Hornady 204 Ruger 45 gr SP........

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pickeringchris

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For those of you wondering about these heavy bullets in a 1:12 twist, I had a chance to fire off a box at the range today in my Tikka Varmint. FYI, I am a new shooter and not the best shot but I had 5 shot groups under 1 moa. Better than I have done so far with 32, 34 and 40 grain. Many people talk about the heavier bullets not doing well with this twist but I will respectfully disagree. I believe the 45 grain soft point is slightly shorter than the 40 grain V-max. This is likely why they did well with this twist.
I was getting about 3400 FPS vs 4200-4400 with the Hornady 32 grain v max.

I have one box left and looking to buy more. Problem is, I cant remember where I got them. lol I remember them being hard to find.
 
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pickeringchris said:
It wasnt my chrono. first round of the day: 32 vmax @ 4440....... Most others were 4200+/- 50.
Maybe you need to clean your bore ;-)

I edited my post. It was 32 grain v-max I was shooting along with the 45 grain sp's
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I would say the chrono your using is off. 4440 is way to fast. You sure you werent shooting the 24gr hornady load?
 
Any who.

Yeah I like shooting the "heavier" bullets in my 204 as well.

I shoot a Sierra 39gr Blitzkings in my 1 in 12" barrel and they work very well.
 
pickeringchris said:
Many people talk about the heavier bullets not doing well with this twist but I will respectfully disagree. I believe the 45 grain soft point is slightly shorter than the 40 grain V-max. This is likely why they did well with this twist.
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You don't have to disagree. Its a generalization that still rings true in most cases. You've already hit upon why the 45 gr Hornady SP will sometimes shoot in a 1 in 12 twist rifle while others have trouble with the 40 gr Vmax.

Just about any .204 rifle will shoot the 39 gr Sierra Blitz King very well. So the 40-45 gr range is generally the cut off point for the typical 1 in 12 factory twist (again, depending on projectile length).

My factory 1 in 12 twist Remington 700 had no trouble with either of them, but now that its been rebarreled with a 1 in 10 Pac-Nor Super Match, it eats everything up to 50 gr Berger. Haven't tried anything heavier (or longer) than that.
 
CV32 said:
You don't have to disagree. Its a generalization that still rings true in most cases. You've already hit upon why the 45 gr Hornady SP will sometimes shoot in a 1 in 12 twist rifle while others have trouble with the 40 gr Vmax.

Just about any .204 rifle will shoot the 39 gr Sierra Blitz King very well. So the 40-45 gr range is generally the cut off point for the typical 1 in 12 factory twist (again, depending on projectile length).

My factory 1 in 12 twist Remington 700 had no trouble with either of them, but now that its been rebarreled with a 1 in 10 Pac-Nor Super Match, it eats everything up to 50 gr Berger. Haven't tried anything heavier (or longer) than that.
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How many rounds did you have threw your barrel before it was shot out? I was thinking about rebarreling to 20BR.
 
K0na_stinky said:
How many rounds did you have threw your barrel before it was shot out? I was thinking about rebarreling to 20BR.
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I didn't put that many rounds through it, actually. Less than 1,000. I became interested in the faster twist because I wanted to shoot the heavier bullets (40+ gr) and personally I think the factory twist barrels would be better served if they were 1 in 10 or 1 in 11.
 
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