Anybody try IMR 8208 XBR in a .204 Yet?
- Thread starter Thorbird
- Start date
Should be able to work up to 28+ on the 35s and 27+ on the 39s and 40s.I got good results on once fired Hornady brass,28gr, pushing a 32gr Sie BK,in a TC G2 Contender with 4 in.084,pulled one to open up to .225.Next group,everything the same,except Rem virgin brass was arounl 3/4" .OAL 2.365.
8208 didn't group any better than Benchmark out of my 204 Savage with 39gr blitz kings and the velocity was 100fps slower.
Ditto for 6br for me with 70 gr Blitzkings. I've got 9 lbs of benchmark so won't be looking to buy more 8208 anytime soon.
OTOH, I've not tried my best benchmark-based loads in hot weather. Could be the 8208 loads remain consistent when summer comes. Truth is, I don't dare load up all my 204 brass until I see how my 26.5gr benchmark load works at 90+ degrees.
GICY (guess I confused you
)
Ditto for 6br for me with 70 gr Blitzkings. I've got 9 lbs of benchmark so won't be looking to buy more 8208 anytime soon.
OTOH, I've not tried my best benchmark-based loads in hot weather. Could be the 8208 loads remain consistent when summer comes. Truth is, I don't dare load up all my 204 brass until I see how my 26.5gr benchmark load works at 90+ degrees.
GICY (guess I confused you
)Thorbird--I did test some IMR 8208 XBR powder in my slightly used Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger back on April 8, 2010. I purchased this rifle from one of the classifieds on an Internet Board. It has a 26" stainless steel super match grade Pac-Nor barrel on it with a 1 in 11" twist and three grooves.
Hodgdon has Reloading Data for IMR 8208 XBR on their Website and you can access that by clicking on the following link: http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
For my tests I used brand new full length resized WW brass and fully prepped it. The primers I used were the Remington 7½. These were the first shots I fired from this rifle, but they weren't the first shots down the barrel. The previous owner told me he had about 325 rounds down the barrel. Before shooting it, I cleaned it super-good and decided to go with hBN coated bullets for my tests since it surely must be "broken in" after 325 shots. Once I shot two shots on paper at 50 yards and did slight adjustments to the scope, I shot three more scope-adjustment rounds at 100 yards using 35 gr. FBHP Bergers and 27.7 gr. of 8028 XBR and did a little more dialing on the windage and elevation knobs. I did not have my chronograph set up, but will definitely have it operating on my next trip to the range.
After getting the scope adjusted, I shot 5 shots using 28.0 gr. of 8028 XBR and the 35 gr. Bergers. I was impressed with the accuracy of the group made first three shots--the group measured .066" center-to-center. I almost didn't fire shots 4 and 5 because I usually mess up on one of the last two shots and turn a potentially super-nice group into an ordinary group. Well, shot 4 definitely enlarged the group :cursing: However, shot #5 was tucked in pretty close to shots 1, 2, & 3. If I drop out shot #4, then the other four shots measure .188" center-to-center. The five shot group wasn't too bad, measuring in at .313" center-to-center. I think that would be minute-of-prairie dog load even without further load development.
I also shot a 4-shot group using 28.5 gr. of 8208 XBR and the 32 gr. V-Max. Not a super-good group, but I'm sure I can get a load figured out that will shoot better.
I also wanted to see how the 40 gr. V-Max would do in this 1 in 11" twist barrel because that's the bullet I wanted to use in this rifle. The fellow I bought it from said the 40 gr. V-Max didn't shoot worth beans in this rifle. I'm glad I decided to try them. I used 26.8 gr. of 8208 XBR with this bullet. This is only a 4-shot group, but it sure seems to me to show some promise:
Next range trip, I'll also try a couple different loads of 8208 XBR with the 39 gr. Sierras, a couple more loads with the 40 gr. V-Max and a couple more loads with the 35 gr. FBHP Bergers as well. The inside of the new, once-fired WW casings I used still had some shine on the inside walls, so I figure the powder wasn't too terribly dirty, but that's a guess on my part. The barrel, after 18 shots, definitely had some burned powder residue in it and there was a tiny bit of copper when I cleaned the barrel, but I'm happy with it.
We have had pretty steady 20 mph winds with gusts as high as 45 mph up here for nearly a week and I'm getting tired of it. I can't shoot this rifle right now though, because I sent the bolt off to Gre-Tan Rifles LLC to have the bolt bushed. I don't like to see the cratering effect on the primers and with the loads I was using, I'm pretty doggone sure the primers weren't cratering because of undue high pressure. My other Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger doesn't have the cratering problem, so I figured I'd get it fixed NOW rather than wait until prairie dog shooting season.
Hodgdon has Reloading Data for IMR 8208 XBR on their Website and you can access that by clicking on the following link: http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
For my tests I used brand new full length resized WW brass and fully prepped it. The primers I used were the Remington 7½. These were the first shots I fired from this rifle, but they weren't the first shots down the barrel. The previous owner told me he had about 325 rounds down the barrel. Before shooting it, I cleaned it super-good and decided to go with hBN coated bullets for my tests since it surely must be "broken in" after 325 shots. Once I shot two shots on paper at 50 yards and did slight adjustments to the scope, I shot three more scope-adjustment rounds at 100 yards using 35 gr. FBHP Bergers and 27.7 gr. of 8028 XBR and did a little more dialing on the windage and elevation knobs. I did not have my chronograph set up, but will definitely have it operating on my next trip to the range.
After getting the scope adjusted, I shot 5 shots using 28.0 gr. of 8028 XBR and the 35 gr. Bergers. I was impressed with the accuracy of the group made first three shots--the group measured .066" center-to-center. I almost didn't fire shots 4 and 5 because I usually mess up on one of the last two shots and turn a potentially super-nice group into an ordinary group. Well, shot 4 definitely enlarged the group :cursing: However, shot #5 was tucked in pretty close to shots 1, 2, & 3. If I drop out shot #4, then the other four shots measure .188" center-to-center. The five shot group wasn't too bad, measuring in at .313" center-to-center. I think that would be minute-of-prairie dog load even without further load development.
I also shot a 4-shot group using 28.5 gr. of 8208 XBR and the 32 gr. V-Max. Not a super-good group, but I'm sure I can get a load figured out that will shoot better.
I also wanted to see how the 40 gr. V-Max would do in this 1 in 11" twist barrel because that's the bullet I wanted to use in this rifle. The fellow I bought it from said the 40 gr. V-Max didn't shoot worth beans in this rifle. I'm glad I decided to try them. I used 26.8 gr. of 8208 XBR with this bullet. This is only a 4-shot group, but it sure seems to me to show some promise:
Next range trip, I'll also try a couple different loads of 8208 XBR with the 39 gr. Sierras, a couple more loads with the 40 gr. V-Max and a couple more loads with the 35 gr. FBHP Bergers as well. The inside of the new, once-fired WW casings I used still had some shine on the inside walls, so I figure the powder wasn't too terribly dirty, but that's a guess on my part. The barrel, after 18 shots, definitely had some burned powder residue in it and there was a tiny bit of copper when I cleaned the barrel, but I'm happy with it.
We have had pretty steady 20 mph winds with gusts as high as 45 mph up here for nearly a week and I'm getting tired of it. I can't shoot this rifle right now though, because I sent the bolt off to Gre-Tan Rifles LLC to have the bolt bushed. I don't like to see the cratering effect on the primers and with the loads I was using, I'm pretty doggone sure the primers weren't cratering because of undue high pressure. My other Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger doesn't have the cratering problem, so I figured I'd get it fixed NOW rather than wait until prairie dog shooting season.
Wow, this is a great report Silverfox. Thanks a load. This gives me an idea of where to start. I will cut back by a little a work up, but looks promising. I will be using am LRPV that has shot some tiny little groups with RL10X and Benchmark, but always looking for some other recipe.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
rich44
Silver $$ Contributor
I just started working up loads for my 204 Ruger with a 10twist Shilen SSM barrel. So far I have tried the 40 vmax, 40 NBT, 40 Berger and the 39gr SBK the 39 BK was by far the best load so far from my gun these were the first loads I think with a little fine tunning it will be the load for this gun.
39 BK
39 BK
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