Remington 700 SPS Varmit throwing Keyholes.....

[Heredoggydoggy]

I had to laugh but went and looked, yes, marked 204 Ruger, The next size up I have would be 22 LR, then 270.

.22 lr is around .222

Have a look at that.

I'll bet a .223 barrel blank got into the .204 production line.

   Sounds like a .223 barrel got chambered and stamped "204 Ruger"  A 204 Ruger case is too long to chamber in a 223 barrel/chamber.

[longrangekiller]

very strange i wanna hear the outcome on this one 

[jpharcher]

I am at a lose to where to even go at this point? outer case measures .231, inner .205 on the fired brass- no noticable over flaring. Tried to measure the inner id of barrel- is it between the lands or land to land?

[Heredoggydoggy]

All the fired bullets I've seen looked like the bullet barely touched the grooves but was well grooved from the lands.  Depending on the barrel manufacturer, the lands should be smaller, but the groove diameter should be close to the caliber.  Therefore if you could put an unfired bullet all the way into the bore, the bore is too big!

[jpharcher]

Guess I'll contact Remington and see how to proceed.....

[wildweeds]

I just checked my savage that shoots the 32's killer with a 40 grain Vmax factory hornady  it went all the way to the muzzle,without force,but it was not loose couple thou clearance maybe?

Definitely a barrel issue then. You shouldnt be able to go all the way to the brass. I would get ahold of Remington. either that or its not a .204. Maybe a .220

[Heredoggydoggy]

Guess I'll contact Remington and see how to proceed.....

   Good idea.  They may even send a box to ship it in, and pay the shipping--both ways! 

One more thing--remove any custom items from the gun before you return it, or you might not get them back.  Some benchrest guys I talked to sent guns in to the manufacturer with expensive triggers in them and got the guns back with stock triggers, not the ones they sent!

[jpharcher]

I measured one of the 40 grain v max.....  .199 diameter, seems a little off for a .204. I will get some different ammo and give it another go and if that doesn't work I guess Remington and I are going to get to know a lot of each other

[204chucknorris]

It could be that the bullet is seated to deep in the case for your barrel and in turn causes instability when fired?  Just a crazy thought. I have heard of some people have 204's that simply don't like 40gr bullets? I also shot some HSM 40 gr beger ammo and it shot fair? It likes federal premium 38 Sierra or Hornady 40gr. non super performance. Otherwise I just reload. Completely different caliber but my 223 with a 1-9 twist doesn't like 55gr bullets but loves 60-69. yet my brother in laws 223 loves 55gr. Crazy but it is fact.


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[Heredoggydoggy]

It could be that the bullet is seated to deep in the case for your barrel and in turn causes instability when fired?  Just a crazy thought. I have heard of some people have 204's that simply don't like 40gr bullets? I also shot some HSM 40 gr beger ammo and it shot fair? It likes federal premium 38 Sierra or Hornady 40gr. non super performance. Otherwise I just reload. Completely different caliber but my 223 with a 1-9 twist doesn't like 55gr bullets but loves 60-69. yet my brother in laws 223 loves 55gr. Crazy but it is fact.


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Sometimes bullets do make a difference.  My .223 1 in 9 shoots 50 grain bullets good-55's better, and 60's great!
when I was working up a load for my K-Hornet, I got some 36 grain Varmint Grenades.  I couldn't even get them on the paper, let alone the bullseye!  I got on the Barnes website, punched up the cartridge, and found that the only bullet they recommended was the 30 grain Varmint Grenade.  So I got some, and they grouped much better!

[carpsniperg2]

  twist rate and bullet weights do really make a difference. I had a 25-06 that would key hole with anything 110g+ but shoot lights out with the lighter weight bullets.

[jay.sharkbait]

But to keyhole like that...... something isn't right.

I thought about seating depth, but why would the factory seat that deep?

[wildweeds]

Link to another forum where the keyholing is the topic. http://www.204ruger.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7132

[wildweeds]

And another to look at. http://www.204ruger.com/204_ammo.php

[Longranger]

Hi I'm new here but my Thompson contender .233rem with any bullet weight over 55gns would do the same thing keyholes and when I switched to 55gns hole through hole. Something to consider try different ammo in different weights prob just a ammo issue.