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Offline mjbgalt

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reloading dillemma
« on: May 10, 2006, 12:59:42 PM »
ok guys...

i have a load i worked up for my Contender .204 barrel. It is a 32-grain Sierra Blitzking and 27 grains of varget. i shot just one group with it but got a .330" group.

thats obviously acceptible. however, the velocity may not be. it is right around 3500 fps.

that's nowhere near "real" .204 levels with a 32-grain bullet. is the advantage of the .204 that extra 500 fps, or should i leave it alone since it likes the load so much?

i guess what i am asking is what you guys would do. do i have basically a .223 now??

-Matt
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Offline SAWgunner

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2006, 01:35:36 PM »
I would leave it alone.  I stopped counting how many more droplets in the pink spray my .220 Swift makes over my buddies .22-250 due to the extra 100 fps.  The praire dogs and coyotes didn't much care, either.  

Seriously, I would stick with it.  It will not wear your throat and barrel as much, and your gun seems to like it...win, win situation.  Another thing is, and I just noticed this, how long is your contender barrel.  If it is under 16", it might be pretty hard to push 4k fps.
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Offline mjbgalt

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2006, 01:55:36 PM »
it is a rifle barrel. a 23" bull barrel.

-Matt
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Offline stimpylu32

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2006, 02:44:49 PM »
Matt

Ha buddy , i don't realy think that the paper targets can tell the diffrence between 3500 fps and 4000 fps and neither can an Ohio groundhog .  :D

If you have found a load that shoots well in the rifle , just leave well enough alone and as SAW said you will have more life out of the barrel .

stimpy
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Offline MnMike

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2006, 04:11:24 PM »
I was just looking at 204 loads at the Hodgden site and saw that Varget (my favorite powder) was at the low end of the velocity scale for the round. It does not suprise me that it was accurate. I would agree with Matt: stick with it.
You could play with 322, BL-C2, or 335 if you want, they seem to give the best velocity on many weights.

mike
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Offline Don Fischer

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2006, 05:22:25 PM »
MnMike,

If you didn't know how slow it was going would you live with .330" group's or fix it? You can answer your own question. Love my cronograph but sometimes think we'd be better off without them!
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Offline mjbgalt

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2006, 06:02:21 PM »
varget is my favorite powder too...always seems to work really well.

i do not have a chronograph...just going by the guides on hodgdon's site.

yeah i can live with .330".

-Matt
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Offline ButlerFord45

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2006, 02:12:29 AM »
Too much agreeing going on here.  You obtained a 4000 fps rifle, you'd expect it to perform as such; time to switch powder, though I have no recomendations.
If you're happy with mediocrity, why are you here in the reloading forum? :roll:  (I assure you I'm just kidding!)
 :D
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Offline qajaq59

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« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2006, 02:22:01 AM »
The ground hog wont care.....
To be serious for a second though, borrow a chrono and see what the velocity actually is. You can't always go by the manual because those velocities were what they got in their rifles. It may be going a lot faster then you think it is.
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Offline Coyote Hunter

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2006, 05:43:39 PM »
Hodgdon lists 3798fps as maximum in a 24" barrel.  You're not doing too badly.

If you want faster try one of the other powders they list:

H4895 @ 3980fps
H322 @ 4030fps
H335 @ 4044fps
Benchmark @ 4047fps
BL-C(2) @ 4081fps

0.330"?  Sounds like a darn fine load to me.  I'd rather shoot that and hit something on the long shots than shoot a faster 1.25" load and miss.
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Offline mjbgalt

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #10 on: May 18, 2006, 06:22:35 PM »
27.0 grains shoots 'em into damn near the same hole. i shot it again yesterday to make sure.

27.5 shoots into about a half inch.

28.0 gets me about 3/4 of an inch.

so all of them are sub-MOA but damn if the slowest one doesn't almost put 'em in the same hole.

i would like 4,000 fps but when the accuracy is like THAT with so little work it is hard not to leave it alone.

can i still hunt 300 yard coyotes and such, with this load?? how much energy and trajectory does that loss of 500 fps cause? a lot i bet. i don't wanna think that i just created a .221 Fireball out of my .204.

-Matt
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Offline qajaq59

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reloading dillemma
« Reply #11 on: May 19, 2006, 12:07:53 AM »
Stick with that one.
Years ago I worked up a load that wasn't as speedy as I wanted, but in the end it would take out a woodchuck like a hand grenade. Hitting them accurately does a much better job then missing them at higher speeds.
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