Mr. Outdoors
New member
I loaded some .204 with 8208xbr two nights ago i will be shooting it on friday afternoon. Im excited to see the results.
IMR 8208XBR
- Thread starter cjr8fan
- Start date
Thats the best price I've seen in the IMR 8280 XBR, anywhere. I picked up 1 lb here in So Cal for $25.95 and plan to test it this weekend in my .223 Savage Model 12 VLP. I put together 4 groups of test loads of 23.6, 24.0, 24.6 and 25.2 and have the bullets set .0001 off the lands. Sure hope this stuff is as good as others are experiencing, given the hype of it all.
Manitobamonster
New member
I have been testing it in my Rem. 788 223 which is a great shooter. I did a ladder this weekend using 50gr Nosler BT bullets. I was definitely not blown away with the accuracy vs. my benchmark load with the same lead and ran into pressure signs at .3gr below the recommended max in Hodgdon manual. I will say though it is one of the cleanest powders I have shot. I am gonna test 40gr leads this weekend as well as 32 and 35gr in my CZ varmint 204 this weekend I will post up if it looks good accuracy wise. I do not own a chrony yet so can not post up velocities.
On a side note my best shooting 223 load with the XBR was 1.3gr below max. Just finished loading up 40gr BK for the 223 with it as well as some 35gr Bergers for the 204 will post once wind dies down to try them.
On a side note my best shooting 223 load with the XBR was 1.3gr below max. Just finished loading up 40gr BK for the 223 with it as well as some 35gr Bergers for the 204 will post once wind dies down to try them.
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DOGMAN243-- Sorry I haven't been reading this thread lately so I didn't get my range test results posted. I'll get that deficiency solved right now.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
I just got my bolt back from Gre-Tan Rifles and he did a superb job of bushing the bolt and also ground down the firing pin diameter. I haven't had a chance to get out to the rifle range--lots of wind. I won't be getting out to do any shooting until maybe on Friday. Too many irons in the fire. I wonder how I had time to shoot and have fun before I retired??? Seems I'm busier now than I was when I had a full-time job.
Mr. Outdoors
New member
I have shot it out of my sav 12 1:7 .204 with 40gr nosler over 27.1 gr 8208xbr. 3876fps. Didnt group all that well so Im still working on the load.