.204 loads

[wadevb1]

My .204 LVSF will soon be delivered. With the 1 in 12" twist, have you guys noticed any difference in groups between the 32 or 40 grain loads. Thanks in advance.

[Chuck White]

wadevb1
I have a 26 inch Encore barrel and it will shoot the 32's into .330 inch groups, but it will not  shoot the 40's accurately!
Besides that, the 40's will keyhole every time.

I really don't understand why, but some of the guys report that their 204's will shoot both the 32 & the 40 grainers.
Mine won't

[wadevb1]

Thanks for your reply. I plan on ordering ten boxes of Hornady ammo and was checking to see which shot better out of the LVSF. looks like I get a few boxes of each.

[Chuck White]

When I first got my barrel, I used factory (Hornady) ammo and got under 1/2 inch groups with the 32 grainers.

Factory loads were the only 40 grain loads I've fired.

It's possible that your gun won't shoot the 40's very well either and on the other hand, it might do very well with them.
I'd suggest that you buy 1 box of each, before going overboard!

[lucky guy]

I'm looking too, trying to decide where to start for loads too for an xr100.   I read good things about the 39 gr bullets so I'm thinking I'll start there.

Some say that 1 in 12 is marginal for 40 gr bullets in the 204, and that some 1 in 12 barrels that don't shoot the 40's very well will shoot the 39gr just fine.  Anybody know if there's anything to that?