.260 & RL17

[Deton8tor]

I have been using H4350 and H4831SC in my 260 for quiet somtime, with good results. Latley, I have read that RL 17 is performing well. Can some of the more seasoned .260 shooters share some RL 17 load data for 139's , 142's and 123's. Appreciate the replys.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

I've shot RL-17 in my .260AI from day one. It likes to run hot. In my rifle, there is a clear line @ 3020fps. >=3020, everything is golden. < and vertical prints me right out of the 10-ring, nevermind the X. This is shooting Berger 140gn. Target VLD's.

In a straight .260, I don't think you'll see 3020fps. But, you should get good results at a higher accuracy node for your chambering.

 

[BoilerUP]

My go-to load is 43.5gr RL-17 with the 130gr Berger VLD in Lapua brass; 3000fps and 0.5MOA accuracy with no pressure signs in my 26" 8 twist Criterion barrel.

42.5 RL-17 is good for 2860fps with the 140 A-Max with no pressure, though I never got around to fine-tuning a load with that bullet.

 

[Deton8tor]

Thanks gent's, exactly what I am looking for. Just for info, I'm shooting a straight .260 McGowan Precision 1:8, 26".

 

[.260 james]

I have been shooting Re-17 exclusively in my straight .260 since the day it came home from the gunsmith. Only bullets i have sent down the barrel are 130 gr. bergers. the gun is throated for an OAL of 2.99" and using Remington brass and federal 210s shoots 3120 fps. I worked the load up slowly half grain or less at a time until the fouling improved and accuracy seemed to come into line. Its a little erratic accuracywise until pressure is up a little bit , but things greatly improve once you get to a good usable maximum. I don't know how much of that speed is to the REloader 17 and how much comes from the 30" krieger barrel thats as smooth as any barrel I have ever seen. No copper to speak of ever. I started at 43 grs. and I am at 45 grains for my hunting load. It is completely safe IN MY GUN! I would advise starting a little low and keep an good eye on the fouling you get. Once that seems to start getting clean you are getting close.

 

[Raptor]

I would have to double check my load but I shot some with the 123gr Scenars and my load was close to 3100fps as I recall. It shot in the .3s and .4s at 100yds.

I stayed with the 4350 because the RL17 is not an extreme powder and I had read where guys were having some problems because of that.

My rifle is a Kreiger 1-8 23" with 2800+ rounds through it. I started shooting the 123s after I had it set back and love them!!

 

[.260 james]

I havent seen as much velocity varations as some people have with REloder 17, I have been shooting the same lot of powder since I got it though! I have shot it at temps from about 25 to 105 degrees. Not mystery pressure issues on hot days and the loads were worked up it chilly (45 degree ) weather. My gun is a Hunting gun and I haven't chrony the loads in all temps. But it consistently shots accurately at any temps.

 

[nhm16]

Thanks gent's, exactly what I am looking for. Just for info, I'm shooting a straight .260 McGowan Precision 1:8, 26".

I also have a 1:8 McGowen in .260 Rem. I did not get good results accuracy-wise with RL-17 until I jumped the bullets a lot. In my case it was 0.070". Then my groups closed up to about what I was getting with H4350, which always shot best with the bullet seated into the lands.

 

[Spikesniper]

I havent seen as much velocity varations as some people have with REloder 17, I have been shooting the same lot of powder since I got it though! I have shot it at temps from about 25 to 105 degrees. Not mystery pressure issues on hot days and the loads were worked up it chilly (45 degree ) weather. My gun is a Hunting gun and I haven't chrony the loads in all temps. But it consistently shots accurately at any

Out of curiosity, what region are you shooting in primarily? I started out with R17 in my 260 with 123 SMK's and 130 VLD's. Very low ES/SD at 3050 fps with no pressure signs. Worked up the load in 60 degree weather in South Texas. Started noticing some accuracy issues downrange and decided to chrono some loads again. In 90 degree heat, the spread opened up more than 100 fps... Same load, same lot, loaded at the same time as original test loads. Also some sticky bolt lift occasionally. Had the same issue with my 6.5x284, and after talking to some other long range shooters in the area, decided to stay away from the reloader powders because of temp sensitivity. Sure hated to give up the extra velocity, and for hunting loads they would still work fine. They just went from .25MOA groups to 1+MOA groups. Very frustrating!

 

[.260 james]

I havent seen as much velocity varations as some people have with REloder 17, I have been shooting the same lot of powder since I got it though! I have shot it at temps from about 25 to 105 degrees. Not mystery pressure issues on hot days and the loads were worked up it chilly (45 degree ) weather. My gun is a Hunting gun and I haven't chrony the loads in all temps. But it consistently shots accurately at any

Out of curiosity, what region are you shooting in primarily? I started out with R17 in my 260 with 123 SMK's and 130 VLD's. Very low ES/SD at 3050 fps with no pressure signs. Worked up the load in 60 degree weather in South Texas. Started noticing some accuracy issues downrange and decided to chrono some loads again. In 90 degree heat, the spread opened up more than 100 fps... Same load, same lot, loaded at the same time as original test loads. Also some sticky bolt lift occasionally. Had the same issue with my 6.5x284, and after talking to some other long range shooters in the area, decided to stay away from the reloader powders because of temp sensitivity. Sure hated to give up the extra velocity, and for hunting loads they would still work fine. They just went from .25MOA groups to 1+MOA groups. Very frustrating!

I live in Wyoming, Hot and dry in the summer and cold in dry in the winter, at about 4650 ft. altitude.

 

[joejo]

when i had my 260 build done, i chose rl 17 as my go to powder. i shot 123 lapuas and 130 bergers. the barrel is a 28 inch krieger. i got 3150-3200 out of the 123's with no pressure issues and 3100-3150 out of the bergers. recently though, the gun has gone from a consistant .3's and .4's shooter to a .75-1 incher. i noticed alot of velocity spread when i re-chronoed the loads,
and i have had terrible copper fouling. i have since stumbled on a new load of 45 grn of 4831sc and a cci mag primer. and another of 45 grn 4350 and a 200 primer. neither of these is as fast as the rl17 but the gun is shooting again. today i had about 6 5 shot groups anywhere from .185 to .455 .

btw i can't say its from the powder but i borescoped the barrel and found that the fire cracking is excessive for the round count of ~800. i never had sticky bolt lift or cratered and flattened primers.

the new barrel should be done in a month or so.

if anyone in western pa wants to trade i have 2 pounds of rl 17 i'd trade for 4350 or 4831

 

[SooStan]

RL-17 gave great velocities, terrible groups and extreme spreads in my rifle. H4350 is my go to powder for the 260.

 

[dennisinaz]

I have used R17 quite a bit. I didn't have much luck with it being anything special in a straight 260. When I rechambered to 260AI the R17 really woke up. I was able to add about 125-150 fps with simply rechambering. No other powder gave me this kind of improvement.

With 130-140s another powder that give me similar velocities is Mag Pro.

I mostly shoot 108s for plinking now and 140 SMKs for hunting. I use R17 or Magpro depending on my mood. Ironically, I found the same two powders are the best ones in my 6.5-284s as well. I am talking hunting rifles here and not worried about single digit ES but I do get about 10 fps ES with my 6.5-284s.

 

[BobSherman]

I am actually able to shoot a much larger charge than most with RL-17. With 140gr Accubond .010 jump it takes 44.2gr to get me 2875 fps. I can go to 46.4gr before I start to see pressure signs.

I'm doing a test to see what I can get out of a stock Remington 700. I started by fire-lapping the barrel after using a bore scope and seeing significant tooling marks. I used the Tubbs system and followed the directions, shooting all 50 bullets. These were the first 50 down the tube.

Then I started bore conditioning with hBN (hexagonal boron nitride). I coated the bullets in a rock tumbler with the Neco shot after adding a small amount of hBN. I also ran wet patches down the tube with iso-alcohol and hBN mixed. The alcohol evaporates very quickly leaving a film of hBN in the stainless steel micro-pores. I also used some products by RyDol that is biodegradable. They have several products and I mostly used the bore cleaner and bore conditioner. The only other product down my barrel has been Butch's Bore Shine.

I must say, I get zero copper fouling now. I just need to clean out the burned powder and carbon and with a few easy passes my bore is clean. I can push the rod down with very little effort. A couple of wet patches and a couple dry patches and my bore is clean (verified by bore scope).

I have the CDL SF 260 Remington LTD Edition from 2006. I had the trigger reduced to 2.25 lbs. I had it pillar bedded and because the wood stocks are notorious for flexing in the tip area I routed out a channel, added a steel rod that also connected to the screws from a picatinny rail I added for an Atlas bipod. I then took a decent amount of wood out and filled it in with Devcon Plastic Steel and free-floated the barrel. This is a magnum contour barrel so it isn't a skinny stick at the end, otherwise I probably would have added the pressure pad back.

H4831sc is useless because it fills the case and only produces a little over 2400 fps with marginal accuracy. I can't find H4350, so I tried the RL-17. I get good accuracy at 41gr-42gr but slow speeds. From 42+gr to 44gr the groups open and stink. At 44gr and up the groups begin to come back together. So far my most accurate load is 44.4gr RL-17, 24" stock barrel, CCI BR2 primers in 260 Lapua brass. I also have a brake to follow shots with ease. That adds another 3".

I've read where guys are getting pressure signs with 41gr-42gr of RL-17 in a 260 Remington. I guess that hBN really does reduce pressure and speed at comparable loads but I can get up to respectable speeds with larger loads and the groups tend to improve.

All in all, I'm vey happy with this gun and experiment. I have a stock Remington 700 that I can put 5 bullets in the area of a quarter at 100 yards. Keep in mind, I've been shooting these loads in 85-90 degree weather as well. I can't help but wonder if I might get even better results with a faster powder.

I just got a box of Berger Hunting VLD 6.5mm 130gr that I'm going to try out this next week. We'll see how those work out as I've not shot anything less than 140gr so far.