The problem with sending a rifle off to the company to be fixed now is the fact this IS there busiest season!!



They will be "covered up" in repairs until after the first of the year.



If you got it back in 4 to 6 weeks,I'd say you were doing well.



IMHO, the tooling marks inside your barrel's muzzle were most likely done when the barrel was crowned- not when it was rifled.Probably a loose or misaligned pilot on the crown cutting tool left the rings on top of the lands....

sharpsman,
Thanks for your insight. I wish I could have gotten a better picture, but the marks were not only on the top of the lands, they were in the grooves as well. If the picture would have been better, you could see there is lots of copper in the rings down in the lands. The entire barrel was not the smoothest I had ever seen but the muzzle looks like someone tried to tap it with threads.

What ever happened to quality control? Anyone inspecting the bore at the factory should have been able to see this.

Oh well, I'll sit and wait.

Jim

HEY SILVERFOX I DONT HAVE A CHRONY SO ONLY GO BY WHAT THE DATA SAYS. IMR MANUAL ON-LINE SAYS 23.5 IMR 4198 IS MAX LOAD WITH A VELOCITY OF AROUND 4000+/-.ALL THE OTHER SLOWER POWDERS JUST DIDNOT MAKE THOSE TINY GROUPS.I BELEVE THIS LOAD IS A GOOD LOAD FOR THE PARENT CARTRIDGE 222 MAG.HOPE ALL YOU OTHER 204 SHOOTERS TRY THIS POWDER.

Has anyone tried the heavier >40gr bullets yet? Thanks,

Jim

Quinn: I have two pretty new Varminters in caliber 204 Ruger. They both shot the only handload I dreamnt up for them very well! Thats right both Varminters (one a Remington 700 VLS and the other a Ruger 77 V/T) shoot the same exact load (built in different dies) very well indeed!
My load consists of the wonderful Berger 35 gr. bullet with Federal 205M primers, Hornady brass and H 4895 powder.
This load/bullet not only performs well at the range it performs well lethality wise on the various Varmints I have harvested with it.
I highly recommend you try the 35 gr. Berger bullet.
More later
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Good point, slygunner. Berger recommends a 1-9 for anything over 40 gr.

I wonder who makes a barrel blank in those dims?

FWIW I got tired of hearing the 220 Swift is the answer to all vaminter's dreams and the 204 Ruger is a 200 yard max round. Well...

.220 Swift, 50 gr. V-MAX MOLY
100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
0.80 0.00 -4.80 -14.80 -31.80

.22-250 Rem., 40 gr. V-MAX
100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
0.60 0.00 -4.50 -14.20 -31.70

204 RUGER 32 GR V-MAX
100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
0.6 0.00 -4.1 -13.1 -29.0

Shoots flatter, with less powder, throat erosion, and longer brass life.

I think it's a dandy, and here to stay.

Jim

I have tried the 40gr Vmax with varget,benchmark, and H4895. I can't get the 40gr Vmax bullet to shoot consistenly.Somedays it shoots .5" and others it shoots 2.00". I did finally get a good load with 40gr Bergers and H4895,they shoot a consistent 4 tenths group. I have been seeing alot of posts that are speculative stating that the 40gr Vmax may not be stabalizing in a 1 in 12 twist barrel.If you plan on testing bullets that are heavier than 40grs you are going to need a faster twist barrel than 1 in 12.slygunner

Lilja makes them. I have an ultralight barrel for a model 7 project that is fast twist but not chambered yet.

Look here: www.riflebarrels.com

VarmintGuy,
What speed were you getting with the 35gr Bergers? Also, what were your groups?

Thanks, Sheldon, for the Lilja link.

Jim

Jimno2506: I brought the Remington 700 VLS online on August 8th 2,004 and had to settle quickly on the Berger load for the end of the Ground Squirrel and Prairie Dog seasons. Its last two 5 shot groups at 100 yards fired at my range in "fair" conditions (wind at 4 MPH) and cloudy skies measured .480" and .398" apiece. These were the handloads with the Berger 35 grainers. This Rifle has the Leupold 8.5x25 variable scope on it.

The Ruger 77 V/T was brought on line June 20th 2,004 and the last two 5 shot groups at 100 yards with the Bergers measured .595" and .374" apiece on another day listed as fair in my loading log with poor light and no mention of wind speed that day. I have a Sightron 6x24 variable on this Rifle.

No speed checks so far with these two I have just been to busy Hunting Varmints, gun trading and scouting for Mt. Goats and then assisting two different Mt. Goat Hunters (in two different districts!) get their Goats then I have been scouting (begging!) for a new Antelope Hunting ranch (475 miles + from my home) all fall along with Deer scouting and some Elk scouting. I was just flat out maxed out and no time to get the 204 over my Oehler chronograph. As soon as I get it done I will post the speeds for my load.

By the way I was real happy with the way the Hornady factory ammo shot in both Rifles.

99% of the time I use only 5 shot groups at 100 yards for load testing of all my Varminters but for some reason that I forget now the last two 3 (three) shot groups with the Remington 700 VLS 204 and Hornady factory 40 gr. ammo gave me these extra pleasing groups of .330" and .336" on a day when the range conditions I noted as "good".

Maybe I wanted to save those factory fourties for Varmints as ammo was hard to come by when I was testing them.

Anyone shoot the Remington 204 ammo as yet?

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

Just stumbled onto this...
http://www.gunsandammomag.com/204ruger/

Thanks for the info. My binder is sucking-in the info like mad!!

Unfortunately my reloading will have to wait until Ruger fixes my barrel. It appears as though the last 3/8-inch was not finished properly. And this rifle did shoot, on two occasions, and 60 rounds, groups less than .5" at 100 yards.

This past weekend I went to Blue Grass Sportsmens League, where I am member, and shot the rifle at 200 and 300 yards on a calm morning. I found something amiss. The 200 yard groups were in excess of 4-inches, and the 300 yard groups were not on the 8-1/2 x 11� paper, even when the scope was adjusted for drop. This had me concerned. I know the small calibers like to be shot with a clean bore and thought perhaps I hadn�t cleaned it often enough. I cleaned it thoroughly with patches and Shooters Choice (like I do all my custom guns) and inspected the bore from the muzzle to check for copper fouling. That is where I found a problem.

It appears that the last 3/8-inch or so of the barrel was not finished properly. This section has tooling marks that are quite visible, and can be felt using a toothpick. These radial grooves have copper left in them from the bullet.

So off to Ruger it goes. Dang it!!! I am glad I hadn't sent my brass to Neil Jones for a custom die. Who knows what Ruger will do to it, but a rebarrel is what SHOULD happen, and that will change the chamber dims for sure.

Guess I'll have to shoot the 25-06 when I feel the need for speed.

Jim

Jimno2506,
That really sucks your that Ruger was sent out without someone catching that before it left the factory . What would have really sucked is to have those dies for a chamber you no longer have . I hope it all comes together for you.
Best Wishes,
slygunner

You are so right, slygunner.

I just dropped the rifle off where I bought it. Ruger should have it by mid-week.

Does any one have any clue as to how long Ruger usually takes to get a repaired rifle back? The guys at Classic Arms said 4-6 weeks...Yuck!! I sure hope they can get it back to me soon. I'm gonna be jones-ing for the little bugger pretty soon. Besides, I need to get the dies on order so I can start reloading.

Jim

Yep, G'smith said need to cut the barrel off. He thought the tool chattered in the muzzle. Anyway need to get rid of that bad end.

I should have it back in about 2 weeks.

I loaded some more IMR4198 at 24.5 gr and changed the seating depth from 2.245 (factory) up to 2.295 in .005 increments. Hopefully this will help the groups. If not, I'll try Benchrest or Varget or H4198.

If it still doesn't shoot. Then it's gonna be rebarreled, or sold.

Jim

After much delay at the gunsmith, Ruger calls me about my problem. Fortunately the barrel had not yet been hacked off. I explain what is wrong and she said "send it back in". OK so I did. Now I'll wait again.

While checking handloads I noticed something else..bad concentricity..I found out the chamber is crooked, the necks are all tilted and the case body is in the shape of a banana. GOOD GRIEF. I sent three cases for them to look at, Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a new barrel. We'll see.

Jim

Jimno2506-- I would expect nothing less than a new barrel. Sounds like quality control folks were taking a nap when that particular rifle went through. Good luck and let us know how this fiasco turns out.