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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Reloading
Rem Mag / RL33 / 180 Bergers
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<blockquote data-quote="c_bass16" data-source="post: 823963" data-attributes="member: 20355"><p>Alright guys, this is my first true LR caliber in a true LR rifle and since I was starting with a relatively "experimental" combo, I thought I would outsource some knowledge.</p><p></p><p>I'll give you the specs, and then some photos to see what you think.</p><p></p><p>Rifle </p><p>25" Rock Creek 1:8.5 M40 Contour</p><p>7mm Mag Match chamber</p><p>Win M70 CRF Classic, trued action and bolt</p><p></p><p>I'm testing RL33 simply because it was available when I was sourcing supplies and it was suggested as a good alternative for the 7mm Rem Mag with heavy bullets.</p><p></p><p>I've got 215 primers and 180 Target VLDs on hand and started with a ladder at 71 (way low I think) and went forward looking for case capacity, velocity, minimal horizontal stringing and of course, pressure issues.</p><p></p><p>I went up in .5gr increments at 475 yds and actually ran out of case capacity before I saw any pressure issues at all.</p><p></p><p>I've got a picture of two cases, my starting charge of 71, and my max as I believe case capacity was starting to reach the top. (bullet seating depth was .002 longer so it was just starting to push powder, but I could feel it shake so I just touched it down an extra .002 so all my loads were the same OAL to ogive)</p><p></p><p>Velocity over the last three .5gr loads finally stopped showing a velocity increase, and was hovering between 2945 and 2960, which also suggests approaching max efficiency if I've studied right.</p><p></p><p>It's really really really hard to see in the photos, but the lowest 71gr charge has a perfect looking primer with the exception of a very faint crater that you can barely feel with the finger nail.</p><p>The max charge was the same, not flat, but with the same faint crater that you can barely feel.</p><p>ZERO noticeable change in bolt lift, but with the CRF claw extractor, I can't exactly look for any marks on the case head.</p><p>I measured the cases looking for excessive expansion and the results were as follows.</p><p></p><p>Unfired </p><p>.489 at shoulder</p><p>.510 just in front of the belt</p><p></p><p>71gr</p><p>.492 at the shoulder</p><p>.511 just in front of the belt</p><p></p><p>Nearing full case</p><p>.492 at the shoulder</p><p>.512 just in front of the belt</p><p></p><p></p><p>With this info, (and I can try getting any other data that might be needed) would anyone suggest that this powder is not actually capable of reaching "legitimate MAX" with a heavy bullet IN MY RIFLE.</p><p></p><p>I still have plenty of room to seat the bullets OUT, and could even potentially seat them in a pinch, or even run a tighter bushing to increase pressure a little sooner, in hopes of squeezing velocity out of a slightly lighter load, but so far everything seems to be running safe.</p><p></p><p>I found two clusters on paper at 475yds that were promising.</p><p>One was a 3 shot, full grain, spread that settled at just over 1.1"</p><p>The other was a .5gr pair that were also at 1.2" apart.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Any thoughts or suggestions before I proceed?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="c_bass16, post: 823963, member: 20355"] Alright guys, this is my first true LR caliber in a true LR rifle and since I was starting with a relatively "experimental" combo, I thought I would outsource some knowledge. I'll give you the specs, and then some photos to see what you think. Rifle 25" Rock Creek 1:8.5 M40 Contour 7mm Mag Match chamber Win M70 CRF Classic, trued action and bolt I'm testing RL33 simply because it was available when I was sourcing supplies and it was suggested as a good alternative for the 7mm Rem Mag with heavy bullets. I've got 215 primers and 180 Target VLDs on hand and started with a ladder at 71 (way low I think) and went forward looking for case capacity, velocity, minimal horizontal stringing and of course, pressure issues. I went up in .5gr increments at 475 yds and actually ran out of case capacity before I saw any pressure issues at all. I've got a picture of two cases, my starting charge of 71, and my max as I believe case capacity was starting to reach the top. (bullet seating depth was .002 longer so it was just starting to push powder, but I could feel it shake so I just touched it down an extra .002 so all my loads were the same OAL to ogive) Velocity over the last three .5gr loads finally stopped showing a velocity increase, and was hovering between 2945 and 2960, which also suggests approaching max efficiency if I've studied right. It's really really really hard to see in the photos, but the lowest 71gr charge has a perfect looking primer with the exception of a very faint crater that you can barely feel with the finger nail. The max charge was the same, not flat, but with the same faint crater that you can barely feel. ZERO noticeable change in bolt lift, but with the CRF claw extractor, I can't exactly look for any marks on the case head. I measured the cases looking for excessive expansion and the results were as follows. Unfired .489 at shoulder .510 just in front of the belt 71gr .492 at the shoulder .511 just in front of the belt Nearing full case .492 at the shoulder .512 just in front of the belt With this info, (and I can try getting any other data that might be needed) would anyone suggest that this powder is not actually capable of reaching "legitimate MAX" with a heavy bullet IN MY RIFLE. I still have plenty of room to seat the bullets OUT, and could even potentially seat them in a pinch, or even run a tighter bushing to increase pressure a little sooner, in hopes of squeezing velocity out of a slightly lighter load, but so far everything seems to be running safe. I found two clusters on paper at 475yds that were promising. One was a 3 shot, full grain, spread that settled at just over 1.1" The other was a .5gr pair that were also at 1.2" apart. Any thoughts or suggestions before I proceed? [/QUOTE]
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Reloading
Rem Mag / RL33 / 180 Bergers
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