So a year or so ago, when H1000 was getting hard to find I bought some RL-26 (and IMR 7977).
I had setup a 270WIN on a Savage 116 with a 28in McGowen bull barrel with a 1/9 twist for deer hunting in TX. My go to load has been H4831 with 140 Berger Hunting VLD which has taken several deer and hogs with great success.
Reading all these posts on the 165 Matrix got me interested to give them a try.
Since there is very little load data to go by, I pulled up Quickload and used the 160 Partition and RL-26 to come up with a starting load. I loaded a dummy round and did the normal test to determine seating depth, came up with 3.450 OAL, this is where the 165 Matrix is just engaging the lead in my barrel, not quite cutting the lands, but still leaving a ring on the bullet when a round is chambered. For 65Kpsi cartridges I usually use a starting load in the 58Kpsi range in Quickload. (the 270WIN is a 65Kpsi cartridge) So I chose a starting load of 58grains of RL-26 at 3.450" OAL and loaded 10 rounds to check pressure. (Don't use this load.)
Took this load to the range and shot them at 100 yards. This load produced a decent group, right around 3/4in. Bolt was not sticky at all, but fired cases would not rechamber. Took them home and proceeded to reload them only to find that the primer pockets would not hold primers anymore.
Backed the load down to 56.8 grains of RL-26, with FED210M primers at 3.450" OAL and went back to the range with the chrony.
Shot the string of 10 through the chrony and came up with: Av Vel: 2953fps, SD: 21, ES: 63. Not bad for a straight 270WIN at sea level ... It was quite windy today and the clouds came and went when I was shooting, not sure if that affected the chronny numbers.
Fired cases rechamber with no problems and primer pockets are still tight. The group did open up a bit to slightly over an inch, so there is more work to do, but I am very pleased with the velocity and the fact that there is no evidence of bullets key holing at 100 or 200 yards.
Looks like right around 59grains of H1000 will produce similar velocities according to Quickload.
Just for fun my 140Berger Hunting VLD load at 57.5 grains of H4831 and 3.250 OAL chronies at Av Vel = 2935fps.
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Also loaded up 10 rounds of 270WSM with RL-26 and 165 Matrix. Using Quickload and knowing I need to be a little more conservative with the RL-26 charge, I came up with 64grains of RL-26 at 2.975 OAL.
Shot the string of 10 through the chrony and came up with: Av Vel: 2976fps, SD: 22, ES: 60. My 270WSM only has a 24in barrel with a 1/10 twist so it looks like I lost some speed compared to the 270WIN with the 28in barrel. Again the chrony was flexing back and forth in the wind and the sunshine came and went. Group was right around MOA, will also need more work, didn't see any key holing with this load either.
Cleaned both barrels and noticed very little dirt or copper, so the RL-26 seems to be very clean burning.
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I may try some IMR-7977 and/or H1000 just for fun to see how they do next ...
I had setup a 270WIN on a Savage 116 with a 28in McGowen bull barrel with a 1/9 twist for deer hunting in TX. My go to load has been H4831 with 140 Berger Hunting VLD which has taken several deer and hogs with great success.
Reading all these posts on the 165 Matrix got me interested to give them a try.
Since there is very little load data to go by, I pulled up Quickload and used the 160 Partition and RL-26 to come up with a starting load. I loaded a dummy round and did the normal test to determine seating depth, came up with 3.450 OAL, this is where the 165 Matrix is just engaging the lead in my barrel, not quite cutting the lands, but still leaving a ring on the bullet when a round is chambered. For 65Kpsi cartridges I usually use a starting load in the 58Kpsi range in Quickload. (the 270WIN is a 65Kpsi cartridge) So I chose a starting load of 58grains of RL-26 at 3.450" OAL and loaded 10 rounds to check pressure. (Don't use this load.)
Took this load to the range and shot them at 100 yards. This load produced a decent group, right around 3/4in. Bolt was not sticky at all, but fired cases would not rechamber. Took them home and proceeded to reload them only to find that the primer pockets would not hold primers anymore.
Backed the load down to 56.8 grains of RL-26, with FED210M primers at 3.450" OAL and went back to the range with the chrony.
Shot the string of 10 through the chrony and came up with: Av Vel: 2953fps, SD: 21, ES: 63. Not bad for a straight 270WIN at sea level ... It was quite windy today and the clouds came and went when I was shooting, not sure if that affected the chronny numbers.
Fired cases rechamber with no problems and primer pockets are still tight. The group did open up a bit to slightly over an inch, so there is more work to do, but I am very pleased with the velocity and the fact that there is no evidence of bullets key holing at 100 or 200 yards.
Looks like right around 59grains of H1000 will produce similar velocities according to Quickload.
Just for fun my 140Berger Hunting VLD load at 57.5 grains of H4831 and 3.250 OAL chronies at Av Vel = 2935fps.
---
Also loaded up 10 rounds of 270WSM with RL-26 and 165 Matrix. Using Quickload and knowing I need to be a little more conservative with the RL-26 charge, I came up with 64grains of RL-26 at 2.975 OAL.
Shot the string of 10 through the chrony and came up with: Av Vel: 2976fps, SD: 22, ES: 60. My 270WSM only has a 24in barrel with a 1/10 twist so it looks like I lost some speed compared to the 270WIN with the 28in barrel. Again the chrony was flexing back and forth in the wind and the sunshine came and went. Group was right around MOA, will also need more work, didn't see any key holing with this load either.
Cleaned both barrels and noticed very little dirt or copper, so the RL-26 seems to be very clean burning.
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I may try some IMR-7977 and/or H1000 just for fun to see how they do next ...
