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I picked up a 1 lb jug a few weeks back, because the velocities shown on Alliant's website seemed really great for the 3 guns for which I'm currently loading, (7mm-08, 243, and 30-06), and it is supposedly temp insensitive.
I loaded up a few test loads last week and shot them on Saturday. With the 243, I'm shooting 80 gr ttsx and I got the best groups I have shot so far with that gun after trying 3 other powders, about 7/8" which isn't bad for a model 7 with a 11" LOP cut off stock that doesn't fit me at all.
In my 7mm-08, I got 1.5" groups which didn't satisfy me, but those were about the same as I got with RL-15 and better than Big Game using the same 139 SST bullets. I'm thinking the gun doesn't like the SST, and I'm moving on to something else. It shoots 3/4" or better groups routinely with 120 ttsx, but I'm just wanting to try something different.

Anybody else spent any time working with RL-16 yet? Does it live up to expectations?


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It's my go-to for the 6.5 Creed now. I also shot in cold temps and saw no loss in velocity. 70 down to 12deg.

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Yes. Try it in the 30-06 with 180 grain bullets. I load mine with 56.0 gr under a 180 Partition. SubMOA.


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I wasn't impressed with accuracy or velocity in a Tikka T-3X 7-08. Velocities weren't anywhere near what Alliant states it should be.


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Originally Posted by bludog
I wasn't impressed with accuracy or velocity in a Tikka T-3X 7-08. Velocities weren't anywhere near what Alliant states it should be.

That's disappointing.

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bludog,

Alliant doesn't state what velocities "should be." Instead they report what happened in their test barrel.

There are at least three reasons I can immediately think of for velocities not to be the same in your rifle, none of them having to with Alliant's data.


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Only three?



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MD and SP,

I don't really want to talk semantics with either of you. I respect your opinions, all I am stating is that in my own personal experience RL16 produced way slower velocities than I anticipated based on Alliant's listed velocities and my experience with this same rifle and other powders.

Others may vary, and that is fine. With this same rifle, I've been very close to expected (or tested if you prefer) with CFE-223 and Alliant's 2000-MR, just not getting anywhere close with RL-16.

As a matter of fact, velocities are around 200 fps less than listed.

Those are the facts - so I'm not sure what either one of your points are.

Thanks,
bludog



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Originally Posted by bludog
Those are the facts - so I'm not sure what either one of your points are.


No big deal blu. I can't speak for MD, but my point was, there are several reasons your velocities could vary from the book. And they don't all have to do with the rifle even.



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Originally Posted by bludog
MD and SP,

I don't really want to talk semantics with either of you.


Semantics?

You lost me on that one.

Originally Posted by bludog

Those are the facts - so I'm not sure what either one of your points are.


Well, at least you're easy to help... crazy


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bludog,

I didn't detail any of the possible reasons for your low velocities, so will now.

Many other people have reported RL-16 velocities similar to those in Alliant's data, and in fact you're the first person I've read about who reported low velocities. Several possibilities exist for this to occur:

First, the assumption your chronograph was working correctly. Among around a dozen chronographs, I've owned two of one particular brand of popular chronograph that eventually proved unreliable, and seen the same brand causing trouble for other shooters at local ranges. My second one recorded velocities 100 fps difference depending on whether the sky was clear or cloudy. Low batteries can also cause problems. We don't know what chronograph you used, or if the RL-16 loads were the only ones you tried that day. But if you chronographed other loads during the same session and they all produced "normal," consistent velocities, we can rule out chronograph aberrations.

You happened to get a slow batch of powder. This can happen, but isn't common, and when it does velocity difference is rarely 200 fps. In fact I don't recall ever seeing as much as 100 fps.

You used a different bullet than anything listed in Alliant's data, and these days the pressures (and therefore velocities) produced by different bullets vary considerably. In fact different brass and primers can also result in lower velocities, as can seating bullets farther off the lands. I've seen as much as 250 fps difference in velocity when using different bullets of the same weight, with the same powder charge, in the same rifle.








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And in addition to your list, a "loose" chamber, and/or barrel.

Or a combination of everything...


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Brad,

I didn't list that, because he says other powders have performed about as expected. But he might have tried them with bullets similar to those listed in published data. It would be interesting to hear the details.


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Gotchya John, that makes sense.

SWH had RL16 this week and I dawdled and missed getting some when I went back today. I've got a 7-08 I want to try some in.


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Yeah, I've been looking for it too, with SWH in Helena the most likely candidate in brick-and-mortar, but haven't seen any there yet--or any of the other 4 local stores I frequent.


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Originally Posted by Brad
Gotchya John, that makes sense.

SWH had RL16 this week and I dawdled and missed getting some when I went back today. I've got a 7-08 I want to try some in.


I ordered some from powder valley this week along with a bunch of other stuff...

Mid week I'll have it to try...


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Brownells has it. Got an email this morning for 1 cent HazMat and free shipping on orders $150+. Code for that is L9X.

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Thanks for the information, but I'm not going to pay a haz-mat fee and shipping, or buy $150 worth of stuff, to try a sample of a new powder--even though I often order my stand-by powders from various websites, because I buy them in larger quantities, amortizing the extra costs.

In fact I'm a little leery of the new Alliant Reloder powders right now, not because of poor results but because of relatively poor availability. Reloder 26 has been yacked about considerably on the Campfire for at least a year, and I haven't heard of anybody who's been unhappy with it.

But it's still relatively hard to find, and that seems to be continuing despite our present shooting-friendly president. If the scarcity of 26 continues, few shooters are going to bother using it despite it's virtues, because these days there are a LOT of good powders.

So I'm going to keep checking local stores to see if any RL-16 appears among the always available array of 15, 17, 19 and 22. If it doesn't, then why bother testing something most handloaders aren't going to buy?



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haha yup aside from RL-10 and RL-22 they seem to have trouble keeping the even numbered RLs in stock wink

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Yeah, it's hard to keep in stock when most stores can't even get any to stock. Only one of the five local stores I regularly check has even gotten any 26 to put on the shelves, and none have received any 16.


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