My 204 wont group ?

[Kelly Timoffee]

Have you has someone else shoot it?

I have seen rifles that shoot 1.5" groups or less at 300 very easily shoot 4" or more with a different driver.

 

[remington jim]

tc 204 ruger

I have a Thompson center encore pro hunter in .204 ruger I have a 3-9x40m nikon prostaff on it and i am shooting 32gr federal nosler ballistic tips and was useing a caldwell lead sled as well . Today i whent to sight in and the best group i could get was about 6in it was all over the place ? the wind was only about 10kph. I tried a bunch of shots to get it to 0 and could not achive this so i told my friend to try who i consider to be an even better shoot thtn my self and he had no luck at all . Needless to say i was quite miffed when his 400 doller 22-250 grouped 3/4 of an inch and my thompson center would not what is my next step.

Check with Camp Cook - he is the expert with the tc stuff !

 

[gtrussell]

seems to be shooting horiday 40gr vmax well . I am starting to hear a lot of .204's do not like 32 gr fed nosler ballistic tips. In my mind this is just a finicky .204 and from what I hear the round can be a litte testy some times I guess i wont be buying any more .204's thats for sure

Probably not,Its bad when you miss out on the good ones.

 

[adrigauthier]

My .204 loves the 40grs v-max. i would try a different brand other then federal, in opinion its a cheap and inconsistent round. i was never able to group federals either. if that don’t work could be a rifling issues... that being said i would send it back.

 

[ryan32]

sounds like a scope to me have you tried putting on new mounts or a new scope or something

 

[janesy]

204 ruger might just be the pickiest round even chambered.

What is the twist of the barrel?

If it shoots(somewhat) the Hornady 40Gr pills than my next step would be to try to put some federals through it with the 39Gr Sierra BlitzKing, they are the most widely used bullet that seems to have the best accuracy. Second maybe to the 35 GR Berger, but it's not a factory loaded bullet.

The problem you are dealing with(Aside from a mechanical issue) is that MOST factory barrels are cut with a 1:12 twist, which is usually best suited for a lighter bullet. But that does not offer much for the larger grains such as the 40's. The difference between a 40GR bullet and a 39Grainer is often night and day. You have to remember that handloaders are loading to .1 Grains of powder to achieve a fine balance of accuracy and speed with this cartridge. But when you find it it's a tack driver.

My 700 in 204R strings 32Grn Vmaxs 3" on a diagonal every time. It sprays 40 Grn into a 6" circle. But it will put a federal 39GR into one raged hole when I do my part(which is not often). It is that picky.

204ruger .com is the place for 204 be-all-end-all things 204.

 

[janesy]

A quick google search suggests it's a 1:12 . which is not ideal, but all too common. Wish they would do 1:11 but hey.

 

[gtrussell]

204 ruger might just be the pickiest round even chambered.

What is the twist of the barrel?

If it shoots(somewhat) the Hornady 40Gr pills than my next step would be to try to put some federals through it with the 39Gr Sierra BlitzKing, they are the most widely used bullet that seems to have the best accuracy. Second maybe to the 35 GR Berger, but it's not a factory loaded bullet.

The problem you are dealing with(Aside from a mechanical issue) is that MOST factory barrels are cut with a 1:12 twist, which is usually best suited for a lighter bullet. But that does not offer much for the larger grains such as the 40's. The difference between a 40GR bullet and a 39Grainer is often night and day. You have to remember that handloaders are loading to .1 Grains of powder to achieve a fine balance of accuracy and speed with this cartridge. But when you find it it's a tack driver.

My 700 in 204R strings 32Grn Vmaxs 3" on a diagonal every time. It sprays 40 Grn into a 6" circle. But it will put a federal 39GR into one raged hole when I do my part(which is not often). It is that picky.

204ruger .com is the place for 204 be-all-end-all things 204.

Not at all, for sure,not at all picky.Have got to try different bullet weights.

 

[janesy]

Not picky?

 

[gtrussell]

As I said not that picky,echo or?

 

[Rick65Cat]

I have a Ruger M77 MkII in .204, 26" heavy barrel with a Bushnell elite 3200 5-15x40 on it, and its a lazer at 200 yrds. I believe its a 1 in 12...and I used Hornady 32 gr Vmax bullets. I get 1/2" to 1" groups at 200 yrds with mine. Try different ammo if remounting the scope doesn't work.
I love this gun, its my "go to" center fire gopher gun.

 

[adrigauthier]

^^^^^^^^^Agree with rick65. A 26” barrel is also very important on the small gr bullets and height velocity rounds it keeps them much tighter over longer distance then a 24” barrel.

 

[irishlad]

I have a Thompson center encore pro hunter in .204 ruger I have a 3-9x40m nikon prostaff on it and i am shooting 32gr federal nosler ballistic tips and was useing a caldwell lead sled as well . Today i whent to sight in and the best group i could get was about 6in it was all over the place ? the wind was only about 10kph. I tried a bunch of shots to get it to 0 and could not achive this so i told my friend to try who i consider to be an even better shoot thtn my self and he had no luck at all . Needless to say i was quite miffed when his 400 doller 22-250 grouped 3/4 of an inch and my thompson center would not what is my next step.

Have you had this rifle long or is it a new addition? If you have shot it before, how did it shoot, and with what ammo? I guess what I'm asking is, was there a change with how it shoots or is it an unknown to you? I have heard the 204 can be a barrel burner in the wrong hands, (eg not cleaning properly or frequently, too hot of handloads etc).

 

[janesy]

As I said not that picky,echo or?

I appreciate your perogative.

no need to be a douche.

 

[surfclod]

A quick google search suggests it's a 1:12 . which is not ideal, but all too common. Wish they would do 1:11 but hey.

Perhaps it would be worth doing an actual check of what the real twist rate is on your rifle as opposed to what the factory says it is.

I have heard of some barrels varying by 1:1 so if your 1:12 is actually a bit over that you may not be able to shoot the heavier bullets well.

As others mentioned check out the 204 forum, there is a wealth of info there.

 

[Huntsman]

I "had" the 204 bbl for my Encore- P.I.T.A. to find a load that would group minute of gopher past 100yds. My Bro's 223 bbl no problem!!
I got rid of it with pleasure......er uh I mean I traded it to some lucky CGN with an Encore