RL 22 powder, 300 win mag

[stripes]

hear alot of people here talking about the variences from lot to lot of the reloader powders. I loading 70.4gr of rl22 over lapua cases & 190smk. fps=2850. anybody recomend a better powder for 300win or just buy large quanities of same lot???/

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I don't know about the lot-to-lot variation but RL powders are often referred to as "temperature sensitive". Any facts behind either one of these issues with RL powders?

 

[winmagman]

stripes
If your happy with the accurracy and velocity of that load then buy 5 or 10 lbs and be done with it. If you're thinking there might be greener pastures elsewhere, H-1000, H or Imr 4831, Imr 7828, and H 4350 all have good reputations in a 300 WM.

Personally I like 71.0 grs of Re 22 under a 200 gr Accubond or SMK, gets me 2950ish and dead critters I point it at.

Chris

 

[sewwhat89]

I am shooting 74 gr RL22 under 190 gr Berger VLDs for 2957 fps with no pressure. I took it up to 78 grs before I hit pressure, but I was not getting any significant gains in velocity and the accuracy was headed the wrong way. The other load that shoots wonders is 69 gr IMR 4350 with 190 gr SMKs. That load gets me 2925 fps. Both of these loads just work for me.

 

[glassman]

Several years ago I had bad experience with RL22.

I had been loading for the 300 mag and everything was fine with the first can, I was 1 gr under max in the books.

Then I start a new can and dropped 2 grs and loaded 3 shells for testing. Well...that's when it happened, first shot locked the bolt up. Had to drive the bolt out with a 2x4 board and big hammer.

Well I finally got the bolt out, but now the case is still locked tight in the chamber. Next I had to drive the case out with a steel rod and the big hammer. But I did get lucky and didn't hurt anything.

I done some more testing by dropping the charge down 5 more grains. So from what I could tell this new can was about 5 grains to "hot".

So, a great big lesson was learned here. I have never, ever, had any other brand of powder do this to me after 30 some yrs of loading.

Now, I reported this to the owner of the gun shop that I buy powder from and he was telling me that I was the 3rd person in the last two weeks that had told him of this.

Two years ago on a forum, there was a topic on this powder and a man from back on the east coast had mention that he had gotten hold of exceptionally hot lot of RL22 also.

Sooo...always start low and work up.

 

[stripes]

I like the groups with this load not hot by any means, but i have never started over with a new can, when i first worked this load up it was early april, may velocity was 2845, shot several cans by now but have never chronographed any more, having a little trouble with my drop tables out to 1000yds,mabey my velocity has changed. are any of you all using the exbal program for drop tables and is it worth the 70$ they want for it???????????

 

[johnnyk]

Glassman,
That may have been me that you're refering to as on the East Coast. I was loading for a .300WM that I had at the time. I was getting .300 Weatherby velocities using the 180gn Ballistic Tip and had to beat the bolt up and back. Luckily, no harm came to me, my buddy or the rifle but I learned a valuable lesson that day. Always start low and work up.
The thing that really stood out then and still sticks in my mind was the sound of the rifle going off. Sounded more like a howitzer than a Sendero. I was definately pushing the envelope! JohnnyK.

 

[metricman]

I have read that Re 15 is one powder in the series that is not temperature sensitive. As to the others, I cannot say.

 

[glassman]

johnnyk,
It was probably you that I read about then.

metricman,
I have used RL15 for probably 12 yrs now and it really works good in cold weather. I use it in the 22-250 and '06 with 150's with great sucess.

 

[lefty15]

I use RL19 in my .300 win mag, and so does my buddy with 168 Gr Barnes X triple shock bullets with 78 Gr of powder. This load shoots good with no pressure problems.
We both shoot Tikka's. I have a Tikka T3 Varmint Synthetic Stainless, and my buddy has a Whitetail Hunter.

 

[keithcandler]

I shot 75.5g of R#22 in my 300 Win Mag Sendero with Rem brass, 215's, and 180g Nosler Ballistic tips at 3100 fps with 3/4" groups at 100.

I think that when you are buying one pounds of powder at a time, you are asking for real trouble. When ever you start over with a different lot# of any powder you should assume that there could be as much as a 5% change in burning rate from lot to lot. ONly the inexperienced reloader expects to use the same powder charge from one can to another and get extreme accuracy.

 

[Jimm]

Stripes ,,

I have seen some small variances but nothing as serious as 5 grains!!

My 300 winnie load is 73.5 grs. under a 190 smk . Average velocity 3050 , es 21 sd 7 . 100 yd groups .3 to .4 and 300 yds .750 . 700 yds. best to date3 around 2.5 inches .

This is out of 5C Broughton bbl 11 twist 28 " length.

Very accurate and very deadly on everything I've shot with it .

Jim B.

 

[lefty15]

So you are saying that everytime you get into a new lot of powder, you should be reworking the load again? Will new lot numbers really make that much difference with a hunting rifle?

 

[Jimm]

Lefty,

I only rework my load if I at the max pressure wise with whatever powder I am using .
Most of the time I choose a load that is down from max pressure as they are usually more accurate and have a wider spread of powder charges that shoot to the same place with velos very close . That way when I move to a new lot of powder I don't have to worry about a load turning dangerous . Might have to tweak a bit for the utmost in accuracy however .

Jim B.