mitchell-- Congratulations on your new rifle purchase. What make and model rifle did you purchase? When you save up to purchase a scope, try to buy the very best you can afford--so save up for a long time and get a real good scope. The .204 Ruger caliber deserves as scope that will really help you reach out and touch those critters accurately.
What powder your rifle will like is really hard to say for sure. Since you already own a .243 and if you reload for that, maybe you already have a powder on hand that might work with the .204 Ruger. I have found that Varget worked well in my .243 with the 58 gr. V-Max. and did shoot a few loads of Varget in the .204 Ruger, but didn't find it gave me the velocity I wanted. I also used to use Win 760 and IMR 4350 in my .243, but I don't find them on many of the lists of favorites for the .204 Ruger. You may have to find a different powder for the .204 Ruger.
The Hodgdon Web site has a nice load data chart at
Hodgdon reloading data for .204 Ruger and I would recommend you start there for minimum and maximum load suggestions. I like to try to pick powders that will work in the heat and cold of North DaColder, so I tend to select powders from the Hodgdon Extreme powders. Of the Extreme Powders listed in the .204 Ruger load data, H4895 has been my choice for my Savage 12VLP. I think BL-C(2), Benchmark, H335, and H322 also look like they should work well with the 32 gr. bullets, although only Benchmark and H322 are in the Extreme bunch.
REMEMBER, always start low on the powder charge range and work your way up. These powder charges may be safe in my rifle, but they may blow up in your face. Use them at your own risk!!!!
For bullets in the 35 gr. and 40 gr. weight class, the BL-C(2), H335, and H4895 powders seem to give the best velocities. The loads of H4895 are listed as "compressed" loads, but my recollection is that until I got up around 28.8 or so gr. of H4895, my loads weren't compressed. Your casing capacity may vary a little bit, so be careful!!! You also have to pay real close attention to how deep you seat your bullets if you are reaching the "compressed" load area. Pay real close attention to the amount of powder in your casings!!
One powder that I have not seen listed anywhere else except in a discussion thread on AccurateReloading.com is AA2230. It appears to have some fairly decent potentional, at least for the 32 gr. bullets. I haven't had a chance to test it with the 35 gr. Bergers or the 40 gr. Berger or V-Max, so I can't tell you how it might work with them. I do have the charge weights, muzzle velocities and comments on group sizes from the AccurateReloading.com poster who tried these loads if you are interested.
Ramshot Powder company has finished some of their testing with .204 Ruger loads and recommends Tac and X-Terminator powder for use with the 32 gr. and 40 gr. bullets in the .204 Ruger.
The following data was posted by Gary Wenzel over on the Saubier.com board:
32 gr. V-Max
Xterminator 24.0 to 27.0 gr.
Tac 26.0 to 29.0 gr.
40 gr. V-Max 3,800 fps
Xterminator 21.0 to 25.0 gr.
Tac 24.0 to 27.0 gr.
Both Max loads for the 40 gr. bullet are supposed to get 3,800 fps.
No velocities were give for the 32 gr. bullet loads.
Here are some loads someone posted for the .204 Ruger using 32 gr. and 40 gr. bullets and N140 and Win 748. Be very carful with the Win 748. I used a little bit over the 29.6 gr. load listed for the 32 gr. bullet and the primer pockets stretched so much you could seat primers with just finger pressure afterwards!!!!
This table wouldn't line up when I copied and pasted so I had to print it, scan it, save it as a JPEG, upload it to my photo hosting site, and post it as an image. Hope it shows up OK.
I HAVE NOT tested these loads nor do I vouch for them being safe in your rifle. Use them at your own risk and work up from the lower charges, please don't start at the top charge weights.
In the Winter 2004 issue of
Small Caliber News, Todd Kindler posted some reloading information for the .204 Ruger. I think there was another author who also had some reloading data for the .204 Ruger posted there as well. Mr. Kindler seems to favor Reloder 10X for both his Tactical 20 AND for the .204 Ruger. You might want to find a copy of that issue and take a read on what he has to say.
Good luck and let us know how your progress with your new rifle.