204 Ruger Accuracy issues/Powder of Choice

A

ackertjosh

Regular
Rating - 100%
25   0   0
Location
Bruce County Ontario
Hey all. So at christmas I got my Father a CZ427 Varmint and topped it with a Nikon Prostaff 5 4.5-14. I started making 32 and 40gr loads for this rifle using H4895, H322, Benchmark, RL10X. 40gr bullets with 4895 is about 1" group per 3 shots at 100yrds... understanding the 1-12 twist might be a factor with 40gr bullets but decided to try them anyways. After lots of load Development i settled on 26gr of H322 under a 32gr Blitz King getting me 3/4 in groups at best.

Now that Coyote Season is over dad really wants me to get this rifle shooting. He is very happy with it and took 13 coyotes with it this year all around 200-300 yards but really wants to see how accurate this thing can be.

What powder/Bullet would you all recommend.
Currently i just made some loads up with RL7 and will try them this weekend... What powders would you all recommend?? Currently im sitting on RL 7, RL10x, H322, Benchmark, H4895 and Varget that are all listed for the 204.... or maybe a different projectile.

Thanks again
Josh
 
You probably mean a CZ527 varmint? I'm getting under half inch groups at 100 yards with 25gr benchmark and 40gr vmaxs. Shot a 3 shot group that measured 1.75" at 380 yards. Also shoots factory 45 gr under a inch. I haven't had much luck so far in the few loads I've tried with the lighter bullets.
 
27.6 gr of cfe 223 pushing a 40 gr pill. Using a rest I can put bullets through the same hole or at least touching at a hundred yards. My OAL is on the long side and the bullets aren't seated too deep. It seems to work a bit better than the factory stuff.
 
Last edited:
Jeremy403. Sorry you are correct.. It is a 527 Varmint sorry for the confusions if there was any.. I will make up a fiew loads today with Benchmark and 40gr pills to see how they fair out. I will also get ahold of my Powder supplier and see if they have and 4198 in stock and maybe some CFE223. I would like to puch 40gr pills over the 32 just for some more umph down range but dad said those 32gr killed the coyotes dead. Bang FLop, and it never hurts to have to many loads becuase it you never know when you gonna need a back up.

I appreciate the info!!! Thanks guys

Josh
 
I have not owned a CZ but I have had a few 204s over the years. My go to powders for the rifles I have now are XBR 8208 and H4895. For coyotes I use 35gr Bergers with excellent results. If you want something a little heavier 39gr BKs are almost as good IME. I have a reduced load with 30gr Bergers and H4895 that I use for fox, problem beavers and shooting steers in the head when we butcher them. 40 gr Vmax are my choice for gophers and small varmint.
 
I had great success with varget and 40gr v max. also great luck with imr3031 with 40gr v-max. everything I tried with 32gr was all over the map. too light a bullet maybe? is very windy where I live too a little heavier bullet always seems to be better down here
 
Have you just played around with the seatin depth with the rounds youve already have made up? I would try that first to see if that changes anything before starting a new load.

I just picked up a 204 from a friend the other day cheap. Going to try H322 with 35 Bergers.
 
seating depth is next on my list to try for accuracy issues. was also the issue in my 22-250. unforantily where i reload is 2 hours awat from where the rifle is.. makes it hard when dad is hungint daily during the winter. Now that im home and can bring the gun down to my house i can play with it and get a seating depth and then go from there. As for the powders. i will try this RL7 and see what happends this weekend, if not the rifle is coming home with me and i will do what i have to do and get the CZ driving tacks.

Thanks again all for the info.. much apprechated
now if bullets and powder was not so hard to find... hummm
 
a local guy was using varget under 40 grain nosler ballistic tips with great results. not sure of powder charge. he was getting between 3800-3900 ft/sec and 5 shot groups at 100 yards that could be covered with a dime.
 
So i had a chance to get out to the range on sunday. Was a beautiful sunny day with little to no wind and was -10C in temp. Decided to set up the Chrony (Cadwell) and test these loads for Velocity and Accuracy. The 32gr Blitz Kings shot very well with RL7 at the lower end of the velocity scale at 3650fps(Seems very slow to me) but 3 shots cloverleaf right in 1"bullesy making a total of a .322inch group. Getting to the top of the load was about an 1.5" spread and only producing 3800fps.

Next was the 40gr V Max with Varget. First group consisted of 27gr of Varget bringing me a mild velocity of 3675 and a 2" group. (Not impressed) Jumped up to 27.5gr of Varget and got a nice 3 shot group of 2 laying on top of each other and 1 about 3/4 of an inch away. Next load was 27.8 giving me a velocity of 3735fps(3shot average) and measuing .404 all inside the bulleye. Not the velocity i was looking for but accuracy was starting to shot some promise.

I will use the 27.8gr of varget load with the 40gr v max for now as the Coyotes i dont think cares if the bullet is 3800-3900 fps or 3735.
As for the 32gr bullets i would like the get the velocity up to the 4000 where it should be but thinking the low velocity one would be good for fox and or Groundhogs.

All these loads were in Hornady Brass and lit by CCI BR4 primers.

I thank Everyone who chymed in on this form as i wrote down all the info to try one day, as it has already showed some improvment.

Thanks again!!!
Josh
 
Thanks all for the replies. Im going to keep a look out for some 8208XBR for the future. as for now i got so much powder kickin around i should be able to make loads for years with issue lol. But whats another pound of powder.... hummm..

Thanks again!
Josh
 
I have a Browning A-bolt in 204 and have obtained so pretty good groups just not good enough. So I've played with OAL and haven't achieved an OAL thats improve accuracy. So my question is - is everyone just going with standard OAL as per factory bullets or has someone out there found an OAL that works. I know it will be different for every rifle just trying to see if there is a common demonimator out there??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom