Update on IMR 8208 XBR in .204 Ruger--Information in the post below this one!!!
- Thread starter Silverfox
- Start date
Re: Update on IMR 8208 XBR in .204 Ruger
This thread was started way back on April 24, 2010, and I don't remember much else about it. My apologies to anyone who was waiting for my "Update on IMR 8208 XBR in .204 Ruger." Evidently my old timer's disease got the best of me and I failed to post anything. Anyway, here it is three years and three months since I posted a blank message, but here is what I meant to share.
[size=18pt]Remember "These loads work in my rifle under my shooting conditions and may not be safe in your rifle!!!"
I am using the following loads in a Savage Target action .204 Ruger with a Lilja 1 in 12 twist 3-groove stainless steel barrel that is 26 inches long. I use a suppressor on this rifle as well. I am using neck turned Nosler brass in this rifle. I have tried loads of IMR 8208 XBR starting at 27.0 gr. and working my way up to 27.8 gr. going up .1 gr. at a time with the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets coated with hBN. I settled on using a powder charge of 27.2 gr. of 8208 and on September 15, 2014, with the temperature at 45 degrees I was getting an average muzzle velocity of 3,955 fps. A little over 3 years ago, this same load, same primers, same casings, same lot of powder was giving me an average muzzle velocity of 3,894 fps on a day when the temperature was 74 degrees, I didn't have a suppressor on the rifle at that time. Here's a target I shot with this rifle at 100 yards from a concrete bench with my Harris bipod for a front rest and a rabbit-ear bag for a rear rest.
Another .204 Ruger I have, has a 24 inch super match grade stainless steel 1 in 11 twist 3-groove Pac-Nor barrel on it that I had the BLACKNITRIDE™ treatment done on and the barrel is fitted to my old Savage 12VLP action that I bought back in June of 2004 when the .204 Ruger first came out on the retail market. It is threaded for my suppressor. I use WW brass with no neck turning. This rifle was chambered using the same reamer as the Savage Target action listed above and they have a .230" ID on the neck. I’m using 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets in this rifle, but I don’t have any coating on the bullets. I have been working very hard at trying to find an accurate load for this rifle and have fired about 180 test loads. The most accurate load I found so far has been 26.3 gr. of IMR 8208 XBR. I’m only getting an average muzzle velocity of 3,740 fps, but the groups with this load are very accurate. I did finally get to shoot some prairie dogs with this rifle back on September 26, 2014, and again on October 17, 2014. I will be taking this rifle along in my pickup when I go out on coyote calling trips. My main coyote rifle, will be my .17 Remington though, using Chan Nagel's 30 gr. T-000 FBHP bullets. I have a load of 24.1 gr. of N-540 pushing these bullets out of the muzzle at a velocity of 3,855 fps.
The other .204 Ruger I have is also built on a Savage 12VLP action and has a 25 inch super match grade stainless steel 1 in 11 twist 3-groove Pac-Nor barrel on it as well. No special treatment has been done on this barrel and it is threaded for my suppressor. I'm using WW brass in this rifle with no neck turning. This rifle shoots small groups using the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets coated with hBN using either 27.8 gr. or 27.4 gr. of IMR 8208 XBR, with the 27.4 gr. load giving me just a tiny bit better accuracy. The 27.8 gr. load gave me an average muzzle velocity of 3,907 fps and the 27.4 gr. load gives me an average muzzle velocity of 3,846 fps. However, I am shooting 40 gr. V-Max bullets in this rifle that are coated with hBN and using 27.2 gr. of H4895. This rifle is strictly a prairie dog killer and the $15 to $17 per 100 bullets for the 40 gr. V-Max go a lot easier on my bankroll than 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKings at anywhere from $21 to $28 per 100. Besides, the 40 gr. V-Max seem to be every bit as accurate as the 39 gr. Sierra SBKs.
I use Remington 7½ primers in all the loads listed above. I used several other powders in these rifles as well. H4895 was very accurate and Reloder 10X worked well for me until I had to buy more. I purchased a different lot of Rel 10X powder and never could find the sweet spot for an accurate load again. I hope this information may be of help to some of you.
L8R--Silverfox[/size]
This thread was started way back on April 24, 2010, and I don't remember much else about it. My apologies to anyone who was waiting for my "Update on IMR 8208 XBR in .204 Ruger." Evidently my old timer's disease got the best of me and I failed to post anything. Anyway, here it is three years and three months since I posted a blank message, but here is what I meant to share.
[size=18pt]Remember "These loads work in my rifle under my shooting conditions and may not be safe in your rifle!!!"
I am using the following loads in a Savage Target action .204 Ruger with a Lilja 1 in 12 twist 3-groove stainless steel barrel that is 26 inches long. I use a suppressor on this rifle as well. I am using neck turned Nosler brass in this rifle. I have tried loads of IMR 8208 XBR starting at 27.0 gr. and working my way up to 27.8 gr. going up .1 gr. at a time with the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets coated with hBN. I settled on using a powder charge of 27.2 gr. of 8208 and on September 15, 2014, with the temperature at 45 degrees I was getting an average muzzle velocity of 3,955 fps. A little over 3 years ago, this same load, same primers, same casings, same lot of powder was giving me an average muzzle velocity of 3,894 fps on a day when the temperature was 74 degrees, I didn't have a suppressor on the rifle at that time. Here's a target I shot with this rifle at 100 yards from a concrete bench with my Harris bipod for a front rest and a rabbit-ear bag for a rear rest.
Another .204 Ruger I have, has a 24 inch super match grade stainless steel 1 in 11 twist 3-groove Pac-Nor barrel on it that I had the BLACKNITRIDE™ treatment done on and the barrel is fitted to my old Savage 12VLP action that I bought back in June of 2004 when the .204 Ruger first came out on the retail market. It is threaded for my suppressor. I use WW brass with no neck turning. This rifle was chambered using the same reamer as the Savage Target action listed above and they have a .230" ID on the neck. I’m using 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets in this rifle, but I don’t have any coating on the bullets. I have been working very hard at trying to find an accurate load for this rifle and have fired about 180 test loads. The most accurate load I found so far has been 26.3 gr. of IMR 8208 XBR. I’m only getting an average muzzle velocity of 3,740 fps, but the groups with this load are very accurate. I did finally get to shoot some prairie dogs with this rifle back on September 26, 2014, and again on October 17, 2014. I will be taking this rifle along in my pickup when I go out on coyote calling trips. My main coyote rifle, will be my .17 Remington though, using Chan Nagel's 30 gr. T-000 FBHP bullets. I have a load of 24.1 gr. of N-540 pushing these bullets out of the muzzle at a velocity of 3,855 fps.
The other .204 Ruger I have is also built on a Savage 12VLP action and has a 25 inch super match grade stainless steel 1 in 11 twist 3-groove Pac-Nor barrel on it as well. No special treatment has been done on this barrel and it is threaded for my suppressor. I'm using WW brass in this rifle with no neck turning. This rifle shoots small groups using the 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKing bullets coated with hBN using either 27.8 gr. or 27.4 gr. of IMR 8208 XBR, with the 27.4 gr. load giving me just a tiny bit better accuracy. The 27.8 gr. load gave me an average muzzle velocity of 3,907 fps and the 27.4 gr. load gives me an average muzzle velocity of 3,846 fps. However, I am shooting 40 gr. V-Max bullets in this rifle that are coated with hBN and using 27.2 gr. of H4895. This rifle is strictly a prairie dog killer and the $15 to $17 per 100 bullets for the 40 gr. V-Max go a lot easier on my bankroll than 39 gr. Sierra BlitzKings at anywhere from $21 to $28 per 100. Besides, the 40 gr. V-Max seem to be every bit as accurate as the 39 gr. Sierra SBKs.
I use Remington 7½ primers in all the loads listed above. I used several other powders in these rifles as well. H4895 was very accurate and Reloder 10X worked well for me until I had to buy more. I purchased a different lot of Rel 10X powder and never could find the sweet spot for an accurate load again. I hope this information may be of help to some of you.
L8R--Silverfox[/size]
Not hijacking the thread, but I shoot 32 gr. Z-Max bullets in my Cooper 204. I have found that 29.3 gr, of IMR 8208 XBR with Win cases and Wolf SRM primers, shoots VERY well in my gun with velocity just over 4000 fps.
This load is at the MAX limit so do not start with this and work up carefully if you want to give this a try.
This load is at the MAX limit so do not start with this and work up carefully if you want to give this a try.
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