What do people think of Reloader Powders?

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Huntin' Gun

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I have tried to like reloader powders I've used RL 19 and RL 22. In the books and on-line it these look like great powders. The Nosler #6 manual always has the RL powders getting vastly superior velocities; for .30-06 especially.
But whenever I try any loads with either RL 19 or RL 22 I get far far far lower velocities. Where the books says I should be at 3000 fps, I'll work it up to that amount of powder, or even a touch more, and be at 2700 fps.
The Hodgdon powders are usually pretty close to the book, though.

And yet, people on the 'net RAVE over RL powders. Is it because these people don't have chonographs and have no idea that they're actually going 300+ fps slower? or is it that I have a bad batch?

So, to those who actually use chronies to measure velocities, do you like RL powders? Are you getting the velocities you expect with these powders?
 
Might be a question of pressure barrel vs. your rifle's standard sporting rifle barrel. Pressure barrels generally deliver much higher velocities and are generally longer than standard sporting rifle barrels to ensure complete burn or the powder charge, especially when dealing with slower/magnum powders.

It might also be a case of you using a different bullet profile or weight than used in the manual.

Discrepancies like this are common and it is a big reason why I recommend that new reloaders pick up at least two reputable manuals to compare various loads.
 
I get the best accuracy in alot of my guns from Reloader powders. I don't care about velocity nearly as much.
 
I load rl 19 in .300 wby with 180 gr. bullets and the critter at the receiving end does not know the diff. between 3250 and 3300 fps . But I do find it to be very accurate in my rifle . I was however cautioned that the reloader series of powders could be a little pressure ( spikey ) going from dosile to beating the bolt of your gun open within a half gr. increase . YMMV!
 
I use Reloder series powders a fair amount, and in fact, Reloder 25 is "THE" powder in my 308 Norma Mag with the 200 grain bullet. Great velocities, and stellar accuracy. RL 19 and the 338 Winchester is, in most cases, a match made to work well. The list goes on and on. Regards, Eagleye.
 
I haven't seen a significant difference in velocity or accuracy using Hodgdon powders and Reloader powders , since Reloader powders are generally more expensive and seem more temperature sensitive I have gone back to Hodgdon powders for my rifles. Your rifles may show a preference for the Re series and if so use it.
 
I used RL#15 in my 54r and 300 Sav. loads for year RL#7 is my favorite powder for 7.62 x 39. RL#7 works great in cast bullet loads in the X39 cartridge when Alliant 2400 want cycle even with the Max. load.
 
Glockster said:
Most of my Reloader powder gives the same or slightly higher velocity shown in the books. But more importantly they give EXCELLENT accuracy in the rifles I use them in.
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That's the kind of info I'm looking for. I know a lot of people love this powder, and it is very accurate in my rifles too. But it is way slow whenever I've put it over the chrony. If it were only 50 fps different, then no problem, but 300 fps is a big problem. If I didn't have a chrony, and was just going off what what the books say, then I'd think I had a wonderfully accurate load that was doing 3000 fps, but instead, in reality what I have is a wonderfully accurate load that is only doing 2700 fps. I'm always way under book velocities. I was just curious if it was just me, or if other people who have chronies and measure velocities experience the same thing.

Maybe I'll try another lot #.
 
Reloader 15 is the only powder for my .303 british, It gives the best accuracy for the 174 Gr. HPBT Sierra bullet in my rifle.

RL-22 is a great powder in my 6.5x55 too...
 
I get excellent accuracy and velocities out of RL17 in my 300 WSM and Barnes 168 TTSX bullets. Max velocity noted was 3200.
 
I am using 69.5 grs of Reloader 22 and 130 gr Barns tsx for my .270 wsm. I just chronographed these loads.and I agree with you, as they tend to be slower then the advertised velocities. According to data that I had found, the 3300 fps barrier should have been well exceeded but they averaged 3275.
The grouping, however, was very good. I would like to hear what other people have experienced with other powders.
 
RL-15 was the only powder that I could get my M14 shooting accurately with........nothing else worked............getting 3/4 inch groups with that powder/rifle combo.

Frykasj, I had really good luck with IMR 4064 in my enfield.......getting 1 inch groups or less with it, depending on the day I am having. Same 174g hpbt. 38.5g of powder.
 
IN all the cartdiges I've loaded for where re 22 and re 15 were among the top few in the guides they blew away the competition.

I haven't had the same result with re19, my rifles that would have gone for it prefer H4350
 
martinbns said:
IN all the cartdiges I've loaded for where re 22 and re 15 were among the top few in the guides they blew away the competition.

I haven't had the same result with re19, my rifles that would have gone for it prefer H4350
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Same here. Great results with RL15 and RL22 but no luck with RL19. Just bought a pound of RL17 last week, hopefuly it will be another good one.
 
I don't get the chronograph out till I have a load that I know shoots the groups I want. Leave the thing put away till you are sighting in and need your ballistics tables and drop charts. I believe it is more important than velocity. I had to get over this bug also, but now I am much more objective when creating my loads. A miss is a miss at any speed.







Huntin' Gun said:
That's the kind of info I'm looking for. I know a lot of people love this powder, and it is very accurate in my rifles too. But it is way slow whenever I've put it over the chrony. If it were only 50 fps different, then no problem, but 300 fps is a big problem. If I didn't have a chrony, and was just going off what what the books say, then I'd think I had a wonderfully accurate load that was doing 3000 fps, but instead, in reality what I have is a wonderfully accurate load that is only doing 2700 fps. I'm always way under book velocities. I was just curious if it was just me, or if other people who have chronies and measure velocities experience the same thing.

Maybe I'll try another lot #.
Click to expand...
 
I always use my chrony when working up new loads and have had good success with Reloder powders. RL7 is my go-to for straightwall cases such as the .375 Win and .45-70 Govt and there is always a supply of RL19 handy also. I bought a 26" barreled 7mm Rem Mag long ago with the express purpose of building a "grain field" rifle for long range work. I got out the "cook books" and starting working up some real screamers...until I sent them downrange over the sky screens. Big disappointment! Didn't matter what bullet/powder/primer/case I tried, my velocities were a couple hundred FPS short of what the manuals indicated. I did shoot several bucks and bulls with that Seven, but my 22" barreled .270 Win equaled the velocities with 140gr bullets using less powder and a handier, lighter rifle. Suffice to say that particular 7Mag went bye, bye.
 
I shoot a lot of belted mags so R22 and R25 are on the must have list.

Hard to beat a 257 Wby with a 100 grain bullet in front of R22.
 
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