To be T-Totally honest, I have tried RL-17 in several cartridges and I have never got the accuracy I want. Additionally, I know it is temp sensitive>>>>here in AZ, that is not a good trait to have.. This is why I am doing my dead-level best to get ALL my rifles going with either RL-16 or RL-23. They are as temp stable as you can get on today's market! AND their "lot-to-lot" consistency is considerably better than Hodgdon's is..
** UPDATE II** My New Project: 7mm-08 Ackley for F-Open
- Thread starter ShootDots
- Start date
I have not.. A "shooter-friend" of mine used it in his 6.5 x 284 when powders, especially Hodgdon powders, were all but impossible to get. He got good accuracy and excellent velocity! BUT (there is always a "but" ain't it!) BUT when spring approached it fell apart as temps warmed up. It is one of those "you need a cold weather / hot weather" load. I am pressing to get RL-16 and RL-23 as the ONLY powders I use because they are THEE MOST temp stable powders I have ever found..
Yes there is!! I shot 3 powders, RL-16, RL-26 and H4350. All of them from the Mid-2600s to the upper ends of 2800f.p.s. Below 2700, it shot excellent! Above (no matter where) it shot like a blunderbuss! The bad thing was, is that below 2700f.p.s. the pressures were in the 54,000 p.s.I. range and would NOT burn the powder efficiently. The barrel would become so gunked up with powder fouling that accuracy would only last about 30 rounds or so, then fall off quickly. My "brainstorm / concept" became a colossal failure. Sooooo, I turned it into a straight .284!
It has a .270 freebore shooting a 180 Hybrid.. T-Rust me, anything in the Varget, RL-15 or H4895, according to Q/L will not produce over 2700f.p.s. I spent a lot of time, burned a lot of powder and shot a lot of bullets, and ALL powders produced the same results.. I was not going to pour anymore time and $$$s into the failed project.
Mulligan
Silver $$ Contributor
ShootDots sorry the project didn't work out for you as I thought you may really be on to something. I still believe there is a combination of powder and seating depth out there to make those 180's work and perhaps in the future I'll give it a whirl myself. Would like to thank you however for an interesting read and the effort you put forth trying to accomplish what I feel may be an attainable goal. Keep Shooting small..................Chuck Loebsack
With H4350, I would have to search my notes, however, I know I went from 47.0-49.6grs. Anything, and I mean anything above 2700f.p.s. shot nearly like a broke scope>>it was that bad. I have no idea why! How can going UP 1/2mm from 6.5 to 7mm make such a drastic change in the performance of the case?? It T-Totally stumps me!
It is beyond me QuickOz... I thought my "calculations" were good! But the proof is in the pudding and my pudding was mud! LOL!!
Shootdots, I live around the corner from Johnnyi and share two of your gunsmiths. Sorry to hear that the 30-06 AI project did not work out. I was watching you use it out at Bayou Rifles and it seemed promising. Been following everything you posted about the 7mm-08 AI with great interest and am interested in a 250 yd to 600 yd. application. I have a couple of questions. If I was only interested in mid 2600 fps using 180's do you think that I could adjust for better powder burn with seating depth? Could that velocity be achieved using the 180's with 100 yd accuracy in the 1's using a 28" barrel?
The correlation between the powder's ability to burn clean(er) and the seating depth I would think does not exist. Powder burns clean when it reaches a certain pressure that causes it to burn clean. I don't think you could raise pressure significantly enough by jamming the bullet hard to get the powder to burn clean. When I cleaned the gun after the match, it was literally like pushing charcoal out of the barrel. According to quickload, no matter the powder used, at 2650+ you are in the LOW 50,000p.s.i. range. If you went to a faster powders in the medium burn rate range, you can get them to burn clean, however, you won't reach 2650f.p.s. I ran RL-16, RL-26 (not 23 as you would not get enough powder in the case) H4350. I ran the 180's from the low 2600's to 2870. Under 2700 you got accurate loads, BUT the powder gunked up the barrel really bad. At 2750 the powder burned clean enough to run and entire match, but the accuracy from there all the way up to 2870 was literally HORRIBLE! As far as accuracy at 100 yards, I can not tell you.. I only shot it for load development at 300 yards..
ShootDots & Mulligan,
I used 47.3gr ADI AR2209/H4350 behind 180gr Berger VLD jammed 10 thou which gave my 2765fps in my Benchmark 9T and 2780fps in my Kreiger. The Krieger didnt like that load as much as the Benchmark did. But I need to tweak it more to see what happens. I need to get some more 180gr VLD. I may try a primer change to see what happens too.
I did however just complete the load dev on Varget with 162gr amax. 43gr Varget with 162gr Amax jumped 20thou gave me 4 shots into 1.5in at 500m. Its doing 2840fps.
I will be shooting this load in a 500m Fly shoot this saturday to see how it goes over a whole shoot. I used the last match to test seating depths.
Edit: I have a mate who tried 270 plus fb in his 284 and it just wouldnt shoot. Maybe thats the issue? Just guessing here.
I used 47.3gr ADI AR2209/H4350 behind 180gr Berger VLD jammed 10 thou which gave my 2765fps in my Benchmark 9T and 2780fps in my Kreiger. The Krieger didnt like that load as much as the Benchmark did. But I need to tweak it more to see what happens. I need to get some more 180gr VLD. I may try a primer change to see what happens too.
I did however just complete the load dev on Varget with 162gr amax. 43gr Varget with 162gr Amax jumped 20thou gave me 4 shots into 1.5in at 500m. Its doing 2840fps.
I will be shooting this load in a 500m Fly shoot this saturday to see how it goes over a whole shoot. I used the last match to test seating depths.
Edit: I have a mate who tried 270 plus fb in his 284 and it just wouldnt shoot. Maybe thats the issue? Just guessing here.
Yeah hope that’s the problem as I’m still really excited about this project ! I was like nooooo....... I sent Ben a couple PMs hoping this was real deal . My rifle is still months away ... componets have all been sent to smith , just long wait , hoping for feb completion ! My reamer is speced very close to quicks 314 nk and 220 fb . Thanks to all who have participated in this thread . Best wishes Ben and hope you get it singing ! Sometimes you don’t succeed on the first go , lord knows why ? I will be shooting an 1-8.5 twist . Will send pms to y’all or start a new thread on completion if it pans out !
Looking forward to your report.
Yes Sir.. I used the S/R Palma brass. Brand new, necks turned to 12 thousandths, Fireformed perfectly>>>absolutely perfect brass. I originally started with relatively mild loads. I used RL-16. I eventually went up to just over 2800f.p.s. in 0.3gr increments. Then I went to RL-26 to get way UP in velocity, up to 2900f.p.s. ( I would have to go back and look at my notes>>>but I believe I slightly exceeded 2900 with RL-26.) All to no avail. Then I went from 2750 to 2870 with H4350>>>>all to no avail.. Once I got beyond about 2690, groups opened up substantially and I mean B-A-D! Some groups went up as high as 4" at 300 yards!!! I do not know why I could never get the groups under control>>but I could not. I shot a match at 500 yards with RL-16 and 2680. The barrel got so gunked up, that by the middle of the second match, my accuracy had deteriorated to the point I almost could not hold the 10 ring. I took the balance of the match loads (about 30 rounds) and shot them at 300 yards. They progressively opened up further with each successive group. When I got home to clean it, it was literally "puking charcoal"! Horrible..
Ben, when did you move out of Texas?
About 10 days before the Fourth of July last year..
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