# .204 Reloading



## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

I'm going to start reloading for my .204 and was wondering if any of you had any suggestion as to what bullet to use, I was going to reload the Nosler 40gr ballistic tips, I use the same for the 243 and have had great results also a cousin uses them in his 204 and loves them. I also was thinking the Berger 40gr but I don't have any reloading info on them. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

I love that little screamer. I shoot the 32 grn. Vmax's out of both my Savage Varmint Rifles 1/12 Twist. I have 3 other friends that are also shooting the 32's and love them. One of the guys tried out the 40 grn. Vmax and said it key holed on him. Left a hole on target that looked like the long outline of the bullet. I'm sure it will depend on what your shooting (Twist of barrell, type of critter) etc....... I have shot some larger than P-dog critters and it was amazing. DRT. :shock: Could't find the entrance wound and there was no exit. Looking for another .204 . Did I tell ya I like that caliber. :lol: If you interested in powders and charges PM me. Al.


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

I tried a whole bunch of different bullets when I first got mine a few years ago. 32 & 40 hornadys, all weights of the bergers, Noslers, etc. I finally settled on the 39 gr Sierra BK. That is all I load anymore. Like Al, I love this little caliber. Fun, fun, fun!


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## JDF_GSP (Jul 4, 2009)

If you need info for the Bergers you can e-mail them and they are pretty good about getting back to you. I couldn't find info for their 52 gr varmint bullets for my 22-250 and they got back to me (it took about a week) with a list of powders along with min and max loads. Good company.


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## Dwight Schrutester (Dec 3, 2007)

The 39 Grain Sierra Blitzkings are probably the number one bullet 204 shooters use. They seem to shoot well in the 1/12 twist rifles. Most 1/12 twist rifles struggle with the 40 Grainers.

39 Grain and 32 Grain shoot well in the 1/12 twist.

Check out this forum, http://www.rugerhunting.com/, to find out pretty much anything you would want to know about the .204 Ruger caliber.


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

Hang tight until monday when *Bax gets back into town and sees this topic. He has been doing a lot of reloading of his .204 as of late, and I am sure he'd be happy to help you out with any questions you might have. 

I don't own a gun of this caliber, but I gotta tell you, I sure wouldn't mind adding one to my collection. It is one sweet caliber. Fast, accurate, and deadly.


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## sagebrush (Sep 8, 2007)

well it looks like I the only one who shoots the 40 grn v-max's, I will second the 30 grn blitz kings. I have found that the powder of choice does not matter that much. pick out one I have used - W4064, H4985 , and BLC-2 (which i use now).


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

Maybe I will try a smaller grain bullet, I have only shot the 40 gr vmax. I use mine for coyotes mainly so I was using the bigger bullets. I had heard that the sierra blitz kings were very good bullets for the 204. Thanks for the info everyone. Knew I could count on all of you.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Ahhhhh, the rest of the info. Like I said in my post earlier, it depends on the type of critter you're after. I have heard that the 32's are not heavy enough and will "spash" on the bigger critters such as yotes. If those are your primary targets then I would definately go with the 39's or 40's. I also have heard that the 35 grn Bergers are very good on yotes. Good luck on your choice and let us know how it works out.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Here's some groups I shot with my Rem 700 SPS. I wasn't going to show my secret load but, hey, the world needs me. I don't know what happened with the .94 group but the others are typical of how this gun/load shoots. I've lapped the bolt and got rid of that POS tupperware stock and that's all I've done to it.
Sierra 32gr BK, H322 @ 27.0gr, COL 2.26. There ya go folks!


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

longbow said:


> Here's some groups I shot with my Rem 700 SPS. I wasn't going to show my secret load but, hey, the world needs me. I don't know what happened with the .94 group but the others are typical of how this gun/load shoots. I've lapped the bolt and got rid of that POS tupperware stock and that's all I've done to it.
> Sierra 32gr BK, H322 @ 27.0gr, COL 2.26. There ya go folks!


Now that is good. Funny thing is that is my same load. 27.0 grns of H322 in my Savage LRPV and 27.5 grns of H322 in my Savage Mod. 12 FV. 8)


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

You mean my load wasn't a top secret load!? ****!

When I start shooting big wide-open 3/4 inch groups with my other guns, I grab this gun/load and go shoot just to make me feel better.


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## reb8600 (Sep 8, 2007)

I have 2 rifles in 204. I think it is a great caliber. One is the Remington 700 SPS varmint and it likes the Sierra 39 gr BK. It is actually the only bullet I tried. It shot so good there was no need to try a different one. I have not shot anything but paper with them though to know how they perform. I am using H4895 in this one.

The second is a Remington 700 ADL that was a 223 and I had a 204 barrel put on. My wife took it over. It shoots the 35 gr Berger real well. It will shoot 5/8" 5 shot groups with my reloads. The 35 gr. bullet is deadly on coyotes. Very minimal damage done to the fur. Those bullets are hard to get your hands on though. When they started getting hard to get, I stocked up on about 600 of them. I am using IMR 4895 in this one.

I am using Remington 7 1/2 primers in them. The other primers were getting flattened with my loads even at below max loads. That is the only primer I use in any of my small calibers.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Chaser said:


> Hang tight until monday when *Bax gets back into town and sees this topic. He has been doing a lot of reloading of his .204 as of late, and I am sure he'd be happy to help you out with any questions you might have.


Ha ha Chaser was right!
My Kimber seems to like most every load I can come up with. The only load that isnt grouping as well for me (yet) is the Barnes Varmint Grenades (26 gr bullet with 24 gr RL-10X and a Federal 205M seems to be the best I have come up with so far with the VGs) But I think they might be a little hot for that bullet weight, so I may slow it down to see if that improves my groups.

Most of my groups for 32 gr bullets seem to be around a nickel size at 100 yards (when I'm not shaking like a chihuahua) And most of my 40 gr bullets seem to be around the same size, maybe slightly larger.

The only real accuracy difference I notice is with hollow points, they dont seem to shoot as well out of my rifle. The groups get a little bigger with those for some reason or another. The ballistic tips seem best because they are more streamlined. But the last package of Remington 40 gr bullets I bought seem to have a bit of a lip on the Accu-tip bullet that seemed to mess with my accuracy, but that is the only box I have seen that on.

BUT one thing that I am noticing no matter what load I am coming up with, the Federal 205M is the best primer in my opinion. It seems to be producing better results than the Rem 7 1/2. But right now.... just hope to find small rifle primers of any kind.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I couldn't get Varmint Granades to group well either. Not sure why. Accually they grouped good but not like the cloverleafs the sierras were doing.

I also like 205 primers but have been out for a while and I just tapped into my last 1000 CCIs. I've reloaded over 4000 rifle cartriges so far this year and I'm starting to run real low. I might have to start paying ungodly high prices these low-lifes on KSL are asking.

Anybody have a accurate load for Varmint Granades?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

This is great exchange of info. 
I have a .204, a few cases, but haven't reloaded any shells yet.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I dont want to hijack this thread, but since we are on the topic of the nifty ol .204, does anyone know what the expected barrel life is? I'm just curious because it seems that the 22-250 has a relatively low life, and since the .204 has fast velocities like the 22-250, would one expect a similar barrel life?

Also, I think we need to post some pics of our groups and what loads we use, along with barrel twist (although I think most of us will have the same twist). This would make things even more interesting / useful IMO


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

OK here is the info:

Rifles: Savages #1 is a Savage Long Range Precision Rifle, #2 is a Savage FV Bull Barrell
Rifle Twist: Both 1/12
Very small groups. less then half inch. 
Powder : Hodgson H322 
Powder wgt.: 27.0 grns and 27.5 grns. (depends on which rifle)
Hornady 32 Grn Vmax Bullets.
Winchester Cases
Small Rifle Primers (currently depends on what I can find)
OAL: Depends on the rifle. I use the old method of "smoking" a dummy round and seating it till it just touches the lands of the rifleing.

Guns are set up for P-dogs
Harris Bipods and Sand Bag Rest
Shooting Platform is a Booger Bench ( http://www.boogerbench.com)
Ranges are from 100-450+ yards.(furthest confirmed hit)
Optics : Nikon Monarch 6-24x44 Dot (side focus)
Nikon Buckmaster 6-18x44 (front focus)


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

Barrel life is dependant on more than just velocity. They amount of powder burned, bore size, rate of fire, barrel steel, cleaning procedures, bore coatings, and the alignment of the planets will all affect the amount ant rate of bore erosion. The 204 uses less powder than the 22-250, so this should help increase barrel life over an equal barrel chambered for the larger round.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Loke said:


> Barrel life is dependant on more than just velocity. They amount of powder burned, bore size, rate of fire, barrel steel, cleaning procedures, bore coatings, and the alignment of the planets will all affect the amount ant rate of bore erosion. The 204 uses less powder than the 22-250, so this should help increase barrel life over an equal barrel chambered for the larger round.


Thanks Loke.
Good info there. And I thought Pluto's alignment with the earth and moon had something to do with it too! Guess I'm not really a crackpot afterall! :lol:


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

Pluto no longer has much to do with bore erosion since it was reclassified as a planetoid because it is no longer big enough to be a real planet. It should quit hanging out with Jenny Craig.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Loke said:


> Pluto no longer has much to do with bore erosion since it was reclassified as a planetoid because it is no longer big enough to be a real planet. It should quit hanging out with Jenny Craig.


 -_O-

Right you are!


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

Okay so is there any good web sites or all in one manuals for loading data on the 204? I did find one called www.loaddata.com that seems to be a good site, costs about 30 dollars for a year.


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

Have you tried this one? Its free.
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

I have, but it only has info for the Hornandy and Berger bullets for the 204.


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## sagebrush (Sep 8, 2007)

try these one out
http://www.rugerhunting.com/

http://www.handloads.com/

and we know that you will buy a savage so look at this one

http://www.savageshooters.com/SavageForum/


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

www.204ruger.com Looks like it is the sister site to www.rugerhunting.com


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