Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles H4198 in .204 Ruger?

Twenty-four grains behind a 32gr V-max is a 4100fps load in a Tactical 20, and very
accurate as well.

Is there some reason I'm missing that practically no one is using it in the .204 Ruger?
To date (after several weeks of looking), I've found just one load using H4198 on
Ammo Guide, but nothing in any forum.

Has anyone here even tried it?

yeah, but I'll give ya a hint...

not many folks like using powders that are that fast or have been around as long.... it ranks a big ZERO on the cool factor....

but since I am not part of that club, I use it, its IMR twin, RL 7 in the 204 and my 20 Practical...

most of these guys think if you use 4198, you must wear high water pants, have a pocket protector, bowtie and geek glasses held together by electrical tape...

Then perhaps I should properly introduce myself:



Not much on the white lightnin', but the rest is pretty much
me. Substitute white (not gray) hair! Bible can't be seen
because of the back ground.

Some of these guys seem to be jealous of genius, which is
probably why you've gotten so much $hit over the years.

H4198 is one of the most versatile rifle powders, but yeah, it is neglected by many modern handloaders. I use it in cartridges from the .17 Hornet to the .35 Remington, with several stops in between.

There are also some other neglected or new powders that cover the same basic ground, also very well, including Norma 200 and LT-30.

How true, I was very saddened when the Norma powders disappeared from the market as they were and still are very good powders. I really like MRP instead of 22. Haven't tried LT30 but will when I order some more LT32.

As far as the 204, it never really caught on here. Still see a bunch of deuce and deuce mags mostly do too the variety of bullet weights that can be used.
Here the 223 is still the most common as we don't have to many areas anymore to shoot Pdog or sage rats mostly just yotes, which we have an abundance of and for that purpose the 223 does just fine. But if I need more, then the 22-250 and Swift more than adequately fill the void.

Norma powders are back, and should stay that way. Western Powders in Miles City, Montana (the people who started selling Ramshot powders in 2000, and bought the Accurate line a few years later) is now the American distributor of Norma powders, and they're doing a very good job. You can buy them on most websites now, and they're starting to show up in stores as well.

I've been wondering about some other good uses for 4198. I've got an 8lb jug of the IMR version. I needed some before Christmas to load up some reduced loads for a young cousin who was getting his first deer rifle, a 243, for Christmas. The 8lb jug was the only thing I could locate. I have a young nephew and niece coming up so I'll use some more of it for reduced loads, but I'd like to have some other uses for it since I have such a large quantity.

H4198 does a fine job in the .45/70 as well. Easily breaks 2,000 fps with a 350 grain bullet.

Not that this has ANYTHING to do with it in a .204 Ruger...

Guy

Yes, I've heard the plague got a lot of PD towns, and that
ranchers started getting 2d incomes from leasing.

I grew up in SW Nebraska. Back in the 60's & early 70's, the
.22-250 was the go-to PD rifle. I got tired of the wind
blowing the 55gr pills off target, soo, wanting a combination
deer/varmint rifle, got a Rem700BDL in .25-06. I connected a
lot more with the ol' Hornady 75gr HP's. However, had there
been such an aminal as a .204 Ruger back then, it may have
gone places out there.

I believe I'm just going to start out with CCI450, 24.5gr
H4198, 33gr V-max (NOT a typo), and OAL of 2.260 in Hornady
brass.




Funny how it turns out that powders for these little rounds
are also used in heavy calibers. I see where some are using
IMR3031 in the .204 Ruger.....I use it in my custom .45
smokeless muzzle loaders. Others such as H322, AA2015, H335,
Varget, etc., can also be used in both.

I've tried 3031 in the 204 and it did a good job... but it always does a good job in about any cartridge...

I've been a real fan lately of H 322, and have quickly gone thru 8 lbs of the 25 plus pounds I had of it..

got some 24 grain NTX bullets supposedly showing up on Tuesday...

with 4198 and those, you can get some pretty darn quick velocity out of the old muzzle...both 204 and 20 Practical...

Quick question, isn't H-4198 an extreme powder? If so then the extremes didn't come around until 1992-93.
If talking old forgotten powders IMR-3031 and IMR 4198 have been around since before WWII. IIRC

H4198 wasn't always an Extreme powder; it's been around quite awhile along with the IMR version. They're actually quite a bit different in some cartridges now (like the 45-70 for instance.)

According to what I have been able to find so far is that H-4198 didn't show up until hodgdon manual #21 which was printed in 1970-1973, will confirm when I get my copy of #20 printed in 1967. Also found that most powders made that early were from Nobel in Scotland that used a different deterent coating which was when the IMR powders of the same # were different enough to warrant the warning not to use IMR data.
Fact is Hodgdon never made any powder, he just bought Mil surplus and pull down powder from 06 rounds(4895) BL-C from 303 British, and a slower powder from 20 mm cannon rounds (H-450, or maybe H-4350).
So if you bought powder from hodgdon prior to 70-73 it's a good chance you were just shooting repackaged IMR or Hurcules powders that were made for the military.