need help with 204 ruger

[oldfamily]

Going to start loading for this round and have no idea where to start with this size round. Need to know what bullet, powder, and primer works the best with this little round. Thanks Oldfamily.

[wildcat]

Oldfamily, I would use the following components. My varmint hunting buddy has a 204 Ruger with a 26" barrel and this is what he uses;

1. Brass-Norma
2. Bullet-Hornady 32grn V-Max
3. Powder-29.5grns of H335-I would start out with about 25grns and work up to 29.5
4. Primer-Federal 205 Match
5. Velocity-4290fps

This load is awesome and super accurate out of his rifle. That little 32grn V-Max makes a varmint do some spectacular tricks. He went up to 30.5grns with H335 and the velocity was 4340fps. However, he was starting to get pressure signs, so he backed it down to 29.5.

I highly recommend using Norma brass. I know it's more expensive but it's worth every penny. It will make a difference in your accuracy because the brass is so uniformed compared to Remington or Winchester.

He has used the 32grn V-Max for shots out to 450 yards and it works really well. The 204 Ruger is an awesome cartridge. What kind of rifle are you shooting. Let us know how it works.

"Remeber to work up to the 29.5grn load"

W.

[visigoth]

Check out the forums for loading at Home of 204Ruger.com and RugerHunting.com!. I have two loads I am still playing with that utilize the 39gr Sierra BlitzKing - which has an awesome BC of 0.287. First is 24.8gr of Reloder-10x @ 3800 FPS, and the second is 26.7gr H335. Both use either the impossible to find Federal 205M, or CCI BR4 primers. I seat at 2.325" COL.

[wildcat]

Visigoth, that is pretty good BC for a 39grn bullet. How far do you plan to shoot them.

W.

[visigoth]

On our last PD shoot, I nailed a bunch of the poodles at 550 yards, and the blitzking performed very well. Due to our location, the longest shot I took was 770 yards. With the load I am working with, it looks like the break velocity would be around 1000 yards (1300 FPS).

[wildcat]

Visigoth, that is some good shooting with a 204. How far has your farthest shot been with the 39grn Blitzking.

W.

[visigoth]

The farthest shot I hooked up on was 770. It was more or less a lucky shot due to the conditions. At the site, the wind started "lifting" the bullets in the afternoon. We were shooting into and around a bowl shaped area, and after the ground warmed, and the wind direction changed, we all noticed that the drops were a lot less than earlier in the day and a little unpredictable. Combined with the gusts, it was getting pretty hard to correct for the wind, so I held off and let a couple fly to judge the windage. On my 5th shot I connected, and the little guy went down pretty hard, even at that range.