I need to start working up loads for my 280AI. Everyone seems to use RL22. I have heard things about that powder that its bad. I need a temp stable powder PERIOD!! Im thinking of trying IMR4350, Norma MRP. I want the 150 g LRAB but them are extinct where im at. So either the 140 ab or 160 ab. I have even thought about the 150 BT.
280AI and rl22
- Thread starter muzz
- Start date
- Nov 4, 2004
- 24,905
- 7,797
Muzz,
RL22 is my powder of choice. Every bullet I have shot
through my rifle has been .5 MOA or less with excellent velocity.
JD338
RL22 is my powder of choice. Every bullet I have shot
through my rifle has been .5 MOA or less with excellent velocity.
JD338
- Thread starter
- #3
- Nov 4, 2004
- 24,905
- 7,797
This will give you an idea of RL22....
140 gr BT
140 gr AB
150 gr ABLR
150 gr PT
150gr ET
160 gr AB
JD338
140 gr BT
140 gr AB
150 gr ABLR
150 gr PT
150gr ET
160 gr AB
JD338
wildgene
Handloader
- Jul 4, 2011
- 1,597
- 2
muzz":11613ihk said:
...I can definitely see your point, any variables we can minimize in the guesstimation is a good thing. I don't imagine w/ the powders available today that anything w/ an extreme sensitivity to temps would last very long, but I've seen report of RL-22 varying almost 1fps/ 1*. Temps tend to swing a little around here, too...
...opening day, low 20's...
...3 weeks later & a 1/2mi. from the first pic, mid 60's...
...a little later in the season...
...a few days later, mid-teens...
...let's say you gathered your data midsummer @ 80*, it's -20* right now, you've lost almost 100fps MV, @ 600yds. a 160gr. AB would drop an additional 5", @ 400yds., about 3.5" more, a 150gr. ABLR should show a little less difference in drop, but I haven't put it in my database. If you gathered you data on a nice cool fall morning @ 30* the additional drop would be about 1/2 that...
...I shoot a lot of WSM's, WSSM's, the Creedmoor that all like RL-17. Looking @ the available data for the new RL-23, it seems like it's going to perform very similar w/ a lot less sensitivity to temps. & a measurable increase in MV. I'd really consider starting w/ it for a new load...
- Thread starter
- #9
G'Day Fella's,
Muzz, two blokes I know have .280 AI's and they both use Alliant, RL-19 in them.
I'm not sure what the primary reason for this is but they are getting near 7mm Rem Magnum velocities (with the same bullet weight, 140 & 160ish), using 10 grains less powder!
Hope that helps
Doh!
Homer
Muzz, two blokes I know have .280 AI's and they both use Alliant, RL-19 in them.
I'm not sure what the primary reason for this is but they are getting near 7mm Rem Magnum velocities (with the same bullet weight, 140 & 160ish), using 10 grains less powder!
Hope that helps
Doh!
Homer
- Nov 4, 2004
- 24,905
- 7,797
HomerOz":1vinch2l said:
I tried RL19 with the 120 gr BT, only group I ever shot.
JD338
- Thread starter
- #12
Before I went 280 AI , It was a 280 rem. My loads were RL19 at 58 grains with 140 AB's touching the lands. It would shoot 1/2" groups and blazing speeds. But again if it was anything above 40' it wouldn't print a group at a 100 yards better then 2" So I said the hell with that powder. The temps here in northern Utah change so much that I need the best temp stable powder I can get to keep my confidence in making the shot and knowing where I am going to hit. I wont shoot if I don't know where im going to hit the animal. I hate to see a wounded animal suffer.
Hey there Muzz, I also used 61gr/R22/150BT in my only 280AI( it was a Mod 700 Mountain Rifle 280, but its 22"bbl didn't give me much, but I was experimenting) back in the early 90's. I shot antelope in Laramie with it and a ram in Texas, plus at the range in temps from summer to mild fall days to cold winter and my zero never changed. I didn't have a chronograph then so I have no idea what the velocity variations were, but it didn't matter in the field. When I finally did get a chrono my pet load was only going 2950 in that 22" bbl, ha, so it 'ruined" that rifle for me! Down the road it went. I have also used R22 in a .224 TTH and never saw any meaningful changes. I also used R22/76gr/180XBT in a 300WM in Namibia where we started the day off around 20deg and by noon-1PM it was 120deg...that's a pretty good swing eh? If it made any difference in the field we couldn't tell and we had to take long shots (300-400 av) on Springbuck and Gemsbuck...aiming small to hit small! So, in my limited experience, I have had no issues with R22. Now, in a 240 Weatherby, R19 was a gem, here and down in Texas. However, I had worked up a load with R19/185XLC/338WM for a late season cow elk hunt down in Price. I had worked up a swell load in mid 40's temps, then, 10days before the hunt in late December it got down to 10deg, so I checked my zero...group had opened to +4" for me too. I didn't bother checking it with the chrono, but went home and pulled the bullets...powder was a solid cake, even at room temps, had to dig it out with a screwdriver. I went to H4350 and fixed it, popped my cow around 250. So...R19 is red-headed step child to me now! ha. I used IMR powders all the time when I lived in Texas, and never had an issue. I'm just now going back to them on some loads. Superformance is supposed to be temp stable and while I got great velocity with the Speer 145BT out of my present 280, accuracy wasn't there for me in that combo. For me, if I have any doubts about temps I just find a Hodgdon Extreme powder and go with it. In the 280 AI I would imagine H4831SC would get you there...now just find some! ha Good luck to you Pard. Jim
- Thread starter
- #15
