Retumbo or RL-23?

Havard · Jul 17, 2019

if you had to pick one for 270WSM or 25-06 (or both)which would it be? Thanks...
*note - sorry, I meant for this to go under RELOADING... have no idea why I posted here!

Jud96 · Jul 18, 2019

Are you only able to get those two powders?

RockyMtnMT · Jul 18, 2019

I think both powders are good. My experience with Retumbo is rifles either really like it or they don't. So far rl23 has been nicely consistent for us. Retumbo is slower of the two for sure.

Havard · Jul 18, 2019

Jud96 said:
Are you only able to get those two powders?

RL 26 is out of the question, and I was wanting something slow for the 2 calibers mentioned. I found both powders on the shelf and was wondering the best one to spend my coins on. Thanks

Jud96 · Jul 21, 2019

Havard said:
RL 26 is out of the question, and I was wanting something slow for the 2 calibers mentioned. I found both powders on the shelf and was wondering the best one to spend my coins on. Thanks

I think Retumbo is a little on the slow side, and RL23 is a little on the fast side. Both with work good though, and both are temperature stable. I personally would go with RL23 as it seems to be cleaner burning than Retumbo. H1000 would be a great powder for .25-06 and .270 WSM if you were able to get it. Of the two, I would choose RL23, and make sure you get as much of it as you can get or can afford. With the way powders come and go, I like to stay stocked up whenever possible.

Barrelnut · Jul 21, 2019

I would go with the RL23. RL23 is close to RL22. Not quite the same but close and a great temp stable powder compared to RL22. RL22 is one of the all time favorites for WSM and 25-06 cases and RL23 is supposed to be a great substitute for RL22. OR just use RL22, great in those cases.

Havard · Jul 21, 2019

Jud96 said:
I think Retumbo is a little on the slow side, and RL23 is a little on the fast side. Both with work good though, and both are temperature stable. I personally would go with RL23 as it seems to be cleaner burning than Retumbo. H1000 would be a great powder for .25-06 and .270 WSM if you were able to get it. Of the two, I would choose RL23, and make sure you get as much of it as you can get or can afford. With the way powders come and go, I like to stay stocked up whenever possible.

I think maybe I can get a little 1000 also but need to wait till I get home and see. For sure I'm getting as much of the 23 as possible. And I was able to pick up some 16 last week as well. Trying to get a little stock pile built of the things I know I will use. Hopefully it doesn't get too bad, but 26 can't be found as you know. And I don't see a lot of Varget lately either!

Havard · Jul 21, 2019

Barrelnut said:
I would go with the RL23. RL23 is close to RL22. Not quite the same but close and a great temp stable powder compared to RL22. RL22 is one of the all time favorites for WSM and 25-06 cases and RL23 is supposed to be a great substitute for RL22. OR just use RL22, great in those cases.

Thank you for the reply; was what I wanted to confirm actually!

kiwikid · Jul 22, 2019

In the five 25-06 rifles I currently load for I have found that Rel 22 produces 50-100 fps faster speeds than Rel 23 with 100 grain bullets. When I worked up Rel 23 loads I was working off the info on the Alliant website and even at their Max 54 grain load, Fed 210M, Norma cases and Sierra GK I saw no signs of pressure in any of the loads. Since then Hornady has done testing and their max load with the 100 grain InterLock, Hornady cases and WLR is 57.2 grains. This extra 3 grains would at least close the velocity gap between the two powders.

Havard · Jul 22, 2019

kiwikid said:
In the five 25-06 rifles I currently load for I have found that Rel 22 produces 50-100 fps faster speeds than Rel 23 with 100 grain bullets. When I worked up Rel 23 loads I was working off the info on the Alliant website and even at their Max 54 grain load, Fed 210M, Norma cases and Sierra GK I saw no signs of pressure in any of the loads. Since then Hornady has done testing and their max load with the 100 grain InterLock, Hornady cases and WLR is 57.2 grains. This extra 3 grains would at least close the velocity gap between the two powders.

How was the accuracy with the 23?

lancetkenyon · Jul 22, 2019

I run RL23 in my .25-06AI/.280AI, and have run it is several 6.5SS/6.5SAUM/7SS cartridges. Great powder choice. I think Retumbo is a little slow in those cases unless you are running the heaviest bullets made for the caliber. .257" 131 Blackjack or .277" 170 Berger Elite.

Jud96 · Jul 22, 2019

Havard said:
I think maybe I can get a little 1000 also but need to wait till I get home and see. For sure I'm getting as much of the 23 as possible. And I was able to pick up some 16 last week as well. Trying to get a little stock pile built of the things I know I will use. Hopefully it doesn't get too bad, but 26 can't be found as you know. And I don't see a lot of Varget lately either!

Yeah RL26 is like how H4350 was a few years ago, nearly nonexistent. I have only seen it on the shelves of my local go to store for reloading twice since I bought an 8lb jug like 2 years ago. My Dad shoots it in his 7mmRM and it took him a few months of shopping around to come up with 4lbs to last him a little while. It's a great powder, but unless you can get a good supply of it, I would setup to shoot what you can find.

For your two cartridges, I think RL23 will be a good choice. I don't personally reload for either one, but a quick glance at Alliant's load data for both with RL23, shows it right in line for velocity with most other suitable powders from Alliant, Hodgdon, and IMR.

kiwikid · Jul 22, 2019

Havard said:
How was the accuracy with the 23?[/QUOTE

Havard, the Rel 23 was very accurate in four of the five rifles I tried it in. I ended up staying with it in only two of the
25-06s as Rel 22 gave me more velocity with slightly better accuracy in the other two.
This photo is indicative of what Rel 23 will do in a good
25-06.

Havard · Jul 22, 2019

Hey bud, couldn't get the attachment to open but I assuming it's a nice and tight group!

Retumbo or RL-23?

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