.204 Ruger

anyone reloading this cartridge??

Dave

Yes.

Just shot my first loads yesterday out of my CZ 527. Considerably less than spectacular groups. Weather was pretty poor, so maybe not a good indicator.

For the speed, it is much quieter than I thought it would be. There is no barrel heating.

I'm trying RL-10, 32 grain Nosler BT's, RP cases, Fed 205's

try http://www.204ruger.com/

Some of the guys over at Varmint's Den say theirs like a lot of jump. I started .010 but will back off to .020 or even .030 if it doesn't improve.

Yes, I reload for the 204 Ruger in a Ruger 1B with excellent results. Your question(s)? :)

BLC-2 and Ramshot Tac. My rifles prefer the 32 grain bullets over the 40s but that doesn't mean that they don't shoot well. My rifles seem to prefer the 32 Grain BK over the V-max but a p-dog won't know the difference. I don't remember the exact charges right now but I am getting sub 3/8", 5 shot groups, at 100 yards. I have some new bullets that I will be testing as the weather gets warmer. I recently picked up some Barnes Varmint grenades as well as some Berger bullets as well as some Varmint nightmares. Great cartridge extremely accurate.

Recently loaded some 40 gr VMax over 28.1 and 28.5 BLC-2, have not shot them due to weather. I'm going to try the lighter bullets as well. Tried some Varget last year, forget stick powders in these case mouths.

I'm very new to and just starting out in reloading, I've only loaded pistol so far in .44 Mag. I also wanted a varmint type rifle to reload for and shoot as the only rifle I own is a .22 LR. My question about the .204 was because I just bought a Handi-Rifle in this caliber at Bass Pro yesterday. It was sort of an impulse buy but also b/c it was on sale and I had gift cards and reward points to spend....so it was take home for about a hundred. Anyway, after I got home and wasn't seeing much talk on the net about reloading this cartridge and that factory was high $$$, I thought I had made a mistake and should have gone with the .223.

I've yet to find anything "odd or difficult" with a .204 as compared to a .223,other than you'll have to shop a little "deeper" to get components and cleaning tools.

I've yet to find anything "odd or difficult" with a .204 as compared to a .223,other than you'll have to shop a little "deeper" to get components and cleaning tools.

Odd? I don't care for the sub sized powder nozzle for the powder dump. It's harder to dump stick powder into 204 necks instead of 22. And I had to special order a pilot for the case trimmer. I like my 204 but it's just barely worth it when you consider all the extras. I load Varget in the 204 and 22-250. I just noticed this morning when loading for both. I only use 4 grains less powder in the 204. I like my 204 but prefer the 250.

Componets. Sir = reloading,cases, bullets.
Where, exactly are you "coming from" ?

It's not the components(bullets-brass). It's all the extras stuff folks need when they start loading 204. Most already have a 22cal something. So they need to buy quite a few extra things to start. I consider it a drawback.

Extra expenses from 22 cal reloading/shooting

1. Powder nozzle for dumper(and stick powder loves to hang up 204 necks)
2. Powder funnel
3. 204 cal pilot for case trimmer(special order and good luck finding)
4. 204 cleaning rod. (Dewey's are NOT nylon coated when they get this small, they're painted)
5. Extra jags, brushes

These are just some of the extras that you wouldn't need if you went with 223 or 22-250 assuming you already shot/loaded something in 22 cal as was the case with me. I'm still glad I got the 204 but it should be noted all the substandard doo-dads one needs to load 204.

i like the 40g vmax fed 205 or cci 400 with 27.1g RL-15 avg 3700ish, 26.5 RL-15 put 3 into 1/4inch at 100yds and avg 3550+fps, the other three of my six shot group opened up to .9 or so in a ~5mph wind


ruger MKII 24"bbl nikon prostaff 3-9X40mm


and btw a 1" target dot with a 1/4" bull is super hard to see at 100 yds lol

Horsemany...

I'm very new to and just starting out in reloading, I've only loaded pistol so far in .44 Mag


he has nothing for reloading rifle so far so he doesnt really need any "extras" since it will be the first buy:)

1858

I'm very new to and just starting out in reloading, I've only loaded pistol so far in .44 Mag. I also wanted a varmint type rifle to reload for and shoot as the only rifle I own is a .22 LR. My question about the .204 was because I just bought a Handi-Rifle in this caliber at Bass Pro yesterday. It was sort of an impulse buy but also b/c it was on sale and I had gift cards and reward points to spend....so it was take home for about a hundred. Anyway, after I got home and wasn't seeing much talk on the net about reloading this cartridge and that factory was high $$$, I thought I had made a mistake and should have gone with the .223.

Perhaps you should have quoted his whole post. He has a 22lr (may already have a 22cal cleaning rod/jags) and is wondering if he made a mistake by not getting a 223. Others followed telling him there was nothing odd or unusual about loading 204. I'm saying that's BS. There are several things one needs to load 204 that you don't need to load 22 cals. If he loads for 44mag and uses a powder dump. It will have the ability to dump powder into a 22 cal case but NOT a 204. You need to order a special substandard size for 204 or try to cobble one from a 17hmr case like so many do. If he's got a trimmer already it would have come with some pilots (if it's the style that uses pilots) and 204 would not be included. I like the 204 but it has a few drawbacks IMO and I don't know why others have such a hard time admitting that. I'm not making this stuff up.

I own a .204ruger and I will concur that I am constantly having to order special stuff to load for it. Its never anything very expensive but it is annoying when I don't realize that I need something until I sit down to load or work on my gun.

I am about to embark on a reloading project to see what kind of accuracy I can get out of my gun. If it cant get it to a place that im happy with I am going to sell it and get an .223 chamber rifle instead.

1858, Horsemany, and bunnielab...

I appreciate all your comments. I don't have any rifle reloading components and will have to acquire all for loading the .204, but I do have lots of cleaning supplies for the 22 cal. In that sense, I probably will experience some extra purchases for the quirks of the 20 cal. I have the enthusiasm and determination of the beginner though, and I will make it work. Perhaps my conclusion will be in the long run that I would have been better served with a .223 to start....but I know one thing for sure....it will be a learning experience, which is what I need. I know that I will come forward with plenty more questions, I'm just glad ya'll are here as resources! Remember I'm still in that beginning stage of fascination at loading my first rounds of .44 mag. I took my first .44 rounds to a gathering of friends/family (fellow hunters and enthusiasts, but none of them reloaders) last night just to show them off, how silly is that?

Dave

Dave

Good luck. The 204 is a great cartridge. One thing about cleaning rods. 20 cal rods are very thin and spindly. Even more important to usea bore guide with it. The rods also have very thin coatings compared to larger calibers. I had the paint strip off my Dewey and they sent me a free replacement. He did say though to be more careful because they don't coat them the same way. I think they try to make as much of the rod steel as possible so it's not so flimsy. I'd recommend 35gr Bergers as a must try bullet. H335 is what Cooper uses for their 1/2" group test firing. H335 and Varget have done great in my rifle. H335 being ball powder meters MUCH better than Varget but is more temperature sensitive.

I will also throw out there that you might be helped if you charge your cases over a cookie sheet. The small neck makes it pretty likely that at some point there will be some spilled powder and if you are loading on a tray of some kind you can recover it.

I would also warn that I could only get one or two additional loading out of most factory ammo brass before I had to trim. This was using a Lee neck sizer and the gun is a 700 if that means anything to anyone.

ok i admit i had to finagle a few things and dont have a proper cleaning set for the .204 yet, i snapped one rod and my replacement was too short. funnel i use was a little one i found around the house, RL-15 flows fairly easy being a kinda short stick powder. i had to file down a 22-250 lee length gauge and had the lee trimmer for my 45 colt, so all in all the only things i had to get then mod to fit were the length gauge an thats it, i trim every time and if you dont mind just holding the powder funnel to the case neck that works great as well. very fun i like the 40g's but am dissapointed with my velocity, the 32g dont seem to shoot as well but exceed published datas velocity in my gun :D so maybe ill work with em

When the 222 Rem first came out I had to get all the Special Reloading stuff for it , same thing when I got a 17 Rem, same thing when I got a 204 Ruger...So big deal if you wont to play you got to pay...

only a few extra bucks for a cool little cartidge no prob. sorry Horsemany i didnt see the 22lr part but i only ment for reloading stuff, cleaning had not even crossed my minde,


ummm.... how often you guys gotta clean these .204s? i have only done it 3 times in +/-300rds:o

Mine's a little more finnicky about being clean than most other calibers. I clean it every 20 to 50 rounds. If you're between 32 and 40 grainers I'd recommend trying the 35 gr Bergers. They may be the most accurate 204 bullet available generally speaking. So far my favorite load is the 35gr Berger over 29.0 grains Varget which is nearly compressed. It's been the most accurate combination in my Cooper.

i like the 40g because of the high BC and at 14.49/100 i bought 600
i also got 250 32g for about 35 dollars. i dont like varget simply because of unavailability around here and low velocity in this cartridge, but after settling on a load that avg's 3550fps with a 40g maybe ill give it a shot in the future, i got a couple oz's to try left

With the 35gr Bergers Varget is within 100fps of the fastest powder Hodgdon offers. It's the lowest pressure powder available from Hogdon for 204. I like to stay on the low side because we shoot pdogs in the summer when it's close to 100deg sometimes. Varget's drawback for me is how poorly it meters into a 20cal neck. H335 is a good powder for my rifle too. If I try another it will be BL-C2.

you guys are way ahead of me...Just picked up my rifle from Bass Pro (it had to be shipped in, wasn't in stock) tonight! Picked up some Hornady factory loads in 32 and 40gr with vmax bullet as I don't have brass yet (or any .204 components, for that matter). Now I have to fit the scope and get sighted in. Hope to this weekend to get scope mounted and fire off a few rounds. Where might I find the 20 cal cleaning rods/supplies? Brownells? or do most gun stores carry this item. I don't recall ever seeing cleaning supplies for this caliber before.

i dunno im still lookin for a brush and jag designed for .204:neener: im usin the 22 cal brush i clean case necks with since is is squished down to the neck size now and a 17 cal jag with thick patches seems to work ok aside from me breaking rods:banghead: