I guess I'm just plain lucky as RL 17 exceeded my expectations in 4 different 300 WSM's, and no I didn't "wing it" either. I started at below Alliants data and worked up.
300 WSM 180 gr BTSP Fed Fed 215 2.800 66.0 3082
=Rem 700 SPS 24" barrel
=Rem 700 Ti 24" barrel
=FN SPR 24" barrel
=Sako A7 24" barrel
All four of these 300 WSM rifles pretty much got the same listed velocity at 3,000+ mv.
My 6.5-284 with 49.0 grains and 140 VLD's at 3,000 does real well with it too.
I got 3,030 with 64.0 RL17 in a 300 WSM (24" Kimber) and 3,000 fps with the same load in a 23" M70.
66.0 at 3,082 would have locked up my bolt. And actually, 66.0 would have gone far over 3,100 in my rifles.
3,030 in the Kimber and 3,000 in the M70 allowed easy extraction. Over that things got sticky... and a hunting rifle should have easy extraction.
So, for me, the gain was around 50-60 fps over H4350... not monumental to my way of thinking.
