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.204 Case Length

12K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  T Pearce 
#1 ·
I use a McKillen & Heyer case length guage for all my reloading and I need too know what there is out there or what shells are the same lengths as the .204s. I am going to be purchasing a .204 ruger and I am trying to get set up I have the stuff for the trimmer all ready but not sure on he lengths.
 
#2 ·
Case length for the 204 is 1.850. Lee makes a case trimmer/length gauge that works very well. It's what I use. simple and inexpensive and nice square case mouths. I'm shooting a CZ 527 Varmint and use both Hornedy 32 and 40 grain V-max's. I'm using Lee's collet neck sizing and full length dies.

Here's a site with some cartridge dimensions on it.

http://www.6mmbr.com/cartridgediagrams.html#204Ruger.

I've shot most all of the .224 varmint cartridges in the last 45 years and spent more than 30 behind a 22-250 and the last 5 behind a couple different 243's and I'm really impressed with this little 20 caliber number. Last week I rolled a coyote at a measured 385 yards.

Here's a five shot group off my sitdown bipod.



Here's the little beauty that's doing it.

 
#5 ·
The .204 Ruger is based off the .222 Remington Magnum. It has less taper and a shorter shoulder than the .222 Rem Mag.

Most of the data out there uses the Federal 205M primer, although I have had better results with the Remington 6 1/2 / 7 1/2 primers. Its all a matter of testing.
 
#6 ·
I'm with you Bob....I have lots of pictures where I missed the dime or quarter. I was doing pretty good at the range with my Full Stock CZ this past summer. I told the guys at the range if I could just get the deer to wear a six inch orange target I'd be in fat city. :)
 
#7 ·
I broke my XR 100 in with factory ammo. I haven't had time to check the distance to the lands. I was told my a fellow Remington loader that 40 gr Vmax bullets won't get near the lands, and he seated the bullets .20 from the case end. If that is true, I guess I should turn my fire formed cases to the maximum OL?

One other question.....I have posted in several forums that hand loaders should have a thread of their own where they can trade any bullets that did not work in their rifles. It sure beats buying a box of 50 or 100 bullets and hope you get lucky.

That is the reason I bought a few boxes of factory ammo. Not only did I get fire formed brass, but I also got a good idea of which bullets worked best. I know there is no guarantee that works, but it's better than buying bullets on the sole reason it worked in a friends gun. For that very reason I bought Hornady 32 & 40 gr Vmax and 45 gr SP. The SP out shot the Vmax hands down. Another shock was Ballistic silver tips were the least accurate. The 39gr Blitzkings seemed to be the best, so I guess I'll have to buy a box of them and work up my test loads.

Suggestions welcomed
 
#8 ·
That is good to hear, I've shot the Hornady 32 and 40 grain V-Max, 32 and 39 grain Sierra BlitzKing, 32 and 40 grain Ballistic tips, & 34 grain Winchester/MidwayUSA Dogtown bullets. They have all been very accurate in my gun, the least was the Winchester 34 grain (I bought these in factory loaded ammo) everything else has been handloads. The Noslers have been the best price/best availability around here, and Midway had a clearance on the 250 packs of 40 grainers, so I picked up 3 boxes and hopefully that will keep me shooting for a while. I really want to try the hornady 45 gr SP, it should have the best BC of .204 bullets, and should also be the max bullet weight that my Remington's twist rate will handle.
 
#9 ·
I use a McKillen & Heyer case length guage for all my reloading and I need too know what there is out there or what shells are the same lengths as the .204s. I am going to be purchasing a .204 ruger and I am trying to get set up I have the stuff for the trimmer all ready but not sure on he lengths.

Case length guage from a .222 Rem mag is the same. 1.850"
 
#10 ·
I too shoot the .204, I would like to use the lee case length gage and cutter as I do for other calibers........ I contacted Lee Precision 2 years ago re: why they don't have the .204 listed. They stated ".204 is too small" If you have an outlet for the case length gage in .204 please share the info.
Thanks
Tom
 
#11 ·
I too would like to find the Lee Case gage mentioned above. I checked all my regular sources - internet and local - can't find it. If anybody has a source and would let us know it would be much appreciated.
I use the Lee setup for my 223,308,30-06 and love it.
 
#12 ·
I ended up having to purchase the RCBS case trimmer and had some trouble locating the collet as well. A friend from the Kifaru board mailed me the collet as a gift. Still spent near 65 bucks.......... Still had to purchase the small necked funnel to pour the charges.
All Ive killed to date is a crow that settled to close to the shooting range. The wife enjoys the rifle alot. Shooting cheap soda during the summer from 220 yds.
The last bunch I loaded for this rifle I didn't have the resizing die down far enough (the ram needs to cam over hard) I could remove a couple thous. from the bottom of the die to relieve the extra length as well.
I know a few coyote chasers using this round and they really like it. I will get out some this winter after the last waterfowl weekend.
Enjoy
Tom in WA
 
#16 ·
I'd sure like to have one of the Lee type case trimmers for 204 Ruger. Sounds like there were some around sometime back, but I don't seem to be able to find one anywhere. Lee says they don't make anything less than 22 caliber now. Mabe I could buy one larger than 204 and cut it down to size. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks, 204#1
 
#18 ·
All of my Lee stuff was taken to the dump years ago.
That's a little harsh on Lee.....as a general rule I will seek out Redding or Forster equipment but I have a lot of Lee and RCBS stuff on my bench too. Lots of folks turn out a lot of quality ammo with almost exclusively Lee equipment. I like thier Collet Neck Dies, thier Case Length Gage (the subject of the thread), their Ball Handle Cutter and Lock Stud, their Dipper Cups, their Manual, their Factory Crimp Die, and their self contained Handloader kits.
 
#20 ·
Chambers are not all the same length. To know the chamber length one can use a Sinclair Chamber Length Gauge or make a chamber cast. Most of my rifles have a longer chamber neck that is listed in reloading books. My 204 Ruger cases are trimmed to 1.845 of an inch but that may wrong for other rifles.
 
#21 ·
tuck2 - what would you use to make a cast of your chamber?

I've measured case differences between FL sized and fire-formed brass in my rifles to get a feel for how the chamber is cut. They all seem to have tight chambers (i.e. not much difference between "new" and fired brass) but I can't speak to the exact neck length on any of the chambers. I also can't go very far beyond the COL for a specific bullet before hitting the lands.
 
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