little more reading on the 204 The .20-cal. bullet is said to provide the best balance of ballistic performance and velocity potential. Within a given ballistic coefficient, it will provide the best velocity from this size cartridge case. The result is the optimum external ballistic performance possible within the parameters of the case size. In theory at least, that translates into the best velocity and flatest trajectory achievable in this cartridge case.
The .204 Ruger also has a Maximum Average Pressure rating of 57,500 p.s.i.The result of this slightly lower pressure rating and the consequently lower volume of powder used are said to enhance barrel life. Hornady officials say they think barrel life will be on par with the .223 Rem. and far better than any other 4000-f.p.s. rifle cartridge.
Hornady of course has dies for the .204 Ruger, as well as bullets and brass. Berger also offers bullets, as do some custom makers. Bullet weights range from 32 grs. to 50 grs. The high velocity is achieved by the lighter 32-gr. bullets. In my opinion the 40-gr. bullet might provide the best balance of performance and velocity, particularly for shooting predators. George Weber of Hodgdon's ballistic lab says that the 50-gr. bullets are a bit long and intrude into the powder space. he also points out that the 1:12'' twist rate may not stabilize them well, although that is untested theory at this point.
The cartridge was developed by Hornady's Dave Ernary and he says that they use a special propellant made by Primex specifically for factory-loading .204 Ruger cartridges. Emary says that no currently offered canister powder is capable of achieving the same velocity as they are getting from factory loads. The best, he says, will fall about 100 f.p.s. short of factory load velocity and most of the current loading data supports that statement.
Emary says that Hornady's testing has shown H-4895 and Winchester 748 to be two of the best options currently on the market. Hornady also has data for N140, IMR-4064, RL-15, Varget, and N540 powders. The Hornady data is for the 32-gr. and 40-gr. Hornady bullets. The highest velocity for the 32-gr. bullet was 4200 f .p.s. and was achieved with 29.2 grs. of N140 powder.The best velocity for the 40-gr. Hornady bullet was 3850 f.p.s. That load used 28.3 grs. ofWinchester 748 powder.
Weber says Hodgdon has found that BL-C (2) worked very well with the .204 Ruger."BL-C(2) is happy when it finds a home and it lets you know if it's not happy," Weber said. "It works well here."
Hodgdon also has data for Varget, H335, H4895, Benchmark and H332. Hodgdon recently acquired the IMR powder company and it has data for the .204 Ruger using IMR-4895, IMR-4198, IMR-4064 andIMR-3031. Hodgdon tested both of the Hornady bullets, as well as 35-gr. and 50-gr. Berger bullets.
The best velocity for the 32-gr. Hornady was 4081 f.p.s. with 30.7 grs. of BL-C(2) powder. The fastest 35-gr. Berger load was 3937 f.p.s., again with 30.7 grs. of BL-C(S) powder. The 40-gr. Hornady was fastest at 3774 f.p.s. with 30.0 grs. of BL-C(2) powder. (Do I detect a trend here? BL-C (2) is emerging as the Hodgdon powder for this cartridge.) Actually, the best velocity with the 50-gr. Berger bullet was not with BL-C (2) powder. That title goes to 25.7 grs. of H4895 with a muzzle velocity of 3352. However, 27.0 grs. of BL-C(2) was just behind it with a muzzle velocity of 3334 f.p.s.
Weber noted that the cartridge seems to be primer-sensitive and that the Federal 205M provided the most consistent performance. Some other primers created wide standard deviations and extreme velocity spreads. The Hornady data used Remington 1 ½ primers.
The small .20-cal. necks will not work with most standard powder funnels and will require a smaller funnel designed for 17-cal. cartridges. Obviously, you will also need a .20-cal. pilot for case trimming.
The .204 Ruger doesn't really bring a new performance level to the table, but it does deliver it in a different package. It's a mild, pleasant to shoot cartridge that will probably provide unprecedented barrel life for a 4000 f.p.s. cartridge. Those qualities are important to a varmint shooter, but only the future will tell if it will enjoy long-term popularity.
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