I kind of went overboard when I bought the rifle. The gunshop gave me two boxes each of 32 & 40 VMax factory rounds and I knew that wasn’t going to suffice for long. I grabbed a bunch of different bullets from the three major players, Nosler 32 gr , Sierra 32 & 40, and Hornady 32 & 40, 300 pieces of brass, and 1,000 CCI 400 primers. I didn't know about CRT then or I would have bought some of his too!.I shot a box of the 32's and the 40's as part of the break in process. Results were less than stellar but as I was still breaking in the barrel I wasn't too concerned. I instantly fell in love with being able to see the impact through the Nikon 6-18.
Next the real fun started. Print a bunch of the OCW targets on heavy paper and start loading. I soon found out that the CCI 400's were not the primer to use in this round. My first-ever pierced primer was a bit of a surprise. Luckily I have two other rifles that use them so it's ok. CCI 450’s and Rem 7 ½’ were quickly acquired. The 32 and 39 Sierras shot fantastic out of the TC PH's 1:10 (measured) twist barrel! Tiny groups and pretty consistent velocity on the days we measured them. The 32 SBK likes 28.9 grains of BL-C(2) and the 39's like 24.6 grains of RL10X, powders I already had on hand. If they were the only bullets I had purchased, I would have quit right there and been quite content. Who am I kidding? Who could have stopped on the first bullets tested?
So I still had 3 other bullets (1,250 of them in 5 boxes) to try. **Don't buy the 250 pack until you KNOW that your rifle will shoot them, even if they’re on sale**. HINT: We need to start something where first-timers can get 25-30 bullets to test with. Anyway, I shot the 32 gr Noslers and settled on 27.1 grains of Benchmark as the best this bullet would do in my rifle. Decent groups, under and inch @ 100, but not great. I have not tried the 40 gr Ballistic tips since I already have a .223 AR-15 that shoots 50 gr BT's very well. I'm really looking for the 32's to shoot well. Doesn't matter whose bullets, I just want them to shoot small groups and be fairly fast.
The VMaxs proved to be a test of patience and reloading. I went through five different powders and almost an entire box of 250 40 gr VMaxs before I found a combination that would shoot in my Icon PH. My rifle does ok with 27.4 grains of IMR4895 for the 40's. I have a pound of H4895 that I might play with later on. The 32's were interesting to shoot. They had group sizes from 2" down to 3/4". I tried Benchmark hoping that they'd like it better than the Noslers. They didn't. 28.5 grains of IMR8208XBR proved to be what they like the best. I still have an unopened 250 pack of 32 grain Noslers, and 32 gr and 40 gr Vmaxs. They’ll be plinking rounds for the kids and to break in the Cooper barrel when my next .204 gets here. They do make a mess of overripe fruit and aluminum cans filled with water.
I don't turn necks. I didn't know how long the chamber was until last week. I don't weigh and sort brass or bullets. I do weigh each powder load and balance them to the kernel. I don't measure runout. I have Redding and Lee seating dies that I use for different bullets. I have a Hornady comparator that I use along with calipers to measure COAL. I do try to be as consistent as I can. I neck size with a Lee collet and recently bought a body die to use instead of my Redding neck size die when the shoulders need bumping back. Hopefully using this with the collet will keep neck tension consistent. I also learned that my rifle really doesn’t like to be all that clean. It doesn’t copper foul very much at all so I got lucky there.
The quest for the "perfect" load can be frustrating, lengthy, and somewhat expensive. But it can also be fun! We all enjoy shooting so anything that makes us more familiar with our rifles can’t be a bad thing. Experience with my .204 Ruger has shown that this can be a picky caliber - a load that shoots well in one person's rifle probably isn’t going to shoot well in someone else's, 2/10’s of a grain of powder can make a big difference. The light recoil makes this rifle a lot of fun. My kids love to make orange juice out of old fruit with it. I had the oppoprtunity to use mine to shoot prairie dogs last fall. That was FUN!!!
I've learned that there is a TON of help available on this site. Take advantage of it and good luck!
