I might have a different experience with this cartridge than most, but I have found the 204 to be a bit on the slow side from what has been advertised. I have been working with a bone stock Remington adl synthetic for awhile now and it has had a hard time pulling off 3800 fps with the 40 v-max. I have tried Benchmark, H4895, 748, H335, Varget, and Tac with 40 vmax and Bergers. Tac actually finally produced 3850 with WSR primers (all loads fired over Oehler 35). I have heard a rumor several times that it takes a special factory blended powder to get advertised velocities, but I don't buy that. When I chronoed the Hornady 40 vmax factory stuff, they were going 3740 and not the advertised 3900! And besides, ALL factory ammo is loaded with "special" blended powder that is not available to the handloader. As for accuracy, it's hard to tell from just one gun and barrel, but 1/2" to 3/4" was not too hard to get. And the 50 grain Berger vld's sound great until you run their chart. Their bc is not as high as it should be. Your better off shooting the 40 vmax if you can get them to be accurate. Even if you can only get them to do 3800, it's still flatter than any standard .22-.250 on the planet and it does it with a full 10 grains less powder! Barrel life will be the thing I will be watching next!
