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

well i just got hold of a supply of RE26, did some testing with 162gr SST's out of my 7x64 (euro 280) i started at 55gr and increased in 0.5gr increments and got to 58gr and had reasonable success at that load was shooting aprox 0.4moa, 56gr was also showing promise
i am waiting on some 165gr Sierra game changer bullets to also test with this powder. was with a 84.5mm OAL Norma brass and CCI BR-2 primer

when i test the SGC bullets i will have a chrony to see what sort of velocity i am achieving, but so far its not really dazzeling me i dont think its going to be much faster than my re22 loads just going on the drop figures i got with my first loads, but does seem to be at a lower pressure primers are only just filling out and still have an easy bolt lift, max loads with re22 show sure pressure signs in my rifle, at 58gr of re26 it was just starting to lightly compress, i might try 58.5gr next session

I know this is an old thread but I finally secured some RL 26 and tried it in my new Weaver Rifles 280 it has a 24 inch barrel It also has a relatively short throat but all my testing has been with 150 grain bullets mostly the long range accubond.
Here is what I got yesterday temperature was about 80 degrees using the 150 grain long range accubond.
57 grain 2901 fps
58 grains 2965 fps
59 grains 3018 fps

None of the loads showed any traditional pressure signs, easy extraction primer pockets are still tight. I haven't tried much in terms of accuracy but the few I put on paper showed a lot of promise.

Remington 700 24 inch barrel, 59.0.grs RL 26, 160gr AB, rem 9 1/2 mag primer, seated to 3.330 avg velocity 2892.

old thread i know but hey.

Ive got some 150 NBTs loaded ahead of 58 gr of rl 26 in win. cases. as soon as I get time and my model 70 back from the smith I will take that and a rem 700 XCR2 to the range and test these, some 140 NPTs being pushed by 55.5 gr of IMR 4350 140 NPTs pushed by 56 gr of H4831, and 150 NBTs pushed by 56 gr of 7828ssc

hopefully one of these combinations will show enough promise in the accuracy dept to tweek it

I'll be interested to see how you do with the 50 NBT, I use it with IMR 4831 around 2900 fps. My velocities with the 160 TBT with RL26 are very similar to what SU_36 was getting. My average with 60.0 grains was 2985 fps in my M700. I punched the info into QL and it predicted within 3 fps at 64K pressure.

Thanks for bringing this post back from the past. I’ve acquired 2 pounds of RL26 in the past 4-5 weeks. After testing H4831SC and 150 gr ELD-X’s yesterday, I’m barely hitting 2700 FPS with a max charge of what Hornady shows in their manual. I bought the RL-26 to try in my 270 WSM, but my load with H4831SC and 140 gr. Berger VLD’s are giving me over 3100 FPS and 1/2” groups, so I’m happy.
It seems the 2 cartridges that got me into reloading in the first place, 260 Rem and 280 Rem., are my 2 hardest to find an accurate load in, and if it is accurate the velocities are way down.

I’ve had the same experiences.

My two hardest are my 6.5x55 and my 280 Remington

[/quote]

I’ve had the same experiences.

My two hardest are my 6.5x55 and my 280 Remington
[/quote]

If ammo wasn’t so hard to find, I’d stick with factory for my .280. The .260, I’ve had one load that was great, but my lack of record keeping at the time has prevented me from repeating that. I now Lee a lot more thorough records.

Try using 270 Win data for the 280 Rem, usually they line up pretty close as they’re virtually twins.

That's how I look at it too. Whatever a .270 can do with a 140, the .280 should be able to do with a 150 generating roughly equal pressure---in theory, and based on almost equal sectional densities.

If ammo wasn’t so hard to find, I’d stick with factory for my .280. The .260, I’ve had one load that was great, but my lack of record keeping at the time has prevented me from repeating that. I now Lee a lot more thorough records.
[/quote]

I had ok results with my 260 Rem until I tried superformance powder. Granted I don’t have a chrono, I’ve been running right at max loads per book with no pressure signs and getting excellent accuracy. Solved my problem with a picky kimber montana 257 rob as well. Superformance is one of the few that seem to still show up available in these crazy times.