Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 270 WSM hand loads with RE17 among other things

I'll start off by saying I'm a backpack hunter and my "long range" is 500 yards. Rifle is a Kimber 8400 Montana with Leupold 4.5-14 LR with B&C reticle.

I have a load I like alot that shoots sub moa easy enough. I've tailored it to launch 140 accubonds at 3000 fps so they lay up nice with the reticle out to the 500 yard mark.
The load: 61gr AA3100, WLRM, Winchester case full resize, 140 accubond .030 off the lands.

So why change you ask; well I'm always looking for more.
My rifle has a tight chamber (more on that later) and at 62 grains the groups start opening up, and at 62.5 I'm into noticable bolt lift stiffness.
I have some Sierra 150 Prohunter SPBT that I like the looks of. I also have a can of RE17.
I'd like to try and launch the 150's at 3000fps with the RE17 as well as try and launch the 140 accubonds at 3000 with the RE17. At those velocities both bullets should lay up with my reticle well.
Problem is I can find very little load info for RE17. Best I can see it looks like about 60 grains will get me where I want to go.
Has anyone played with this stuff and a 270WSM?

Problem #2: My rifle has a tight chamber. With my Hornady New dimension Dies and shell holder I can set my press to cam over pretty darn heavily and the cases are still snug in my chamber. If I dont set it to cam over hard then the cases will be real tight to close the bolt on. I bought an RCBS shell holder to try but havent had time yet. I've also contemplated trying to remove a little metal from the shell holder face, but reluctant to go there.
Does anyone know of options for shell holders that are thinner than standard?
What other options are there for dealing with a minimum dimension chamber?

I like RL22 with 140's in my 270wsm. I have no problem getting 140TSX's to go 3240 out of my 24" bbl'd rifle.

I have some RE22 and 140 TSX's. If I launch the 140 TSX at about 3100 it should lay up with my reticle well. I've just stayed away from the RE22 because of all the comments around the web about temperature sensitivity. The TSX has a bit lower advertised BC, but that wouldnt come into play for me as long as I could launch it at about 3100 fps. Should be doable. Just havent looked there yet.

I'm not interested in peak velocity. I'm looking for accuracy and a load that lines up with my B&C reticle.

bummer... lose the b&c, get turrets, and run em hard!

I've thought about that, but with this light little rifle I just cant see shooting much over 500. I hunt in the mountains so I rarely have a great shooting position, and there is always a decent breeze, or often times a stiff wind. For 500 and less I just dont need to dial in the range. The reticle does the job fine and its faster with much less chance for error.

Bottom line I just cant shoot this rig good enough to be confidant out past 500, and dont care to pack the weight of a rig that I would feel good with. Its a compromise like everything always is. Besides with the 270 the bullets are droping below 2000 fps at 500 yards and by 650-700 they are below 1000 ftlbs of energy. I'm not real confidant in terminal balistics below 2000 fps impact velocity as well as not fond of energy below 1000 ftlbs for mule deer. So for me this 270 is a 600 yard rifle at best anyway.

I think that most of the problems with RE-22 being temp-sensitive were with earlier lots. The earlier lots gave a little higher velocities but I think they might have made some changes to the powder that maybe lowered slightly top velocity's but it seems more stable. Prdatr did a test with a digital thermometer and brought rounds to the range in a freezer. He shot some at high temps and some at low temps and RL-22 didn't give any more variation than other supposedly temp stable powders did.
He posted his results in the reloading section, you might be able to search back and find them.

I wouldn't be afraid to give RL-22 a try. It worked great in 3 different 270 WSM's I used it in......................DJ

It's incredibly easy to get your B/C reticle to line up and you sure don't need to do it via the same speed that the B/C reticle book tells you that you need.

I've set up similar scope reticles using bullets from speeds of 2500 fps to speeds of 3500 fps.

Find your load that shoots the way you want and then give me a call and I'll work you thru it.

Short course and this will be close, we'll have you sight in 1.5" high @ 100. Then go to 400 and try the 400 yd line, it'll be really close. Tweak it so you're right on @ 400 with the 400 line. Then go to 300 and check it with your 300 line and it'll be within an inch or so plus/minus. Then go back to 100 and check to see where it's hitting. Most likely you'll be between 1.25" high and 1.75" @ 100.

Lastly, check it @ 500 to see how it hits and I'd be amazed if it didn't come incredibly close.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter if you're load is running 2900 or 3100 this will work just fine for you. There is no magic load that will index for you.

Beauty of this is that you'll be able to set your rifle to 500 or 600 (can't recall the # of lines in the B/C) and you'll be able to kill on demand and right now. Just range and kill easy as it gets...


Capice?

Dober

(side note, it's been a long day so if this doesn't make sense pm me and I'll give you a call.

Mark,

Yeah you make since, but probably because I already know of what you speak. I'm aware I can change the magnification and thus alter the subtensions of the reticle aiming points.

I've considered this to get out to 600, but again, still just a 500 yard shooter with this rig. Maybe some day. Still leaves me dealing with doping wind.

Right now I'm sticking with loading to a velocity as long as that velocity happens to be the most accurate for that load. I know I'm keeping myself in a small box. I'm happy here for the time being.

Realy what I'd like to do is try a load with RE17 to see if I can get suitable velocity with good accuracy with less of a pressure spike than the AA3100 curently gives me. RE22 should accomplish the same as its a slower powder.

How do I identify "early lots" of RE22?

The last time I know of that R22 had some issues was in the spring of 2000 or 01. I'm thinking it's pretty well a thing of the past.

Now different lots of all powders can and will vary up to 100 fps give or take.

Maybe I missed something but I wasn't at all talking about changing the scope power?

Dober

+1 with RL 22.

I run rl22 with 140 tsx's and a-frames @ 3150 w/ Norma brass. I'm at about max and just getting very light ejector marks,but the numbers are awesome through the chronograph with an honest 1/2 to 1" @ 100yards. I havent seen one deer or antelope yet that were worried about the temperature sensitivity of reloader 22.I use Redding competition shellholder set with a RCBS precision mic to control headspace or shoulder bump. Just keep bumping the shoulder until the bolt closes nicely.Works good in my TikkaT3!

Good luck

Look into a set of Redding competition shellholders. They're graduated in .002" increments, that should get you what you need.

Hi.....I`ve the same glass on my 700 chambered for the 8x57. Marks advice is correct, don`t worry about your muzzel velocity, just zero accordingly at 100, check your POI at 300 and adjust from there if needed. I confermed my zeros to 500 yrds.

Your die issue can be solved by removing some metal from the bottom of the die. I brought mine to a tool and die maker, had 10thous removed by precision grinding, then set my die up again to size properly. Just another option.

OK, so when Mark said "tweak it" he meant to adjust the scope zero.
Yeah I guess you could do it that way. Just another way to skin the same cat.

Thanks for the tip on the competition shell holders. I'll look into those.

Chessie-if you wish send me a pm with your phone # and I'll give you a quick call on this..

Dober

A filled, nearly compressed case, almost always gives me more consistent accuracy. In that regard, RL22 is what I have gone to in both my 270 WSM's as well as my 300 WSM's. No problems with any inconsistencies and RL22. I also get more than ample velocity to boot.....

As far as your shellholder issue.........buy a pack of Redding Competition Shellholders (a pack of 5). They come in different heights and you can then pick the one that best fits your snug, but not too snug, criteria. I use them on every long gun I load for and they are wonderful and exacting tools.

Give 'em a try...........

So I looked at the Redding dies and from what I can tell they go the wrong way. Looks like they increase the shell holder thickness to in effect reduce how far the die bumps the shoulder back.
My issue is that the die doesnt push the shoulder back quite far enough.
Looks like I'm probably going to need to order a custom die, or remove some metal.

They go from bumping the shoulders just barely to more than your average shellholer, so the chances of one of the 5 Competition Shellholers working for you is increased.

All the looking I did I never found any set that included a "-" size. They were all listed as "Redding Competition Shellholders are packaged in five piece sets in .002� increments (+.002�, +.004�, +.006�, +.008� and +.010�)."

I dont need a "+" size, I need a "-". But its fine now. I called up Hornady and I will send them my die and a few once fired cases and thier Machinist will adjust my die for me. Then I'll be set.

I use Retumbo (71.0 Compressed / 69.8gr)with 140gr Accubonds in my Tikka T3 LS rifles - one has a Leupold VX 33.5-10x40 BC reticle and the other has the 4.5-14x40 BC reticle. Works out to 500 for me. Both rifles / loads shoot under 0.4" groups @ 100m

I've found that the .006 shellholder is the same height as my standard RCBS shellholder. That would give the user two ways in which to go, dependent on their issue or desired outcome.

So, the +'s you refer to only pertain to 50% of the Competition Shellholders and the "-" you are seeking, obviously, constitute the remaining 2 shellholders (whether there's a "+" marked on the shellholder or not). I own 4 of these sets of Competition Shellholders and have used them to resolve the same issue that you found yourself up against as well as for the exact opposite issue. That's exactly what these shellholders were designed for, sans extreme situations, one that you may have recently experienced.

No matter, seems you and Hornady will get this issue resolved fairly soon.

Good luck.............