284 Win. starting loads

[cncmill]

I see on the main page in 7mm info that people are using 52 grains of RL17 with 180 bullets. What would be a good starting load? 48gr. or do I need to start lower.

284 win
180 gr Berger VLD
RL 17
28" barrel 9 twist

Thanks,

Erick Crouthamel

 

[dunraven]

ryan pierce is building my 284 as we speak. he is also an accomplished f-class shooter. his recommended load to me is 55.5 gr 4831sc, for what it's worth. am anxious to try it!

 

[lawrence97]

I would start with a published book load so you don't run into any trouble. I was pushing 180's out of my .284 at 2905-2915 fps with 56.2 of h4831sc but that may be extremely hot in some other 284's!
Be cautious with re17 because it creeps up very quickly in velocity! It goes mild to wild and blown primers/pockets quickly. My setup did not do well with re17. I always preferred 4831sc or 4350. 2855-2910 was were my rifle performed best.

 

[Petros284]

As for RE-17 lawrence97 is right on. you think you can keep on going then the primers come loose or worse. I understand those who would like the extra oomph that the Re-17 can give, but I could never get it to settle down. I have stuck with 4831SC for my past two .284's with velocities in the high 2800's to 2900 in one barrel and found single digit extreme spreads and sd's. I am working on a Shehane currently with the 4831SC. It is very consistent lot to lot, and shoots great in extreme temperature situations. If you are insisting on RE-17 I would start around 49 or so and work up .2-.3 grains. A lot of guys swear that they use the same starting point as 4350 which makes sense since burn rate is similar. Good luck and remember if you can find 4831SC go with it. Good starting point with the 4831SC is 54 grains. Usually find a node from 55.3-55.8, at least that is what I found, but it may be hot in your gun so be careful. Good Luck!

 

[lawrence97]

If I recall correctly, I was running 50.5 of h4350 with velocities of 2855-2880 fps with a 20-25 deg change in temps. Re17 did provide some very low ES's in the 3-7fps spread range but the groups did not look good.

 

[FeMan]

I just finished a .284 build and load work up with RL17. I did find it sensitive. In my rifle, I got hard bolt lift at 53.0 grains. The best node I found under that was at 51.1 and it shoots great, but I get an occasional stuck case even backed off that much (but no hard bolt lift ???).

The only published load data I could find was in The Berger Manual, but it is very conservative (like loads in the low to mid 40's). I did look at the powder manufacturers web site and while they don't show data for the .284 they do list it for the .280, which has a similar case capacity. Their max listed load is 50.5 grains of RL17 with the 175 bullets. Data isn't interchangeable of course but it suggests to me that I am in the ballpark.

I am going to go back to 4831 and see if I can't improve my results.

 

[Lapua40X]

I just finished a .284 build and load work up with RL17. I did find it sensitive. In my rifle, I got hard bolt lift at 53.0 grains. The best node I found under that was at 51.1 and it shoots great, but I get an occasional stuck case even backed off that much (but no hard bolt lift ???).

The only published load data I could find was in The Berger Manual, but it is very conservative (like loads in the low to mid 40's). I did look at the powder manufacturers web site and while they don't show data for the .284 they do list it for the .280, which has a similar case capacity. Their max listed load is 50.5 grains of RL17 with the 175 bullets. Data isn't interchangeable of course but it suggests to me that I am in the ballpark.

I am going to go back to 4831 and see if I can't improve my results.

Ditto. With my new .284 build I got hard bolt and stuck cases at 51.1 gr of RL-17. OAL has a significant effect on the limits for any load so be careful how you combine powder quantities with OAL variations. I'm currently working with 47 - 49.5 grs of RL-17 to see where the node is within that range. But after I've used up the 5# of RL-17 I have I think I'll pull back from the "cutting edge" and work with 4831.

 

[wc872]

While these charge weights are safe in my rifle Please start lower & work up.
I had done a ladder test & had 3 bullet holes overlapping @ 200 yards so I took the middle charge weight & stuck with it. I use 180 JLK's & CCI 200 primers. The middle charge weight of H4831SC using .5 grain steps was 55.0 grs.
Last Thursday I decided to shoot this rifle (Tubb T2000t) in a 1000 yard Match. To get a 100 yard I looked around for some "sighter" ammo to get me on paper. I found some different loads that I was going to test but never got around to. Off to the range. I get my 100 zero & then start testing the loads @ 300 yards. Now these are only 3 & 4 shot groups but I find one that prints a group smaller than the the old standby load of 55.0grs. H4831SC. The new load is 56.4 grs. H1000 with all other components the same.
Friday night I load enough of each to shoot the match with, should one show better results at 1000 yards. I colored the bullets with red majic marker on the old standby load to be able to see which bullet holes were from which load. During the sight in period I fired three of each load at the target. To my surprise all 6 shots fell into the same group. I measured the smallest three shot group & decided to shoot that load. It turned out to be the 56.4 grs. H1000 load. The first 10 shots scored a 91/100. So I will be shooting the new load as long as my components hold out. In my rifle I found it interesting that these two different loads would have the exact same elevation requirements @ 1000 yards.

 

[cncmill]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Erick Crouthamel