I'm liking RL23

[Wincheringen]

I picked up a jug of RL23 recently and loaded up some 168 Custom Competitions with it today. Data is basically non existent, I extrapolated from Alliant's online guide for the Speer bullet. 75 grains came right up to the bottom of the neck and seating at 3.34" produced a slight crush. The group is 5 shots and includes the clean cold bore shot. I know it says RL22 in my photo, but it is RL23. Primers looked fine, but I did have some sticky bolt lift. I put together some more loads at 74 and 74.5 grains to see if I can avoid the sticky bolt lift. This particular gun hasn't shown any copper fouling in the past. Today I ran 25 rounds through it and didn't see any trace of copper on my patches. I haven't used any other decoppering powders in the past.

 

[DrMike]

Excellent group. Congratulations. I'm definitely going to have to give this a try. If QL is any help, you have some room to go.

Cartridge          : .300 Win. Mag.(SAAMI)
Bullet             : .308, 168, Nosler CC HPBT J4 53164
Useable Case Capaci: 84.048 grain H2O = 5.457 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length      : 24.0 inch = 609.6 mm
Powder             : Alliant Reloder-23

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 2.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms

-20.0   84    63.84   2540    2407   31260  10584     97.1    1.529
-18.0   86    65.44   2604    2530   33490  10852     98.0    1.488
-16.0   88    67.03   2668    2656   35888  11097     98.7    1.448
-14.0   91    68.63   2732    2784   38466  11315     99.3    1.404
-12.0   93    70.22   2795    2914   41240  11507     99.7    1.359
-10.0   95    71.82   2858    3046   44229  11669     99.9    1.316
-08.0   97    73.42   2920    3180   47448  11802    100.0    1.274
-06.0   99    75.01   2981    3314   50910  11919    100.0    1.234
-04.0  101    76.61   3041    3451   54600  12031    100.0    1.195  ! Near Maximum !
-02.0  103    78.20   3101    3588   58551  12140    100.0    1.158  ! Near Maximum !
+00.0  105    79.80   3161    3727   62790  12245    100.0    1.123  ! Near Maximum !
+02.0  107    81.40   3220    3867   67342  12345    100.0    1.088  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0  109    82.99   3278    4009   72236  12442    100.0    1.055  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+06.0  112    84.59   3336    4152   77502  12534    100.0    1.024  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+08.0  114    86.18   3394    4298   83177  12621    100.0    0.993  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+10.0  116    87.78   3452    4445   89301  12704    100.0    0.964  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba    105    79.80   3274    3999   76721  11823    100.0    1.037  !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba    105    79.80   2986    3327   49373  12752     99.4    1.240

Still, with stiff bolt lift, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[SJB358]

It's burn rate seems to be off from QL, but once adjusted seems pretty close. I like 26 a lot... Really good in the few I've ran it in.

 

[Wincheringen]

This brass is quite a bit thicker than most it seems and causing the sticky bolt lift with start charges. I only have 800 pieces to use up.

 

[Wincheringen]

I still had sticky bolt lift with the lower charges, accuracy wasn't there either. It was quite windy so that didn't help. I picked up some Winchester brass and I'm going to play with that and see if my problem continues.

 

[longrangehunter]

I'd invest in a chronograph, even a cheap Chrony will tell you more info then anything about the load other then is it accurate? Velocity = pressure, you'll know more in one shot then any book, online forum or even the factory manufactures print on their boxes! Without one it's all a guessing game.

 

[RiverRider]

[/quote]



I don't believe I've ever shot at a range with cages for the shooters.

I do notice all the bullet holes in the wooden partitions. :shock: That represents an awful lot of ADs, or some downright disrespectful shooters!

 

[RiverRider]

Oh, wait...that's not a permanent divider there. All I'm sure of now is that it has lotsa bullet holes in it, whatever it is.

 

[Wincheringen]

Its a target backer board. We have a pretty nice range for $15 a year.

I have run it across the chronograph with other loads, velocity is right where it should be.

I'm starting to think I have a rough chamber now. The Winchester brass loads stuck pretty tight. They have more capacity than the FC brass and I was using a standard Winchester Large Rifle instead of the 215M primer.

You can't see the steel but we have targets out to 1000 yards, I hit the 1000 yard one 5 times in a row tonight.

 

[RiverRider]

I guess that explains the bullet holes. Duh!

What part of the world are you in?

 

[Wincheringen]

Montana.

I polished up the chamber yesterday and took it out today and they stuck pretty hard again. On a whim I tried shooting without the can and they didn't stick at all.

 

[wildbill141]

I have to clean every 20-30 rounds otherwise I get pressure signs. Otherwise great powder.

 

[Wincheringen]

Mine will stick on a clean chamber.

I tried some factory Hornady 200 grain ELD X and it stuck on those too.

 

[RiverRider]

I've been led to believe that a suppressor will generally cause higher pressures. I don't know it for a fact, but I believe it.

 

[Wincheringen]

None of my other suppressed rifles exhibit this sticking though. I've talked to AAC and Remington and both are scratching their heads. They can't look at it because Remington can't handle the suppressor, and AAC can't handle the rifle. I tried my SWR Specwar too and they stuck with that can as well.

A friend also has a threaded 300WM and we're trying to get lined up to test it out and narrow things down a bit.

 

[Wincheringen]

I did some chrono work today with 190 Bergers seated right to the lands. I'm pretty happy about this group.

Created: 07-14-2016 10:45:48 AM
Description: 300 Win Mag
Notes 1:
Notes 2:
Distance to Chrono (FT): 12.00
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.690
Bullet Weight (gr): 190.000
Altitude (FT): 0.0
Temp: N/A
BP: N/A
Shots
# FPS FT-LBS PF
9 2908 3568.27 552.52
8 2916 3587.93 554.04
7 2917 3590.39 554.23
6 2914 3583.01 553.66
5 2889 3521.80 548.91
4 2921 3600.25 554.99
3 2908 3568.27 552.52
2 2893 3531.55 549.67
1 2894 3534.00 549.86
Average: 2906.67
StdDev: 11.81
Min: 2889
Max: 2921
Spread: 32
True MV: 2912.41
Shots/sec: 0.01
Group Size (IN): 0.61

 

[SJB358]

Dang, that looks pretty danged good. Good speed and you can't help but like that sorta grouping.

 

[Wincheringen]

It's probably a little tighter group than the app calculated, but yes I'm plenty happy with it.

 

[Wincheringen]

Well the situation with the hard extraction has not improved. A friend has a 300 Win Mag and we tried my loads and can on his gun and they didn't have any hard extraction. His loads are a bit hotter than mine registering right at 3000 FPS with the 208 ELD. My 210 ABLRs are running ~2830 FPS.

I don't have any faith in Remington fixing the problem, plus I've changed out the trigger and tossed the factory one. I had my gunsmith order a Lilja No. 7 barrel today.