Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

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stokesrj
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Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by stokesrj »

I've been having a bit of fun developing loads for the .204 Ruger and have discovered a few things that some Blaser Buds with this barrel may like to know. First off the chamber is way oversized, so much so, it may give some problems full length resizing with some dies, they are going to really, really work the brass. Perhaps it is just my barrel but I suspect not. Anyway I started out with Hornady standard full length dies but soon discovered that the brass was so expanded ahead of the web that it was rough going sizing the cases.

Next I bought a set of L. E. Wilson neck size dies a bullet seater and a case holder for the trimmer both fired and new brass versions. The fired cases would not fit into the dies or the holders so I sent them all back to L. E. Wilson to have the dies opened to fit the fired cases. They do this as a free service and only charge for shipping, I think it was $9.50. That fixed the problem.
I also bought a Forster shoulder bump neck size die kit and it did just fine as it came.

My rifle will shoot the Hornady Superformance factory load around .75 MOA for five shot groups which isn't bad, so I bought a few hundred rounds to use and then reload the brass. Hornady brass isn't the best but it isn't at all bad either. They have shallow primer pockets, and punched flash holes with chunks of brass sticking into the case but this is easily corrected with a primer pocket uniforming tool and flash hole debur tool. The neck wall thicknesses vary from .0110" to .0129" and I elected to nock the high spots off turning the necks to .0110" so they are as close to the same as possible.

My handloads are substantially better than the factory loads with the same bullet but I still get flyers, typically four shots in .25" and five in .5" or some where near there so I decided to try the Sierra Blitz King bullets in 32 and 39 grain sizes and the flyers went away. It is now shooting consistent .25-.33" five shot groups at 100 yards with 28 grains of H4895. That should be good enough right? Well I'm still trying to do better because of the smaller of my primary targets, coyotes and columbia ground squirrels.

Even the factory loads are more than good enough for the coyotes out to 350 yards or so, but those columbia ground squirrels are little fellas and leave almost no room for error. It's also high volume shooting so I don't want to weigh charges, my powder measure is much faster. So I began a load matrix of CFE223 today using the 39 grain Sierra Blitz King at a nominal 2.25" COL.

The Hodgdon load data lists 29 grains as max so using my Jones powder measure I started at 44.25 clicks which is 28.5 grains and worked up to 45.5 clicks which is 29.3 grains. I only loaded three rounds each for this preliminary test. Since I knew my chamber was oversize, I expected to produce lower velocities and pressures than the load data suggests and this proved true.

28.5 grains, 44.25 clicks, 3350 fps, .774" group
28.7 grains, 44.50 clicks, 3363 fps, .319" group
28.8 grains, 44.75 clicks, 3378 fps, .341" group
28.9 grains, 45.00 clicks, 3397 fps, .575" group
29.1 grains, 45.25 clicks, 3431 fps, .315" group
29.3 grains, 45.50 clicks, 3451 fps, .271" group

I had only loaded to 29.3 grains because it is already over max load according to the data but there were no pressure signs at all and primers had well rounded edges and I'm using federal 205 primes which are very soft and show pressure signs early.

Tomorrow, I pick up where I left off and I'm taking my reloading gear to the range with me so I can do some on site tuning and if time permits I plan to repeatedly load one case over and over to see how many loadings I get neck sizing only before problems appear. These cases had been fired five times previously and neck sized only, this was the sixth firing.
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Robert J Stokes

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Re: Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by Ant »

This may be a barrel issue. My buddy and I both purchased 204 barrels last year and have not encountered this issue resizing the Hornady brass we are using from either barrel. The fired brass has, so far, fit nicely into the Redding die that I am using. However, this is good information to have and I will be checking the brass very carefully before my next reloading session with the 204. I am wondering in anyone else is encountering this issue.

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Re: Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by stokesrj »

Ant wrote:This may be a barrel issue. My buddy and I both purchased 204 barrels last year and have not encountered this issue resizing the Hornady brass we are using from either barrel. The fired brass has, so far, fit nicely into the Redding die that I am using. However, this is good information to have and I will be checking the brass very carefully before my next reloading session with the 204. I am wondering in anyone else is encountering this issue.
My cases will fit into a standard FL die as well, the obvious way to tell if yours are the same as mine, or not, is to measure the case diameter in front of the web. I can visually see the case diameter is larger than the base diameter at the web on my fired cases. Mine measure .382" in front of the web and .374 at the web, SAAMI spec is .3768 so my chamber is around .004" larger than the chamber specification.

It doesn't seem to hurt anything, in fact once I had the LE Wilson neck dies reamed to fit you might even consider it an Improved case as it will now hold more powder and produce higher velocities at lower pressures than a standard chamber :clap:. Case life is not an issue as I reloaded and fired a case 22 times today just to see.
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Re: Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by Af300e »

For the record, hornady brass fired in an r8 7mm rem mag looks pumped at the web too. Norma brass looks like it hasn’t been fired.

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Re: Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by stokesrj »

Continuing on with my tests today, where I left off yesterday I took the charge weights up in 1/4 click increments on my Jones Powder Measure loading three rounds at each click as follows.
45.75 clicks, 29.5 grains, 3547 fps, .427" group
46.00 clicks, 29.6 grains, 3564 fps, .757" group
46.25 clicks, 29.8 grains, 3531 fps, .304" group
46.50 clicks, 30.0 grains, 3574 fps, .366" group
46.75 clicks, 30.1 grains, 3553 fps, .365" group
47.00 clicks, 30.3 grains, 3575 fps, .321" group
This is a barrel that is clearly capable of less than 1/2 MOA, perhaps even 1/3 or 1/4 MOA with a little fine tuning.
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I also wanted to find out more about how many loadings using neck sizing only I could get by with and not run into iffy chambering or case failure. So to this end I took my arbor press, Jones measure and hand dies to the range with me and fired one case repeatedly with the powder setting I left off with yesterday, 45.50 clicks which is 29.3 grains of CFE223 powder. I used a bunch of pulled and remnant bullets for this experiment but carefully measured case length and base to shoulder length at the .330 datum line of the shoulder.

This case started life as a Hornady 40 grain V-Max Superformance factory load which measured 1.844" after that first firing and had a case to shoulder dimension of 1.558". It stayed pretty much at that dimension through 11 loadings but then began to grow slowly, from 1.845" at the 12th loading to 1.849' by the 22nd loading. The shoulder moved forward to 1.5585" by the 4th loading and 1.559 by the 19th loading and stayed there through the 22nd loading.

I noticed the slightest resistance to closing the bolt on the 19th loading and by the 22nd loading it was enough resistance that it might not close fully if closed gently. I stopped there. Nowhere in this test was the bolt open anything other than normal and extraction very easy.

When I returned home I ran the case through my Forster shoulder bump neck size die which moved the shoulder back to 1.558. It now allows the bolt to close with no felt resistance and is ready for another 22 loadings I suppose. The primer pocket still feels as new when a new primer is seated.
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Robert J Stokes

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Re: Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by thechamp »

Thanks for the info. As everyone knows I don't reload but still find it very interesting. I'm really surprised that the Hornady brass held up like it did. I recall years back that we could sell spent Hornady for good money and couldn't hardly give the other stuff away. Seemed like some locals thought it was worth it.

At what distances do you shoot those squirrels? Hadn't heard of them so I checked the net and see that they're part of the prairie dog, marmots, chipmunks family. Says they sleep for 7 months - doesn't leave a lot of time to hunt them.

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Re: Loading for the R8 204 Ruger

Post by stokesrj »

We hunt them in Oregon on alfalfa spigots in early spring when they first come out and are taller than the alfalfa. We typically set up on the edge of one of these spigots and start with .22 LR, 17 HM2 and 17hmr until we have them cleaned out within 175 yards or so, then start with the center fires. Most shots are then 200-300 yards and a few at 300 to 450 if it isn’t windy. One of these little guys is pretty hart to hit at 450 yards.
A typical day of shooting will see us expend around 700 rounds each alternating between 4-6 guns to let them cool off.
Robert J Stokes

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