Well I made it out to the range yesterday to give it a try, before I start here is what I had loaded in the 2 rifles I was trying it in, and sorry I forgot my target but I know about what they shot and what grouped better.
Temp. upper 90's with a wind left to right probably around 5-10 mph
300 WSM, wetherby sub moa, win brass, win mag primer, once fired brass full length resized, 180gr AB, 64gr IMR 4350
Results
1" group at 100 yards
velocity, 3000-3026
My velocities were kinda weird, my fouwler shot was 3000, then my next 3 shots were 3003, 3023, 3026, they kinda double grouped
RL 17, 64gr.
A little bigger at about 1.25", the velocities were higher in the 3060's and 3070's and ES was 19, sorry my dad threw away my sheet with all the velocities on it so Im going by memory. Now this was a real hot load, with primers starting to flatten and very light ejector marks and I am actually going to back off half a grain so the velocity between the 2 powders would be just about the same.
270 WSM 130gr AB
RL 19 65gr, new win brass run threw the sizer, win mag primers
4" groups
velocity 3340's, weird part is is that my velocities were very consistent, had 5 shots all within 3fps of each other and one random that was 20fps slower, but other than that ES was under 10fps for all other shots, I have no clue why it shot so horrible, primers were starting to flatten but no sticky bolt or ejector marks.
RL 17 62gr 130 AB
2.5-3" groups
Velocity in the upper 3200's, cant remember exactly but ES was around 70fps, Im not trying it again lets just say that
Previous time out
270 WSM 130 AB, IMR 7828 63.5gr
average groups over the past year hover around 1" and a lot of times around .75-.85" and somtimes just over an inch, this is what I hunted with the last 2 seasons.
Velocity 2990-3010fps, ony got 5 shots threw the crony with it, I was surprised at how low they were, about 300fps lower than the manual estimated velocity. I will be working up this load and see how it shoots then, I believe I have a 22" barrel on my m77 ruger weather warrior, maybe the short barrel with the slow powder is hurting me more than I thought.
Sorry for the long post but I figured some would like to hear how the RL 17 was compared to other powders. With my first experience it seems like it will work good in the 300WSM and not so much in the smaller ones. Next time I will get out the 243 and some RL 17, that gun loves 4350 so it should be another good comparison, maybe see some velocity gains in the smaller case.
Temp. upper 90's with a wind left to right probably around 5-10 mph
300 WSM, wetherby sub moa, win brass, win mag primer, once fired brass full length resized, 180gr AB, 64gr IMR 4350
Results
1" group at 100 yards
velocity, 3000-3026
My velocities were kinda weird, my fouwler shot was 3000, then my next 3 shots were 3003, 3023, 3026, they kinda double grouped
RL 17, 64gr.
A little bigger at about 1.25", the velocities were higher in the 3060's and 3070's and ES was 19, sorry my dad threw away my sheet with all the velocities on it so Im going by memory. Now this was a real hot load, with primers starting to flatten and very light ejector marks and I am actually going to back off half a grain so the velocity between the 2 powders would be just about the same.
270 WSM 130gr AB
RL 19 65gr, new win brass run threw the sizer, win mag primers
4" groups
velocity 3340's, weird part is is that my velocities were very consistent, had 5 shots all within 3fps of each other and one random that was 20fps slower, but other than that ES was under 10fps for all other shots, I have no clue why it shot so horrible, primers were starting to flatten but no sticky bolt or ejector marks.
RL 17 62gr 130 AB
2.5-3" groups
Velocity in the upper 3200's, cant remember exactly but ES was around 70fps, Im not trying it again lets just say that
Previous time out
270 WSM 130 AB, IMR 7828 63.5gr
average groups over the past year hover around 1" and a lot of times around .75-.85" and somtimes just over an inch, this is what I hunted with the last 2 seasons.
Velocity 2990-3010fps, ony got 5 shots threw the crony with it, I was surprised at how low they were, about 300fps lower than the manual estimated velocity. I will be working up this load and see how it shoots then, I believe I have a 22" barrel on my m77 ruger weather warrior, maybe the short barrel with the slow powder is hurting me more than I thought.
Sorry for the long post but I figured some would like to hear how the RL 17 was compared to other powders. With my first experience it seems like it will work good in the 300WSM and not so much in the smaller ones. Next time I will get out the 243 and some RL 17, that gun loves 4350 so it should be another good comparison, maybe see some velocity gains in the smaller case.
