Which Powder to Buy

Share information about reloading the .204 Ruger.
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rabbit
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Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:33 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Carey Custom AR-15
Location: Southeast Missouri

Which Powder to Buy

Post by rabbit »

Hello everyone I've just began reloading for the 204. And pretty new to reloading in general. I'm running 28g of Benchmark behind the 32g V-max at about 4010fps. I'm shooting an AR with a 20" barrel so I'm limited on seating depth. Im averaging groups just over an inch. So I'm going to buy a couple more types of powder. Im wanting powders that are going to to give me the highest velocity. What should I try: RE 10X, IMR 8208, H4895, XTerminator? Any suggestions or advice will be appreciated.
Thanks.
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wirelessguy2005
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.204 Ruger Guns: Custom 20 SCC, Savage LRPV 20 Nitro , Howa 1500 204 Ruger
Location: Indiana

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by wirelessguy2005 »

xterminator is a little faster burning powder than benchmark if i remember correctly so it should get you the velocity that you are looking for. Xterminator is my go to powder in 204 and 17 fireball. Although i will say that you are better off to focus on accuracy and not get to concerned about velocity. Just my 2 cents.

Brad
rabbit
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.204 Ruger Guns: Carey Custom AR-15
Location: Southeast Missouri

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by rabbit »

Im still focusing on accuracy, but I want to start with the powder that will give me the best velocities with my short barrel. Thanks for the info.
Bill K
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.204 Ruger Guns: also now, a Savage switch bull barrel in 204R. 23 inch SS
Location: Lake Forest, Ca.

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by Bill K »

I have played with others, but so far either H4895 or RL 10x have given me my best accuracy. Velocity is right up with the others, but my first priority is accuracy. Bill K
rabbit
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Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:33 pm
.204 Ruger Guns: Carey Custom AR-15
Location: Southeast Missouri

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by rabbit »

I've bought a pound of RE10X. Is there any load data out there for the 32g V-max?
Bill K
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Posts: 2647
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:00 am
.204 Ruger Guns: also now, a Savage switch bull barrel in 204R. 23 inch SS
Location: Lake Forest, Ca.

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by Bill K »

Plenty, check out various posts, right on this site. Also go to Hodgdon's data site and you can obtain loads for various bullets and powder combo's.. There Load Data site is great for info, start and max loads, etc. Bill K
Bill K
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Posts: 2647
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:00 am
.204 Ruger Guns: also now, a Savage switch bull barrel in 204R. 23 inch SS
Location: Lake Forest, Ca.

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by Bill K »

rabbit wrote:I've bought a pound of RE10X. Is there any load data out there for the 32g V-max?
I refered you to Hodgdon's Load Data site, which is good. But forgot that they do not show Alliant's RL 10x, etc. So go to Alliants site and they will show loads for their powders. As for the 204 and the 32 V-Max. Start around 24.5 and max out at 25.8. Slow and safe, is the way to go. Bill K :)
roooster_11
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:43 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Ruger #1 .204

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by roooster_11 »

rabbit wrote:I've bought a pound of RE10X. Is there any load data out there for the 32g V-max?
Look in the "Favorite Load" thread. There is an Excel spreadsheet with good info on powders and bullets. I printed it out and it sits on my reloading bench. My best powder has been BL-C(2), but I haven't tried RL10 yet, and it seems that that is the prefered powder by most on this site.
"If courage is a word that knows not fear, then I have never met a couragous man; a brave man is one that puts his fears aside, and does his job" Unknown
roooster_11
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Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 7:43 am
.204 Ruger Guns: Ruger #1 .204

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by roooster_11 »

Also, I forgot to mention, my Ruger#1 seems to like CCI 450 SR Mag. primers.
"If courage is a word that knows not fear, then I have never met a couragous man; a brave man is one that puts his fears aside, and does his job" Unknown
TD-Max
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Posts: 250
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Location: Central WI

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by TD-Max »

roooster_11 wrote:
rabbit wrote:I've bought a pound of RE10X. Is there any load data out there for the 32g V-max?
Look in the "Favorite Load" thread. There is an Excel spreadsheet with good info on powders and bullets. I printed it out and it sits on my reloading bench. My best powder has been BL-C(2), but I haven't tried RL10 yet, and it seems that that is the prefered powder by most on this site.


Which page?


As for powders here's another recommendation for 10x as my personal fave.
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in .204 with Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50 LR
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in 22-250 with Swaro Z5 5-25x52 BRX and turret
Sako Stainless Synth in .260 with Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 BRX
Ruger MKIII 678GC with Ultradot Matchdot
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Tokimini
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.204 Ruger Guns: Remington 700 SPS with a Shilen barrel
Location: Victor, NY

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by Tokimini »

My two favorites are 8208XBR and R10X. I don't know what velocity I'm getting but they both give me sub .25" five shot groups at 100 yards when I'm shooting well.
TD-Max
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Posts: 250
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:13 pm
Location: Central WI

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by TD-Max »

I bought some 8208 last year to see what it did, but found that while pretty accurate, I needed to use about 10% more as I recall than the Rel 10x so I stuck with the tried and true...
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in .204 with Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50 LR
Sako VLSS Set Trigger in 22-250 with Swaro Z5 5-25x52 BRX and turret
Sako Stainless Synth in .260 with Swaro Z5 3.5-18x44 BRX
Ruger MKIII 678GC with Ultradot Matchdot
Jim White
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.204 Ruger Guns: CZ-527, Remington 700 VLTHSS, Cooper Model 21, Remington 40x

Re: Which Powder to Buy

Post by Jim White »

Depends on what your gun likes. All of my 204's shoot superb with;

H4895, RL-15 These two give the best accuracy & velocity with RL-15 with just a touch bettr accuracy.

Reloader 10x, Benchmmark & 8208-XBR shoot good and to get a complete answer, they need more testing. For me, RL10x & Benchmark didn't perform any better than the other two so I never experienced any further (still have the powder though). 8208-XBR gives the best velocity thus far of any powders but the jury is still out on the group sizees.

HTH
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