Hey, JR: how did the varminting go?

You beat me to it Mykal!

Hey Mykal, and all the rest interested in our little process. To recap, when the .204 Ruger was reviewed and it was noted that you could almost see the shot…the temptations began. Since I’m an accountant (cheap!), and an otherwise Godly man who tries to make do with what he has, I began to wonder if there was a way to satisfy my lust without yielding to buying a new rifle, ammo, brass, dies, etc. etc. I prairie dog annually in Wyoming, and with my .223 Rem 700 heavy barrel, I can sometimes see some of the shot using 50 grain bullets @ 3500 fps. In my Ruger #1B in .22-250 shooting 55’s, no way Jose. So began the quest to try duplicating the .204 without buying one!

As I researched and studied the recoil formula, it became apparent that the ticket to paradise was to reduce both the charge weight of the powder and the bullet weight. By cutting bullet weight to 40 grains from 50 or 55, holding velocity at 3500, and using faster powders, which allow for smaller charges, it’s possible to nearly duplicate the recoil of the .204.

Mykal saved me so much time, for he actually began a quest of powder comparisons under the 40 grain Hornady VMax, I still don’t know for what reasons, since prairie dogs don’t live in S. Florida! He fell in love with Hodgdon H322 and Benchmark, both in their Extreme Powder series, which means they’ll shoot the same when I’m testing them north of Green Bay in the spring when it’s 50 (on a good day)! Or 80 out in the Wyoming basins where we shoot in early summer. H322 is incredible powder. I never opened the Benchmark…It feeds like water, and velocities are so consistent the average spread is around 20 fps at 3500!!! Amazing. I’ll confess that I’m not that good a shot, so the first day was spent in frustration as I couldn’t eliminate my own errors from the bench in order to really see what this powder could do.

Day two, got some advice while sleeping (you can figure out how) that helped me set the bench up better. Using 18x scope on the Rem, ended up setting the OAL at 2.295. One of the joys of loading in the kitchen and then walking out and shooting is that you can try everything! That’s also the main aggravation…too many variables sometimes. But I settled on the OAL and then began working the charges to find the best group. Finally arrived at 25.5 grains. In a 10 shot group, I had five in an honest .25 hole, with the other five shots orbiting close by. Again, with my skills, darned good. Recoil was noticeably less, now need some live targets to see if I’ll actually see them explode. I’m about 10% away from the .204’s recoil. Oh, velocity chrono’d 3500 fps, which is adequate to blow up doggies. Using Fed 200’s.

With the Ruger #1 in .22-250, your expectations have to be lower. They don’t shoot as well, the trigger’s not a Timney, scope’s only 10x, etc. The first question was whether the 40’s would even stabilize, and they do just fine. Whew! I finally settled on 30.5 grains of H322 which kicks up 3600 fps and eight shots under an inch. In the Ruger, that’s ok. But I’m close to cutting the recoil down to half of what it was, and actually below what the .223 used to be…so I’ll actually be able to see some hits from this rifle, too. Yes, I’ve got it throttled back a bit since 40’s should be popping at 4000 fps in a .22-250. I don’t figure the dog’s will know! OAL is 2.41. Primer is Fed 210. One note on OAL. In .22-250’s and even in Ruger #1’s old to new, the throats are all different, so you have to find your own sweet spot. I’ve read of lengths from 2.3 to 2.7…

Sorry for the length, but this was an interesting exercise on a couple of levels. First, it bears repeating that for recoil sensitivity, reducing bullet weight and using faster powders will work. And by using good bullets, you can reduce velocities and have an effective firearm. I’m thinking that for kids, women, or when using lightweight rifles, this can solve some real problems. You may have a super lightweight .308 for example, and with 180 grain bullets and 2600 or more fps, it’s going to hurt a mite. The lever actions can hit real hard, too! By dropping back to 150’s, in an SST style, at maybe 2600 fps, recoil will be significantly less and you’ve still got a killer rifle, literally. You wouldn’t do this for grizzly hunting, but deer won’t care.

Hoping this helps someone else. What a compelling reason to reload!! You can’t do this with factory ammo…

And thanks again, Mykal, for all your earlier exploration. You eliminated so many variables. To think that I was going to take 3-4 powders up to try to find the best. . .I’d never get back to work!

JR1: great report! I'm a big fan of recoil-reducing loads myself, as long as they still get the job done (which in my case is pleasure shooting all day for best accuracy). I worked up some nice, light loads for my Winchester 94 once, because, as you say, those little lever actions can kick the heck out of you when shooting heavy loads. I used the 130 grain bullet from speer as opposed to the 170 grain normally used for deer slaying. Anyway, back to your results.

I was suprised and pleased to read that you took the AOL out to 2.295, which is much farther that I took it (2.220). How did you come by your AOL? I tried using that AOL measure from Stoney Point, but the darn thing gave such variable results that I ended up just taking it .010 or .015 past the manual's recommendations and figuring I was safe.

Glad I could be of help with the H322. It sure is a killer powder for that weight bullet and cartridge. Congradualtions on an interesting experiment (duplicating a .204 in a .223). That's what handloading is all about! --Mykal

I get my lengths by trial and error. Knowing that most rifles like 'em seated out nearly touching the lands, I usually go as long as will fit in the chamber and/or mag. Then by shooting, I play with the seating depth on one powder charge until it's best, then begin playing with the powder charges at that one length.
I know there are better ways, never used the guages. I've never seen one or known anyone who used them, so don't know what I'm missing.

JR1: you aren't missing much in my opinion. Never could get the darn thing to give me the same length two times in a row. About the best system I've seen for guaging AOL was something I came across surfing the web on the topic. This fellow (I forgot the site) would slice two thin slits with a dremmel in a case, set the bullet into the case, then chamber the round. When he pulled the cartridge out, the bullet was set against the lands. Then he would back it off about .010 or so. he would do that with every bullet he shot in that particular caliber. I might try that some time if I ever feel the need. Hope you get a chance to shoot up that Benchmark sometime soon. --Mykal

Yeah, you can accomplish the same thing by just not crimping the bullet at all...leaving it just loose enough. You don't need to Dremel it at all, just chamber it slowly, then back it down .10 and go from there.

I was going to try to take the Benchmark back...there you go getting me excited about something new again...I picked the 322 since it was a mite faster, calling for about 2.0 less grains for same bullet and velocity. And since I was looking for low recoil and great groups and got 'em...figured I was done. But I am curious about how the ole W748 would work, and maybe the Benchmark. And need a Hodgdon Extreme for my .308 now...have used IMR 4064 all along with good groups, but trying to switch over to Hodgdon for all of it now. Hodgdon powders, Hornady bullets, Fed primers. Keep it simple.

Tho' now I'm being stupid. I bought Fed 205's instead of 200's this time, don't recall why I decided that, but tested my loads with my old 200's...so now duh, do I load that load over the 205's or just buy some more 200's until I can test the 205's? Should probably just buy the 200's...

Just answered my own question. Fed lists the 200 primer as a small mag pistol...and I'm supposed to use the 205 which is for small rifle. Great. So I've bought the right thing, but it's untested, and now 500 rounds at least to load for WY....argh.