Went to the range last night with some 180 Nosler Part and 180 SGK (both with RL22) The velocities flirted with 3000. The best load was the Nosler with 75.5 gr of RL 22. I had no pressure signs,no sticky bolt. The groups were tightening up until I reached this load, which is max according to my nosler manual. Can I go up a little say 1/10 at a time? I would like to be at or a little above 3000. Thanks

I'm not saying you can or cant, every rifle is different.

I will say that there's alot of fellas that push 180s w/ 76grns of R22. 76 doesn't show pressure in my 300WM. In your's it may.

Good Luck

Reloader

Hey Chain

Looks like your gun is a little slow or your bottle of RL22 is a little slow. RL22 does vary some from bottle to bottle. Going back over my spreadsheet I see that I got the following velocities for 75.5 gr RL22 in 4 different 300 win mags: 3101, 3141, 3081, 3041.

I have been as high as 77.5 gr with one bottle of RL22 that seemed to be slower than others. Each time I have to open a new bottle I drop the charge a couple of grains, load up the usual loads and compare velocities with previous loads. There are other factors such a temperature and chrony anomalies that have to be watched also.

Before HC comes along and jumps my a** about velocity not being a sign of pressure , let me say that it is only one indicator to watch.

No need to Woods, you and Reloader both made excellent posts.

Hey Chain, One thing you want to just keep in the back of your mind is the reputation of the RL-Powders as being a bit erratic from Lot to Lot. If you like what you end up with, you might want to consider getting more of the exact same Lot.

If you can't locate more of that same Lot, be sure to "Re-Test the Load" when you go into the next Lot of Powder. That is true for all Powders, but the "RL-Powders" seem to just vary a bit more than others.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
No need to Woods, you and Reloader both made excellent posts. Hey Chain, One thing you want to just keep in the back of your mind is the reputation of the RL-Powders as being a bit erratic from Lot to Lot. If you like what you end up with, you might want to consider getting more of the exact same Lot.

This is the exact reason why I use IMR 7828! I have long used it big rounds, like the 300 Weatherby and 8m/m Remington, but have since discovered it works wonders in the 300 Winchester too.

Affirmative. I think it is my barrel length or lack there of that is killing my speed. I am going to try to increase it a little 1/10 of a grain at a time. The group I shot last night was just over an inch. I want to shrink that if I can without too much pressure. If I could get to an average of 3000 or 3050 I would be happy. Thanks

Oh I forgot. I am going to try some IMR 7828 but probably not before I leave.

Chain,

It sounds like you are getting there. To answer your question about going up 1/10 grain increments, I will say it depends on several factors. Before I get into those factors though I would like to refer to what David Petzal says in his introduction to the .300 Winchester Magnum in Noslers #4 Manual. I won't quote it verbatim as I don't have it sitting in front of me, but the the jist is this:

You can get about 3,100 fps from a 180 grain bullet out of a 24" tube. Try for more than that and the tinkling noises you here will be the pieces of your rifle hitting the roof.

I have tried to take that advice, with the practice of watching other known pressure signs and made it my way of loading for mine. If I get above 3,160 in my 26" tube I start checking my sanity...wasn't always that way, but I have gotten a little smarter as the years have gone by.

With that said, I would say that if you get to 3,040 - 3,060 as an average, I wouldn't go past that with a 22" barrel.

Based on my experience with the .300 Winnie, and depending on how close you are "flirting" with 3,000 fps you can probably safely queeze another .5 grain or so before you hit that velocity.

If I were in your shoes and I wasn't quite getting 3,000 out of the 75.5 grain load and I wasn't seeing/hearing any of the visual/audible signs of pressure, I would go ahead and load up some at 76.0 grains. Fire them to see if you see any pressure first, without trying to get a group. Once determined you are still on safe ground, sit down, give it your best concentration and see what happens.

FWIW, I just loaded up my test rounds with the 180 grain Accubonds and RL22. I have loads in three shot groups at the following increments:

73.0
73.5
74.0
74.5
75.0
75.5
76.0
76.5
77.0

I will obviously start at the 73.0 grain load, then jump the full grain increments until I reach the max for my gun. Then I will take the best two of those and fire the .5 increments around them to see where I come up.

I fully anticipate pulling some bullets at the top end, but you never know. I hate going to the range and finding out I could have gone higher and not having them with me. Yes, I pull a few bullets here and there.

That is what I think I will do. I have some IMR 4831 I was going to rty just for the hell of it. I had a couple rounds last nite go 3040- 3050 the rest were in the 29's. I haven't tried RL 22 with the 180 Accubond but I know my rifle loves those with H 1000. I did not chron the 180's though

My .338 win mag was very accurate with Rel 22 but the velocity swings with temperature change scared me. Accurate, but not stable.