204 Ruger 11 Twist Barrel?

[Rick in Oregon]

I'm building my second .204 Ruger, and am wondering if anyone here has experience with that caliber and an 11 twist barrel.

My Sako M75V is a 12 twist, and shoots both the 32 and 39 SBK remarkably well. This one will have a Pac-Nor 3-groove 11 twist barrel, my reasoning being it should shoot both the 39's and even the 40's well.

Anyone have comments on this?

(Rifle is a blueprinted M700 SS action, H-S Precision stock, Jewell trigger & Lupy 6.5-20X LR with M1 elevation, 24" Pac-Nor Super Match chambered with Todd Kindler's "204 Match" reamer by PT&G)

[JoeZ]

I keep buying them. I have a 20cal 1/11 twist and it shoots great. That sucker should shoot like crazy. I doubt I would buy any other 20cal barrel for anything. 1/11 seem to be perfect.

[A17Shooter]

Why not a 1 - 9" twist? Good for everything from 32 - 50 grains. Maybe sombody will make a high BC 50 grain bullet someday. At least I hope they do. The Berger is only a .295 BC. If Hornady made a 50 gr with the nose and boattail of the 40 VMax it should have a BC around .344. If Sierra made one with the nose and boattail of the 39 gr BK it should have a BC of approx .368 at or above 3600 fps.

[Mntngoat]

Rick I'm not sure what altitude your at. But an 11 twist shoudl work fro justa bout everything except the "heavies"

My 3 groove Pac-Nor 11 twist on my Sako 75- 20 PPC shoots Berger 40's most excellant at 1500' ASL.

ML

[Fireball]

Rick, I can shoot any 40 or 39 gr bullet in my 1-12s except the 40 VM. But even my 1-9 can't shoot those well. I have never had success with the Hornady 40 VM in any twist. BTW, my 1-9 shoots all the other 20 caliber bullets well, 32-50 grainers. 1-11 will be fine but it will not guarantee accuracy with the 40 VM I predict. Others have had success with it though.

[GLWenzl]

There is a good article about this very subject in the last issue of SCN by Bill Craig who built a 204 using a 9 twist. Most loads with 50 gr Bergers but the 39-40 gr bullets did .4 or less around 3800 fps... Might be worth a call to SCNs???

I like fater twist most of the time and from what I hear bullet rpm is important... Just from my view and only a guess I would think a 204 Ruger will be good with the 9 twist but if you go bigger case capcity for more velocity then the 11 might be better????

FWIW I have a 11 twist on my 20 BR and shoot the 40 VM @ 4050 fps with groups of .4 with most of the powders I tried. I would not like to see any more presure at this velocity in which the 9 twist might give???

[Rick in Oregon]

Thanks for the replies; most appreciated.

I live at 3,700' elevation, and most of my shooting is at 4,500'. And I do notice a slight velocity difference whenever I chronograph at both locations.

Part of my question was predicated on the article in SCN using the 9 twist. I did not want such a fast twist, but knew I wanted to be able to shoot the 39's and 40's well, so the 11 twist seemed logical. Being as I also shoot 32gr SBK's, I was hoping for a twist rate that would properly cover this entire bullet weight range. It is not my intention to ever shoot 50gr bullets in this rifle, should they ever become available. I've got that weight range covered with different rifles in other calibers.

This rifle will be used primarily for colony shooting our Oregon ground squirrels, and the idea is to use the heavier bullets for the longer range work, and as an "afternoon rifle" when the inevitable wind comes up. It appears I'm on the right track....thanks again for the input.

This new rifle will join my Sako M75V in .204 Ruger for ground squirrel action.

[GLWenzl]

Wow Ric, that pic is getting me a very bad case of spring fever. Nice riffle and PD set up you have there. I like the looks of the bench too, is that a BR-pivot by chance? I imagine that it has three legs under it?? Not sure but almost looks like an umbrella stand there too?? Also not sure but it almost looks like an aluminum cartridge holder there??? What kid of handgun and what ranges ya shoot with it? I'm worse than a lil kid

Back on topic the one thing I would consider and it may not make a hill of beans difference but the faster 9 twist giving higher bullet rotation might give just a lil more of a ratsmack’n splat factor if it can run the velocity of say the 11 twist??? I can not say for sure but there are times I see one rotate in the direction of twist and then wonder about this....

I don’t think you will go wrong though in either way but there must be a good reason why the factory 12 twist was preferred twist…

[Rick in Oregon]

GLW: Good eye there bud. Yes, that's a BR Pivot. I was the designer and patent holder for the unit until selling out last year to Battenfield Technologies. My wife and I ran 'Varmint Masters LLC' for ten years here in Bend, Oregon. I've been a rabid PD and ground squirrel shooter since returning to The World in '67, so have amassed a boatload of "rat wacking" gear in that time. Between shooting prairie dogs and squirrels, I could have built a custom home and retired ten years ago with what I've dribbled away in that time. (But I'm having fun, right? )

The unbrella you see is a four-legged Quik-Shade, almost a must so as not to bake out there during the nice weather. We usually set up once and not move all day, the shooting is usually that good. To break it up, sometimes I'll mount a Harris bipod and do a walkabout to keep things interesting.

The aluminum cartridge tray you see is from Nesika. They offered these in both the .223 and .308 head size to their customers a few years back. Nice addition to the bench, and it reminds me of how many rounds have gone down range for cleaning purposes.

We typically shoot our 'sage rats' (Belding Ground Squirrels) and PD's from ten feet in front of the bench (hence a rimfire pistol always at the ready), out to about the 600 yard mark, with most activity from 150 to 450 yards. My personal calibers range from 17HMR, 17AH, 17M4, 204, 223 & Ackley version, 220 Swift to a 243 Ackley. The 204 and M4 get most of the rounds down range lately.

The handgun you see in that photo is a S&W Model 648, 6" in 22WMR with a 4X Leupold handgun scope aboard. Over a sandbag, it's effective (with me behind it) to about 125 - 150 yards. I also like to use my Ruger MK-I with 5.5" bull barrel target auto with a Leupold/Gilmore red dot sight for the critters that sneak up closer.

Sorry to make this an essay, but you asked about my favorite subject.

Here's my BR Pivot Lite with that Sako M75 Varmint in the alfalfa patch this past season....like you, I'm getting worked up for the spring green-up myself.



The little Sako Vixen (L461) 17 Mach IV giving Skippy the worries:



This is the nice CNC-produced cartridge tray from Nesika (with 17M4's & WS2 coated Berger 25's in neck turned and annealed R-P 221 FB parent cases):



All in all, I'm a confirmed Small Caliber kinda guy.....

[Skypilotbc]

I just LUVZ my Pac-Nor 11twist 3-groove .204 Ruger. It is my all-time favorite PD whacker. Handles the 39gr BK's and the 40gr BT's perfectly. Have not tried the 40 V-Max in it--shoots the other stuff too well to mess with it.

Pics have me goin' into serious DT's
Gonna have to get busy loading......soon

Bob