RL50 in 300 RUM

[machineman98]

Anybody using RL50 in 300 RUM w/230gr.?
Seems to be the only powder I can find that is slow enough.

 

[scope eye]

I wouldn't do it way to slow, try to beg steal or borrow or trade for that matter, I wouldn't be surprised if
you were totaly unsatisfied with the end results. I have never seen 50bmg powder work in anything well than in a 50 cal. I am sure someone will chime in and say it is the best powder they have ever used. if you feel you have no alternative load a few at a time and go from there.

Dean

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Anybody using RL50 in 300 RUM w/230gr.?
Seems to be the only powder I can find that is slow enough.

I haven’t but I just ran it in Quick Load and it should work.
with a 230 gr. Berger Hybrid and a COAL of 3.600 and a 26” BBL using a starting point of around 95 grains and it maxes out pressure wise at around 99 grains and yields very close to 3000 FPS.

If you have a longer barrel then it will surely work better. And yield better velocity.
Also, remember that Quick-Load is a program that produces hypothetical results.

My thoughts are, Reloder 50 is useable and Safe to try. Probably not as good a choice as Retumbo, N-570, or Reloder 33, but RL-50 is Safely usable.

 

[FeMan]

I have no personal experience with it but I just ran it in Quick LOAD and according to QL, it is not too slow of a burn. It says you can get up to 2890 out of a 24-inch bbl. QL is not perfect and it may in fact be too slow but as scope eye said.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Wish you were closer, I’d trade you some Retumbo for the RL-50

 

[Kurz]

Anybody using RL50 in 300 RUM w/230gr.?
Seems to be the only powder I can find that is slow enough.

The key here is what you can find. The powders most often associated with the heavier bullets in the 300 RUM may not be available due to hoarding and the secondary market reselling.

If that's the only powder slow enough you can find, it can be used. You will usually be at the top of the case capacity and you may have to resort to a little judicious vibratory settling to achieve the results you're looking for as long as you stay within the safety limits. If this is outside your realm of experience, skip this idea.

Seating depth will play a definitive roll in your loads with heavier bullets. Trying to stay at the factory 3.600" OAL won't work real well. But if you haven't adjusted the throat, you might be stuck.

When I tested the 230 gr. A-Tips, I cut the throat for this bullet. OAL was just about 4.000" and single feed as you might guess. But the loads worked well using some of the Re-50 I had on hand.

Under other circumstances, VVN-570 was excellent as was Retumbo, Norma 217, and US869.

As LA50SHOOTER suggests, the alternative these days is to find a willing trade partner.

Best.

 

[46and2]

I wouldn't do it way to slow, try to beg steal or borrow or trade for that matter, I wouldn't be surprised if
you were totaly unsatisfied with the end results. I have never seen 50bmg powder work in anything well than in a 50 cal. I am sure someone will chime in and say it is the best powder they have ever used. if you feel you have no alternative load a few at a time and go from there.

Dean

My 26 Nosler loves H50BMG

 

[46and2]

Anybody using RL50 in 300 RUM w/230gr.?
Seems to be the only powder I can find that is slow enough.

I think it might work! Go for it. You're probably going to get impressive velocity without pressure problems.

 

[dragman]

It works. couldn't get max performance out of it but i have ran it in the RUM with 230's in the past.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

As a couple of the other gentlemen have mentioned, in the present time we are dealing with we sometimes have to make due with the resources that we have available. And as @Kurz stated, I’d be looking to load those rounds as long as I could and single feed that big 30 cal. with the heaviest bullets I could find that I knew would stabilize in the twist rate of your barrel. - I will gladly provide to you Quick-Load data if you provide the Cartridge Over-All Length, your desired bullets and we’ll give you a starting point of 55 KPSI all the way up to what is SAAMI maximum pressure. And I’m willing to say that that big girl will get out and run like a cat that’s had turpentine rubbed on it’s a$$. Your fortunate to have 230 gr. Berger Hybrids in the current state of affairs as I don’t see them available on any of the on-line dealers and haven’t for a few weeks now. - As I stated, I wish you were closer as I’d trade evenly pound for pound some of the Retumbo that I have.
Let me know if I can help with providing you Quick-Load data.

 

[rpierce]

Works great in the 300 norma improved and 230s with very impressive ES and SD. Awesome case fill and accuracy. Should work great in your setup.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Reloder 50 hypothetically (Quick-Load data) can replicate Retumbo -
Ands it "hypothetically" out-performs Retumbo with longer barrels.

The below files are generated for a 26" barrel.

 

[machineman98]

Thanks for all the info.
I am looking for other powders that may work. We have RL50 available here.
I have a very limited supply of RL33, Retumbo and 8133, two lbs. or less of each and no more is available. I have two 300 RUM's, one with a 28.5" barrel and the other 32", both are single shots. (Probably should have stated this with my question.)
My reamer has a long freebore length.

 

[machineman98]

As a couple of the other gentlemen have mentioned, in the present time we are dealing with we sometimes have to make due with the resources that we have available. And as @Kurz stated, I’d be looking to load those rounds as long as I could and single feed that big 30 cal. with the heaviest bullets I could find that I knew would stabilize in the twist rate of your barrel. - I will gladly provide to you Quick-Load data if you provide the Cartridge Over-All Length, your desired bullets and we’ll give you a starting point of 55 KPSI all the way up to what is SAAMI maximum pressure. And I’m willing to say that that big girl will get out and run like a cat that’s had turpentine rubbed on it’s a$$. Your fortunate to have 230 gr. Berger Hybrids in the current state of affairs as I don’t see them available on any of the on-line dealers and haven’t for a few weeks now. - As I stated, I wish you were closer as I’d trade evenly pound for pound some of the Retumbo that I have.
Let me know if I can help with providing you Quick-Load data.

I will send you the info.

 

[machineman98]

As a couple of the other gentlemen have mentioned, in the present time we are dealing with we sometimes have to make due with the resources that we have available. And as @Kurz stated, I’d be looking to load those rounds as long as I could and single feed that big 30 cal. with the heaviest bullets I could find that I knew would stabilize in the twist rate of your barrel. - I will gladly provide to you Quick-Load data if you provide the Cartridge Over-All Length, your desired bullets and we’ll give you a starting point of 55 KPSI all the way up to what is SAAMI maximum pressure. And I’m willing to say that that big girl will get out and run like a cat that’s had turpentine rubbed on it’s a$$. Your fortunate to have 230 gr. Berger Hybrids in the current state of affairs as I don’t see them available on any of the on-line dealers and haven’t for a few weeks now. - As I stated, I wish you were closer as I’d trade evenly pound for pound some of the Retumbo that I have.
Let me know if I can help with providing you Quick-Load data.

COAL: w/ Berger 230gr. Hybrid Target 4.010 G1 .717 G7 .368
w/ Hornady A-Tip 230gr. 4.100 G1 .823 G7 .414
31.5" barrel 9 tw.

 

[cuznguido]

You might think I am off the wall here, but you might want to try US869.

 

[shoot4fun]

You might think I am off the wall here, but you might want to try US869.

He can find RL50 but US869 is pretty scarce. I do think US869 may be a better choice due to the fact it is a spherical powder and not as dense. Alliant has not description of RL50 being spherical or extruded but I'm guessing it is an extruded powder.

Works great in the 300 norma improved and 230s with very impressive ES and SD. Awesome case fill and accuracy. Should work great in your setup.

I'm happy to see this. I seem to remember seeing RL50 on the shelf at a local LGS last week. May have to call and check it out.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

COAL: w/ Berger 230gr. Hybrid Target 4.010 G1 .717 G7 .368
w/ Hornady A-Tip 230gr. 4.100 G1 .823 G7 .414
31.5" barrel 9 tw.

@machineman98 - Here are the Q/L print outs in PDF files for both 230 gr. (A-Tip & Berger Hybrid) Bullets in Both 28.5" & 32"Barrel Lengths at the two COAL's you stated.

RL-50 is an excellent choice IMO and the only one better IMO is RL-33. - I'm running 1-10" twist 34" 3 groove barrels on a big switch-barrel gun. - Also, I'm happy to see that yours are throated for the heavies and that you have some nice barrel length to work with.

This is just my opinion (based on some experience) US-869 or any other slow burning ball powders (i.e. WC-867, WC-870, WC-872) are NOT the way to go in a 300 RUM if you can help it. - ALL of these slow burning ball powders are designed to work optimumally at the higher pressure but they "spike" badly when temperatures change. (This is MY experience in 50 BMG Imp., 50 BMG Match, 416 Barrett, and a couple of improved Chey-Tac's) - I still have approx. 6 pounds of US-869 sitting and a bunch of WC-872. - I have a back-ground in Missile Fire-Control (U.S. Navy) and Military small arms up to inclining the 25mm chain-guns used for anti-patrol boat type "harassments" engagements during the Gulf War. - Firstly, we are talking about a Bolt action rifle in the 300 RUM - NOT a semi, or fully automatic type of Military gun that is special purpose built that these slow burning ball powders are designed for. - Now, yes we can make them work & do so Safely but I've found that their accuracy in regular sporting type small arms suffers until they are run at 60 KPSI and above and they are quite temperature sensitive in many applications that shooters attempt to use them in. (The Targets and the chronographed results don't lie).

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

Only 6 attached files are allowed per post, So here are the two remaining.

You will NOT have a problem getting 103% (Max Load) of RL-50 into your brass. - I like the ADG stuff myself but have shot both Norma & Nosler brass with decent results. - They (Norma & Nosler) will loosen up at the primer pockets a lot quicker when we "Pour-The-Coal" to them. -I personally like 97.5 - 98.0 grains of Reloder-33 for an honest 3050 fps with the 230 gr. Berger in a long throated chamber and my brass is lasting longer.

All The Best - Ron

 

[machineman98]

WOW! So much great info.
Thanks to all who responded.
Thanks you LA50SHOOTER for the Q/L data.
I will print it. Too much info to read on mobile.
If the RL50 is still available at my suppler, I will purchase some.
We have a local guy that has been selling reloading components for 40years.
But he is running out of supply also.