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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 11, 2017 17:21:24 GMT -5
Well today was half decent. I wanted to test some of the new RL 16 powder to see where it actually fell into the burnt rate compared to H4350 and RL 17. This gun I used has a 27" long Shilen 4groove Rachet barrel and is on the tight side compared to my Krieger barrel I ran before. I had good results with RL17 but also saw a annoying copper and powder fouling between 6 to 9inches down the barrel not in the throat area like H4350 did.
I used Nosler cases because they won't take as much pressure as the Laupa cases so I started off with 48.0 ,48.5, 49.0 and 49.5grs. All loads shot good at 100 yards the velocity was as follows 48.0= 2860 48.5grs=2885 49.0= 2900 and 49.5grs= 2930 49.5grs of RL 16 showed no signs of pressure and bolt opened easily with no click at the top of the bolt throw so in this gun 49.5grs is a safe load and I will work up from there.
The big plus is how well the barrel looked after 21 shots. This powder has a de cooper agent which I thought was a sales gimmick well no it really works also I saw no carbon ring or cooper fouling anywhere in the barrel. I cleaned the barrel with just Bore tech carbon cleaner and it cleaned up very quickly without using anything else now if this stuff shoots good at 1K I will be in business. |
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Post by hillbill on Jan 11, 2017 17:26:10 GMT -5
about to buy some for my 6.5 build, have some Lapua brass on order so now its powder and bullet time.
have been reading all I can find about RL-16 in the 6.5 and so far it seems to be a great match.
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Post by deadeye on Jan 11, 2017 21:00:23 GMT -5
r16 per ql on paper the #'s are almost identical to r17.
I'm guessing that r16 is really the same as r17 but with additive cfe(copper fouling erase)
there will be probably relative close fps readings if so but could differ lot to lot & the extra residue left in the bore.
elkman-your thoughts! TIA |
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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 12, 2017 9:43:51 GMT -5
I have have two good 6.5/284's none would shoot small groups at 1K till I switched to RL17. But RL17 needs to be on the top end of the pressure curve and it is a diryt powder if you don't shoot it at max pressure. RL 17 peaks very fast once you get close to the max for your gun. If you experience a stiff bolt lift or even a light click at the top of the bolt throw when you extract the fired case you better stop because even a .5 gr more can lock the gun up not good thing. I have done it so be advised.
I really can't say how good RL16 is until I shoot it at 1K and that won't be till the temp's warm up in May. It should really do well in this size case and the 300 WSM
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Post by deadeye on Jan 13, 2017 9:53:15 GMT -5
elkman- you are right about r17 as I use it in my .308's w/ 185vld's.....r17 also seems to want to stack in the heat in a hurray.
r16?- in the same gun, same bullet setup etc are the r16#'s matching the r17 fps within reason-same powder charge or are you finding r16 is faster than r17?
I never bought any r16,just read about how it was nearer r15 with some other characteristic's but according to ql it match's r17 almost identical but that's on ql,just looking for real world experience w r16. |
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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 13, 2017 19:57:48 GMT -5
Well grain for grain RL 17 is faster in Velocity but I think I can get there with RL16 without any pressure issues. I loaded up some more test rounds to see just where my max charge will be with this particular barrel. The it comes down to accuracy will it shoot as good as RL17 does. I really hope so because I sure like the way the barrel looked after 21 rounds. It is supposed to be in the 50's next week so I hope to do a test again. I post the results
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Post by hillbill on Jan 14, 2017 7:52:26 GMT -5
I hope it's good, I just ordered 8 LBs from Weidners
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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 14, 2017 12:55:40 GMT -5
hillbill well I went back out today temp was a nice 30deg day. Certainly not my 75-85 deg summertime match weather conditions but I wanted to see how much of this RL16 the gun will handle.
Today I tested 49.5grs again this was my last load on my first test. 49.5grs no pressure accuracy fair then I went to the following 49.8grs 50.1grs 50.3grs and then 50.6grs this was with the same Nosler cases and 210 primers 49.8, 50.1, 50.3 shot big 50.6grs came back in to the high end accuracy node of this barrel. 50.6grs showed no signs of pressure or bolt click which surprised me. From what I am seeing
RL16 burns closer to H4831 than it does H4350. But at the same time RL16 turns up more velocity with less powder than when you use H4831.
50.6grs gave me 2988fps with a 142gr SMK from this 27" barrel. I think 50.8 to maybe 51.5grs will be the magic window for the high node for this barrel. And if the Nosler case handles that much RL16 then my Laupa cases will be even better.
I really like how easy I see it clean up. Like anything else start out on the low end around 48.0 and work up and see what you gun will handle. The low end accuracy node will be around 2850 and the high end 2980
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Post by hillbill on Jan 14, 2017 22:34:21 GMT -5
got my powder today along with some 140 VLDs and some 140 SSTs, still trying to decide 6.5 creed or 260 AI
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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 15, 2017 9:42:29 GMT -5
I might be building a 260AI for 1k benchrest. That's one reason why I am testing RL16 in my 6.5/284. If I build a 260Ai I need to get into the 2950fps range or it won't be worth it. From what I have read it should be doable with. 51grs of RL16 is still below the shoulder of my 6.5/284 case I can get to 3,000 very easily the 260Ai should be more efficient and do it with a few grains less powder.
My main focus is going to be my 6mm Dashers. I have a new 1-7 twist barrel coming I am hoping that I can make the new 110gr SMK to shoot with a high BC of .617 that bullet will be extremely hard to beat no matter what you shoot it against. Big problem is will they shoot and just how good are these bullets when you compete at the level I do at 1,000 yards you have to be able to shoot 10 shots in 5" or less on a average day to win s relay
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Post by jims on Jan 15, 2017 9:55:24 GMT -5
A 5 inch group at 1000 yards is real shooting.
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Post by elkman1310 on Jan 15, 2017 18:15:36 GMT -5
That's the level of competition we shot at on our range and you usually see some 3"S and 4"S if conditions are good. The world record is 2.8" in heavy gun and 2.6" in light gun.
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