4451 powder in 6xc?

[WyleWD]

I have been reading about this new powder for a while now. Any one tried it and care to share some group pictures or Chronograph data? Comparison to one of the 4350 powders? Thanks in advance. WD

 

[areaone]

I use it in a 30 06 as opposed to IMR 4350 and get better groups with comparable speed with a 180 gr Nosler accubond. best groups so far have been .23 in a 3 shot group followed by .31 in a 3 shot group based on seating depth. loading about 1/2 gr less than IMR 4350.

 

[rogn]

Im using it in a 6X44BR w/ 105-107gr. Best group todate was 1.710 @ 600yds in windy condition , agg was 2.54. I found it to be nearly identical to H4350 in burn rate but max velocity deviation was lower. The 6X44 is 45 gr water capacity so its a small amount less than XC. Im using 35.5 gr and velocity seems to be right about 2900fps. Load seems a bit hot but primer pockets are not changing over 5-6 reloads in Lapua.

 

[Laurie]

in 6.5 Creedmoor, it runs rather slower than H4350. Groups with 140 are not bad, but a bit larger than those from H4350 in this cartridge. It is a 'high-energy' type with some nitroglycerin infused into the base nitro-cellulose kernels and burns cleanly with hardly any case case-neck fouling. The near new and rather rough factory Savage 12 LRP barrel I'm using is easy to clean with this powder - the first two or three patches come out very black, but that's nearly it. The copper fouling eliminator should prove useful with this rifle, and subjectively, it does seem to reduce copper build-up, but I wouldn't like to state that as a fact at this stage.

 

[Frankr]

I have shot it in my XC in cold weather..I was not impressed with it at all, there is a post on it if you search for it.

 

[WyleWD]

I couldn't resist temptation so I tried it this afternoon. 100yd targets. I tried my go to load of H4350, a load .5gr less, and one equal in weight. The lower amount won't get it (obviously). Still a little perplexed on the equal weight load..... I might try it one more time. WD

 

[majohnson]

My 6XC does well on RL17 very good accuracy and pushing 105 Hybrids at over 3200fps with no sign of excess pressure.

 

[Laurie]

My 6XC does well on RL17 very good accuracy and pushing 105 Hybrids at over 3200fps with no sign of excess pressure.

This pair seem very well matched. I got best results from it allied to 107gn Sierras when I had an XC, and a friend who's since adopted this cartridge also obtains his best results with it under 105gn Berger VLDs. If I remember right, my load ran at 3,120 fps and his runs at 3,200 like yours, both with small spreads.

 

[WyleWD]

I agree that R-17 is a good match for the xc. I used to use it when it first came out with pretty good success. But that being said the H4350 seems to be pretty consistently able to shoot groups like the .129 group above. I like to consider the 4451 as my attempt to maintain a continuous improvement attitude towards shooting. Some things work, some don't.

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. Especially on the 6.5 Creedmor which I am still trying to sort out. WD

 

[Frankr]

WyleWD I had good results from RL17 in my 6.5 Creedmoor, also tightest groups with H4350. ON GOOD brass I was able to push a 140 VLD out of my 24" barrel 6.5 Creed at 2,950 FPS with 1/2 moa accuracy with RL17.
Also Have had good results with RL17 in both of my 6XC's...But I still shoot some H4350 and play with RL26
I just have not got the IMR4451 to shoot for me. It also did not seem to temp stable..As I get to shoot in extreme temp swings...yesterday it was 25 deg F snow HIGH WINDS..today kind of decent out started off at 28F and may get up to 48F. but two weeks ago it was 75F...this coming weekend looks like low 40's to low 60's if we don't have 20MPH winds I would like to get out and shoot..I did get in one 3 shot group at 500 yards in a 20+ mph wind about 4" with my 6XC decent for the conditions..we have had a strange weather year so far.

 

[1lnbrdg]

Did you clean the barrel between the different powders or fire any fouling shots for the different powder?

Some powders don't play well with others.

 

[Frankr]

Did you clean the barrel between the different powders or fire any fouling shots for the different powder?

Some powders don't play well with others.

I did...shot it several times from a clean barrel and worked from 38.0 to tore up Norma 6XC cases and it never produced good Velocity or groups...It did not shoot terrible just not as good as what I shoot. But it was in cold weather like 6 degF to 45 degF and it did not seem to temp stable in those conditions..I was kind of hoping it would shoot as well as H4350 but temp stable...But in the environment I shot it in it did not work for me. It may shoot well under different conditions but so far everyone I have talked to has had about the same results I have.