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204 ruger - speer 39 tnt - W748

i don't have a speer manual in hand, local shops and speer tech support not yet open this morning. does anyone have the speer published data for this bullet?
my velocities yesterday seemed to be running high, as they have on other cals with the tnt bullet, and also a bit inconsistent, although i am throwing not weighing.
 
QL didn't have the Speer bullet in it, so I used the Sierra BLTK 39 gr. Using data from my rifle case capacity my loading would be 28.55 gr of powder to get a 3900 fps velocity. And the pressure would be well above at 63K vs 59K max.

QL 204 Ruger.jpg
 
many thanks! how did you do that? i couldn't get that page online... might be my old browser or something?
i was at 3900 and change in 26", 80F first day this year. no pressure signs on brass.

I run the 39gr Sierra BKs at 3980 in a 26" 12 twist barrel so 3900 is nothing I would consider out of the norm.

Start seeing pressure signs around 4030 fps. Worse at 4050. Backed the load down to 3980 and brass is holding up fine
 
jepp2, ledd slinger. Many thanks! i haven't measured my case capacity, but i was loading 28.3 of w748 which averaged 2915 with br-4 primers... so score one for QL! My next step up at 28.5 i shot in cooler weather with no problem, but also without the MS chrono so missing some data there. the accuracy was falling off anyway so the few of those left will get pulled.

i am not sure if the advertised 'smaller bearing surface' of the tnt contributes some to higher velocity... the brass doesn't seem to be stretching an inordinate amount... of course they have only one firing at warmer tempserature.

thanks agin'
 
Very welcome. I'm running 29.9gr of RL-15. The 39gr BK's are only seated 3/4 down the neck so not even close to the shoulder junction. Still have to long tube drop powder to fit it all in the case without compressing the load.

RL15 is a great powder in the 204R for speed and accuracy in the 39-40gr bullet weight range. Just be sure to start around 29.0gr and work up.

Also have a similarlyfast and accurate load with the same bullet and 30gr of BLC-2. Again, start low and work up.

Plus it shoots about 2 other powders extremely well, but not quite as good speed. IMR4895 and Varget

Accuracy levels with all powders hover hair under or hair over 1/4 MOA at 200 yards from a benchrest style front rest.
 
My QL shows 2,924 fps with 28.3 gr W-748... @ 65,000 psi, 2.260" coal, 26" stick.

IMR-3031 and IMR-4895 show a hair higher velocities than W-748, but not by much.

Only found Nosler manual with W-748 in 204R...

Nosler204R_40gr.png
 
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My QL shows 2,924 fps with 28.3 gr W-748... @ 65,000 psi, 2.260" coal, 26" stick.

IMR-3031 and IMR-4895 show a hair higher velocities than W-748, but not by much.

Only found Nosler manual with W-748 in 204R...

View attachment 1037649

I need to buy the QL software one of these days...

What pressure does QL come up with usong the 39gr Sierra BK with 29.9gr of RL-15? Just curious because I will get split necks on occasion if I don't anneal regularly, but the primer pockets hold up well in Remington, Hornady, and Winchester brass with that load. Don't know what my COAL is because I only measure to the ogive for headspacing, but the bullets are seated way out into the neck.

Thanks Zero :)
 
204 Ruger
39 Speer TNT HP
26" bbl
29.9gr RL-15

2.260" coal = 4,101 fps @ 78,500 psi (very compressed load)

2.360" coal = 4,040 fps @ 73,000 psi (compressed load)

2.420" coal = 4,004 fps @ 70,000 psi (slightly compressed load)
 
204 Ruger
39 Speer TNT HP
26" bbl
29.9gr RL-15

2.260" coal = 4,101 fps @ 78,500 psi (very compressed load)

2.360" coal = 4,040 fps @ 73,000 psi (compressed load)

2.420" coal = 4,004 fps @ 70,000 psi (slightly compressed load)

Thank you :)
 
Only found Nosler manual with W-748 in 204R...
i had that nosler data, which is what i used for load development. i couldn't get necks to reliably seal at any but the nosler max of 27.5, even after anneal. i am running at 2.395 (15 off) so there is not much of that bullet in the neck. thinking that may have been the problem, i started only sizing the neck part way down, by putting 0.060 washer under the lee collet die.

i have used other powders and bullets, but was hoping to develop a reasonable pdog blasting load for <300 yards and <$0.20 total/round and quick to load (thrown charges and no shoulder bump).

excellent QL data using the coal for that exact bullet. thanks!
 

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