Savage predator 10 .204 loads

[dogreaper65]

I have a savage 10 predator in .204 ruger 1-12 twist that's been sitting around in the safe for a couple years and I've decided to put it to use, wondering if any of you could give me a little head start with any load ideas that you've tried and found success with. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks fellas. Jon

 

[strut64]

I have since traded off my 204 but my best experience were with h322, 450 primers and sierra 39 Gr . Load near the top of Hodgdons range. Good luck

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Sierra 39's in my Savage.. Right now 3031 is my go to powder, but Reloader 10X was also pretty good. 4895 seems to be ok as well as 8208.. Used a few others that I can't remember off the top of my head..

 

[sundance]

If your targets are prairie dogs I use 32 gr vmax in my 204 with 8208 IMR powder .It works well in my gun at 4100-4200 fps and really flips the dogs.

 

[Bangs OH]

35 gr. Bergers and compressed load of Varget per the Hodgdon book; or 39 SBKs/RL 10x. 205M primers seem to work best in all my 204s.
As you're probably aware, most 1:12 twist .204 barrels won't stabilize the 40-grain bullets. V-Maxes in that weight tend to splash on coyotes, anyway. Can't confirm that personally, but do know they tear up groundhogs rather nicely; therefore any of my .204 re-barrels will have 10 or 11 twist in the future.
Good luck. Am still loving the .204 as an all-around varmint/predator round and rarely get out the .22 CFs anymore.

 

[pmg]

Like mentioned above 35 bergers and 8208 worked real good in my max1 predator as did 8208 and the 32 vmax. Another good load I found over on saubier was AA2520 and a 39sierra, mid 27grs well below accurate's max. Good luck with yours as mine just about shot everything good.

 

[dogreaper65]

Awesome thanks guys yeah it'll be a light backup p-dog and coyote gun, I think I'm going to start with the 39sbks and 26.2-27.2gr of 4895 since I already have it laying around might test the 35 bergers as well. Thanks for all the feedback, now i just need it to get warm again so I can get back to p-dog land. Thanks again Jon

 

[senderoll]

You don't have to start that high. I have two xr-100 that only like 25.0 gr. and the other only likes 25.7 gr. of h4895. Both shoot very well at about 3500-3525 fps out of 26 inch barrel. Seams the faster it goes the bigger the groups. Fred

 

[pacificman]

When I had a savage 204 I used RL-10x and 39 sierra with good results. The only other powder
which worked as well for me was h4895. My final loading was RL-10x with 39 sierras at 3760 fps.
This was with a 26 inch barrel. I enjoyed the 204 but it is now a 20 Practical.

 

[Hippy]

Benchmark.H4895 or 10X if none of those will shoot behind the Sierra 39 it would be highly unusual

Jim

 

[SpikeDiesel]

Cci 450 and 30g of blc-2 under a 39g sierra gets me 3800fps out of my cz 527 varmint with three rounds touching at 100yds. This is a max load proceed with caution, it showed no pressure in my rifle and hits a great node for me.

 

[JORTZ]

Mine likes 24.5gr of tac and 40gr vmax.
Also had good luck with varget or reloader 15 with 32gr vmax. Pretty much everything ive tried in 204's shoot decent

 

[Schism]

My CZ likes Benchmark, 39 SBK's, and Rem 7 1/2. I ended up about a half grain under published max load for best accuracy.

 

[Danny1788]

29.6gr of BLC2 and cci br4 primer with a 40gr vmax I'm getting 3840fps in a ruger m77 target rifle.

 

[GR5150]

My R700 SPS loved 39 SBKs with I 8208 powder.

 

[Alguapo]

I shoot a Cooper Mod 21 .204 with 32 Grn V/Z max Hornadys with 27.5 grns. of H322 and a Savage LRPV .204 with 32 Grn. v/z max Hornadys with 27.0 grns. of H322. Works very well.