iDoHunting.com: .204 Ruger Handloads

Generally in small bores I like to go with a pretty fast burning powder. My GOTO powder over the years has been Hodgdon. I prefer a fast burning ball powder in my small bore varmint rifles like Hodgdon Varget or Hodgdon H414 . Here is some of their load data:

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/204ruger.php

204 RUGER
CASE: HORNADY

BBL: 24"
PR: FEDERAL 205M

TWIST: 1:12" TRIM: 1.840"

32 GR. HDY V-MAX (Starting Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.250"

Varget 27.0 3557 38,300 PSI

BL-C(2) 28.5 3772 43,000 PSI

H335 26.0 3703 40,600 PSI

H4895 27.0 3669 40,500 PSI

Benchmark 26.0 3770 45,500 PSI

H322 25.5 3826 48,300 PSI

32 GR. HDY V-MAX (Maximum Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.250"

Varget 29.0C 3798 47,400 PSI

BL-C(2) 30.7 4081 55,500 PSI

H335 28.3 4044 54,800 PSI

H4895 29.0C 3980 51,100 PSI

Benchmark 28.0 4047 57,100 PSI

H322 27.5 4030 56,400 PSI

35 GR. BER HP (Starting Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.240"

Varget 28.0 3705 48,300 PSI

BL-C(2) 28.5 3734 47,200 PSI

H335 25.5 3665 45,400 PSI

H4895 26.0 3576 42,200 PSI

Benchmark 25.0 3590 44,100 PSI

H322 24.0 3586 45,600 PSI

35 GR. BER HP (Maximum Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.240"

Varget 29.0C 3812 53,100 PSI

BL-C(2) 30.7 3973 54,900 PSI

H335 27.5 3915 56,600 PSI

H4895 28.2C 3910 55,700 PSI

Benchmark 26.6 3863 56,600 PSI

H322 26.3 3828 55,400 PSI

40 GR. HDY V-MAX (Starting Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.250"

Varget 26.0 3395 44,100 PSI

BL-C(2) 28.0 3569 47,300 PSI

H335 25.0 3508 47,300 PSI

H4895 26.0 3500 45,500 PSI

Benchmark 24.0 3419 45,200 PSI

H322 23.0 3319 41,500 PSI

40 GR. HDY V-MAX (Maximum Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.250"

Varget 28.1C 3647 55,100 PSI

BL-C(2) 30.0 3774 56,200 PSI

H335 26.8 3738 56,700 PSI

H4895 27.7C 3741 56,000 PSI

Benchmark 25.7 3646 55,400 PSI

H322 25.1 3639 55,900 PSI

50 GR. BER HPBT (Starting Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.300"

Varget 24.0 3071 44,900 PSI

BL-C(2) 25.0 3089 42,900 PSI

H335 22.5 3039 43,700 PSI

H4895 24.0 3167 46,900 PSI

Benchmark 22.5 3110 47,800 PSI

H322 22.0 3105 48,300 PSI

50 GR. BER HPBT (Maximum Loads)
DIA. .204
COL: 2.300"

Varget 26.0 3287 55,200 PSI

BL-C(2) 27.0 3334 54,500 PSI

H335 24.3 3268 54,700 PSI

H4895 25.7 3352 56,000 PSI

Benchmark 24.0 3256 54,300 PSI

H322 23.5 3252 55,100 PSI