Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Testing RL 26 in the 280 Remington

My results from testing RL 26 in the 280 Rem.

I wanted to get an idea of each bullet weight for RL 26

Ruger No 1-A 22" barrel
Norma brass
Rem primer
Temp 60 degrees
Pro Chrono set up at 10' from muzzle

All bullets were .005 off the lands

I fired two shots for each bullet weight.
Two minutes between shots and 5 minutes between each string.

I worked up to these loads, and I consider them a max hunting load for my rifle.
Absolutely no classic pressure signs for any load listed here.


Nosler 120 BT
RL 26 -- 65.0 grains
3,252
3,236

Nosler 140 BT
RL 26 -- 63.0 grains
3,122
3,144

Nosler 150 CT/BT
RL 26 -- 62.0 grains
3,051
3,072

Nosler 160 AB
RL 26 -- 61.0 grains
2,996
2,959

Nosler 175 Partiton
RL 26 -- 59.5 grains
2,873
duplicate

The 175 load/speed is steep and I will reduce it by 0.5 to 1.0 grain.

Everything but the 120's made a nice little same poi cluster.

Tried RL 26 in my 24 " 280 Rem it does not like the 150 gr Nosler Ballistic tip but I have lots.

RP case , Rem 9 1/2 primer, 150 N BT, 59 gr 3015 FPS 3" group, 59.5 Gr 3.3 " group 3003 FPS, 60 Gr 3035 FPS 4.6" group, 60.5gr 1.6" no excess pressure signs.

Tried 62.0 grains in my 280AI with a 150 gr LRAB this week with very promising results. No traditional pressure signs at all, great groups. I'm encouraged at this point...more testing to follow.

That looks to be a very good powder for the .280....

Looking at your findings makes me want to find a can of RL 26 and give it a go....

I am on the 150 Btip 58.5 h4831 fed 210 load for my .280 right now... small groups and dead game is its strong suit

That has got me excited now.

The 160g results look like a compelling elk choice, particularly if one owns a svelte rifle...

That's my thinking as well.

I also think that RL 26 would be the ideal powder for the 280 Ackley.

This will be the rifle for my mule deer hunt in November, loaded with Nosler 140 BT's.

I'm not scoping the rifle for this hunt.

Do agree, though have not sprung for any as yet. Both rifles share similar powder tastes.

For that late season deer, mine wore a scope...took a long time for that tag...:)

The AI goes a full pound under the mauser 280 and also use the same 140NBT for mule deer @3200. Sheep too, once... Good luck this November--migration hunt?

Not really, I wish!

A hunt I put in for with no bonus points and wanted a good chance to go. I like the challenge though to pull a nice md buck out of a so-so unit.

Grinning--you never know what will step out...good luck SU, and thanks for the 26 gack.

i am very interested in your loads SU35

the velocities you show are very fast, considerably more than published data that i have from a number of sources

most loads i work with top out around 48,000-50,000 CUP do you think your loads are exceeding this pressure, and if so are you feeling safe cause your using a Ruger No1, would you use these loads in a bolt action ???

I had a pal run QL for these loads and none of them exceeded 63,000 psi from what I could see. I guess that's OK for a 280 Remington.

I know QL is just a model and might (or might not) correspond to our rifles but they seem OK near as I can tell.

Actually they aren't any more than I have seen myself in the 280 with RL22 and MRP years past,even if I did throttle back those loads a bit. I worked mostly with 140's.

You bet I do, and yes I would use them in a bolt action.

If the 270 Win or the 280 Ackley can push 65k, I don't know why a 280 Rem can not.
How much more does the Ackley capacity have over the standard case? Not that much I think.

Also,
because I had to know...I pushed the 160 load to 61.3 grains and hit 3,000 mv on the nose.

That's a nice elk load if in fact it really make a difference in the field.

There's just something magic to me anyways about the 3k number.

Interesting Bob, and fwiw, The loads I shot "sounded" boom and not crack.

That's one way how I tell if I've gone over the line of sane pressures.

Bob I should correct myself and say I was looking at velocity levels on QL and not precise charge weights. But this no big deal because it isn't unusual for charge weights to vary a bit for the same velocities.

I had set it up for a 22" barrel though.

QL seemed to "blink" at any loads creating more than 63,000 psi, but the velocities you see are within that limit according to them.

Where does RL 26's burn rate fall or compare to some of the other slower poweders?

I have started a limited amount of testing but so far it appears to be right between R22 or MRP and R25. In 08 sized cases it seems closer to R22 and in WSM cases it is closer to R25. I haven't tried it in anything larger than the WSM yet to see if the bigger the case the slower it burns trend continues or not.

I will be curious to see what other peoples experience is.

It is a progressive burn type powder so it is different than say 7828 and H1000 in it's pressure curve.

Last year I ask Alliant this question and could not get an answer as the answer changed a couple of times.




I shot 63.0 grains of MRP to compare with 63.0 of RL 26 and came up with these speeds.

Nosler 140 BT
MRP -- 63.0 grains
3,169
3,144




I also shot 63.0 grains of N560

140 BT
N560 -- 63.0
3,197
3,189
This had sharp loud cracks and slight pressure signs.



Edited to give correct MRP speeds.................

All this sounds eerily familiar.........

Rummaging around desk drawers today I found an old copy of Rifle 69 with an article on the 280 Remington by Layne Simpson. This was back around 1980.

He was using a few different rifles with different barrels and throat lengths. But his velocities and charge weights with MRP are so similar to what we are seeing here that I can't help but note the similarities.

I do recall that article was what pushed me to RL22 in the first 280 I owned. R22 was new, and MRP was hard to find at the time. I ended up using 61 R22 with 140 BBC and Partition for right around 3100 fps+-.

Later, I had a NH Classic FW in 280 that gave about 3130-3140 with both RL22 and MRP. That rifle was my last fling with the 280.

Is it possible the burn rate is very much like MRP? At any rate they all seem very similar.

That is very interesting Bob!
I picked up 8 lbs of MRP on the cheap last year and am trying it out in the 280 and 270. Looks close to 26 to me.