Tried RL-33 in a few rifles this weekend - 10/08/12
Alliant has very limited load data. Very hard to find it mentioned on their data page. I e-mailed them they sent loads for the following:
7 Rem mag, 7 STW , 300 Weatherby, 300 win mag, 338 lapua
Compared their data with other sources then tried it in three rifles. It is definitely slower than Retumbo.
Two rifles were using Retumbo so I just started close to the Retumbo loads and worked up. Third rifle used RL-25.
Here are the finalized results of two days of testing:
7 Rem mag
24" Rem barrel, moly coated 162 A-max seated .010" into rifling.
Original load: moly 162 A-max 72 gr of Retumbo 2975 fps
RL-33:
starting load 76 gr vel 2837
Unfortunately the chrono had to be adjusted, shot without it till they had a ceasefire.
worked up to 79 gr for vel of 3000 for very small gain over Retumbo
80 grs showed a hint of lift and a small shiny spot on casehead.
I used a bullet seating comparitor and noticed that even with the use of a drop tube the powder was filling the case. 79 gr and up caused the OAL to lengthen due to over compression of powder making the OAL longer so it wouldn't fit into magazine.
I can see why Alliant only mentioned a load for the 175 gr bullet.
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257 Weatherby 28" SS 3 groove Lilja, moly 110 accubond:
Original load 75.5 gr of RL-25 vel 3614 fps
83 3625 which slightly faster than old load with RL-25
83.5 3674 fps shot well two shots were same velocity
84 gr 3704 fps shot well two shots were same velocity
84.5 gr 3735 slight signs of pressure on one case of four this is max case capacity with drop tube
This makes a 91 fps gain over a max load of RL-25
----------------
6mm-284
6mm-284 105 gr non moly Berger target hybrid
Worked up to 64.5 gr which showed slight lift with very tiny shiny spot on case head from Rem 700's ejector hole. (This is with 8 times fired lapua brass)
62.5 gr 3376
63 gr 3414
63.5 gr 3453
64 gr 3485 fps excellent accuracy
64.5 gr 3535 a bit warm max case capacity using drop tube
Old velocity with Retumbo was 3307 which was the highest charge of powder without pressure issues. RL-33 yielded a 178 fps increase!
Thought I'd share this. Looking forward to reading the findings of others.
7 Rem mag, 7 STW , 300 Weatherby, 300 win mag, 338 lapua
Compared their data with other sources then tried it in three rifles. It is definitely slower than Retumbo.
Two rifles were using Retumbo so I just started close to the Retumbo loads and worked up. Third rifle used RL-25.
Here are the finalized results of two days of testing:
7 Rem mag
24" Rem barrel, moly coated 162 A-max seated .010" into rifling.
Original load: moly 162 A-max 72 gr of Retumbo 2975 fps
RL-33:
starting load 76 gr vel 2837
Unfortunately the chrono had to be adjusted, shot without it till they had a ceasefire.
worked up to 79 gr for vel of 3000 for very small gain over Retumbo
80 grs showed a hint of lift and a small shiny spot on casehead.
I used a bullet seating comparitor and noticed that even with the use of a drop tube the powder was filling the case. 79 gr and up caused the OAL to lengthen due to over compression of powder making the OAL longer so it wouldn't fit into magazine.
I can see why Alliant only mentioned a load for the 175 gr bullet.
----------------
257 Weatherby 28" SS 3 groove Lilja, moly 110 accubond:
Original load 75.5 gr of RL-25 vel 3614 fps
83 3625 which slightly faster than old load with RL-25
83.5 3674 fps shot well two shots were same velocity
84 gr 3704 fps shot well two shots were same velocity
84.5 gr 3735 slight signs of pressure on one case of four this is max case capacity with drop tube
This makes a 91 fps gain over a max load of RL-25
----------------
6mm-284
6mm-284 105 gr non moly Berger target hybrid
Worked up to 64.5 gr which showed slight lift with very tiny shiny spot on case head from Rem 700's ejector hole. (This is with 8 times fired lapua brass)
62.5 gr 3376
63 gr 3414
63.5 gr 3453
64 gr 3485 fps excellent accuracy
64.5 gr 3535 a bit warm max case capacity using drop tube
Old velocity with Retumbo was 3307 which was the highest charge of powder without pressure issues. RL-33 yielded a 178 fps increase!
Thought I'd share this. Looking forward to reading the findings of others.