RL-26 / 6.5 creedmoor project.

[okie man]

Who's down for a fun project everyone can follow along, join in and even do the same thing at home ? The project is developing a safe ,accurate load for your/my rifle using RL-26. Most of my equipment is what most guys have on their benches. My space is limited to a single 6' bench in an office/reloading room in my home. It works just fine, I just have to work in organized stages to prevent clutter in the confined space.
I think this will be fun and beneficial to all reloader's regardless of experience. I welcome everyone to ask questions, give advice and help with the process from start to reading the final results. I have access to a range with backstops out to 700 yards . I'd like to create a load that beats my current pet load by 150+fps with similar accuracy. With that said let's get started……

 

[okie man]

The Rifle,
The rifle I'm going to be building this load for is a stock Christensen Mesa Long Range in 6.5 creed. The trigger has been adjusted to as low as the factory trigger tech trigger goes. The scope is a vortex hst 4x16x44. Not the best optics but it's just what I have on it for now. The scope is mounted in Warne rings on a egw 20 moa rail bedded to the action.
The rifle has had about 400 rounds through it. The rifle has been very easy to work with. Accuracy has come easy with several loads. The biggest surprise was a load I put together just to have fire sized cases to work with. Cheap Hornady bulk 140 gr bthp at 2.800 with 41.0 gr of H-4350 and standard federal lrp's in starline brass . This load will drop 3/4-1/2 moa groups all day long at 550 yards. Not bad seeing I just wanted to get some cases firesized and not burn up expensive components.
The current load I currently use is extremely accurate. Hitting standard clay targets at 700 yards can be stupid easy at times. I'm sure an optics upgrade would put the rifle into the sub 1/2 moa class . 41.5 grains of H-4350 in starline lrp brass, fed gmm primer and 140 eld-m set at 2.850. My magnetospeed says i'm running 2780fps .
Some might ask why I would even waste time , let alone burn up valuable components like RL-26 , on a rifle/load combo I already have? I have enough stuff to keep this combo supplied for a long time, so it's not like I'm worried I'll run out. It's a rifle I mainly shoot for fun. It weighs 13.5 pounds field ready so I don't take it hunting much. It's not like the velocity gained is needed for more energy. I think it's why all of use do this, the need to tinker and improve something you already have.….

 

[Barrelnut]

Nice looking rifle. I'll tag in and follow.
Here is a long thread on RL26 and CM with some QL data. Worth a look if you havn't seen it.

Reloader 26 in 6.5 creedmoor

I have a 6.5 creedmoor with a 26" barrel. Been reading about the high velocities achieved with reloader 26. Claims as high as 3000 fps with 140s. I'm like to hear more success stories and what your data is for it. I'm also wondering how temp stable reloader 26 is?

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[Tidus56]

The Rifle,
The rifle I'm going to be building this load for is a stock Christensen Mesa Long Range in 6.5 creed. The trigger has been adjusted to as low as the factory trigger tech trigger goes. The scope is a vortex hst 4x16x44. Not the best optics but it's just what I have on it for now. The scope is mounted in Warne rings on a egw 20 moa rail bedded to the action.
The rifle has had about 400 rounds through it. The rifle has been very easy to work with. Accuracy has come easy with several loads. The biggest surprise was a load I put together just to have fire sized cases to work with. Cheap Hornady bulk 140 gr bthp at 2.800 with 41.0 gr of H-4350 and standard federal lrp's in starline brass . This load will drop 3/4-1/2 moa groups all day long at 550 yards. Not bad seeing I just wanted to get some cases firesized and not burn up expensive components.
The current load I currently use is extremely accurate. Hitting standard clay targets at 700 yards can be stupid easy at times. I'm sure an optics upgrade would put the rifle into the sub 1/2 moa class . 41.5 grains of H-4350 in starline lrp brass, fed gmm primer and 140 eld-m set at 2.850. My magnetospeed says i'm running 2780fps .
Some might ask why I would even waste time , let alone burn up valuable components like RL-26 , on a rifle/load combo I already have? I have enough stuff to keep this combo supplied for a long time, so it's not like I'm worried I'll run out. It's a rifle I mainly shoot for fun. It weighs 13.5 pounds field ready so I don't take it hunting much. It's not like the velocity gained is needed for more energy. I think it's why all of use do this, the need to tinker and improve something you already have.….

What is your barrel length? What brass are you going to use?

 

[okie man]

The rifle has a 26" barrel. I'll go over all the components in the next chapter.

 

[okie man]

Nice looking rifle. I'll tag in and follow.
Here is a long thread on RL26 and CM with some QL data. Worth a look if you havn't seen it.

Reloader 26 in 6.5 creedmoor

I have a 6.5 creedmoor with a 26" barrel. Been reading about the high velocities achieved with reloader 26. Claims as high as 3000 fps with 140s. I'm like to hear more success stories and what your data is for it. I'm also wondering how temp stable reloader 26 is?

www.longrangehunting.com

Yes, way back in the RL-26 thread bowfishn ran some quick loads with the components I plan on using. Thanks to several members there's tons of data to go by. I've been wanting to do this for some time. Until I stumbled onto a big jug of RL-26 my small supply of it was for my 6.5 prc only. Now that I have powder to burn and nothing new to work on, now's a good time to try this out.
Thanks on the rifle. I know Christensen gets some grief everywhere, I have 2, this one will never go away. I haven't quite bonded with the other one yet. If I get 2900+fps and outstanding accuracy, there might be a 6.5 prc and components for sale. lol

 

[okie man]

The Components,
As everyone knows some things have been very hard, if not impossible, to obtain. I took advantage of Gander Outdoors closing and bought a pretty good stash of primers, powders and brass . At the time I didn't have a the need for RL-26 so didn't buy any. Instead I put some extra benchmark and H-4350 away. It was about a year later I decided to reduce the number of rifles I had and instead upgrade the quality of my deer rifle.
I bought the second Christensen in 6.5 prc. By then RL-26 was hard to get and I was able to find a nice load with n565. I finally located a small stash of RL-26 with some help of a member. Set that aside and just sat on it.
Fast forward a few months, my daughter asked me if I had been to the new Sportsman's warehouse in town. I went to check it out, walked down the reloading isle and bam, 1 8# jug of RL-26 at pre-panic price. I swear ,I thought I heard angels sing. I bought it and skipped all the way to the truck. Lol
So here's what I have to work with now. 50 once fired Hornady cases. A supply of Hornady bullets, 140 eld- and 143eld-x. I may go grab a box or 2 of the 147 eld-m , not only for this project, but for my 6.5 prc also. For primers I have choices, but I'm gonna start with standard federal 210's. Now that I have gathered all the supplies it's time for case prep.

 

[horsefor4]

So I found that with reloaded 26 I had to go to a mag primer it works great 124 gr. Hammer 46 gr. RL 26 2960 fps .3 shoots great.

 

[Tidus56]

I have a thousand plus once fired 6.5 Creedmoor Hornady brass If you want some more. I can anneal it for you as well if you need some.

 

[okie man]

I have a thousand plus once fired 6.5 Creedmoor Hornady brass If you want some more. I can anneal it for you as well if you need some.

I appreciate that, I have 500+ Hornady and another 500 starline cases. When Gander put everything at 40% I stocked up. Lol my wife thinks I have issues. She just doesn't understand me.

 

[okie man]

Case prep ,
We know everyone loves case prep right? Lol It sucks, but it's just part of the process. Everyone has their own way and why. I started reloading with a rcbs kit and their book. 20 something years later I have and use all the tools and accessories that came in that kit. Of course I've added things along the way , along with all the knowledge I could gather from books, magazines and the internet. Here is my disclaimer , I'm not a professional,i don't have super sophisticated equipment. Please don't tar and feather me if I do something unorthodox.
The cases I'm using started off as a 250 once fired cases I bought off a member. They were full length sized in a standard rcbs fl die with .002 setback. The sizing die was sent back to rcbs and the neck opened up .005. I did this to reduce the working of the necks. Before having it honed, a neck would measure .280 before expanding , .288 after. A fired neck is .295. That was causing split necks on second firing. After the honing the die will size down to .285, expand to .289 and measure .291 with a bullet seated. The necks seem to like this better.
Next after sizing all of the cases were trimmed, primer pockets cut to a consistent depth, inside/outside chamfered , flash hole cleaned up. Then I sorted all 250 into 1 grain tolerance weight classes. Aver weight for the entire lot was about 147gr. This batch of 50 I'm using now averaged 148.5 gr. I'm not entirely sure all the sorting is necessary. I can't hurt either though can it?
As far as tools I don't have any fancy measuring devices. I have 3 types of calipers, a Hornady headspace and bullet comparator set. Sure a ball micrometer would be nice for measuring neck wall thickness. For now I live without one. For dies my modified rcbs fl die and Lee collet die take care of my sizing needs. If I didn't have these dies I'd purchase a LE Wilson full length bushing die In their place. Sizing was done with a good ol' Rockchucker ll press. Cases were trimmed with a rcbs trim pro. A Lyman case prep mach did the cutter turning duties, this thing has been a work horse.

 

[Huntsman66]

Ok, first question…. Where can I get some RL26?……

 

[okie man]

Ok, first question…. Where can I get some RL26?……

Lol, click your heals together 3 time and say ……

 

[tomt]

I have two 6.5 CM. One is a Sig Cross 24" barrel Born and Raised Outdoors Edition, the other is a Tikka Super Varmint 24" barrel. It's going to be interesting to see the differences between the two rifles. I have 140 ELDM, RL 26, Lapua LRP brass, CCI BR-2 primers and Whidden bushing dies.