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Anyone using RL 26 for competition rounds

I have a 243 I built for f class( it was the cheapest way in since I already had everything but the new barrel) I have been using Rl26 and 105rdf's and getting 3300fps out of them easily but I'm having trouble with with my ES and maintaining good grouping over 80+ round course of fire
Br2 primer lapua brass.
My original data showed an ES of 16 but the e targets last match were showing 200fps between high and low and the vertical seemed to agree. Any tips on 243 or Rl26 are appreciated.
 
Barrel temp, ambient temp. At what point did you start noticing the ES changing? How many rds. on your string?
I haven't tested RL-26 but RL-25 can give you spikes like your getting.
 
I loaded similar load with R26 at 3250fps for my son to shoot in my 6mm Creedmoor in a FClass match and results were also similar.
Getting ready to work up load with Reloder16.
 
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I run a very mild charge of rl26 in my 6 comp match which is my prs gun. Lots of rounds really fast kind of gun. I don't have the problems what so ever that you speak of. I'm runnin 3180fps with standard deviation of 2 with cool barrel and when it gets hot enough to melt your fingerprints my sd is 5. I ain't sure what to tell you except try backin your load off and possibly try a different primer. You are really haulin ass for a straight 243 even though it's really easy to go that fast with 26. Good luck.
 
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Start with 44g of VV N160 and work up. You can get similar velocity. Might provide better vertical over a longer string of fire....
 
I run a very mild charge of rl26 in my 6 comp match which is my prs gun. Lots of rounds really fast kind of gun. I don't have the problems what so ever that you speak of. I'm runnin 3180fps with standard deviation of 2 with cool barrel and when it gets hot enough to melt your fingerprints my sd is 5. I ain't sure what to tell you except try backin your load off and possibly try a different primer. You are really haulin ass for a straight 243 even though it's really easy to go that fast with 26. Good luck.
(unimportant but i got to 3400 with 110's before i got the first pressure sign which was a tiny ejector mark 30'' tube 7 twist)
I will give backing down a try I was going to just start over on my load development since I was a bit hurried initialy and my results are obvioussly poor. Seems like a good time to back up and start over. I was admittedly a little overconcerned with FPS and may have missed an indicator or two in its pursuit.
Rifle has about 350 rounds on it now ambient 70-80 degrees
usually goes more stupid on second relay than first always thought that was likely me Im new and was surprised by the fatigue that builds so quickly when your not used to shooting 20 times without a breather
 
I have a 243 I built for f class( it was the cheapest way in since I already had everything but the new barrel) I have been using Rl26 and 105rdf's and getting 3300fps out of them easily but I'm having trouble with with my ES and maintaining good grouping over 80+ round course of fire
Br2 primer lapua brass.
My original data showed an ES of 16 but the e targets last match were showing 200fps between high and low and the vertical seemed to agree. Any tips on 243 or Rl26 are appreciated.



How much time are you using to shoot your relay? 10, 12, 15 minutes? It's possible that taking more time on your strings will not help. I shoot mine on electronic targets pretty fast usually 12-15 minutes. All in all I would slow it down. In my .243 and Competition Match barrels I run H1000.
 
I tried h-1000 during initial load (memory is fuzzy on charge wieght but it was 1/2gr over hogdom book max) of it netted me 2950fps
What kind of fps are you getting out of it? I think 47 was a book max for 243 and h-1000 i didnt load to pressure only made a few for a quick peak at the performance
 
Give RL16 a try. 4350 burn rate with excellent temp stability. I've been shooting it 7-8 months in 6x47L Improved, (same case capacity as a 6 Creedmoor). It holds excellent verticle at 1K shooting F. Like Don, I shoot fast, 10-15 minute strings and the gun gets good and hot. Speed is nice but not if the load won't hold up..
-Shawn
 
Shawn, I sent you a pm. If I get my hands on a pound of RL26 I will be testing it in the .243 and the 6mm Competition Match.

Don Dunlap
 
I've been running RL-26 in a 26" Shilen .243 Win with the 105g Berger Hybrid. Found a good node during ladder testing right at the 3200fps range but this summer I have had a hard time staying on that node. Ran an informal test a couple of weeks ago to check temp stability. This was far from scientific but I placed 3 rounds on ice and 3 rounds in the sun for 15 minutes. The rounds were then shot over the Labradar as fast as they could be chambered and fired. The outside temp was in the upper 80's. The 3 cold rounds averaged 3208fps, the 3 hot rounds averaged 3280fps and 3 rounds fired at ambient temperature averaged 3250 fps. That's a 72fps spread between hot and cold.

I suspected this powder might not have the best temp stability after testing the same charge weight found during the ladder test when it was 72F outside on a 88F day and getting 50 more fps with the same charge weight. I backed this charge down .3g and got back down to 3219fps on the same 88F day. Went back to the range the next week with temps in mid 90's with the charged backed down a full half grain from the 72F day and velocity was back up to 3250fps again. I think this powder is really sensitive when the summer temps get much over 80. I like the speed and accuracy with this powder when I can keep it on the node but summer temps are making that extremely hard to do.

An interesting side note. We did the same hot cold test above on a GAP 6.5 4S running H-1000 on the same day and the H-1000 had a spread of 11fps between the ice cold rounds and the sun heated rounds.
 
I've been running RL-26 in a 26" Shilen .243 Win with the 105g Berger Hybrid. Found a good node during ladder testing right at the 3200fps range but this summer I have had a hard time staying on that node. Ran an informal test a couple of weeks ago to check temp stability. This was far from scientific but I placed 3 rounds on ice and 3 rounds in the sun for 15 minutes. The rounds were then shot over the Labradar as fast as they could be chambered and fired. The outside temp was in the upper 80's. The 3 cold rounds averaged 3208fps, the 3 hot rounds averaged 3280fps and 3 rounds fired at ambient temperature averaged 3250 fps. That's a 72fps spread between hot and cold.

I suspected this powder might not have the best temp stability after testing the same charge weight found during the ladder test when it was 72F outside on a 88F day and getting 50 more fps with the same charge weight. I backed this charge down .3g and got back down to 3219fps on the same 88F day. Went back to the range the next week with temps in mid 90's with the charged backed down a full half grain from the 72F day and velocity was back up to 3250fps again. I think this powder is really sensitive when the summer temps get much over 80. I like the speed and accuracy with this powder when I can keep it on the node but summer temps are making that extremely hard to do.

An interesting side note. We did the same hot cold test above on a GAP 6.5 4S running H-1000 on the same day and the H-1000 had a spread of 11fps between the ice cold rounds and the sun heated rounds.
Thank you for sharing. that is scientific enough to be relavant I do believe. My rifle is a little picky and 50fps could put me out of nose for sure. I will investigate this. I have 10 rounds left from last match as a control group.
 
I found changing to magnum primers dropped the ES spread with this powder when it was an issue, sometimes I didn't need to.
 
I tried RL26 in my 28" 243 and got results like you when shooting anything over 10 rounds at a time,,I tried H1000 also and it shot well up near 50 grs ,,I have since went back to shooting 42 grs H4350 with the 105 HVLD at 3200 fps and it shoots the same all the time,,
 
I tried RL26 in my 28" 243 and got results like you when shooting anything over 10 rounds at a time,,I tried H1000 also and it shot well up near 50 grs ,,I have since went back to shooting 42 grs H4350 with the 105 HVLD at 3200 fps and it shoots the same all the time,,
 
i shot it in my 65/284 at 1k it did very well for me in the world open. i won light gun score with a agg of 95.it was very consitant for me.hard to tell how good it will real group at a 1000 it was pretty rough weekend and it was the first time i shot the gun this year at 1k.my smallest group was 7.4" .it shot 4 shots in .902 at 425 in testing the week before the open.147 eldm's at 2980fps no presure.
 
Gave up on RL26 after getting ALMOST good groups at 53.2gr at 600 in my 6.5/284 with Sierra 150's. bumping 0.2 gr opened up groups to 6" at 600. Tried magnums, got 11" vertical at 1,000... Was going to kill the barrel trying to get a good load, so I chucked it.
 
Had good luck in my 284 at both 600 and 1K with 180 Hybrids. Once the temp hit mid 80’s things went south. No problem with pressure just groups went to s@#t. Went back to H-4831sc.
 

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