Reloder 26

It does. First, it means for my amount of shooting QL wouldn't be much help. Is it typical to be off by 150fps?

It seems Alliant's data is a bit conservative. I rechecked my brass, took a good look at the primers, and mic'd the heads above the belts and there's no discernable difference between the starting load @ 2990 and my current max yielding 3200. If I can tweak a load to shoot well at 3100-3150 and be somewhat easy on brass I can just load up and shoot without worrying about further experimentation.

Okay that last part probably isn't true.




I'm going to say there is a flaw with quickload and RL26 . usually when quickload is adjusted to the case capacity , COAL , BBL length ,and temp , it's predictions are very close to spot on . I've never seen this big of a difference , it surprised me .
 
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I'm going to say there is a flaw with quickload and RL26 . usually when quickload is adjusted to the case capacity , COAL , BBL length ,and temp , it's predictions are very close to spot on . I've never seen this big of a difference , it surprised me .
There was something on Accurate Shooter about this and you could fix it by adjusting one of the parameters but I didn't pay attention as I don't use the program.

I did find this but don't know if there's any truth to it ;

"Burn rate (Ba) adjustment in QuickLoad is .368"
 
There was something on Accurate Shooter about this and you could fix it by adjusting one of the parameters but I didn't pay attention as I don't use the program.

I did find this but don't know if there's any truth to it ;

"Burn rate (Ba) adjustment in QuickLoad is .368"



Thanks Wedgy , this is the first I've worked with RL26 . I did not see talk of this before , or didn't pay attention . this is a big adjustment . Q-load has the Ba set at 0.3397 . you found the guys are saying to set it to 0.368 . I found that 0.371 is about a match for me , with this lot of powder . I didn't want to print that info , so I showed in grains what I was finding . an adjustment from .368 to .371 could be just a difference in powder speed from lot to lot . good info , thanks again .
 
I set my Ba to 0.3558 for my lot of powder, Alliant Reloder-26 lot # 08014Y050115 several months ago when first working up loads with RL26. It works well for predicting what will happen as I try new Bullets. My first lot of RL26 was a tad lower in burn rate but still higher than what QL had in its database. I bought 5 of the 1 lb canisters that were available at my local gun shop of the Alliant Reloder-26 lot # 08014Y050115 and still have a couple lbs left. The weather is just starting to get hot enough here so I will be able to do a good temperature check on it for my 6.5 Creedmoor. I want to wait for a 90+ degree day to get some readings.
It is interesting to see some have had to increase to a Ba of 0.368 and even 0.371 I thought my lot was a hot one but I guess not so much.
 
Ran four shots over the chrono today. It was about 88 out and my average velocity was 2985 with an ES of 12. Mirage got me on my group I believe because my point of impact was an inch high compared to the testing I did before and I had two separate groups that measured about 3/4 MOA all together. When I tested the other day it was mid to low 70s and my average velocity was 2958 with an ES of 17 and the group was dead center and measured in the low .3s but it was a nice day and I took a couple minutes between shots. Seems like this stuff changes about 1 fps per degree. Hopefully it only changes in warmer conditions, because if it varies this much in cooler weather I'll be searching for a new powder
 
Ran four shots over the chrono today. It was about 88 out and my average velocity was 2985 with an ES of 12. Mirage got me on my group I believe because my point of impact was an inch high compared to the testing I did before and I had two separate groups that measured about 3/4 MOA all together. When I tested the other day it was mid to low 70s and my average velocity was 2958 with an ES of 17 and the group was dead center and measured in the low .3s but it was a nice day and I took a couple minutes between shots. Seems like this stuff changes about 1 fps per degree. Hopefully it only changes in warmer conditions, because if it varies this much in cooler weather I'll be searching for a new powder

If you go back on this thread and look at my temperature test, which was at 17° and I believe 66°, there was less than .2 fps per degree, my change was around 10 fps for a 50° change. I still need to test it at higher temps, but I think it may be like some people are seeing, it seems really stable until around 80°, but once above that it jumps. I am going to do another test now that it is getting into the low 90's here in Wyoming for a short period, and see what I come up with.
 
If you go back on this thread and look at my temperature test, which was at 17° and I believe 66°, there was less than .2 fps per degree, my change was around 10 fps for a 50° change. I still need to test it at higher temps, but I think it may be like some people are seeing, it seems really stable until around 80°, but once above that it jumps. I am going to do another test now that it is getting into the low 90's here in Wyoming for a short period, and see what I come up with.

I want to try it this Fall and Winter when the temps are from 60 degrees down to 30 or so. I've seen others report the same thing as you have, temp is very stable up until the 80s then it gets faster. My primers still look the same as before and all testing has been done with a Magnetospeed. Worse case scenario I'll just have 3 range cards, one for temps in the 30-45 degree area, one for 50-80 degrees, then the other for 80-90 degrees. No other powders have delivered the velocity, low ES, and accuracy like RL26 has in my .308 Norma.
 
I want to try it this Fall and Winter when the temps are from 60 degrees down to 30 or so. I've seen others report the same thing as you have, temp is very stable up until the 80s then it gets faster. My primers still look the same as before and all testing has been done with a Magnetospeed. Worse case scenario I'll just have 3 range cards, one for temps in the 30-45 degree area, one for 50-80 degrees, then the other for 80-90 degrees. No other powders have delivered the velocity, low ES, and accuracy like RL26 has in my .308 Norma.

I just played with my applied ballistics app and found some interesting points....In building two profiles, one set to change .15 fps per ° for below 80°, and the other profile built to change 1.5 FPS per ° for over 80°, which is higher than what many have found, then ran the ballistics of both profiles at a temperature of 110°, which is rather extreme in my area and even pretty darn hot in other areas, especially during hunting season (excluding possibly New Mexico, Arizona and Texas) and with all other atmospherics remaining the same....

The difference at 1000 yards, which for most hunters near or over their set max range, using a 140 vld out of my .260 AI, the come up for the .15 fps/° is 19.4 MOA, the come up for the 1.5 fps/° was 18.8 MOA.....that is a difference of approximately 6", at 1000 yards.

Now, I will say that every little bit needs to be accounted for....but these are all numbers set near extremes in nearly every way.....if you cut that distance to an average long range hunting distance of 300 to 600 yards, and drop the temp to 85 to 95° temp....the difference is nearly neglegable, and you will still make a hit in the vitals. If you were shooting 1000 yards in these extreme conditions, yes I would say 6" needs to be accounted for. But if you were going to take a 1000 yard shot in extreme conditions, you should have already done your homework and know how your load is going to perform, and this will be accounted for in your DOPE (Data Obtained from Previous Engagements....)

I guess what I'm saying is, if your max range is 600 yds....people are probably making it over complicated. More than that, you could probably use .4 to .7 fps/° and keep your hits in the vitals at any temp out to 1000 yds, maybe more.
 
Could one of you fellas with quickload tell me the correct way to check water capacity of my cases and run my load? It seems like 3220 should be out of reach for a basic 7mm Remington Magnum but I just don't see the signs. I'd like to know if this is safe, or are my brass and primers just too hard to use the classic pressure indicators.
 
Could one of you fellas with quickload tell me the correct way to check water capacity of my cases and run my load? It seems like 3220 should be out of reach for a basic 7mm Remington Magnum but I just don't see the signs. I'd like to know if this is safe, or are my brass and primers just too hard to use the classic pressure indicators.


sure , I'll help .

velocity is a good indicator of pressure . 3220 FPS is humming right along .

take a fired case , and do nothing to it . I like to fire a case , do a neck size , then fire it again to be sure it's fully expanded . weigh the empty case . I just let the case on my scale and use a childs medicine dropper to suck up water from a cup and slowly drip it in the brass case . fill the case level to the very top . if you get a bubble on top just touch it with a paper towel , this will suck the extra water up easily . be sure the case is dry on the outside . weigh the full case . the difference in weight , is the water capacity . I like to check a few to get an average of what I'm working with .

I'll need ;
bullet being used .
powder charge in grains .
COAL , off the tip of the bullet
barrel length . close the bolt , put a cleaning rod down the bbl until it touches the bolt face . mark the cleaning rod , and measure it . do not measure a muzzle brake .

the load and velocity your using and approximate temp you were shooting in .
I think this will do it .
 
I filled and weighed three cases and come up with 85.7 grains capacity.
162 grain Hornady ELD-M
Overall length of 3.465.
69.5 for 2990 fps.
70.0 for 3110
I don't have the results for 70.5 and 71.0
Maxed out at 71.5 grains for an average of 3220.
Temperature 72 degrees.
Reloder 26
CCI 250
Barrel length 26"

Thanks for the help.
 
I can't get more than one speed to align with quickload . with everything set to your specs ,

for me to get 69.5 gr to give 2990 FPS I need to set the powder speed ( Ba) to 0.3300

to get 70.0 gr to show 3110 FPS I need to set the ( Ba) to 0.3550

to get 71.5 gr to show 3220 FPS I need to set the (Ba) to 0.371

I'm wondering about your chrony readings .

if you really are getting 3221 FPS at 71.5 gr of RL26 powder you are 72597 PSI . the 7mm rem mag is rated at 61000 psi .


when I adjusted the Ba for my rifle / ammo combo my readings were just about spot on , at any charge weight .
 
Is there a way to figure the max velocity with this combo that I could shoot for? Alliant's data shows 3050 for this bullet in a 24" barrel. I figure 3100 should be a cake walk in the longer tube. I loaded and fired 5 more rounds of 71.5, velocity was right at 3220 again with an ES of 12 fps. That's a bummer if I gotta back out a bunch.
 
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