My 7x57 & Reloder 17 ---Wow!

Eagleye

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I have a Remington 700 Classic in 7x57 [First limited edition classic in 1982] It shoots all the 140 & 150 grain bullets I have tried well, but the 140 Accubond is one of the best.
With IMR 4350 at 51 grains, it shoots just under 1 moa consistently at 2840 FPS. Great hunting load. I recently acquired some Reloder 17, and after having success with it in my 244 & 6mm Remingtons, I thought I'd give it a whirl in the 7x57.
While I only shot 4 groups with it, the average group was smaller than the IMR4350 generally gives, and the Chrony [51.0 gr] says 2980 avg for 10 shots.
No pressure signs at all, and brass measurement at the web verifies no expansion there. I believe we have a winner! Regards, Eagleye.
 
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I love RL 17.

I tried it in a 30-06 and I was able to get about 180 fps more than with any other powder, with no pressure signs. In my Stevens 200 in 300 win mag, I am also getting similarly startling performance; and that particular rifle is doing it while shooting crazy small groups.
 
Temp sensitivity is not stated. However, I have never worried about that in personal use outside of long range precision shooting. It is somewhat slower burning than is Varget, a lot denser, has higher energy content, with a treatment that allows higher velocity without increasing pressure peaks. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Temp sensitivity is not stated. However, I have never worried about that in personal use outside of long range precision shooting. It is somewhat slower burning than is Varget, a lot denser, has higher energy content, with a treatment that allows higher velocity without increasing pressure peaks. Regards, Eagleye.

Thanks!:)
 
Re17 in the 270 with 130 or 150 gr bullets is so fast, when I read the chronograph, I feel like I won the jackpot!

But I can't make any money from it:(
 
I averaged 2900MV with 225gr partitions from a 22" barrel with that ReL 17. For that I use a necked up 300WSM case to shoot .358" bullets - a 350WSM wildcat. I know of a 24" barrel rifle clocking 2950MV with the same load in the same wildcat chambering.

That ReL 17 sure is a speed champ IMO.
 
I have a Remington 700 Classic in 7x57 [First limited edition classic in 1982] It shoots all the 140 & 150 grain bullets I have tried well, but the 140 Accubond is one of the best.
With IMR 4350 at 51 grains, it shoots just under 1 moa consistently at 2840 FPS. Great hunting load. I recently acquired some Reloder 17, and after having success with it in my 244 & 6mm Remingtons, I thought I'd give it a whirl in the 7x57.
While I only shot 4 groups with it, the average group was smaller than the IMR4350 generally gives, and the Chrony [51.0 gr] says 2980 avg for 10 shots.
No pressure signs at all, and brass measurement at the web verifies no expansion there. I believe we have a winner! Regards, Eagleye.

I am going to give this a try. My load I am using now is much the smae as yours. I use 48 grains of IMR 4350 and a mag primer with my Savage 7X57 ( 24" barrel) and I chrony'd my loads at arounf 2800 fps. Excellent groups as well. I hope RL 17 works for me too.
 
How temperature sensitive is RL 17 guys?

How would it compare to Varget?


Like this in my tests:

308_temp.jpg



In a nutshell, nowhere near Varget and slightly more temperature sensitive than an IMR powder that's decades old... All of the Alliant powders I have tested have had relatively poor temperature stability. RL-25 was absolutely terrible.


And my cut-and-pasted explanation of the testing:

What people notice based on air temperature isn't the best indicator of temperature sensitivity. Rounds brought from home in a plastic case, transported in a heated/cooled vehicle will often experience very little change in temperature internally. Unless the rounds are soaked in an exposed manner, at temperature, for at least two hours, you don't really know the powder is at that temperate. The first time I ran this type of test, I put a thermocouple inside a loaded round (without primer) through the primer hole to see how long it took for the internal temperature to be the same as external.

The way the tests works is that you soak 3 batches of ammo at hot, cold and ambient temperature for at least two hours (5 rounds of each). I use a cooler with a heating pad for hot, the freezer in the clubhouse for cold (an icebox works too), and just sit the rounds out in the open for ambient. Temperature is measured with thermocouples and/or mercury thermometers.

You then fire them one round at a time in a round robin sequence (ambient, hot, cold, ambient, hot, cold...). You let the barrel cool in between each shot. When you fire each round, you just transfer that round from the hot/room/cold storage to the chamber and fire it through the chrono as quickly as possible. You don't want to give the rounds any time to change temperature internally due to contact with the chamber. I set the scope on the lowest magnification and just make sure I'm sending the round through the sweet spot of the chrono (no groups here). You basically want to be the Jerry Miculek of loading a boltgun and firing it through a chrono. This is best done on a short pistol range, close to the berm.

If you're interested in the powder's temperature sensitivity, you don't soak the entire rifle, that isn't scientifically correct because you're mixing multiple effects. Thermal expansion/contraction of the barrel due to temperature is a different effect than powder temperature sensitivity. In this test, we are only interested in the powder's effect (primer too, as it cannot be isolated). By using the round robin sequence and letting the barrel cool in between shots, you're removing its temperature effect as a variable in the test. If you then wanted to take it to the level of testing it as a system, you would know how much the powder is contributing. Otherwise, you cannot isolate it from the barrel's effect. Then, you don't know how much each is contributing to the problem.

It isn't a difficult test to run. However, if you don't have the ability to measure pressure (I do), I would advise putting the heating pad on a lower setting.
 
As far as velocity goes, RL-17 can probably launch a 162 AMAX out of that gun at the same velocity as the lighter bullets. Heavy bullets is where RL-17 really shines in this class of cartridge. The AMAX works well as a hunting bullet and should stabilize at the higher velocity.
 
Like this in my tests:

308_temp.jpg



In a nutshell, nowhere near Varget and slightly more temperature sensitive than an IMR powder that's decades old... All of the Alliant powders I have tested have had relatively poor temperature stability. RL-25 was absolutely terrible.


And my cut-and-pasted explanation of the testing:

Thank you, Kombayotch! That's an awesome explanation!:)

I guess I'll stick with Varget then. I'm more concerned about keeping the velocity and point of impact stable and consistent than trying to wring out some more FPS. Especially since there is a temperature range from 30C (with high humidity) to -40C (and dry) around here.
 
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I would have thought it was too fast for a 300WM.

Very similar burn rate to 4350, which I use much more than slower powders like 4831. I've never had much success at all with 4831, actually. I've tried it in several calibers and I pretty consistently get 100-200 fps less than published data would suggest. I know lots of guys like powders like 4831 in 300 WM, but I got more velocity and less pressure with RL-17. When working up loads for RL-17 I use IMR 4350 data if I don't have "real" RL-17 data on hand.
 
RL-17 seems to work over a much wider range than other powders. Its hard to compare it to other powders based on burn rate alone. Its velocity characteristics are unique...
 
Kombayotch,

How did you control the ammo temperatures?
You went to the range with a double boiler for hot and dry ice in a cooler for cold?
 
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