204 Ruger loads (for a 22" 1:12 barrel)

gobigorgohome

gobigorgohome

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I have a left handed savage model 111 in 204 ruger. It has a 22 inch barrel and a 1:12 twist. Does anyone have a fur friendly load I can go off of? Has anyone been able to get varmint grenades (26gr bullets) to shoot accurately? What accurate loads do people have? I am brand new to reloading and am just looking for somewhere to start. Thanks!
 
gobigorgohome said:
I have a left handed savage model 111 in 204 ruger. It has a 22 inch barrel and a 1:12 twist. Does anyone have a fur friendly load I can go off of? Has anyone been able to get varmint grenades (26gr bullets) to shoot accurately? What accurate loads do people have? I am brand new to reloading and am just looking for somewhere to start. Thanks!
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You need to tell us what powders yo u have,
 
I have been shooting 26gr VG bullets with 26grs of H4895 and easily shoot 1/2 groups at 100 yards. Not sure how well they will work beyond 200yrds(no range time past that distance), but, has been very effective, almost to the point of boredom.
 
I have a 26 " barell but shouldn't matter. Sps varmint rifle. My rifle don't like boat tails or 40 grainers. I dabbled briefly with the grenades as we'll but it didn't work out. So I shoot sierra 32 s out of mine wth Hornady casings. It's running a little hot at 29.5 gr of the V stuff, so don't go jumping to that from me. Accuracy is a blistering .098" 4 shot group with a sled. Last time I put on paper at 300 was sub 1/2 Moa. So I would try varget and 32s. 40 grainers are probably preferable because the bc is a lot more though.

Before that I used 28.7 gr( pretty sure) of benchmark , that was also very accurate again 32 gr pill

I also learnt to handload with a 204 ( alongside a 270 but that was settled on fast- got lucky) , seen first hand what happens when you over pressure your bullets dangerously( with my 204) Remember accuracy and not velocity. And you'll be fine with this site too ..... I re read my manual like 4x , wrote notes and bugged the fun counter fella when I had to go buy something ..... Didn't come x this sight or another for a long time.
 
My fur load is a 32gr. Sierra over H322. I wasn't happy with varmint grenades in 22 cal and haven't tried them in the 204, also i don't have much luck with Hornady bullets or factory ammo in my Tikka. I have some Noslers to try just haven't got to them yet. Others i have talked to also like the Sierra bullets best in the 204, i get good results with other powders like H4198, 8208 and 10x i just happen to have a large batch of H322 that performs as good or better than the other powders.
 
gobigorgohome said:
I have a left handed savage model 111 in 204 ruger. It has a 22 inch barrel and a 1:12 twist. Does anyone have a fur friendly load I can go off of? Has anyone been able to get varmint grenades (26gr bullets) to shoot accurately? What accurate loads do people have? I am brand new to reloading and am just looking for somewhere to start. Thanks!
Click to expand...

H4895, RL10X and IMR 8208 XBR have all been good powders for me in .204. With the usual 1 in 12 twist rifling, I would be looking at some of the heavier, more solidly built bullets like the 35 gr and 40 gr Berger, 39 gr Sierra Blitz King, and 40 gr Nosler BT. Seems like every 204 likes the 39 gr SBK.

Edit: Oh, and I recommend CCI 450 primers. They have thicker cups than the rest and are very reliable.
 
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I loaded some up yesterday but will not get out to shoot for a week or so.
Here is what I loaded up:
28.5gr Varget, 35gr Berger hp, CCI BR primer, 2.25 OAL
29gr Varget, 35gr Berger hp
27.5gr V, 40gr Vmax
28.1gr V, 40gr Vmax

All I can tell you is that the Berger flat base hollow points are a real pain in the a** to load in 204. The boat tail Vmax were friendly.
 
If you spend a little time researching, you'll find that the 39gr Blitzking seems to be the most popular choice. It's wierd, but that 1 grain seems to make the difference for a lot of us. I'm loading for a Savage as well, using Benchmark. Worked up a load using Dan Newberry's optimized charge weight regime. I'd suggest working up whatever powder you can get in some quantity, with the Sierra's.
My 2 cents.
Dave
 
I would say IME that the 35gr Berger is a better choice than the 39gr BK but each will work. I had at least 6 204s that I can remember and they all shot well with 27.9 grs of H4895 and 35gr Bergers set off by CCI 450 primers. I still have 1 204 that I use this load for while the other I have switched to XBR 8208.
 
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