Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles RL19 Gone?

Last ad I saw for Alliant powders did not picture the RL19. Is Alliant still mfg. RL19?

They better be, or I'm going to whoop their asses

There ain't a better powder for a 260 and 140 grain pills...

http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/reloder_19.htm

They are still advertising it on their website.

Some time ago I noticed the absence of RL19 in the ad with the heading "Excellence Never Varies". My guess was that was somewhat of an admission of what many of us have believed regarding RL-19: it can vary significantly lot to lot and has a reputation of being very temperature sensitive.

This being said I have done some great shooting with it!

405wcf

I run 10, 15, and 22, but have never dabbled with 19. I also heard that it can be sensitive to temperature, although I don't really know much about the sensitivity of the IMR4831 and IMR4350 that I use instead.

Comparing various lots, many folks believe that RL-19 and RL-22 can change positions, or test out as essentially identical. Other lots have them in their intended positions, with RL-19 a bit faster than RL-22.

Back when they were still Hercules, they dropped RL-12 because it could test out close to RL-15. They eventually brought out RL-10X to bridge the large gap between RL-7 and RL-15.

Now that they've brought out RL-17, it would not be unreasonable for them to now drop 19 - if in fact they plan to trim the product line at all.

Rock, that would be a dumb manuever....

RL 17 is equal in burn rate to 4320, faster than 4350 and RL 19 is a tad slower than 4350...

of course it won't be the first dumbass thing marketing folks do... I just hope they don't can RL 7.. I think they were planning to, but too many folks still use it and haven't converted to RL 10 like they thought...

they sure don't make much reload info available on RL 7 like they use to...

Too many folks with good results from RL19 that I know...

BUT there are a lot of folks that think IMR or H is the only powder out there, and gun rags don't help things at times.... Plus the old fuddy duddy network.

RL has had some of the better powders I've used over the years, so much so that my bench that read and didn't know so much started with almost all IMR/ WW powders, and now has almost all RL and VV powders....

I feel like I should stock up on RL19 now (for my .338)... they better not discontinue it!!!!

I've burned up more 8 Lb jugs of RL19 than I can count on fingers and toes, and I don't even want to venture a guess on how many one pounders I've smoked. I've been using the stuff in 5 different barrels, all of which were 260's (6.5-08) For year's I ran a charge between 44.8-45.2 to get 2725ish with a 140 Hornady Interlock, Speer Hot-Cor, Partitions, or Sierra MK's. I never noticed it to be tempeture sensitive, or vary a great deal from lot to lot.

Maybe it does in other calibers??

Well, with the data I've seen from R-17, that would leave a huge gap in the product line, like the one R-17 is supposed to fill. In my .280 R-19 is about 2.5-3 grains faster burning than R-22. The data I've seen with R-17 suggests that its around 6-8 grains faster burning than R-19 in the .280Rem. Admittedly I don't burn as much powder as some, but R-19 has been very very good in my .280Rem.

Please note that I'm neither defending nor predicting what Alliant might do. I merely pointed out something that they once did (with the reasoning they gave me for it) then offering an observation that I'd not be surprised if they followed that pattern again.

It is a fact that 19 and 22 are quite close together in burn rate, closer together than any other pairing in their line. What that means (if anything) to the marketers and technicians at Alliant is not something I can guess about.

I'll have to buy another 5# canister or two just in case.

I haven't found a great variance among different pounds of 19. I haven't used a great many, but I wind up back at the same load when I get a new one. Just my observation.

Yep......all my current big game cartridges use either RL22 or RL25, sans my 'ole '06 using IMR4350.

When one finds a good powder that fits their criteria, buy bunches of it, more importantly, buy it in quantity in the same lot#. That takes care of the variation part.

Make sure that when you buy a can of any powder that there are plenty more available left to buy in that same lot# after your testing is completed. Makes very little sense to do otherwise.

After doing so myself, I bought six 5 pounders of RL22 and four 5 pounders of RL25 in the same lot#'s. My PDog/gopher .223 load using H335 is "the" load for my particular varmint rifles. 100 pounds of H335 with the same lot# ensures that it will remain so.

Uniformity in components and how we proceed through the entire reloading process can only help us to achieve more consistent results downrange.

I've had very good results with RL 19 in 6.5x55 with 100 to 160 gr bullets. I use it in coastal California, so extreme low temperatures really are not an issue. Honestly, I can't say that I've ever, in my limited experience, observed a temperature effect due to a sensitive powder with any cartridge.

I could get along with H4350 if I had to, but I hope they keep making RL 19.

Good shooting!

Even though I've read of Re 15's temperature insensitivity, my Whelen typically shoots 2" low from a warmer fall sight in effort to the late November elk season. The rifle is glass pillar bedded and very stable otherwise. The only difference is the POI with temperature and about 3,000 feet of altitude. The wierdest part is that chronographing after the late seasons at home in low December-January temps results in similar velocities as during the earlier and warmer sightin effort. I haven't quite figured out the reason for the POI change. No big deal, I just dial in a little more elevation for the elk seasons and it works every time.

Re 19 does not produce the same result in my 280s, 30-06s, or a 338WM. Re 7 in my 45-70s does not appear to be significantly affected by temperature. Re 22 certainly did produce consistently, slightly lower velocity with lower temperatures in an old 7mm RM.

I use RL19 in my 6.5x55 rifles. It also works well in my 7x57. I hope Alliant doesn't discontinue it. Yeah, I could use something else, but I'd just as soon stick with what has worked well for me.

the closeness of the two I cannot say, however the RL19 shoots very well in my 300WSM, while RL22 has not been so succesful,and RL22 shoots very well in my .270 but I have not had as much luck with RL19 there...I really would hate to have to develop the 300WSM loads again.

Granted, R19, and R22 are very close to each other, and for the great majority of loaders the differences wouldn't be meaningful. But for those of us that seek max safe velocity along with max accuracty...haveing powders that fill small niches is a good thing. R-19 is a great powder in '06 based cases with bullets that are on the lighter for caliber end...ie 140s in the .280, 130s in the .270, 150s in the 30-06.