.204 reloading powder - your recommendation?

[Beer Hunter]

Guys,

Quick question for those that are reloading .204 Rugers, which powder do you prefer for the 39/40 grainers?

I've been doing my QuickLoad thing and so far my order of preference is:

IMR 3031
Hodgdon BL-C(2)
Accurate 2520
Hodgdon H322
Accurate 2495
IMR 4895

These seem to stack up well against the reloading sites figures.

Going to buy powder tomorrow.

Cheers,
Kev.

[Craigyboy]

I used relaoder 10x which was the fastest powder I got and also real accurate, also tried BL-C(2) It was accurate but far too slow, H322 was good and accurate with good velocity, also try H4198 cant remember velocity but it was pretty fast and accuracy was good. Anothe one owrth a try is Vhit 133, I am testing it at the minute with good results in my tac20 so I am sure it will work well in a .204 ruger though I never got to try it in my .204 ruger. With all these powders I was able to get 1/2 moa loads in my cooper .204 ruger with the 32g v-max and they all broke the 4000 fps barrier quite easily except the bl-c (2), it worked better with the 40g berger for me, I settled on 10x has it was very accurate and had the lowest SD/ES.

[richness]

Varget? always thought to be a good bet....

[jeffk]

I've been asking the same questions locally, and Reloader 10 or ADI 2206H (Which is Hodgdons H4895) seem to be the most popular with the 20's. Mind you, we're not as spolilt for choice here, with Viht and Winchester about the only two other brands we can get easily! I have a tub of N133 I'll be trying too.

[SCW22]

H335
Vit 133
Reloader10X

Tried in cooper 204.

sub 1" at 150 good enough for me.

Steve

[Beer Hunter]

All good info guys. Thanks :)

Kev.

[baz]

RL15
RL10
BLC-2

In order of preference based only on accuracy/velocity, as a happy medium is all I am interested in

[Chrono]

I've found viht 133 gives the best results in my .204, gonna try some n130 this week and let you know the outcome!
10X was good, 4895 ok but low velocity, n135 was good, varget just didn't work!
chrono.

[Beer Hunter]

Primers - what are your recommendations here? Standard, benchrest or magnum?

Cheers,
Kev.

[Chrono]

Rem 7 1/2br
sierra blitzkings.
chrono.

[SCW22]

Yep same as Frank(above).

Steve

Frank have you loaded any with the vit 130 yet mate?

[Chrono]

Steve, yep I've got some loaded up............gonna try them this week if I get time.
Will let you know the results!
cheers mate.:)

[Baldie]

I've found viht 133 gives the best results in my .204, gonna try some n130 this week and let you know the outcome!
10X was good, 4895 ok but low velocity, n135 was good, varget just didn't work!
chrono.

Steve, yep I've got some loaded up............gonna try them this week if I get time.
Will let you know the results!
cheers mate.:)


Any update V133 vs V130?


Looks like I'm getting a .204R soon. I'd prefer a powder that works in 223 and 204 if possible. [Yes, I am tight. :D]

H322 looks promising from what I've read here, but I'm told Vit powders are cleaner than Hodgson?

I'm also looking to invest in some Vit 140 for a slightly larger calibre....

....


P.S. This thread now to move to Reloading section?

[jkata]

Vit 133 certainly works in my 223, and people are recording good results in 204.

[rustynator]

Vit 133 certainly works in my 223, and people are recording good results in 204.

Ditto, i'm getting cracking results with 24.5gr of vit 133 behind .223 52gr A-max. The results are quite a bit better than the varget and vit 140 I tried previously.

[jkata]

Ditto, i'm getting cracking results with 24.5gr of vit 133 behind .223 52gr A-max. The results are quite a bit better than the varget and vit 140 I tried previously.


Funny that, 24.5g of 133 is exactly what I use behind 55gn V Max:D

[rustynator]

Funny that, 24.5g of 133 is exactly what I use behind 55gn V Max:D

great minds :D what sort of groups you posting mate? Think mine were around the 0.3" mark at 100yrds. Have you chrono'd it?

[baz]

[QUOTE=Baldie;2854283]Any update V133 vs V130?


Looks like I'm getting a .204R soon. I'd prefer a powder that works in 223 and 204 if possible. [Yes, I am tight. :D]

QUOTE]

Then try RL15, it works excellently in .223 and .204, in fact it was the best in both of my Howas in that calibre both for accuracy and velocity

[Baldie]

Then try RL15, it works excellently in .223 and .204, in fact it was the best in both of my Howas in that calibre both for accuracy and velocity


What's RL15? :rolleyes: :p :D


Just when I thought 'I had it sorted' ...... [H322 or Vit 133]. :o :D


...

[jkata]

great minds :D what sort of groups you posting mate? Think mine were around the 0.3" mark at 100yrds. Have you chrono'd it?

Saturday I got a five shot group cloverleafed so quite happy with that from a cz

[blue]

I've just started with the 20 TAC and so far am getting some seriously good results with the Benchmark. This was my 223 powder of choice and still is the standard load powder I use for any 223 loads below 60 grains.

I'm just typing out my first review of the 20 TAC and results thus far.

Using Benchmark on a pretty windless day, I have got some sub .2" groups at 116 yards with Berger 40s. My sweet spot seemed to be at 24.4 with the bullets seated .204 into the case. I have now OAL'd the gun and found that was 23 thou off of the lands.
I have now tried 10X and found that the accuracy is close, but this was a windy day and was giving me .25" at the same range.
The 10X loads that gave the accuracy are higher pressure than the Benchmark (and you do notice) gives (est 58000 for the BM and 63000 10X)but gives an estimated 170 fps greater velocity.


I've yet to Chrono the loads and will when I get the best pair from each bullet and powder combo.

One thing I would say is that the 6mmbr loads I tried were absolutely useless.
25.6 of BM gave nearly 2" groups at this range and I thought the gun was going to take off.

All groups were 3 shot from a locked in prone bi-pod and bean bag rest.


I've got some 3031, but the load density may be a bit too high. I've used 3031 on a few calibres before and never found a load that worked well. It does however show some seriously high MVs for lower pressures than any other powder according to QL.

[blue]

I've now tried the 3031 and considering the amazing groups that Benchmark is giving and the very respectable 10X groups, the 3031 is awful.
Mine is a 20TAC so load density was about 106-112%
The .204 being larger may not require that higher a %age'.
However, the grouping was truly awful.
The best group at 116 yards was 1.9" (1.8" worse than the BM load)
The worst was >3" meaning that the third bullet did not make the target:p

The compression of the load at 25.4 with 2thou" will not work, it just would not allow the bullet to stay put. A 12" drop tube may well work, but mine is 6mm and did not work very well.

Benchmark does not give fantastic velocity, but the accuracy is stunning. I will keep the 24.4 40 Berger load as the hunting load for now, but will work with the 10x as the extra 170 fps odd, does seem nice.
If the .25" is possible on a windy day with 10x doing a little over 3700 fps, I think it could be possible to get that down a bit.