260 Rem powder choices

[tiny68]

Helping a friend build a 260 for long range hunting school and future hunting trip. We put on a 24" CBI 1:8 twist barrel. He has chosen 140 Berger Hunting VLDs and has several boxes. We found a good supply of 260 Lapua brass. I have tons of primers to share. Redding S-type FL dies with the competition seater are in hand.

Now the hard part.... since H-4350 is unobtainable (in my searching efforts recently) what powder would guys suggest we try? Keep in my that he has a 24" barrel - which is a sub-nose by my definition. For a hunting load we are wanting to have near a max velocity with a given powder. I have or can get the following:

IMR-4350
RE-15
RE-17
RE-19
IMR-4064
H-4831SC

What would you suggest. Once we work up a load, he wants to go to his long range shooting school with 250 rounds pre-loaded. I am a bit concerned about the elevation swing. We are at 800 ft and his shooting school is +7,000 ft.

Thanks for any help, Tim

 

[Peterbilt2007]

H-4831 SC should work well. As far as loading the 250 rounds for school he may have different results with the altitude. JMHO.

 

[bsumoba]

140gr VLDs...well, H4350 is usually the preferred powder, followed by 4831SC.

Some guys are using RE-17. Stick with H4350.

The 24" barrel is not an issue, even out to 1000 yards.

For elevation swings like that, I would try not to be at max for the rifle. My suggestion, is to try to find a powder range that shoots well, say for example 43.2-43.5 gr. Then, I would most likely shoot the low end of the node, so in this example, 43.2gr. That way you have some room in case temperature or elevation does affect the load.

 

[trailrider121]

I would use H4831SC. I have a 24" CBI 1-8 twist 260 barrel, and my combo is 140's, Lapua brass, Wolf LR primer, with H4831SC powder. I get 2800 avg. speed with 46.5grs and super low ES/SD's.

 

[Heman]

38.5gr of N150 with 123s or 142s works in 4 different 260 rifles I know of. But of the powders you listed I also run H4831SC in my space gun with 142s and it shoots well. Both 4350's are blow torches to the throats and I try to stay away from them unless it clearly is the better powder such as in my .30-40's and the -06's.

 

[284winner]

46.5 of 4831sc w/140 vld or 140 amax@ 2860 fps. 26" Douglas Barrel on long action. Just touching lands. Not hot but warm load.

 

[JLT]

If you have Re-17 on hand, you may want to give it a whirl. I've had excellent results - very good accuracy and velocity - with this powder in the the standard .260 and with the lighter bullets in the .260 AI.

 

[loneranger04]

I've had decent luck with RL 17. A lot of guys were shooting the IMR 4350 with good luck also when H4350 disappeared. H4350 has been showing up at Powder Valley and different outlets on a regular basis but it is a blow torch on throats. After 1100 rounds mine looks worse than a .308 I had with over twice the round count.

 

[savagedasher]

I've had decent luck with RL 17. A lot of guys were shooting the IMR 4350 with good luck also when H4350 disappeared. H4350 has been showing up at Powder Valley and different outlets on a regular basis but it is a blow torch on throats. After 1100 rounds mine looks worse than a .308 I had with over twice the round count.

Looking at QL H4350 get 95% of velocity is 18'' of the barrel.
RL 17 only takes 9 1/2'' for 95 %. I would think you would be less likely to burn a barrel with the pressures and heat over a longer barrel area . Larry

 

[JLT]

I've had decent luck with RL 17. A lot of guys were shooting the IMR 4350 with good luck also when H4350 disappeared. H4350 has been showing up at Powder Valley and different outlets on a regular basis but it is a blow torch on throats. After 1100 rounds mine looks worse than a .308 I had with over twice the round count.

Looking at QL H4350 get 95% of velocity is 18'' of the barrel.
RL 17 only takes 9 1/2'' for 95 %. I would think you would be less likely to burn a barrel with the pressures and heat over a longer barrel area . Larry

If one were to put the QL data into practical context, a 10" Encore .260 pistol barrel would be nipping at the heels of a 28" tube on an F Class rifle in terms of velocity. I'm having a very, very hard time with that . . .

I'm sure you read it right, but I'm thinking someone's function has a problem with exponentiation.

 

[MildBill]

how about imr 4451

supposed to be about the same burn rate as H4350 and insensitive to temperature too.

I tried it in my 243 and it showed some promise to continue to work up some loads

 

[shoot4fun]

My best results in order
H4350
H4831sc

These are for the 140/142 class bullets.

I believe RL17, based on my experience with 6.5 Creedmoor, may be the best for velocity but not as temp stable as the two above.

 

[savagedasher]

I've had decent luck with RL 17. A lot of guys were shooting the IMR 4350 with good luck also when H4350 disappeared. H4350 has been showing up at Powder Valley and different outlets on a regular basis but it is a blow torch on throats. After 1100 rounds mine looks worse than a .308 I had with over twice the round count.

Looking at QL H4350 get 95% of velocity is 18'' of the barrel.
RL 17 only takes 9 1/2'' for 95 %. I would think you would be less likely to burn a barrel with the pressures and heat over a longer barrel area . Larry
[/quote
If one were to put the QL data into practical context, a 10" Encore .260 pistol barrel would be nipping at the heels of a 28" tube on an F Class rifle in terms of velocity. I'm having a very, very hard time with that . . .

I'm sure you read it right, but I'm thinking someone's function has a problem with exponentiation.

using QL and H4350 130 gr bullet 2.800as a base line here is the results
28'' barrel amount of powder burnt 98.15 % speed 2648 10'' barrel 86.81%with 2135 FPS
Larry

 

[JLT]

using QL and H4350 130 gr bullet 2.800as a base line here is the results
28'' barrel amount of powder burnt 98.15 % speed 2648 10'' barrel 86.81%with 2135 FPS
Larry


Sorry for being less than clear. I was referring to the RL-17 output. I don't believe that 95% velocity is achieved in less than 10" of barrel with a 6.5mm bore with RL-17. If that were so, one would notice a significant difference in felt recoil, all other things being equal (velocity and bullet mass). F=m*a . . .

 

[nhm16]

H4350. H4831SC is a touch too slow, you will get good accuracy but poor velocity (I found it hard to get over 2800fps with a 140gn bullet without packing the case). RL-17 works too, but when I tried it, I needed massive bullet jump (0.070"!) for good accuracy and even then H4350 was more accurate.