204

[pikeslayer22]

Anyone have a good stater recipe for reloading a 204?

[Big Lou]

I’ve got a few that have worked well in a couple of mine but yours could be very different. What pill are you planning on using? And what powders do you have available?

[whitetail Junkie]

I found the hornady superformance factory ammo in 32 grain bullets was the most accurate in my rifle and ultra fast velocity....Anschutz 1771

[Dmay]

Get a reloading manual.

[6.5 shooter]

Originally Posted by Dmay

Get a reloading manual.

^^ this^^ .... I use TAC powder with a 40 gr. V-max.

[fishnguy]

[sheep]

My go to with the 204 was XBR 8208, It worked well in my tikka with any bullet I tried.

[Groundhogger]

32gr. Superperformance factory ammo shoots incredibly well in my T3x varmint, but my previous 204 (Cooper) wouldn't shoot any factory ammo well. I loaded for that, winning combo was 39gr. SBKs with Reloader 10X and BR4 primers.

Nice rifle, real fight to find a load it liked. Tried at least 3 bullet types and half a dozen powders. Cooper even provided the load data they used for the test target, didn't shoot worth a damn. lol

I found those SBKs to really penetrate, they'd have been better for coyote in my opinion. I used it for chunky Ontario groundhogs, and I decided to sell the rifle after one specific hunt. The bullet literally passed right through a large groundhog end-to-end, looked like someone spray pained a red line in the hay about 3' past it. More like a FMJ than something highly frangible like a 32gr. V-Max.

I've loaded (in order) .223, 204, .243 and 17Hornet. I believe the bullet chooses the gun in allot of cases, but it definitely seems true of 204.

[Vigsy]

i just sold my savage that shot the factory hornady 40 vmaxs .5 moa and the 32s around 1moa.

started load development right before I sold it and I want to say was around 27grains of varget on a cci 450 and I was around 3600 out of a 20" in like .4 moa 5 shot groups.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by sheep

My go to with the 204 was XBR 8208, It worked well in my tikka with any bullet I tried.

Agree. In a Remington and a Savage, it was the fastest and most accurate with all weights from 32 grains up. I had no problem getting it to 4000 fps with a 39 grain Blitzking, and groups in the .2s and .3s. That is faster than published but both had 26" barrels. No pressure signs, long brass life.

[pikeslayer22]

Thanks for the replies. Made up 20 40 grain v max with cfe powder varying weights see how it shoots. Will be on the look out for the xbr powder

[S.C.W.]

I have found BLC-2 powder with 40gr. or 32gr V-max to be a very accurate combo. It's nice powder to work with on them tiny necked casings.

[FCLightning]

Benchmark has worked really well for me.

[Arctic]

Originally Posted by sheep

My go to with the 204 was XBR 8208, It worked well in my tikka with any bullet I tried.

Amazing combination for me in a #1, ...... 3/8" all day long, never bothered to try anything else. In 200 shots, there were 199 gophers and 1 coyote!

[maxwell1000]

Varget with Berger 35gr FB varmint projectiles. Started at 28gr and worked up in 0.2 gr increments to 29.0gr. Rifle is CZ 527 Varmint, fast and accurate

[Clint 0778]

I really like the 40g bergers and 39g blitzkings pushed by h4895.

[PartTimeHunter]

I don't have a 204 Ruger but rather a 20 cal wildcat based off the 222 Remington and have done load development on four of these. 8208 XBR is the top of the heap, it worked great on my fast twist heavy barrel with 40 & 55 grain Bergers. Have also used H4198 in a short barrel with very good results and have tried Varget and RL7. I wish I could use Retumbo as I have a s___ ton of it lol. I'm hoping to get another powder to work as good as the 8208 cause I haven't seen any for over two years and I probably only have 6 lbs left

[elkhunter11]

I really like the 39gr Blitz king in the 20 Tactical, and R10X has produced sub 1/4moa in my rifle.

[Blockcaver]

Reloader 10X or TAC with 39 gr Sierra Blitz Kings always works great in my Cooper and Remington Action, Pac-Nor barreled .204s. Data is online.

[WinFwt]

I have a number of loads that work quite well in my Savage with a medium heavy 24" barrel, 1:12" twist.

Bullets I'm using Hornady 40 gr. V-Max, Nosler 40 gr. BT Varmint, Sierra 39 gr. Blitz Kings, and Berger 36 gr. HP MEF's. This rifle dowsn't seem to like the lighter bullets in the 32 gr. range.
Best powders I've used are Benchmark or H335.
Primers are CCI BR-4's or Remington 7 1/2's.
Brass varies between, Hornady, Nosler, Norma, or Remington.

I'm getting speeds from 3570 to 3740 depending on bullet & load.
Accuracy from 0.20's to 0.060's, again depending on load combinations.

The combos that are working in this rifle at this time are listed below. Note: these loads are specific to my rifle and yours will be different. Always start low and work up slowly to your rifles' max.

1 - Hornady 40 gr. V-Max, 26.0 grs H335, CCI BR-4, Norma brass, groups 0.30" at 3679 fps, 0.010 off lands
2 - Nosler 40 gr. BT Varmint, 25.5 grs Benchmark, CCI BR-4, Nosler brass, groups 0.60" at 3640 fps, 0.020 off lands
3 - Sierra 39 gr. Blitz Kings, 25.5 grs Benchmark, Rem. 7 1/2, Hornady brass, groups 0.20's to 0.40's at 3570 fps, 0.005 off lands
4 - Berger 36 gr. HP MEF, 27.0 grs H335, CCI BR-4, R-P brass, groups 0.60" at 3740 fps, 0.010 off lands.

[Hunt4Ever]

My drop block loves 29.5grs of CFE223 pushing a 40gr Hdy V-Max

[6.5 shooter]

Once you fine a load DO, do a primer test, my groups shrank by at least half or more when I found a primer it liked, with the same load of Tac powder

[waldedw]

40gr V max 29.8 gr BLC2 3755 FPS CCI 400 primer very accurate, sold it a few years ago to a buddy of mine and still load for him, just did 200 a couple weeks ago for him.

[DOGFISH]

2012-01-02 11.59.18.jpg204 caliber is an accurate round in its self. This is the go to load in a my Weatherby 204 24" tapered barrel with thumb hole laminate stock.

[aardvaark]

Haven’t shot my 204 much in the last few years, since I got a 17Rem, much friendlier on fur, and now that furs not worth much rarely shoot it, ha
Tikka T3 Varmint, custom stock, cuz I broke the original in a car wreck with my ribs ouch

Great success with the 32Vmax, consistent half inch groups, mostly used 29.3gr RL15 going 4100”

40gr Vmax wouldn’t stabilize

Great success with 39gr Sierra, 27.7RL15 couldn’t find how fast they were going, but got great groups

45gr Hornady SP shot good too, 3220 fps, 26.4 RL15 and it has a better twist rate calculation than the 39 Sierra