.204 ruger bullets.
- Thread starter Catkiller
- Start date
Bayou City Boy
New member
Bullet length is the determining factor in stabilization.
With that said, I doubt that you can cram enough lead into a bullet jacket short enough to stabilize in a 12" twist barrel.
Hornday was able to build their 45 grain bullet short enough to work, but finding room for 10 more grains of lead without some significant bullet jacket length increase would be tough.
-BCB
With that said, I doubt that you can cram enough lead into a bullet jacket short enough to stabilize in a 12" twist barrel.
Hornday was able to build their 45 grain bullet short enough to work, but finding room for 10 more grains of lead without some significant bullet jacket length increase would be tough.
-BCB
Verminator2
Active member
I know that Berger makes a 50 grain bullet,but I don't see why you want to use a .204 for deer? There are alot better calibers, like 22-250 and .243.
Morpheus
New member
Are you concerned that the additional 0.02" of entry wound size as opposed to the standard .224" 55-grain bullet will be a detriment to your hunting experience? I am not trying to be rude, I just don't get why you would choose a "sub-caliber" to hunt deer. Please explain. If this is the one and only rifle you have and can afford then I apologize for asking.
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Jay Johnson
New member
Don Unmussig Bullets:. Don manufactures 30, 35, 40, 45, 48, 50, 52, 55, and 57 grain .204 caliber HP bullets. But one in twelve isn't going to stabalize anything over 40 and some guns that is pushing it. My TAC 20 has a 1 in 9 and 40 Bergers are no problem I have yet to test the 50 Bergers. But most of these bullets are thin skinned and would not work very well on deer size game. Move on up in caliber or go for grizzly.
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IDBob
New member
You could make your own. Here's a place to look for the equipment to do that. You might also do a search for other custom bullet makers such as the one above.
http://www.corbins.com/
Of course by the time you put a barrel that would stabilize those heavy bullets on your 204 you might have more money than a rifle of more appropriate caliber costs.
http://www.corbins.com/
Of course by the time you put a barrel that would stabilize those heavy bullets on your 204 you might have more money than a rifle of more appropriate caliber costs.
White Eagle
New member
you could always rebarrel to 30-04
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Bayou City Boy
New member
I'll be a little more straight forward....
I hand swage my own 20 caliber bullets and its impossible to get enough lead crammed into a bullet jacket short enough for the complete bullet to weigh 55 grains and for it to stabilize in a 12" twist barrel.
I typically use a fully drawn 0.224" X 0.705" jacket that measures ~0.760" after being drawn down to ~0.198" before swaging. It weighs ~14.3 grains. The jacket is far too long for a 12" twist barrel, and yet even at that length it is impossible to cram an additional 40.7 grains of lead into it and form a point without the resulting bullet looking at best like an extremely long 38 Special round nose jacketed bullet in profile (not in diameter of course...).
To illustrate, here is a pic of a drawn jacket (0.761" in length and weighing 14.3 grains) and a lead core weighing 40.7 grains. They are almost the same length. Even if the point of the bullet is left mostly open, and the lead is allowed to protrude and to be formed into a point of some type, the resulting bullet will be even longer than the beginning jacket length. If the bullet point is closed up at all, the resulting bullet will weigh far less than 55 grains (maybe 50 grains at best) after the excess lead core is pushed out the nose of the bullet as the point is being formed.
So, for a .204" diameter 55 grain bullet to have a decent BC at all, it would take a much longer jacket than ~ 0.760" to start with, and thus you're moving even further away from a bullet that will stabilize in a 12" twist barrel.
Even if it were made with a longer jacket, the resulting bullet also is far from a good choice for deer where it’s legal, even if you had a fast twist 20 caliber barrel.
Buy a suitable deer rifle and use your 204 Ruger with its 12" twist barrel for its intended purpose.....which does not include deer.
Just for reference, I typically trim the ~0.760” jacket to 0.620” to form the 38 grain HP bullets that I normally make and shoot in my Tac 20’s and 204 Rugers. All of my 20 caliber rifles have 12” twist barrels.
-BCB
I hand swage my own 20 caliber bullets and its impossible to get enough lead crammed into a bullet jacket short enough for the complete bullet to weigh 55 grains and for it to stabilize in a 12" twist barrel.
I typically use a fully drawn 0.224" X 0.705" jacket that measures ~0.760" after being drawn down to ~0.198" before swaging. It weighs ~14.3 grains. The jacket is far too long for a 12" twist barrel, and yet even at that length it is impossible to cram an additional 40.7 grains of lead into it and form a point without the resulting bullet looking at best like an extremely long 38 Special round nose jacketed bullet in profile (not in diameter of course...).
To illustrate, here is a pic of a drawn jacket (0.761" in length and weighing 14.3 grains) and a lead core weighing 40.7 grains. They are almost the same length. Even if the point of the bullet is left mostly open, and the lead is allowed to protrude and to be formed into a point of some type, the resulting bullet will be even longer than the beginning jacket length. If the bullet point is closed up at all, the resulting bullet will weigh far less than 55 grains (maybe 50 grains at best) after the excess lead core is pushed out the nose of the bullet as the point is being formed.
So, for a .204" diameter 55 grain bullet to have a decent BC at all, it would take a much longer jacket than ~ 0.760" to start with, and thus you're moving even further away from a bullet that will stabilize in a 12" twist barrel.
Even if it were made with a longer jacket, the resulting bullet also is far from a good choice for deer where it’s legal, even if you had a fast twist 20 caliber barrel.
Buy a suitable deer rifle and use your 204 Ruger with its 12" twist barrel for its intended purpose.....which does not include deer.
Just for reference, I typically trim the ~0.760” jacket to 0.620” to form the 38 grain HP bullets that I normally make and shoot in my Tac 20’s and 204 Rugers. All of my 20 caliber rifles have 12” twist barrels.
-BCB
