204 test loads *pics*

[acloco]

The real max load is known only by Silverfox. You might PM him or look up some of his old threads to find the truth.

...and you have to move to NORTH Dakota to shoot the loads at -30 F with a windchill of 43 mph! LOL! (THIS is the real reason prairie dogs have fur!!!)

[OldTurtle]

DarkNight, I'm another one that prefers accuracy to speed....

Most of my really good loads will fall somewhere between the .4 and .7gr range below max published figures...

I will start a full grain below max listing and work up groups of ten rounds with .2gr increments and if I find a good group, I'll try .1gr on either side of it before working out my seating depth....

Most of my rifle shooting is with the .204 and .223 and you can see that my preferred groups don't involve 'hot' loads..

[DarkNight]

Thanks for sharing the images of your groups, OldTurtle! Are you sighting in .5 inch high at 100 yds?

What method do you guys use for adjusting your seating depth? Right now I'm just seating them for the recommended COL.

TIA!

[OldTurtle]

My groups are strictly that, I pick a point of aim on the target, usually one of the line intersections, and don't worry about the point of impact....It's easier to see my groups from a distance when they are not in a darkened area, so anywhere they strike is okay with me....I just want them touching if possible.

I always start at just below magazine length for the first series and if they group good, I'll leave them alone...

If I get some reasonably good groups, but nothing that satisfies me, then I'll start seating them a couple of thousanths deeper each go around,,,,

My .204s have totally different chambers. The Savage is stock and has quite a bit of jump to the lands, but is still pretty accurate with factory length loads.

My AR has a custom cut chamber and with 40gr V-Max bullets, I have .030 and with the 39gr Sierras it's .035....and shoots it's best there, with that bullet.

I've started working with the 35gr Bergers and I can't seat them as far out ... Haven't gotten any definitive results with them yet.

[trevort]

Darknight you havent reached max for your rifle till you have presure signs I suppose!

But here is some info for you

The Hodgdon powder you are using is made in Australia by Australian Defence Industries (now owned by a French company called THALES) imported to US and repackaged. It is sold here as 2206h

http://www.adi-limited.com/pdfs/sphg.pdf

if you follow the link you will see that the actual manufacturer list 27.7gns as max and another local manual lists 28gns as max.

When I had a Ruger Vt I couldnt get the 40gn VMax to group like the 39 BK and thought "more powder" I went over max .1 gn at a time. At 28.7gn I still had no pressure signs but still had no grouping and at 1 gn over max thought it was time to end this experiment and I shot the 39bk only in this rifle. My accuracy load was 27.9gn with the rem 7 1/2 br.

I now have a kreiger barrelled stiller predator. Web research tells me kreiger bores are on the tight side. Being of Irish ethnicity, I did this research after load development! I "cheated". I loaded a few rounds below my prior favorite load and enough to shoot groups at 27.8 and my old load 27.9. The work up shots showed no pressure signs. 27.8 put 5 shots in one ragged hole. I loaded my 200 norma cases and went off to kill things.

When they were all once fired and neck sized I thought I would see if the ragged hole could be made smaller. Off to the range, 27.8 gns, first shot, some smoke from the chamber, no problems extracting but the primer backed out! Hmmm, must have overloaded that one. Again being an Irish import to OZ, I needed to fire another one! Same result, two cases with enlarged pockets into the bin. That load was a one shot per case proposition!

Re did development properly and my accuracy load is 27.1gn in this rifle. It chronos up near the 3900 fps. Interestingly ADI powders are meant to be temperature tolerant but last winter camping they spent a sub zero night in the car and I set up my portable bench and CED in the early morning before it warmed up. First shot was 3650 then as the chamber warmed up the got up to 3780. Temperature does make a difference so most would advise doing load development in warm weather if you are going up near max.

I suppose I could have stopped this post after the link to the loading data but just thought I would share my experience on finding out for myself that the statement 'every rifle is different' is very true.

Good luck. I have an as yet unfired VLP in 243 to do some development for PROPERLY

[DarkNight]

trevort-

Being of partial Irish decent myself, I appreciate you sharing your experiences with me. Hopefully I'll be borrowing a chronograph in the near future and finishing this little project. The next pictures I'll be posting will be bleeding

Happy hunting!

[trevort]

trevort-

Being of partial Irish decent myself, I appreciate you sharing your experiences with me. Hopefully I'll be borrowing a chronograph in the near future and finishing this little project. The next pictures I'll be posting will be bleeding

Happy hunting!

I was actually born there and spent my first 21 yrs in Belfast, I now consider myself an Aussie with an irish accent since I've been here longer and like the place sooooooo much better