204Ruger

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RL 7, Interesting. Looking forward to more info, as you progress.. And welcome aboard. We do like photo's, you should know.

Welcome aboard
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Is that a Harbor Freight caliper?
Thats what mine is.

Just an observation......

Looking at those flattened primers, and my long time love affair with RL-7, I'll opine that this powder is perfectly suited to the 20VT and 221FB, but a bit too fast for the larger capacity 204 Ruger.

If you look in the various manuals, not much or virtually anything listed for the 204 with RL-7, and for very good reasons. This powder is too fast for the 204 case, period. I just looked at five loading manuals on my shelf, not one had any load data for RL-7 in the 204 Ruger. Using RL-10X gives me better groups than you posted, no pressure signs, and great velocity. Been using it in my four 204's now since 2006 with excellent results. It is much more suitable for the 204, and appears as a very useful powder in many loading manuals for the 204.

Why not just either sell those jugs, or save them for your smaller case cartridges, and use a more suitable powder for your 204? You are treading into dangerous territory by the continued use of a too fast powder in a larger capacity case.

Some of the powders I've had good luck with the 204 Ruger is RL-15, H4895, RL-10X, Benchmark, 8208 [early vintage] and to some degree--Varget. As Rick mentioned you're getting into the red-zone and couple that with warm temperatures and/or leaving a round chambered in a hot barrel it can push it over the edge.

My experence with Reloader powders is they're more sensitive to temp deviations over the Hodgdon "Extreme" line of powders. For me, whether I'm load testing or in the field I won't chamber a round until I'm ready to shoot because of barrel/chamber heat, but thats just me.

The other downside is hot loads tends to enlarge the primer pockets and shorten the life of the brass over time.

Good luck

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Dunno what part of the world ya hale from. If I work up loads in the winter/fall and cooler temps, that is when they get used. I had a lot of time available one fall and worked up a few dog loads.
That didn’t work out well in late spring. A royal PITA keeping ammo on ice in a cooler to get rid of it.

I won’t be a safety nazi, I don’t press powders into service because it was cheap, all I could find or what I had. Mentioning burn rate charts, who’s do you trust? I have numerous examples and they can be as different as night and day.

Wildcats, that’s a whole different area where folks know they are on their own.

Well in regard to using RL-7 in the 204, yea be warned. You are NOT using book loads, and using burn rate charts to determine what powder to use is pure folly. The manuals are made using ballistic labs with all the right equipment, not by seat of the pants logic, or lack of. Proceed at your own risk, but please do not continue to post these loads here, as some newbie might think it's okay, and it's NOT.

All I will add, is keep us posted and remember we like photo's, even of blow weapons. And also hope no one is seriously injured, by flying by the seat of your pants. They make loading manuals and list cautions for a very good reason.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, folks.

Mike

The following is a warning which has been issued to you by an administrator or moderator of this site.
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Hmmm... OK... how's this...

Sierra 6.0.3 Load Manual App:

Well then, it appears you've actually found a source that lists RL-7 for the 204, must be the lone source, as I've never ever seen it recommended for the larger 204 case, nor would I ever attempt to use it for that application. I see from the Sierra chart that it's the fastest powder listed....beware.....

I'm just wondering with all the very useful powders available for this caliber, why would you pick one of the most "iffy" ones instead of one of the tried and true powders. But it's your rifle and your well being, so have at it. Personally, I'll save all my RL-7 for my 20VT and 221FB where it belongs.

When you run out of RL-7, why not then use up your stash of Bullseye for your 204?

A simple "You were right." would have been sufficient.