RL17 powder?

[syoungs]

Just picked up a new 6.5 creedmoor, and have been planning on running H4350 as my powder.
little did I know that powder is as scarce as 22lr was a year ago. instead of the constant search for a rare powder, I think I am going to give RL17 a try.

I haven't run any alliant powder in the past, and don't know how tempature stable it is. My hopes are to use the same powder for the 6.5, my 25-06, 30-06, and 338wm.

Bad idea? are the tempature swings terrible with this powder? any other comments on it would be appreciated.

[bobcat]

IMR 4451 would be another one to consider. It's sort of the replacement for H4350.

[theleo]

RL 17 is one of their newer powder and all the reports I've heard or seen is that it's pretty forgiving on temperature swings, whether it works for you or not is for you to try. As for making a single powder work in that list of cartridges, you can probably find one that works but it'll be a game of compromises.

[elkaholic123]

I used it in my 270 WSM and I was very happy with my results 👍

[bobcat]

From what I've seen Reloder 17 is one of the best powders for the 30/06. Not sure about the others.

[syoungs]

the 2 I really care about getting right are the 6.5 and the 338. Just about any powder ive ran through the 30-06 behind just about any 165g bullet has been satisfactory for that gun, to me.

I also don't need to run the same powder, but itd sure be handy!

Ill look into IMR4451 and see how plentiful it is, and what all can be done with it. Thanks for the info so far!

[kentrek]

Ive  had really good luck with rl 17

[Timberstalker]

They had 2 jugs of H4350 at Griggs 1 week ago.

With that said RL 17 has worked well in my 6.5 x 284. 

[syoungs]

I just hate playing the try to find game lol.

I think I'll grab a pound of rl17 and give her a go.

[b23]

When RL17 first came out quite a few years ago I talked to a guy that was using it in his 6.5-284 and was getting right close to 3200fps with 140 Bergers and was thrilled with it.  The one thing he told me about using it was he thought it was very sneaky with regard to showing pressure.  Said during his load development it would go along and not really show any pressure signs then he'd get a real heavy bolt lift and hard ejector marks.  I don't know if his experience with it was specific to his setup or not but it's something to maybe remember when doing your load development.

[700xcr]

Have good luck with RL17 in 375 Ruger and 243win.

[Timberstalker]

When RL17 first came out quite a few years ago I talked to a guy that was using it in his 6.5-284 and was getting right close to 3200fps with 140 Bergers and was thrilled with it.  The one thing he told me about using it was he thought it was very sneaky with regard to showing pressure.  Said during his load development it would go along and not really show any pressure signs then he'd get a real heavy bolt lift and hard ejector marks.  I don't know if his experience with it was specific to his setup or not but it's something to maybe remember when doing your load development.

This is very accurate information. I've seen similar issues in my load development.

[CaNINE]

In my experience RL17 is temp sensitive.  Develop your load in hunting temp conditions and you should be ok.  H4350 is a proven temp stable powder if you can find it.

[jasnt]

I have used a lot of reloader 17!  In 243, 270, 308, and 300wm. Acuracey has been great but tempature does have good effect on speed.  More powder in the load the more swing I had. With 243 I had about 100fps change from 20° to 100°.  With the 300wm I saw almost 200fps change in the same temp change.  But it swings pretty consistently and if you do the work it's easy to compensate for.  Shot the best group of my life with 87gr vmax and re17. 2.5" 5 shot group at 736 yards

[mazama]

I call RL17 my magic powder,I use it in my 284win and 338win mag,I get good accuracy and a little higher velocity than with imr4350,I have stopped using 4350.

[Forks]

When RL17 first came out quite a few years ago I talked to a guy that was using it in his 6.5-284 and was getting right close to 3200fps with 140 Bergers and was thrilled with it.  The one thing he told me about using it was he thought it was very sneaky with regard to showing pressure.  Said during his load development it would go along and not really show any pressure signs then he'd get a real heavy bolt lift and hard ejector marks.  I don't know if his experience with it was specific to his setup or not but it's something to maybe remember when doing your load development.

This is very accurate information. I've seen similar issues in my load development.

X3 with my 270WSM.

[Jonathan_S]

I call RL17 my magic powder,I use it in my 284win and 338win mag,I get good accuracy and a little higher velocity than with imr4350,I have stopped using 4350.

  here. Don't throw it out. Also don't be surprised when/if you have to continually fiddle with rl powders due to inconsistency

[Yondering]

I really like RL17 in my 6.5 Creedmoor. Velocity is better than 4350 and any temp sensitivity hasn't been an issue here on the west side.

[KillBilly]

I have 2 1/2 pounds of 4350 if you are interested. I live in the Olympia area.


I have a bunch of  other powders also

[syoungs]

I'm in tri cities or I'd take it off your hands, my biggest concern is developing a load here through the summer, and getting to Wyoming in October to find inaccurate loads, it's only getting warmer so I may not have time to develop a load in simmiliar temps. Guess time will tell.

[actionshooter]

I have had good luck in the accuracy dept. with RL17 in 6.5CM and .260 BUT it IS extremely temperature sensitive.
 In my own loads, RL17 had 1.4+fps/F (degree) variance and after finding that, did a little research and realized its pretty common.

In my match rifle I have shot from 25* to 100*.....that's 105 fps....way to much for me

[yorketransport]

When RL17 first came out quite a few years ago I talked to a guy that was using it in his 6.5-284 and was getting right close to 3200fps with 140 Bergers and was thrilled with it.  The one thing he told me about using it was he thought it was very sneaky with regard to showing pressure.  Said during his load development it would go along and not really show any pressure signs then he'd get a real heavy bolt lift and hard ejector marks.  I don't know if his experience with it was specific to his setup or not but it's something to maybe remember when doing your load development.

This is very accurate information. I've seen similar issues in my load development.

This has been my experience too. Reloader 17 is as unpredictable as a drunken teenager. I've been playing with it since it first came out and we were still using IMR 4350 data as a baseline. Pressures will sneak up on you even when using tested data and it gets unpredictable pressure swings. H 100-v gives very similar results and it's been much more consistent in my experience.

[rudysts]

RL17 works really well with 6.5 creed but RL16 might be a better choice if you want to avoid temp swings. it is an alternative to H4350
some competitive shooters have tested it and found it very stable in extreme temperature swings. it is Alliants newest powder. it has been reported to give better velocity then H4350 and in some cases better accuracy.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/alliant-reloder-16.3905416/
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/rl16/

[Jason]

I'm in tri cities or I'd take it off your hands, my biggest concern is developing a load here through the summer, and getting to Wyoming in October to find inaccurate loads, it's only getting warmer so I may not have time to develop a load in simmiliar temps. Guess time will tell.

Have you tried Garners over in Pendleton? They have a good supply of powders.

[syoungs]

Thanks for the link, gonna check that out now.

I don't make it to oendelton often enough to realize they had a good place to buy powder/supplies. It's close enough to make the trip when I need components though, thanks for the tip!

Shot some today with factory loads, not to impressed with the Howa out of the box, think it'll be a shooter with a new stock though, would get 2-3 shots that would be well under moa, then toss a flier or 2 3-5". The stock is flimsy like a rubber band, watched my buddy shoot it, and the stock was burying against the barrel on the bipods, off a rest it was better, but still would touch on the bottom of the barrel. That's a whole new discussion though!

[Booyah13]

I will throw out another option to consider that was a lucky afterthought for me. I have been developing some 6.5 creedmoor loads lately using IMR 4350, RL17 and Superformance. I have definitely had the best results with Superformance in both 140 and 143 gr bullets. RL17 is an inconsistent second place powder for me and IMR4350 is definitely last and I will not use again. One thing that I can say for RL17 is that it burns fairly clean. 

[BULLBLASTER]

I will throw out another option to consider that was a lucky afterthought for me. I have been developing some 6.5 creedmoor loads lately using IMR 4350, RL17 and Superformance. I have definitely had the best results with Superformance in both 140 and 143 gr bullets. RL17 is an inconsistent second place powder for me and IMR4350 is definitely last and I will not use again. One thing that I can say for RL17 is that it burns fairly clean. 

Just curious, but why won't you use imr4350 again? I developed a 6.5 creedmore load with it and it seemed to work fairly well (I never tried anything else either tho)

[Jonathan_S]

  yeah that was quick and easy and he'll not have to worry about batch inconsistency

[BULLBLASTER]

I will add that I have seen some pretty unbelievable velocitys with superformqnce aand 140 grain bullets but Es was like 60. (Not my reloads but a guy I bs with at the range)

[Booyah13]

I don't plan on using the IMR4350 for my 6.5 Creedmoor reloads simply because my rifle doesn't shoot it well. My groups are almost double what they are with Superformance with 140 and 143 gr bullets. It was the first powder that I tried because the reload data is nearly identical to that of H4350, which seems to be the most popular (and impossible to find near me). All of my other rifles shoot IMR powders very well, but not this one.   

[BULLBLASTER]

I don't plan on using the IMR4350 for my 6.5 Creedmoor reloads simply because my rifle doesn't shoot it well. My groups are almost double what they are with Superformance with 140 and 143 gr bullets. It was the first powder that I tried because the reload data is nearly identical to that of H4350, which seems to be the most popular (and impossible to find near me). All of my other rifles shoot IMR powders very well, but not this one.

Good enough. It's really amazing sometimes the affect powder has to both accuracyy and velocity