Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles RL16 Vs RL17 Temp Sensitivity

I picked up a pound of RL17 just to try out for my 7-08 with 140 BT and very impressed with the accuracy. Should I be worried about temp sensitivity compared to RL16. I've heard great things about the RL16 being very good . The price of both are the same and available so I'm just trying to make the best decision.

16 is more temperature stable .
So in theory if 16 gave the same or better accuracy and the same or better velocity than 17
I would shoot 16 , but it seldom works that way.
That being said I shoot 17 in a 300 wsm.
It’s been my experience that if you work up to a max load when it’s 30 degrees outside , and then carry that same load around in a hot car before shooting them when it’s 95 degrees outside things might get squirrelly. However if you pay attention to what’s going on and adjust your powder chg a little if need be you should be good.

I'll probably work up a load with RL16 just to see how it does. I just hate switching powder when I finally find a great load especially with this group.
I did find a few 8 lb jugs of RL16 at a good price, RL17 is readily and H4350 is more expensive.

One of these days I need to test RL17 and see how temp sensitive it really is... I’ve got something like 20lbs of it.

Maybe this winter...

That RL17 will work great in that nice Fieldcraft 6.5 Creedmoor. Mine shoots great with 17 and the Sierra 130 gr. Gamechanger.

Good to know.

42.5 grains with a F210M primer is what works in mine. Work up.

Funny you bring it up... it does work well. It’s the only powder I’ve used in the FC!

No need to move forward with RL16 then, RL17 will be the powder.

It's odd that R-17 gets mentioned again. Just checked all 10 Alliant Powder recipes from their website and they only list R-16. Check their R-17 listings for recipes and they do not show 6.5CM at all.

Or RL- 26 with 6.5CM but it works well.

They obviously just haven't gotten around to it... or assume most will go right to RL16.

RL17 Creedmoor Loads:

https://www.speer-ammo.com/reloading/rifle/recipe/?setId=f1afd2f2-bde9-485b-8774-d067cde74c89
https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/65-creedmoor/
https://sierrabulletsblog.com/2017/01/09/sierra-bullets-6-5-creedmoor-load-data/

I appreciate the adventurous hand loader but jeez you'd think Alliant would get some updated info. I checked with my LGS yesterday and they assured me that H4350 is still the overwhelming preferred powder.

H4350 is $35/lb where I live, RL16, 17 are $30/lb. and even better if you buy 8 lbs at a time. Unless I find a better price I'll keep using Alliant.

I've had good luck with RL17 overall, but have noticed some loads that have no pressure at 50-60F may have pressure signs at 80F+ temperatures. I imagine this is not exclusive to RL17, but is something I observed. No clue on the sensitivity to cold, as we don't get much cold below 30F here.

Many target shooters have switched from R17 to R16 or gone back to H4350 as many matches are in the heat of summer. Not sure if R17 has de-coppering agents but the temperature insensitivity so far has me going for R16. I need to test again at 90+ degrees but I really don't want to be disappointed so am holding off on testing. Even H4350 gains pressure at 90+ but not enough to make a difference to me.

I found Re17 to be too persnickety for North Texas. I might shoot hogs in temps as high as 90 or 95 at night and well over 100 degrees in the daytime, or it could be in the 30s or even the 20s or even colder than that some times of the year. It's too easy to just choose another powder that won't misbehave like Re17 can.

I brought home a can of RL 16 when I bought the rifle. I couldn’t get it to group as well as RL 17, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. My 6.5 Creedmoor loads were worked up in 85 degree temperatures, so I should be GTG. I’ll be sure to check when the temperatures get down to deer season levels. I also have a load with the 129 gr. Hornady Interlock and Varget that shoots great, so I’m good.

I loaded up some RL 16, H4350 last week and found it to be just as accurate at 300 yds as RL 17 in my 7-08. Given the price of RL 16 I bought a 8 lb. jug.