I've developed loads for my .204 and my .222 using Hodgdon H4895. Both loads work well, and I really like the idea of being able to use one powder for both rifles. I've noticed when I clean my rifles that the barrel of the .204 never seems to be as dirty as the barrel of the .222 rifle. I'm basing this on the appearance of the cleaning patches. It seems to take a lot more patches to get .222 barrel clean. Could anyone offer an explanation for this? Is the .222 not burning the powder as completely as the .204? In the .204 I am using 27.5 grains of H4895, and in the .222 I am using 23.0 grains of H4895. Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks. :confused:

I'll take a guess. IIRC, the .204 has a higher operating pressure than the .222, so that should give a cleaner burn. The larger bore of the .222 cools the powder gas faster and lets more residue deposit in the bore too.

Bye
Jack

Many factors affect the cleanliness or dirtiness of a bore. Combustion efficiency is just one. I'd suppose that the .204 runs at a slightly higher pressure, and thus may produce a bit less fouling than the deuce.

There's also plain old surface smoothness. Perhaps the deuce is a titch rougher, either because it was machined differently or because it's been shot a lot more and is microscopically eroded.

IMR4895 is a very versitile powder.

Might try some Hodgdon Varget some time and see if you don't like it a bit better. Have wonderful results in my .223 Rem with it.

The medium burn rate powders are all a bit slow for the old deuce. It shines with slightly faster powders like 4198, H322, AA2015 and others in that bracket. Powders like 4895, Varget and such will work, but they're past the point of "best" burn rate for that case capacity and expansion ratio.

Like it or not, there really is no such thing as a "universal" powder. Like golf clubs, you really need to pick the one that's best for a certain shot - and even then there might not be a "perfect" one from which to choose.

The good news is powder fouling comes out pretty easy. Copper fouling (or lead) is tougher.
Cheezywan

I feel the same way about H322...and after many hundred rounds out of my .223 and .22-250 each, there's not much powder. Copper, yes.

I use Benchmark in both my .222 and .223. Both rifles shoot it very well. I ahve noticed that I am cleaning both more often during a prolonged pdog or sagerat shoot, more so than when I was using H335. My groups are smaller and more consistant. I'll take haveing to clean more often vs. smaller groups. Itseems that the .223 gets less dirty than the .222 but I attribute that to the fact that it's had close to 9000 rounds through it and the bore has if anything been polished by that many rounds going down the tube. JMO

RJ