6x47 and RL17

[RMiller]

Hi,

I have been lurking here for about year while I built my new rifle. I started shooting 1000 yard bench last summer and I am hooked. Its taken me about 6 months to complete it and Im sure Im not the only one when I say I cant wait till the weather breaks so I can get out and do some testing.,Its still way cold in Upstate NY).

My rifle is 6x47L 1-8 twist 28" Bartlein on a Bat M action. I am wanting to try RL17. I have a few pounds. I am starting with berger 105 vld's and CCI 450 primers but that may change depending on how things go or what others say about RL17.
I have searched for info here but there isnt a whole lot. Is there any new info out there?

Also,
Many thanks to all who offer information here on 6mmbr. Its an invaluable resource for me.

Ryan

 

[JRinCo]

I'm still working on loads for my 6X47 Lapua, using H 4350 and Reloader 17. The charge weight seems to be about the same for both. My barrel is showing a slight preference for the Re. 17.

Finding the correct weight was a little finicky, but I found a narrow window where the extreme spread in velocity is under 10 fps.

 

[TOObuilder]

Ryan,

I got my 6x47L shooting last summer with H4350 and 105 VLD's. I was very happy with how it was shooting but picked up a pound of RL17 and that is what I will now use. I settled with 39gr. RL17, CCI BR primer, and the 105 VLD's just touching the lands. Chrony showed 3075-3100 fps. I worked my way up to 40.5gr. but groups started to open up just over 3100fps. so will pick accuracy over speed. It is a 27", 8 twist Douglas barrel on a Savage target action. TB

 

[memilanuk]

I'm in a similar situation... I've got about 250rds down my Lilja 28" fluted medium Palma contour barrel 1-8" twist, and so far it's done pretty well with the first load I tried in it: H4350 & Rem 7-1/2 primers. I've got a bunch of CCI450 on hand,what I normally use in 6mm BR / Dasher), and one of the local stores got in a bunch of RL-17 so I snagged a bottle. If it shoots better than H4350, that'll be impressive!

 

[RMiller]

Thanks for the replies.

It looks like I should get a pound of H4350 as well.
Ill try them both and see what works best. I'll post my results as I get them. I can only hope it shoots well.


Ryan

 

[flatlander]

I've got a couple of 6x47s - one with an 8-twist Bartlein .237' bore, the 2nd with a 7.5-twist Krieger .236' bore. Both are 30' med. Palma contour. I did initial load development with H4350, but got better accuracy & velocity with N160 with bullets from 105-115grs. Have also done a little testing with RL17, but to date, N160 still has the edge in accuracy, while RL17 produces a little more velocity. If I didn't already have an excellent N160 load in both rifles, I'd be more inclined to do more testing with RL17. But time is at a premium, and with reloading components getting more expensive every day, I'll probably stick with what I've got, which gives a very good combination of accuracy & velocity.

I've shot a lot of moly'd DTAC 115s out of both rifles, mainly because I had problems getting Berger 115s to group. Every load with the Bergers I tried had them jammed .010'-.020'. Then one of my friends told me about a great score he shot at 600yds. with a 223 AI AR15 match rifle using Berger 90VLDs - it turned out he was jumping them about .015', as it'd been awhile since he checked the throat erosion on this particular barrel. The next batch of B115VLDs I tried in the Bartlein were seated to jump a similar amount, and the improvement in group size at 600 was quite a surprise. Oddly enough, I still haven't had much success with them in the 7.5-twist Krieger - whether jumped or jammed. I just recently finished a 6XC on a trued Howa 1500 with a 28' Bartlein 7.8-twist .237' bore bbl.; load development is very preliminary, but it would appear that the Berger 115s perfer to be jumped in this bbl. also. More shooting is in order, for certain, but it's got me wondering if the Bergers don't prefer a .237' bore dia. Currently, RL17 looks like a good choice in this barrel, at least with 115s.

 

[Obtunded]

I am on my second 6X47 and I discovered that N560 powder was far and above the best choice for load tolerance and accuracy with 105 bullets. I never got 4350 to work well at all.

 

[RMiller]

The weather warmed up so Ive been out at the range the past few weekends. Ive done some testing with H4350 and RL17 and am happy to say that the RL17 is showing some nice groups. Every bit as good as the H4350 but 100+ fps faster. and ES's in the teens. Ive worked my way up from 38gr of both H4350 and RL17.
My barrel has 125 rounds down range now and so far seems to like

105 berger vld's jammed .015 CCI 450's 41gr of RL17 = 3250fps average, ES's in the mid teens. Just over 3/4' groups at 330 yards. No presure signs of any kind.

While doing my initial run ups I saw velocities of 3300 fps
at 41gr of RL17. No presure signs at that speed as well. But since my barrel has a few more rounds down it and Ive loosend up on my neck tension to next to nothing my velocities have settled at around 3250 at 41 gr. I dont want to push the issue and based solely on the little data ive found here and there, I think Ill stay at 41gr rather than to chase a few more fps and risk hurting my self or my rifle.

330 yards isnt much of a test for 1000 yard shooting but best I can do with out driving the 1-1/2 hours to the 1000 yard range but thats next.

Ryan

As always, these values work for me but may not for you. Start low and work your way up.

 

[rijndael]

What kind of temp sensitivity are you all seeing with RE-17?

I'm seeing about .75 fps / degree.

 

[RMiller]

Its been on the cold side here in Upstate NY, around 60 degrees both days so far. Plus, im still in the fiddling stages with this so I really havent taken notice to changes to speed based on temp yet. I will keep my eye on it more now that I think Ive found a load Im going to run with.

Another reason not to chase 3300 or above, who knows what speeds ill see when the temp rises above 60

 

[spclark]

RMiller said:

'Its been on the cold side here in Upstate NY, around 60 degrees both days so far.'

HA!

That's funny.

Here in N. Illinois, we had two 60 deg. days back to back three weeks ago. Hasn't been much over 50 ever since.

Yesterday afternoon we had another 2' of snow, right now it's 37....