Author Topic: .204 reloading (Read 607 times)

mjbgalt · « **on:** April 29, 2006, 04:49:42 PM »

The guide i have seen says 26.3 to 29.0 grains of Varget for the 32 grain bullet.

i loaded by half-grain increments but once i got to 28.5, powder was spilling out of the case. how in the heck would i get another half grain in it??

anyone have good loads for the .204? i am using 32 grain Sierra Blitzkings.

-Matt

ricciardelli · « **Reply #1 on:** April 29, 2006, 05:51:27 PM »

I've gotten up to 29.3 grains of Varget in the case, but it takes a lot of patience and vibrating the case.

I preferred:
N-140 From 25.3 grains to 29.2 grains
Remington 7-1/2 Primer

mjbgalt · « **Reply #2 on:** April 29, 2006, 06:50:08 PM »

yeah, that's what i think is going to have to happen, Steve.

To get the kind of velocity i would like to have out of this cartridge i may have to go to BLC(2) or 3031 or something, because this extruded stuff takes up a lot of room. the ball powers seem to be denser.

i will shoot the varget and see how it does. if it does well then i will leave it alone. just that, what's the point of reloading a .204 to 3400fps- i could go buy a .223 if i wanted that kind of performance.

also, it's interesting how you get home and go "damn, i don't have a funnel that fits a .20....or a cleaning rod.....or.....or...."

it costs more than you'd think to buy a .204. lol

-Matt

mjbgalt · « **Reply #3 on:** April 29, 2006, 06:56:52 PM »

i am obviously not a big fan of buying factory ammo but i did not have dies until today and i bought this .204 contender barrel today as well. so i bought 2 boxes of hornady 40-grain loads to take with me to the range.

at 25 yards it took me 3 shots to get it dialed in and then i went to 100. well the first shot at 25 KEYHOLED.

i was just staring at the paper thinking "oh God, this is not going to be my day." even the holes at 100 yards were not perfectly round. nothing too crazy but a tiny bit oval-shaped.

and it grouped like i was throwing rocks instead of shooting.

so i cleaned it tonight and i have loaded some 32-grain Sierra Blitzkings and i am ready for Tuesday to get here so i can go to the range and try a lighter bullet.

its a real pain "you know where" when you end up pulling bullets and dumping powder from factory rounds because they shoot so poorly from your gun. might as well have bought brass and sat down and loaded instead of pissing myself off at the range.

-Matt

Castaway · « **Reply #4 on:** April 30, 2006, 01:24:34 AM »

Try the black powder trick of using a drop tube. Another way might be to jiggle the loading block to vibrate to powder in the case.

Chuck White · « **Reply #5 on:** April 30, 2006, 01:38:54 AM »

mjbgalt

The following is the result of testing my 26 inch TC Encore!

Barrel .... 26 inch TC Factory barrel
Case ...... Hornady
Bullet ..... 32 grain Hornady V-Max
Primer ... CCI 450
Powder .. 23.0 grains IMR 4198
O.A.L. .... 2.265 inches
Temp ..... 44 deg F.
3-Shot muzzle velocity average .. 4125 fps @20 ft!
3-Shot group center to center ..... .330 inches @100 Yds
This is a very accurate load in my rifle.

I bought 32 grain Hornady factory ammo and used the fired brass for my reloads!

NOTE: I was getting 3/8 inch groups with the factory 32 grain ammo! I was both surprised and pleased!
NOTE: I tried some 40 grain factory ammo and the best I could get was a 5-6 inch group and the bullets all keyholed!

mjbgalt · « **Reply #6 on:** April 30, 2006, 01:42:37 AM »

glad i am not the only one. i will try out the V-MAX if these sierras don't do the job.

-Matt

Buckskin · « **Reply #7 on:** May 01, 2006, 08:01:48 AM »

Same junk happened to me when I bought my 204 barrel for my encore. 40 vmax were crap and the 32s were awesome out of the box. I just started reloading and to tell the truth I don't know if I will get any better than what hornady puts out. I talked with some guys at Hornady about what powder they use and said that it likely will never be available to the public because they blend it.

skb2706 · « **Reply #8 on:** May 01, 2006, 08:34:14 AM »

32 gr. Sierra BK
29.0 gr. of RL-15
CCI BR-4 primer
WW case
COAL 2.345"
4150 fps

23" custom SS Contender barrel

mjbgalt · « **Reply #9 on:** May 01, 2006, 02:50:28 PM »

its a blend of VhitaVuori powder...(i think that's how you spell it).

-Matt

babe915 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 01, 2006, 04:40:54 PM »

it is not the ammo that is at fault, but it is the gun barrel. your t/c probably
has a too slow twist rate [ 1:12 ] for anything over 32gr. see if you can find out if this is correct -- the twist that is. berger bullets came out with a
30 grainer to help with this problem of stabilization in slow twist barrels.
I bet we will see even lighter bullets from other bullet makers soon

mjbgalt · « **Reply #11 on:** May 02, 2006, 05:50:56 AM »

i know it isn't the ammo itself. i was just saying the barrel doesn't like that, meaning the bullet weight, i should have been more specific.

-Matt