Reloading for the .204

[Alan Engstrom]

O.k.....Based on info obtained from this site I bought a new Savage .204 Mod. 12FV, heavy barrel, 26". I've ordered the neck and FL dies from Midway, RCBS. I've read the article at this site.

http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/article.cfm?magid=100&tocid=1467

Can any of you .204 fans add anything such as powder favorite, etc.

[Catfish]

Allen,
Are you going to buy new ammo to get brass or form your own? If your going to form your own I`ve made acouple of post on that recently. I really haven`t had time to do much but fire form afew cases as I got mine right brfor deer season and have been deer hunting instead of working with the .204, but deer season goes out Sun., unless I can kill 2 more befor that, and then I`ll get back to working on the .204. My fire form loads with Bench Mark seem to shoot pretty good, but I`m going to load the next batch with H-335 and see how they do. I`ve got alot of 335 laying around that I bought cheap and it should be real good in this round the way it looks, but the only way you`ll know what your gun shoots best is to try them all. About any powder that works well in the .222 should be good in the .204. Good Luck with yours.

[Alan Engstrom]

Catfish, I don't plan to fireform any as I've never had any brass of that size to fireform to start with. When I bought the rifle I also bough one box of ammo, pricey little devils aren't they? Then, thanks again to this website, I'm presently bidding on a few on Ebay. I don't shoot a whole bunch, maybe will more if I like this new addition to my arsenal so I may just buy another box or two.

Another question though while on the subject. Case trimming. Any suggestions as to trimming cases for length on this little .204? I use a simple Lee trimming tool for my .270 and 7x57 but Lee says they will not have a trimming tool for the .204. "Too Small" was their answer. Will case stretching and therefore trimming be necessary with these small calibers? Any recommendations for small trimmers?

Case trimming

[Catfish]

The .204 has a fairly sharp shoulder which should help limit nech stretching, but it you push the velosities to the max. they will all stretch. You`ll just have to mic your case and see what their doing.

[Silverfox_ND]

Alan-- The maximum length listed for the .204 Ruger casing is 1.850" and the trim lenght is 1.840" If you measure the chamber length with something like the Sinclair chamber length gage, you'll probably find that your chamber length is somewhere in the 1.860 to 1.875" range. I have a Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger and my chamber measured 1.877".

I checked the length on my once fired factory Hornady brass and settled on trimming it to 1.8425". That was the length of the shortest fired casing. I load my shells pretty hot, but the case stretching is not too bad. Since I trim my casings EVERY TIME I resize them, I don't worry about the casings being too long.

Forster makes a .20 caliber pilot for their case trimmer and if you have a Wilson trimmer, you can use their case holder that fits the .222 Magnum casings. I use the Wilson trimmer for my .204 Ruger casings.

If and when Winchester comes out with their .204 Ruger casings, I will be stocking up on those. I have had extremely good luck with Winchester brass in my 22-250 and want to try some for the .204 Ruger.

Bullets I have tested on the range include the 32 gr. and 40 gr. V-Max, the 35 gr. Berger FB HP and the 40 gr. Berger length tolerant bullet.

I use the 32 gr. V-Max as my prairie dog load with Remington 7 1/2 primers and H4895 powder and get 4,255 fps for muzzle velocity. I'll be testing this bullet with AA2230 powder again next spring.

I use H4895 powder with the 35 gr. Berger FB HP bullet for my coyote getting load. The muzzle velocity for this load is 4,220+ fps. I am still working on trying to find a good load for the 40 gr. V-Max (kind of gave up after shooting about 100 bullets and not finding the magic combination). The 40 gr. Bergers shows promise with H4895 and H322. However, both loads were well over the max listed on the Hodgdon Web site, so I'll be going back to the range and working with those bullets again next spring too.

Other powders I tried that all seemed to work pretty good with the 32 gr. V-Max bullets were Rel 10x, Benchmark, Win 748, and BL-C(2). I also tried VVN540 and Varget, but thought the other powders were better with this 32 gr. bullet.

I just read a posting over at the Saubier.com board by Gary Wenzl, that Ramshot now has load data for the .204 Ruger. Gary listed the following information:

32 gr. bullets - 24 gr. to 27 gr. of Xterminator
32 gr. bullets - 26 gr. to 29 gr. of Tac

40 gr. bullets - 21 gr. to 25 gr. of Xterminator
40 gr. bullets - 24 gr. to 27 gr. of Tac

Both max loads for the 40s are suppsed to get 3,800 fps.

[scooterman27006]

fellas have you had trouble getting the loaded cartrigdes long enough with the smaller 32 40 gr bullets- i had to go with a berger 50 and from what i have found berger has the only 50 gr for the 204 - i am shooting a 26" encore barrel and a 700 adl remington and have been very dissapointed with my results but - i have only tried varget powder - pretty hard to find info on powders to use - guess cause its fairly new and they like for you to buy the factory stuff - i bought several boxes of hornady just for the brass really- the price for brass if you can find it is terrible - i do plan to get some 335 to try and see what happens and will post back with results- now im gonna go read some more on what you fellas come up with - hey i know i probably need to read some more but i am gonna ask this stupid question since i am new maybe you all will cut me some slack lol- in the forum why is there not a place to post your results of the many loads everyone has tried - maybe a place to post what caliber and what you are loading and your results - i have a small amount of info i would be more than glad to share and it may be here i just havent run across it yet - ok enough - scoots first day here and enjoying the heck out of the reading so far

[scooterman27006]

i will add just for those folks that use it - the hornady brass that i got from factory 32 and 40 gr i used and it doesnt stretch much but out of 40 rounds i had 3 to split the neck on the brass and i am far from max - matter of fact two was with 24 gr of varget - also this was in both barrels so i dont think it is a barrel problem - maybe a COL problem but still i dont like to see this and i thought i might mention it about the hornady brass - like mentioned im waiting for winchester to come out with 204 brass

[BILLY D.]

SCOOTER

YOU MIGHT TRY ANEALING YOUR BRASS. DUE TO THE SMALL NECK THE BRASS SOUNDS LIKE IT HAS BECOME BRITTLE FROM SIZING. . JUST A THOUGHT.

[Rocky Raab]

The splitting does sound unusual, scooter, but waiting for WW may not help much - Hornady brass is made for them by Winchester!

It may just be an especially hard batch. It sometimes takes a while for the kinks to get worked out with new calibers - and doubly so when that involves an entirely new case, as with the .204.

Brass will also be expensive and rare until the supply catches up. I read a post on another board where I guy thinks he needs 1,000 pieces of .204 brass NOW! But he wants it at discount prices, of course. Dreamer.

Because it's a slightly necked-down cousin of the 222Mag, I'd predict that powders just slightly too slow for the 222 Mag or 223 will be perfect for the .204 Ruger. That puts the choices in the 4895 to 4320 range. So Varget is a great place to start. I'd be reaching for the Reloder-15 if I were loading for it.

Also note that factory ammo uses a special non-canister powder, so you should not expect to duplicate factory velocity within their pressure limits. There's nothing wrong with the speeds you WILL be able to get, though.

Finally, you may have to invest in a standard (non-Lee) case trimmer. That's probably a good idea even if you're not forced to do it. MUCH less tedious than using one of those Lee finger crampers. Look on eBay or post a Wanted ad here in our own Swap & Shop. Pick a brand that already offers .20-cal pilots, of course!

[scooterman27006]

ha ha did someone say rel 15 and 4320 i have both of those - i dont know enough about powder to be mixing up my own stuff but with someones help i am willing to give it a shot - i have always gone by the books and loaded light - not much of a heavy load person here but i will do what it takes - so with the reloader 15 and the 4320 - if you had to make a educated guess how would you start as far as loads using 50 gr bullet and thanks for the info too

[Rocky Raab]

Scooter, while I might make an educated guess to start loading an unknow cartridge with a new powder (and have), I certainly wouldn't make such a guess with somebody else's gun - or face - in the balance.

See if Alliant or IMR have new loading data on their websites, ditto the bullet makers.

The next best source are published articles by known writers, but take these with some degree of caution as typoes are always possible.

One source to be avoided completely is the internet - unless the advice you see tallies with the two above. But there are too many dangerous loads published on the web - accidentally or deliberately - to believe any of them.

[scooterman27006]

rocky advice taken and appreciated - i never thought of it that way and i guess its a good thing i always referred to the books but i usually learn more from others rather than books - i just dont have too many friends that reload thats why i really look forward to what you fellas post - i will start searching for these loads/info from powder makers and bullet makers - i have looked in the recent past and only found small amoutns of info - i got what little from hodgdon powder but only had varget to play with so i will pick up some more powder as time allows and keep looking for info - thanks again

[Rocky Raab]

I just did a little "Googling" and found some things for ya.

How about a website called 204Ruger (http://www.204ruger.com/)?

Links to lots of articles and data right from there.

I also found data by searching for "204 Ruger IMR" and "204 Ruger Alliant" so try a few more with other search terms and you'll get pages of stuff.

[scooterman27006]

fellas i hope this is ok to copy and paste - if not someone delete it and let me know i follow whats right real easy --------pressure-tested load data has been released by Hodgdon and Hornady, and Walt Berger has supplied load data derived from the NECO QuickLOAD program. Not surprisingly, the powders most suitable for the .204 Ruger are those commonly used for small-caliber cases of the same general capacity, such as the .223 Rem. and .222 Rem. Mag. Published data exists for Alliant's Reloader 15; Hodgdon's Benchmark, BL-C(2), H322, H335, H4895 and Varget; IMR 3031, 4064, 4198 and 4895; VihtaVuori N133, N135, N140 and N540; and Winchester 748. At present, .204 Ruger load data has not yet been published for any Accurate Arms or Ramshot powders.

Hornady New Dimension reloading dies and Hornady brass were used to develop loads for this article. Both factory-primed virgin brass and : once-fired brass were employed. A small quantity of Remington once-fired brass was also used. Federal 205M Small Rifle Match primers were used for almost all the once-fired brass, with a small number of cases used with spherical powder loads being primed with CCI Small Rifle Magnum primers. Die operations were performed using Reading's T-7 turret press; priming was accomplished using an RGBS hand-priming unit.

Brass preparation was fairly basic. The expander ball was run into the new cases to expand the necks to a uniform roundness and size; once-fired brass was run just far enough into the sizing die to resize the neck, without moving the shoulder back; the case mouths were deburred inside and out; and the cases were measured to ensure they did not exceed the nominal 1.850'' maximum length.

Powder charges for my .204 Ruger test loads were held to within 0.1 gr. using a Hornady GS-1000 electronic scale. Since high velocity is one of the principal benefits of this cartridge, my loads were within 0.2 to 0.3 grs. of the published maximums, but never exceeded them. It's worth noting that many standard reloading funnels won't work with the smaller neck of the .204 Ruger. Midway's powder funnel set with the interchangeable .17-cal. adapter worked just fine with the .204, though care was required to prevent bridging with coarser-grained powders, such as RL 15.

Though nominal cartridge OAL was listed as 2.260'' from Hornady specifications, actual length varied with the seating depth recommendations of the data, from 2.240'' to 2.300''. A Cerrosafe cast of the chamber of the Remington XR-100 test rifle showed that there was a sufficiently long throat to prevent bullets from being jammed into the rifling even at the longest OAL.

Both the factory Hornady and Remington loads, as well as the handloads, were tested at the range using a Remington XR-100 single-shot bolt-action rifle with a 26'' varmint-weight barrel shot off sandbags. Sighting was via a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24X variable scope; velocities were measured using a chronograph placed 15 ft. from the muzzle, to save time and conserve both brass'and bullets, three five-shot groups were fired for each load.

Several interesting phenomena were noted during the test-firing session. First, the test rifle didn't do as well as expeated with factory ammunition, the best grouping being 1.02'' with the Hornady 40-gr. V-MAX load. This was puzzling, as reports indicate that most factory rifles will group into 0.5'' to 0.7'' with the Hornady and Remington ammo. This level of accuracy was achieved with a variety of handloads in the XR-100, however, quashing speculation that the test rifle might have had a defective crown or some other fundamental problem. It should be noted that the handloads developed were not "accuracy" loads-that is, they were hot optimized for charge weight, neck concentripity, seating depth and so forth. There is little doubt that accuracy routinely bettering 0.5 m.o.a. could be achieved in this rifle if such loads were worked up.

Furthermore, chronographed velocities ran 200-300 f.p.s. belpw the published figures for the charge weights with many of the handloads. This discrepancy might be caused by differences in throat or bore dimensions between the barrel of the test gun and the barrels used to generate the load data. Moreover, both the factory loads and the handloads exhibited relatively high velocity standard deviations, which were hard to explain given the care with which powder charges were weighed and given the high loading density with almost all of the powders. These broad velocity spreads did not seem to correlate with accuracy, however. The use of CCI Small Rifle Magnum primers with spherical powders, such as Winchester 748 and Hodgdon BL-C(2), did not improve ballistic uniformity in my loads. It is worth noting here that factory ammunition is loaded with non-canister-grade powders. Thus, the reloader will not match factory velocity figures with any of the published data.
------- Berger had previously advised me that his 50-gr. hollow-point bullet would not stabilize in the 1:12'' twist that was the standard for factory barrels, and he was correct-dramatically so, with 100-yd. groups barely staying on the target paper and nearly all bullets impacting at a considerable yaw angle. A 1:9''-twist barrel is needed for this projectile.

Blindingly fast, low-recoiling, easy on barrels and on a keg of powder, inherently accurate, and sufficiently flat shooting for varmints at extended range, the .204 Ruger is one of the more impressive varmint cartridges introduced in the past few decades.
_____________So fellas what do you make of this info - i really didnt see where it was going except is 1:12 not right for 50gr and is he having same problems as me or what lol-

[scooterman27006]

little more reading on the 204 The .20-cal. bullet is said to provide the best balance of ballistic performance and velocity potential. Within a given ballistic coefficient, it will provide the best velocity from this size cartridge case. The result is the optimum external ballistic performance possible within the parameters of the case size. In theory at least, that translates into the best velocity and flatest trajectory achievable in this cartridge case.

The .204 Ruger also has a Maximum Average Pressure rating of 57,500 p.s.i.The result of this slightly lower pressure rating and the consequently lower volume of powder used are said to enhance barrel life. Hornady officials say they think barrel life will be on par with the .223 Rem. and far better than any other 4000-f.p.s. rifle cartridge.

Hornady of course has dies for the .204 Ruger, as well as bullets and brass. Berger also offers bullets, as do some custom makers. Bullet weights range from 32 grs. to 50 grs. The high velocity is achieved by the lighter 32-gr. bullets. In my opinion the 40-gr. bullet might provide the best balance of performance and velocity, particularly for shooting predators. George Weber of Hodgdon's ballistic lab says that the 50-gr. bullets are a bit long and intrude into the powder space. he also points out that the 1:12'' twist rate may not stabilize them well, although that is untested theory at this point.

The cartridge was developed by Hornady's Dave Ernary and he says that they use a special propellant made by Primex specifically for factory-loading .204 Ruger cartridges. Emary says that no currently offered canister powder is capable of achieving the same velocity as they are getting from factory loads. The best, he says, will fall about 100 f.p.s. short of factory load velocity and most of the current loading data supports that statement.

Emary says that Hornady's testing has shown H-4895 and Winchester 748 to be two of the best options currently on the market. Hornady also has data for N140, IMR-4064, RL-15, Varget, and N540 powders. The Hornady data is for the 32-gr. and 40-gr. Hornady bullets. The highest velocity for the 32-gr. bullet was 4200 f .p.s. and was achieved with 29.2 grs. of N140 powder.The best velocity for the 40-gr. Hornady bullet was 3850 f.p.s. That load used 28.3 grs. ofWinchester 748 powder.

Weber says Hodgdon has found that BL-C (2) worked very well with the .204 Ruger."BL-C(2) is happy when it finds a home and it lets you know if it's not happy," Weber said. "It works well here."

Hodgdon also has data for Varget, H335, H4895, Benchmark and H332. Hodgdon recently acquired the IMR powder company and it has data for the .204 Ruger using IMR-4895, IMR-4198, IMR-4064 andIMR-3031. Hodgdon tested both of the Hornady bullets, as well as 35-gr. and 50-gr. Berger bullets.

The best velocity for the 32-gr. Hornady was 4081 f.p.s. with 30.7 grs. of BL-C(2) powder. The fastest 35-gr. Berger load was 3937 f.p.s., again with 30.7 grs. of BL-C(S) powder. The 40-gr. Hornady was fastest at 3774 f.p.s. with 30.0 grs. of BL-C(2) powder. (Do I detect a trend here? BL-C (2) is emerging as the Hodgdon powder for this cartridge.) Actually, the best velocity with the 50-gr. Berger bullet was not with BL-C (2) powder. That title goes to 25.7 grs. of H4895 with a muzzle velocity of 3352. However, 27.0 grs. of BL-C(2) was just behind it with a muzzle velocity of 3334 f.p.s.

Weber noted that the cartridge seems to be primer-sensitive and that the Federal 205M provided the most consistent performance. Some other primers created wide standard deviations and extreme velocity spreads. The Hornady data used Remington 1 ½ primers.

The small .20-cal. necks will not work with most standard powder funnels and will require a smaller funnel designed for 17-cal. cartridges. Obviously, you will also need a .20-cal. pilot for case trimming.

The .204 Ruger doesn't really bring a new performance level to the table, but it does deliver it in a different package. It's a mild, pleasant to shoot cartridge that will probably provide unprecedented barrel life for a 4000 f.p.s. cartridge. Those qualities are important to a varmint shooter, but only the future will tell if it will enjoy long-term popularity.

[Cal Sibley]

Like a lot of shooters I suspect, I'm waiting to see how the .204s shoot. I have its big brother, the .222Rem. Mag., and it's a tack driver. The .204 may well be the same. However, not too many shooters seem to be posting their groups so the rest of us are in the dark as to the .204s grouping ability. Maybe some of you guys could post your groups and help the rest of us out. Thanks a lot and best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[scooterman27006]

ditto cal - i have a new 77 with the heavy barrel and after putting a scope on it tried factory vmax 32 and 40 grains in it and i was amazed that it shot pretty good - reason i was surprised is because i have a 700adl and encore barrel both in 204 and they wouldnt shoot the factory stuff worth a crap but this 77 did great so far - but i am not going to spend that much on factory ammo so - i am going to try 4 different powders with 2 different bullets and i will post what i find and hope others will do the same -

[scooterman27006]

ok here is my findings on what i have tried so far - i just left the bench few minutes ago - as far as the gun - its a ruger 77vt mkII stainless 204 caliber-- as far as grading how it shot - i dont know how to do it like a pro so i will use best good fair poor - simple but it get the message across- all were using once shot hornady factory once fired brass and 205m primers-- now 1st load hodgdon 322 -- 27.5 gr with 32gr v max and 2.27 col was fair---- AA2230 -26gr- with 40gr berger and 2.26 col a little better than fair ---- Varget 27.0 gr with 40gr berger and 2.26 col good --- 748 -27gr - 32 gr vmax and 2.30 col poor---- 748 -27gr- 40 berger and 2.26 col was fair - the plan is to use VARGET with 40 gr and play with the col and the powder amount will post back shortly-- i sure hope this helps a few

[BILLY D.]

HEY SCOOT

HAVE YOU TRIED REM 71/2 PRIMERS YET? I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT THEY SEEM TO BE THE BEST CHOICE FOR SHOOTING IN THAT SIZE CASES.

I HAVE A 17 REM THAT SHOT MORE LIKE A SHOTGUN THAN A RIFLE AND HAD BEEN USING FEDERAL, WIN, CCI PRIMERS. SO I CHANGED OVER TO REM 7 1/2'S AND THE GUN SETTLED RIGHT DOWN AND STARTED PRODUCING GROUPS INSTEAD OF PATTERNS.

I ALSO NOTED THAT A LOT OF ACCURACY LOADS FOR THE 222 & 223 ARE BUILT AROUND REM 7 1/2'S. I DON'T MEAN TO THROW MORE CRAP INTO THE QUANDRY BUT YOU MIGHT WANT TO THINK ABOUT THE PRIMER.

TO ME GOOD AND FAIR? EQUATES TO REALLY SUX WHEN IT COMES TO PERFORMANCE. I ALSO FOUND OUT R-15 AND IMR 4064 WORKED BETTER IN MY GUN. ALSO DON'T OVERLOOK H-4895.

OF COURSE NOW YOU ARE PROBABLY SAYING, YOU SOB, THATS 15 MORE COMBINATIONS TO PLAY WITH. BUT PLAYING AROUND IS WHAT LEADS US TO THE PERFECT? LOAD, WHATEVER THAT MAY BE.

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO CHANGE THE POWDERS AT LEAST TRY THE PRIMER CHANGE.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD SHOOTIN'.

[scooterman27006]

billy buddy no name callin will come from scoot and i appreciate the suggestion - the only reason i used the 205m is because thats what they were using with all the loads i tried and as far as the combinations - well that just means i get to shoot more - the only time i dont enjoy shooting is when it seems like i am backing up - i started out with a rem 700 adl in the 204 and it really sucked but i think it may have been the 50 gr stuff i was playing with in it - now i know then i didnt- so i bought a barrel for the encore in 204 and it didnt do any better - well the last gun show we had- my dad and i priced two guns at one cost from a fella and we dickered around there and he took my offer and my dad ended up with this ruger - it sure looks like it will shoot and it did with factory 40's under an inch i would say - but dad says he aint payin 15 a box for them lol so its up to me to "gitterdone" with the 32 and 40 and whatever powder it will be - i feel like im getting close especially if there are fellas out there that have loaded 400 rounds - thats means that they found something worth shooting and i figure with a little time and a lot of powder i will too--billy i got to say this also - this gun may shoot ok now with the best so far i have found but i have this problem now -- few weeks ago i bought a 40x 22-250 from a coworker and it is the shootinest -if thats a word- thing i have ever laid my finger on and i am getting to where if a gun wont keep it in a small small dime at a 100 then i dont want it - my dad says i am ruined for life but i dont think so - say do they make a lot of calibers in that 40X lol

[BILLY D.]

HEY SCOOT

I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING. WHAT PART OF NORTH CAROLINA ARE YOU FROM? MY SON AND HIS FAMILY LIVE IN MOORESVILLE.

THE 40X IS A GREAT RIFLE AN THE 22-250 IS NO SLOUCH AS A CARTRIDGE. IT WON A FEW BENCH REST MATCHES UNTIL THE PPC'S HIT THE STREETS.

I HAVE TWO 22 AND A QUARTERS. BOTH ACKLEY IMPROVED. ONE HAS A 1 IN 14 BARREL AND THE OTHER A 1 IN 8. I ONLY SHOOT 75 & 80 GRAINERS IN IT. WITH 26" BARREL YOU CAN REALLY REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMETHING. I JUST FINISHED IT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND AM STILL EXPERIMENTING? WITH IT. I HAVE A SCOPE COMING NEXT WEEK SOMETIME, A SIGHTRON 6X24 MIL DOT. THEN WE CAN PLAY AT 1K YDS. I'LL BE GOING THROUGH LOTS OF POWDER, BULLETS AND CAPS NEXT WEEK.

I DON'T HAVE A 204 BUT I HAVE BEEN DROOLING OVER THE 19 CALIBER CALHOONS. I JUST CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND WHICH ONE. JUST WHAT I NEED, ANOTHER GUN.

WELL KEEP IN TOUCH AND POST YOUR RESULTS. HOPE YOU FIND SOMETHING THAT SHOOTS FOR YOU.

[scooterman27006]

billy i am just north of mooresville - not even an hour away - small world sometimes - i will post my findings good or bad - either way - my dad always tells me - boy keep pecking cause you are making wood

[BILLY D.]

HEY SCOOT

FOUND SOME ADDITIONAL INFO FOR YOU. WAS OUT AT THE RANGE TODAY AND A FRIEND SHOWED UP WITH GUESS WHAT? THOMPSON ENCORE IN 204 RUGER. USED LOAD DATA HE PILFERED FROM A SITE. SO WE BUILT UP SOME LOADS. AND YES WE LOAD AT THE RANGE.

MOST OF THE LOADS WERE AROUND AN 1" LOTS IN THE 7'S AND A FEW REAL STUNNERS.

THE KEY TO THE BEST LOADS WAS THE OAL.

OK HERES THE SITE http://www.geocities.com/graymist44/Ruger204.html/200531

THERE ARE PLENTY OF LOADS TO LIKE IN THERE.

GOOD SHOOTIN', BILL

[scooterman27006]

at last at last ok if you have read all my other post on my experience with 204 ruger in 3 different guns/barrels - an encore barrel and a rem adl didnt have much luck but my dad and i bought a ruger 77 varmint in 204 caliber and i have tried several powders primers loads bullets and the combination that lead the best group in this 77 is : 28.5 gr of varget with a 40 gr berger using 205 m primers and 2.275 case overall length - at a 100 yrds you can cover it with a dime easily and it will do it with 3 five shot groups so this is a keeper i believe and i will say this --cci br primers showed very similiar results with 28 gr varget but didnt group as tight but very close - also i will add i never got much of a group until i really started up the higher end of the powder levels - im not sure but 28.5 is not compressed but close and in this gun the brass needs to be 1.84 and no more - needless to say i am going to back up and retry the encore barrel with higher powder and 40 gr - none of these guns would shoot the 50 gr in any bullet and i read somewhere that 50 would not shoot in these 204 barrels - I sure hope this helps someone that is trying to find a load

[reb8600]

Originally posted by scooterman27006
i will say this --cci br primers showed very similiar results with 28 gr varget but didnt group as tight but very close - also i will add i never got much of a group until i really started up the higher end of the powder levels - im not sure but 28.5 is not compressed but close and in this gun the brass needs to be 1.84 and no more - I sure hope this helps someone that is trying to find a load

Here is a link to some data from the manufactures. According to the hodgdon data 28.5 gr. is .4 over max with a 40 gr.vmax bullet, but I dont see one for 40 gr. berger but the 35 gr. max is 29.0 gr.
http://www.rugerhunting.com/204_data.php