentence of your last post states "the good loads shoot far from each other" You use the term "loads" as in plural.
If I understand this point, then, I don't see that as a problem at all - YOU, just have to decide on and shoot ONE LOAD!
I have a gun vault FULL of Rifles that shoot different loads to different places - thats so common it should be considered normal.
I think I will fall back on previous advice I gave to you - get rid of that Rifle and get another one in 204 Ruger caliber.
The 204 Ruger cartridge is such a splendid performer you deserve to have one that shoots accurately/consistently!
Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG,
Thanks for the good words.
It will shoot 32 BKs and 39BKs in fireformed brass but with a major change in zero, like three and a half inches at 100. That tells you what a fussy devil it is to begin with.
As things are, we asked Ruger to sell us an unchambered 204 tube. Got the No letter yesterday. So, I'm gonna call my trusty local gunsmith and ask him if he can do me a set-back, smallbase chamber with a short throat and to ($%&)#*$& with the rollmarks, and what he wants to do so...

I did not read the entire thread....but can I recommend one item...

Seat the bullets 0.050" off the lands. The two factory 204 chambered rifles I own simply find this spot as the prime point of seating depth.

Using Benchmark or H4895 and 40 gr VMax's, these are 500 yard prairie doggin' machines.