RL 26 and the 284 Win?
- Thread starter pslater
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RL 26 gave me the best groups and velocity of any powder with 168 hunting VLD in my 280 AI. My 24" barrel probably is not long enough to get the most out of this powder. I am going to try a magnum primer this year just to see how it does. This rifle gets hunted in sub 20 degree weather on occasion. I have never tried a magnum primer in the 280 AI. I was getting just above 2900 fps with the 168VLD. This was faster than I anticipated. It sounds like the 284 can produce nearly the same velocities as the 280AI. I am guessing the necked up Lapua brass makes a difference in pressure tolerance. I will consider the 284 Win for a future build.
Bump for the latest and greatest data out there
I managed to get above 2800 fps with a Berger 195 out of a 28" straight 284 Win. Pressure signs at 2880 fps. Temperature 40 F. +1 on a game changing powder.
I managed to get above 2800 fps with a Berger 195 out of a 28" straight 284 Win. Pressure signs at 2880 fps. Temperature 40 F. +1 on a game changing powder.
You guys just catching on to this ? I been shooting RL26 since it was available several years now and in several cartridges I don't know if it is match wining accuracy but it has shot that well for me in a few rifles on a giving day.
Been shooting it in my new 280 AI 24" barrel 162 at 3,025 FPS and i hope the barrel picks up 50 FPS or so after i get 150 rounds on it. But yea 215 primer. I think it plays to try a few primers with it. But it is a great powder. RL23 shot a lot of it but have never found a home for it my 270 win like it with a 145. My 7 WM like it with a 150 wooo fast..But The RL26 prevailed in the big 7..well now its a medium 7..lol.. RL23 you can not get no where the case fill that you can with RL26 or even RL17 for that matter. Big Fatter stick. So you will never reach the speed of RL26 except in a big case. But the RL23 has shot well.
Been shooting it in my new 280 AI 24" barrel 162 at 3,025 FPS and i hope the barrel picks up 50 FPS or so after i get 150 rounds on it. But yea 215 primer. I think it plays to try a few primers with it. But it is a great powder. RL23 shot a lot of it but have never found a home for it my 270 win like it with a 145. My 7 WM like it with a 150 wooo fast..But The RL26 prevailed in the big 7..well now its a medium 7..lol.. RL23 you can not get no where the case fill that you can with RL26 or even RL17 for that matter. Big Fatter stick. So you will never reach the speed of RL26 except in a big case. But the RL23 has shot well.
Tag for future reference
I'm not sure you'll get a max load with a 168 gr bullet and RL 26. Assuming a 3.11 COAL (the bearing surface of the bullet seated .285 into the neck), QL says 100% loading density is 58.2 gr of RL 26, produces 56,371 chamber pressure and 2972 fps from a 28" barrel. Anything above that will be a compressed load which can be done but only at an experienced reloader's discretion.
If you are using a short action and/or a SAAMI chamber length COAL of 2.80", you will have a very compressed load and MUCH higher pressures in excess of the cartridge's max design pressure.
IMHO, the 284 Win / RL 26 combo works best in longer actions that allow for greater than SAAMI COAL seating depths and with heavier and longer (175 & 180 gr) bullets.
I HIGHLY recommend a Hornady L&L OAL gauge or something similar so you will know how much freebore you'll have with this COAL before trying this.
QL says max chamber pressure for the 284 Win is 63,817.
In my version of QL, it doesn't calculate freebore. It works off COAL and seating depth. In my chamber (standard action, 30-06 length) a COAL of 3.19 using a 180 HB puts the bearing surface seating depth at .285 (base of the neck). This leaves me at .015 off the lands.
This is interesting - I've been loading H4831 & B180VLDs in my 284s for several years; always had to settle for well under 2800fps. Put a long action M700 together with a 30" Krieger hvy Palma 5R 1-9tw in 280AI, more or less just to find out if the extra 6grs case capacity would translate into more velocity than what I get out of the 284s. Answer - not much, at least not with H4831. Sounds like I need to try RL26 in both rifles - there's an 8lb jug sitting under the loading bench that's never been opened....
If it's speed your looking for, try the RL17 in the 284 with 180s. Mine has both speed and accuracy.
I've shot a fair amount of RL17 through my 284s, and yes, it does give good speed & accuracy. But it's also fairly hard on throats, especially compared to H4831.
Yes it is. 4831 is without a doubt the easiest on the barrel IMO plus accuracy is always there.
I have not tried RL 26 in my 284 Shehane 1:9 twist 30” Bartlein but Reloader 23 is giving me some of the best accuracy and speeds as well as low ES numbers. It has consistently out shot H 4831SC with 180 gr Berger Hybrids and the 162 amax at 500 - 600 yards. Haven’t tested any further than 600 yards but the 180’s shoot consistent 0.45 +/- MOA 5 shot groups at 500 and 600 yards. The 162 amax just shot 4 shots into 1.625” at 600 yards a couple nights ago, but one of the 5 shots made it 3.5”. Still 0.5 MOA or slightly larger. Can’t seem to get all 4 to go into sub 0.5 MOA but every once in a while. Haven’t chronographed lately since barrel sped up but I’m guessing 2950 plus with the 180’s and 3100 FPS +/- with the 162’s.
Update: So I finally got around to doing a ladder test because I had a shoot to attend last Saturday. Too late, I discovered I didn't have enough of the 180 VLD Hunting bullets but I did have enough of the 175 VLD Elite Hunter's and I'd been wanting to try those. Using QL, and .3 gr. increments, I started at 57.0 gr. of RL 26 and .015 jump. My top load was to be 58.8 gr. which was 100% load density but only 59,716 psi (+/- 4,000 under max pressure). The ladder really showed promise at 58.5 and 58.8 with 2982 and 2989 respectively. Both of these velocities were about 40 fps faster than QL indicated. I loaded up 50 rounds using my new RCBS Chargemaster 1500 at 58.7 gr. and fired a 10 round group to center the load and confirm the chronograph data. After three warm up shots, the next 10 shots ranged from 3023 to 3037 with six shots at 3030. There were two three shot, one-hole groups out of the 10 shots. Atmospheric conditions were similar on both days. There were no flattened primers or ejector marks on the case heads and the bolt lift was marginally heavier than the closing on a loaded round. I am very encouraged by the performance of both RL 26 and the Berger 175 Elite Hunter bullet. None of the loads were more than .002 off the targeted .015 jump.
None of this saved me at the match as my unfamiliarity with Ballistic AE and my new scope combined with my lack of experience at this game resulted in a dismal score. I figured out what was going on after the match and fired three rounds at the 1300 yd. gong. The first two told me what the problem was. After making the corrections, the third one missed the target 'by probably less than an inch at 3 o'clock' according to my spotter. I can't wait for the next match.
Has anyone with QL ever experienced 70 fps greater than projected velocities?
None of this saved me at the match as my unfamiliarity with Ballistic AE and my new scope combined with my lack of experience at this game resulted in a dismal score. I figured out what was going on after the match and fired three rounds at the 1300 yd. gong. The first two told me what the problem was. After making the corrections, the third one missed the target 'by probably less than an inch at 3 o'clock' according to my spotter. I can't wait for the next match.
Has anyone with QL ever experienced 70 fps greater than projected velocities?
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