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204 powder in IMR?
joes
Member Posts: 484 ✭✭✭
I just picked up a 204 Howa today and of course I had brass two weeks ago, formed and ready. Now what powder would you guys suggest I fill that brass with. I have many IMR powders and would like to stick in that family. Thanks, Joe.
Comments
Since you don't give any specifics, I suggest you go to IMR and check their data. IMR has a website with load data for the .204 Ruger:
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
What you'll find is that IMR-4895 and IMR-4064 are a little too slow. IMR-3031 is the proper burn rate for this cartridge with the heavier bullets. If you decide to attempt using the lighter bullets then IMR-4198 is the better selection.
Best.
I also use benchmark much faster same deadly accuracy
Sounds like Mr. Odawgp actually has a .204 that he shoots. There is a periodical distributed by the Wolfe Publishing Co. called "Handloader". Since the middle 60's it has keept up with the latest reloading components, techniques, & tools to hit the market. They have been contributed to by individuals that have devoted serious time to developing loads for any and all cartridges both old and mainly the newest. There is an issue centered around the .204 Ruger back when it first came out. Anyhow, they have developed a web site called "Loaddata.com"; all this data compiled from this load development has been saved to this web site. A lot of it was compiled by Ken Waters, considered the Guru of reloading by many here in the States. None of it was by uninformed gun writers or overinflated blow hards. Also, all the major powder manufacturers have contributed their data using all the different bullets from the major bullet manufacturers and vice versa. As you can imagine it is very extensive. I can't believe I haven't seen it previously mentioned. It costs a little but there aren't many cartridges that aren't covered even some of the wildest wildcats. Check it out and I believe you won't be disappointed. Happy belated 4'th of July. Thank God for our independence & God bless America. Hope this helps!!
And 336marlin- you are right we do not give thanks nearly enough. so thank you god for giving us this great nation! Obama may not be proud of this nation but I sure am!
"I just picked up a 204 Howa today and of course I had brass two weeks ago, formed and ready. Now what powder would you guys suggest I fill that brass with. I have many IMR powders and would like to stick in that family. Thanks, Joe."
One of the toughest problems on these forums is determining what degree or level of knowledge the original poster has and just how far to go with a particular response. I re-read your first and last post on this subject and your first was merely a request for information with no clarification that you had information and wanted other data that we developed. There was no mention that you had already searched and bookmarked any other websites or that you had any experience. There are hundreds of questions by folks that have no experience where we need to start slowly and from the beginning. In many cases they don't even know about the powder manufacturers websites that have load data. The only way we can tell the difference is when the post contains enough information.
I have a dozen spreadsheets that cover 3,000 shots for the .204 Ruger worked up over several months that used 12 powders and 3 bullets. So when I suggest a powder for one of these cartridges, I usually have the tests to support the suggestions from the viewpoint that I started and ended with. The difference is that the rifles I use are built specifically for the tests and don't necessarily translate directly to commercially available rifles. So I don't quote specific loads but discuss general trends.
The general trends for the .204 Ruger are that the case capacity is disproportionate to bullet weights and length. In essence, it's an inefficient cartridge. That doesn't mean that it's a bad cartridge because it's not. It does indicate that the better powders are the slightly faster powders which eliminates the waste from using slower powders. Powder has gotten to be expensive enough where wasting it is wrong in my opinion. It has nothing to do with accuracy. Many powder/cartridge combinations show accuracy at more than one level of velocity, often referred to as nodes, even the slower ones. It's a harder task to convince a shooter to keep adding powder to a load that is slow but accurate in order to achieve better efficiency. They want to stay with the accurate load feeling that they might lose the accuracy that they already have achieved if they move up. A bird in the hand type thinking.
With that in mind, the best powders I've found for the .204 Ruger are:
AA-XMR-2495
V V N-133
IMR-3031
Your request was for IMR powders so I listed IMR-3031.
This is NOT to say that there aren't other powders that will work, there are are of course. But sometimes a different viewpoint adds to the breadth of the discussion.
Good Luck with your project!
Best.