Well, kinda happy and kinda disappointed. Put together a 204 from a encore frame I had. Today I was trying to break it in. It shot the 32gr hornady ammo pretty darn good with .7MOA twice. But it shot the 40gr hornady ammo horrible. Got around 2.5MOA. Just shocked that much of a difference. I was wanting to be able to shoot the 40gr stuff. Wanted to get an idea of how it shot before I reloaded.

Something really wierd. I understand the tipton rod I got is stiff for its size, but I had a heck of a time getting a bronze brush down. The throat after 3 shots had a bunch of residue in it. I couldnt get a jag down it until I pushed the brush thru. And the holdup was the throat area. Never did show signs of breaking in. Pretty fouled after each set of groups.

Keep working at it and hopefully you can solve the issue for cleaning the barrel. Good luck...

Big - you might try the 39 gr. Sierra Blitzking. A number of .204 shooters in this area have had good luck with them - both for accuracy and for taking larger varmints like coyotes and bobcat. The issue with the cleaning would concern me. Know anyone else with a .204? Does your rod and brush/jag combo go down their barrel as hard as yours? Maybe the throat on yours needs a little attention with some JB paste or USP bore paste.