Anyone Tried RL17 On 6.5x47L

[johara1]

RoscoeP, now thats what i wanted to hear,are you going to try for the next node?...........jim

 

[RoscoeP]

RoscoeP, now thats what i wanted to hear,are you going to try for the next node?...........jim

Jim - Yes, I'll try to work it up a bit higher and report the results.

 

[Woody]

Rossman:

That is some mighty fine shooting. Can't wait to hear the results on stepping up the charge with RL17. Rumor has it that you shot a group in the 1's with some 139 Lapua's and some 4350 with your new rig. Any truth to that? If so you got yourself another shooter from Simison. He has a habit of sending out excellent work.

Have a great day,

Woody

 

[RoscoeP]

Rumor has it that you shot a group in the 1's with some 139 Lapua's and some 4350 with your new rig. Any truth to that? If so you got yourself another shooter from Simison.

Woody,

It seems you have some good inside information! A load of 38.5 H4350 with a Lapua 139 shot a .156 4-shot 100-yard group. Mean velocity was 2807.

As to your comments about the gun builder, Jerry Simison, there are arguably none better in the business!

 

[Woody]

RoscoeP:
I have eyes and ears everywhere. At least that is what I tell my teenager!

Great information. Thanks for sharing.

Woody

 

[Aussie_bob]

Hey can one of you people give me an overall length of the 139gr scenars and the 130gr bergers please would like to run it through a program i have and see what ballistic and twist rate info i get.
yes i am looking at building a 6.5x47 and would like to use the 139gr scenars.

 

[Rem06]

Aussie_bob
1.390 + - .005 for my lot of 130 bergers
don't have the scenars

 

[gnoble]

Run the 130's in the high 2900s with Fed205 primers. Great ES and low twos. My barrel didn't like the 140's.

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

I posted this in another thread, but maybe it got missed:

I just returned from the range, having shot RE-17 with the 140 Berger VLD,standard) in my 6.5x47. I found the case to offer about the same space as Robert Whitley has posted, and had worked up to max of 41.4g of powder.

41.2g of powder
Avg 2932
ES 20.74
SD 8.60

41.4 of powder
Avg 2972
ES 30.94
SD 11.57

I did not see any pressure signs on the primer or case itself, and had no hard bolt lift. Fired cases would rechamber easily as well. *Disclaimer time* The above was safe in my rifle, but may NOT be safe in yours. I worked up clear from 37g to be sure I was being safe, and you should do the same!!

This is with a Panda wearing a 28" 8-twist Krieger. This barrel was throated for the 130, and a longer throat would help. It was HOT here at the range today, about 80 when I started, and 95 when I finished.

I shot through two Shooting Chronys at the same time, fwiw, the velocity quoted above is the average of the two results.

HOWEVER, accuracy was not satisfactory at the high end. It was much better at the lower velocities of my work-up loads, and I know this barrel will shoot well. It loves Varget and the 130 Breger.

So, 2950+ w/ the 140 Berger VLD is now attainable in the 6.5x47 using RE-17, hopefully a few tweaks will get it shooting well.

Mark, any word on accuracy tweaks with the 140gr Bergers?

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

Matt, any word on accuracy tweaks with the 140gr Bergers?

Not yet. I have not had time to try the last 30 I had with F205Ms instead of the CCIs.

Should be able to get that done over the coming Holiday weekend, though.

 

[Hammer47]

All I can say is WOW. I am shooting a CPS action with a Krieger 8 twist. I went a bit heavier on the powder and of course did not think to take the crono along since accuracy was my main goal. Out of 12 different loads with 2 different bullets, 120 smk and the 140 smk, 4 of the groups were one hole at 100 yds, and I don't mean a big hole either. I am talking groups in the small ones.
Now I have been down this road before so I am going to do a ladder test and see where the sweet spots are before I get real excited. The great thing here is that this bbl was a "warm stick" with 4350 and RL15, nothing special but this RL17 is a real awakening. I hesitate to tell how much powder I was dropping lest someone gets hurt but I will know more when I do the ladder test and this time I WILL take the crono along.
I gotta tell you guys, if this is repeatable, this powder/chambering is the real deal.
Regards... Gary

 

[LongRanger]

Last month I bought 5# of RL-17 to check out in my 6.5 x 47 to see if it could be a for sure, ever and ever 6.5 x 284 beater.

After burning up 2# of it in a series of tests, I have concluded that I am not going to beat Any 6.5 x 284 at 1000y shooting 140 grain bullets at accurately-competitive,2950-3000) speeds out of my 30" Krieger 8 twist.

My series of 6.5 x 47 case capacity checks shows that, on average, a full case of RL-17 has 1.3 grains of powder more than a full case of faster burning Varget.

I can actually get more speed with RL-17....well over 3020 fps with 140 grain bullets... than with Varget, by puttig about 3 grains more RL-17 into a case and compressing the load. This is without getting the pressure signs I would get with Varget. But, the accuracy is just not there with RL-17.

Now then. If I drop the RL-17 powder charge back to yield teensie groups with mid 2850's velocity with 140 grain bullets,also very easily done with Varget)....Lordy, lordy, the Big Dogs would get all the bones.

Guess I need to stick with Varget and pointy 130's for now.

 

[Forum Boss]

All I can say is WOW. I am shooting a CPS action with a Krieger 8 twist. I went a bit heavier on the powder and of course did not think to take the crono along since accuracy was my main goal. Out of 12 different loads with 2 different bullets, 120 smk and the 140 smk, 4 of the groups were one hole at 100 yds, and I don't mean a big hole either. I am talking groups in the small ones.
Now I have been down this road before so I am going to do a ladder test and see where the sweet spots are before I get real excited. The great thing here is that this bbl was a "warm stick" with 4350 and RL15, nothing special but this RL17 is a real awakening. I hesitate to tell how much powder I was dropping lest someone gets hurt but I will know more when I do the ladder test and this time I WILL take the crono along.
I gotta tell you guys, if this is repeatable, this powder/chambering is the real deal.
Regards... Gary

Gary, It's good to hear a positive report. How much neck tension were you running. Might be that RL17 wants more neck tension than H4350 or Varget and that's why some guys are seeing the best accuracy at the top end.

Also I note you're running SMKs as opposed to the Berger 140. Very different bullet. Again, could be that the longer bearing surface of the SMK works better with this powder.

Right now I'd have to say the reports are a mixed bag... though everyone's saying "yes, the velocity is there to go 2900+ with the 140s". The question is ES/SD and accuracy at these velocities.

There is also some evidence that the guys who aren't finding good accuracy are not really taking it to the top end.

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

Gary, It's good to hear a positive report. How much neck tension were you running. Might be that RL17 wants more neck tension than H4350 or Varget and that's why some guys are seeing the best accuracy at the top end.

Also I note you're running SMKs as opposed to the Berger 140. Very different bullet. Again, could be that the longer bearing surface of the SMK works better with this powder.

Right now I'd have to say the reports are a mixed bag... though everyone's saying "yes, the velocity is there to go 2900+ with the 140s". The question is ES/SD and accuracy at these velocities.

There is also some evidence that the guys who aren't finding good accuracy are not really taking it to the top end.

My last outing I got the SDs down into the 5s and 6s, plenty low, and the accuracy was better, but still not match level. It was consistently throwing a shot out of the group.

I took the velocity up to 3010, and the CCI 450s were really flat, so that was the top, if not over the top, in my gun. Groups looked like shotgun patterns. At 2960-2970, the groups looked good until the one shot when 2" out, randomly.

I have 30 rounds loaded with F205Ms and will try those vs. the CCIs which work so well in the case with all the other powder/primer combos, then I am done testing with this barrel.

I do have another barrel that I will start tinkering with, and the next step, IMO, is what you mention, try increasing the neck tension.

For now, I agree 100% with Longranger, Varget and the 130s is the way to go. The 130 Berger or JLK has the same BC as a Sierra 142MK, and we are shooting them at the same velocity as most 6.5-284s, so there is no real advantage to go that route. However the Berger 140 VLDs have such the BC advantage, if they can be made to work, well...

 

[Hammer47]

1... I almost always use light neck tension. Always have had the fear of damage to the base of the bullet. In benchrest I use a Wilson seater and seat the bullet by hand or with the smallest ammount of force with an arbor press.
2... I have never been a numbers freak. Couldn't give one whit how fast the bullet is going when it misses the target. Pure accuracy has always been my bag. Seldom use a crono but to help the guys out I will use one on the return to the range to recheck the last loads and do a ladder test. Who knows, the last good groups might not be repeatable
3...What gives me pause about the RL17 is that this rifle was just another run of the mill shooter with Varget, RL15 and 4350, neither fish nor fowl....just average. However when I can get 4 of 10 loads with 2 different bullets and the 140 grainer shoots 2 groups in the ones with a different powder charge, I think I may be onto something. Generally speaking it is difficult to get the big bullet to group tight at the short range of only 100 yds.
4... Main problem with further testing is that I am WAY behind on my stockwork and soon I will have customers screaming, not a good thing. It will be at least 2 weeks before I can steal a day at the range. Sure will be happy to share the results. Regards... Gary

 

[ThunderDownUnder]

Hmmm, no posts for quite a while now! Anyone know if GermanS1 got hold of a 6.5x47L to test? I also thought 6mmHot.com was going to do some testing with RL17.

I'm still keen to see if the 139-142gr projectiles can get to 2900+fps accurately and turn this cartridge into a 1000yd, low recoil match winner. As noted above the Berger 140gr VLDs have a BC of 0.650 and Lapua Scenar 139gr a BC of 0.615.

 

[johara1]

has anybody tried rl-17 with 130 jlks?..jim

 

[reubenski]

I have and it didn't really work out for me. I have a 26" 1:8.5" Montana Rifleman barrel. The 130gr Bergers just aren't as accurate as the SMKs in this gun and 130s,RL17, and CCI 400s were just reaching 2890fps with high pressure. The bolt wasn't sticky, but you could see ejector imprint.

I have since switched primers hoping to lower pressure and it helped with my other loads but I haven't gone back to the RL17. I don't think I will see an advantage with it in my gun, over Varget. I believe I was using 41grs at the time. I too was hoping RL17 and 130 VLDs would be the magic combo for this gun. Maybe with a bit more work....

 

[Grand]

Book mark.

 

[Steveb]

reubenski: Do you mind letting us know what charges you are using with 130 Bergers and Varget. I have been using 38.0 grains of Re15 with these but I have been unable to locate any Re15 now and only can buy Varget or H4350. In my rifle H4350 isn't as accurate as my Re15 combination so I am continuing to look at other powders. Thanks for any info you can supply.

Steve