So Is There Any Concensus Regarding RL17?

[338Lapua]

Nice 300 yard group there sleepygator....

 

[zfk55]

Some inside ifo on RE17. Its not new. It comes from the same factory in Switzerland that has produced that same powder for the Swiss GP11 cartridge since around 1910. Coagulants have changed and it smells a little different because of that, and the formula changed just slightly, but it was only new to Aliant, not new in the industry. They "introduced" it, but its been around a long time in one form or another. RE15 comes from the same factory along with a bunch of other known powders. The whole bunch of the Reloder powders are great performing powders in their own categories.

Latigo

 

[tammons]

All hunting rounds, FPS at max loads.
208 amax over RL17 -2500 fps out of a 19" barreled 308.

220 gr prohunter - 2400+ fps which is as fast as a factory remington load in 30-06 with a 24" barrel.

243 80gr TTSX, 18" barreled Browning BLR, 3300+ fps.

All above chronographed.

Just loaded up some 95 gr TTSX bullets in 270 win and should be running about 3700 FPS
out of a 22" barrel. Will chrono them in the future.

I usually load them up until I get minor brass flow and back off a bit.

 

[tammons]

Win brass has more case capacity.

I was running 48.5 gr with the 208 amax at 2.9" COL with no brass flow so you should be able to bump that load up a bit with 190 grainers with win brass.

I have since back off that 50 gr load with 190-gr sierra MK.
After more testing I found it a little to hot, so im back to 48.5 grs as my new max load for 190-gr sierra MK @ FPS 2713.
Funny how that on the first 50gr load testing I hadn’t experienced any stiff bolt lift or flatten primers. Not so on this testing though.

 

[DukeDuke]

49.5 grs with 208 a-max at 3.050 OAL

 

[spclark]

The best powder combo I've found with 155.5 Bergers is 8208 XBR.

That's encouraging! I bought a bunch last year intending to try it for Palma loads but never got around to trying it except in 6XC where it shines.

Guess the warm air that's moved into my area is reason enough to make up some loads & get to a range tomorrow!

 

[kelbro]

A near max load of RL-17 under a 150gr Grand Slam really shot well in my factory Savage 30-06 sporter barrel. Really well.

 

[Clark]

270W
a) 55 gr. Re17 150 gr VLD moly 3.385" [56 gr and the next primer is easy insertion]
..1) M70 22" barrel, 7X scope, 3023, 2996, 2969, 3003, 3009, 3003, 3009, 3037 fps

What other powder can do 3000 fps in a 22" 270 with 150 gr ?

 

[Johnboy]

OK guys see if this will help out.a good friend of mine uses R17 and a 208gn A-max in his 308.the barrel is 28/30"'s not sure on a Remington action.(broughton I think)he has just told me that he put well over 5000 rounds down the barrel before it was toasted.now that alone tells alot for me.

he built the rifel after he got wind from me about the guys useing a 208gn A-max and R17.the Smith chambered it for the 208gn bullet.if I am not wrong at his load he was useing 50.0gn's of R17 in win brass.cannot say how long the loaded round is.but will say it just shoots very good for him.and I will add that he was able to set 3 Jr.F-class records with that rifel and load.one at 800 yards 900 yards and 1000 yards.

now for me I just like to use R17 and a 208gn A-max for a 500 yard hunting load.so I don't put as much time into the load as I should.but for me it really gets out their like I want a bullet to shoot.without a chrony we are guessing it running around high 2500 fps.and my barrel is 24" long.but the load gets to the target with great results for me.just under 4"'s at 600 yards.and that just putting a bullet over 47.5gn's of R17 and go shoot.thats all I do to the load.just a normal loaded bullet for me.

again I do not load like most if not all of you do.just being able to improve my loads is all I am asking my loaded rounds to do.going to a match like my friend has been wanting me to do just might not happen.the family thing keeps me on a string.but I do love to shoot little holes when I can.just thought that the info I know about R17 and a 208gn A-max would help out.and that I love being a part of a great site and the people who use it.

John

 

[BradMT]

270W
a) 55 gr. Re17 150 gr VLD moly 3.385" [56 gr and the next primer is easy insertion]
..1) M70 22" barrel, 7X scope, 3023, 2996, 2969, 3003, 3009, 3003, 3009, 3037 fps

What other powder can do 3000 fps in a 22" 270 with 150 gr ?

Hmmm... seems to me you're likely red-lining. From Alliant's site, here's their only 270 Win/150 data w/ RL17:

270 Win 24" bbl. Fed 210 Primer Reloder 17 51.5 gr's 2,921 fps

 

[BradMT]

Thanks all for your excellent input on this thread... was especially interested to hear the history of the powder.

So far from a friends test at -4*F and 65*F it seems that this powder isn't quite as temp stable as Varget, H4350 or H4831... but time will tell and more shooting is required... never a bad thing!

 

[spclark]

Hmmm... seems to me you're likely red-lining. From Alliant's site, here's their only 270 Win/150 data w/ RL17: 270 Win 24" bbl. Fed 210 Primer Reloder 17 51.5 gr's 2,921 fps

At first glance I'd agree, if for no other reason than the statement that another grain tends to ruin primer pockets.

We'd all probably agree published load tables tend to be conservative (for a number of reasons, liability being the foremost) which is why it's important for us to be safety conscious when working up or sharing loads. What works (and is safe) for one shooter may be an accident waiting to happen for another.

Besides, why ruin good brass / shorten barrel life if all it buys you is another 50 - 100 fps? learning to read wind better will keep shots closer to your aim-point & costs nothing but the time spent in learning. Accuracy wins over speed.

 

[BradMT]

Hmmm... seems to me you're likely red-lining. From Alliant's site, here's their only 270 Win/150 data w/ RL17: 270 Win 24" bbl. Fed 210 Primer Reloder 17 51.5 gr's 2,921 fps

At first glance I'd agree, if for no other reason than the statement that another grain tends to ruin primer pockets.

We'd all probably agree published load tables tend to be conservative (for a number of reasons, liability being the foremost) which is why it's important for us to be safety conscious when working up or sharing loads. What works (and is safe) for one shooter may be an accident waiting to happen for another.

Besides, why ruin good brass / shorten barrel life if all it buys you is another 50 - 100 fps? learning to read wind better will keep shots closer to your aim-point & costs nothing but the time spent in learning. Accuracy wins over speed.

My experience with Alliant's RL17 300 WSM data is that it's absolute balls-to-the-walls max. I've never been able to comfortably go with their 66 gr 180 300 WSM charge. Obviously that may not be the case with their 270 data, but I'm a bit skeptical one could go 3.5 gr's above the Alliant Data.

But I've been wrong before

 

[Clark]

56 gr is easy insertion on the next primer.
So I only have 2% margin, and Vernon Speer said to have 6% when writing a load book.

 

[joed49]

I have a friend that uses RL17 in his .25-06 with 85 gr Nosler BT's for 3660 fps. That's blistering fast.

I have RL17 on order for me so I can see what it does in my rifle.

 

[nhm16]

My smith suggested that RL-17 likes a lot of jump, even when shooting VLDs. I decided to do some testing this past weekend, and my results tells me he's onto something.

I always got so-so accuracy from RL-17 compared to H4350 when jumping only small amounts or jamming, but found a big jump got (0.050" or more) me the accuracy back, and I kept most of the velocity gain over H4350. Mind you I've only tested this at 100yds, and only with 2 guns.

Weather mid-70's, strong gusty wind coming from 4:30 to 6:00 behind me.

22" barreled 6.5x47L (Rock Creek barrel, Stiller action): The baseline was 41.5gr of RL-17 behind a Berger 130gr VLD, jammed 0.015". It got around 2925fps, but accuracy was middling at best (~0.5" 5-shot groups at 100yds). The same load of H4350 got me only around 2785fps but much better accuracy (~0.2" 5-shot groups at 100yds).

Tried jumping the bullets from 0.050" to 0.090". Best results came with a 0.050" jump, which got me accuracy on par with H4350, and around 2865fps.

28" barreled .260 Rem. (McGowen barrel, Savage action): The baseline was 42.5gr of RL-17 behind a Berger 140gr HPBT-LR, both jumped 0.020" and jammed 0.015". The jammed was more accurate, but again, in absolute terms, accuracy was only so-so (~0.5"+ at 100yd). I got about ~2830fps (though I had last chrono'ed this load late last summer or early fall, when it was hotter).

I never seriously developed a load with 140gr HPBT-LR and H4350 so I can't compare, this gun normally shoots 130gr VLDs driven by 45.4gr of H4350. The 140 HPBT-LR/RL-17 loads were just some odds and ends I had sitting around that I adjusted the seating depth on (they were all loaded for a 0.015" jam).

Tried jumping the bullets from 0.050" to 0.090". Best results came with a 0.070" jump, groups shrank to ~0.3" at 100yd, velocity stayed about the same.

 

[FroggyOne2]

Well I am using a conservitive amount of RL17 in my .284. 49grs of it and a Sierra 175 SMK. Speed is around 2830 fps with a very small verticle dispersion. The other day I was able to hold a 4" dispersion at 1000 yards.. I was very pleased. This load is working very well in my rifle. Just need to aim it better.