300 wsm 215 berger

I've never loaded 215s in a .300 WSM, but I do have some experience with the 208gr ELDs in a Savage factory .300 WSM. We used RL26 in Winchester brass with Fed 215s. It was in my cousins rifle and I don't have my notes, but I'm pretty sure our final load was around 68.5gr and it went 2850fps in a 26" barrel. I would start around 66.5gr of RL26 with the 215s and work up in 0.2gr increments.
 
Funny this came up. I just started working on a sweet short/heavy .300WSM w. 23" 1:10" Kreiger pushing a 215 Hyb. Since I am in AZ, and the rifle will be used from August pronghorn (100°+) to late season elk (-0°), I opted to not try RL26. I picked RL19 & RL23 (which I have found to be very temp stable). If this was a 26" barrel instead of 23", I think you could safely expect 100+fps more out of it.

My two ladder tests were fairly inconclusive though.....other than to tell me whatever I feed this rifle is going to be ridiculously accurate. Shot more for velocity testing than vertical dispersion since I could only get out to 200 yards. Winds were fluctuating from 8-15mph, from 9-11:00.

RL19, 9 shots, 9 powder charges, 2551-2720fps. No idea what happened with shot #4. Gust? I don't think it was me, but could have been.
20191006_101937.jpg


RL23, 10 shots, 10 powder charges, from 2596 to 2769fps. Note that POI was pretty much the same as RL19, but winds were kicking up even more and shifting from 10-2:00 now. No pressure signs in either, but the RL23 just started to compress at my top charge weight.
20191006_101932.jpg


Zeroed for 200 after the testing. Brought it in to 100 and shot 3 rounds of the same charge weight I had loaded up for sighters just in case....
20191006_113727.jpg
 
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Looks good! I've never tried RL19 in anything, I wasn't aware that it was fairly temp stable. I know RL23 is a very good powder for temp stability and have been anxious to try it in more cartridges.
 
Jud96 said:
Looks good! I've never tried RL19 in anything, I wasn't aware that it was fairly temp stable. I know RL23 is a very good powder for temp stability and have been anxious to try it in more cartridges.
Click to expand...
RL19 is not as temp stable. But RL23 is. Plus, it gave me better speeds. So that is what I will be working with. 2750+ is not bad with a 23" barrel slinging 215s.
 
lancetkenyon said:
RL19 is not as temp stable. But RL23 is. Plus, it gave me better speeds. So that is what I will be working with. 2750+ is not bad with a 23" barrel slinging 215s.
Click to expand...
Heck no, that's really good for that combination. It shoots well too!
 
Nice shooting lance. I haven't messed with the reloaded powders much, but I just finished a new 280 ai. Once the barrel is broken in I'm gonna try RL23 with the 175 Berger's. If I can find an accurate load over 2900 FPS that doesn't smoke brass, I will be happy.
 
Reloader 26 under a 215 is shooting exceptional, I've done a few at 24 inches and they are running 2900 fps, the node is so good no one has tried to see if the next one is reachable.
 
I wish RL26 didn't spike above 85°F. I would use it in a lot of rifles. But I don't really want two loads for different conditions, so I give up a bit of speed for stability. With 110+ degree temp swings that I hunt in, has to be stable.
 
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