Reloader 17 and .243

[Sin City Shootist]

I'm having difficulty finding load data for 95gr matchking and 105 Amax. Does anyone have min and max load for these rounds? I even ran to bass pro last night and looked at all their reloading books and none of them had this powder listed.

 

[MtnCreek]

http://accurateshooter.net/Blog/reloder17data.doc

I have no experiance with this powder, but did find this.

VERIFY Before Using.

 

[Sin City Shootist]

Thanks, I found that last night. Those are max charges but no minimum and no 95's or 105's.

 

[Funshooter45]

Use the data for the 100 gr and back off the max charge weight by 10% to get a starting load and work your way up from there.

 

[rcmodel]

Lyman #49 has RX15 data for 90 grain & lighter bullets in .243.

For 100 grain they only show RX19, and for 105 grain A-Max they only show RX22.

Could be the reason you can't find load data for heavy bullets & RX17 in any manuals is because it is too fast for heavy bullets in small calibers!

In general, if nobody, including the manufacture of the powder publishes data for a certain application, that indicates they ran into problems with pressure spikes or something during pressure testing.

That right there might be your problem!

rc

 

[Sin City Shootist]

Thanks guys. I thought there was a few members here running that same combination with great results. I do have a Lyman #49 and I did see those loads but wanted to give this powder a try. I only bought 200 bullets and 1 lb of powder so no great loss if it doesn't work out. I can always go lighter on the bullet or use the powder for the 308.

 

[Sin City Shootist]

I'm seeing post at other places that most are using the IMR 4350 load charts. Looks to be accurate with a 10% decrease from max loads. Can any verify this?

 

[rcmodel]

Bad idea.

See post #5 where I said:

In general, if nobody, including the manufacture of the powder publishes data for a certain application, that indicates they ran into problems with pressure spikes or something during pressure testing.

If it was a good idea, the powder manufacture would publish tested safe data for it.
They want to sell all the RX17 powder they can sell.

rc

 

[243winxb]

243Winchester - Reloder 17

RC gives good advice. Not listed for a reason. Alliant data, from there 2010 reloader's guide. Reloder 17-40.8gr maximum-Speer 100gr BTSP- Fed 210 primer-Min OAL 2.625"-3044fps-case Federal. Start low on the powder charge and work up as always. Will the twist in your barrel handle long,heavy bullets?

 

[Sin City Shootist]

Will the twist in your barrel handle long,heavy bullets?

9 1/8 twist. The 105 should be about max weight, but, if its too much, then that's why I bought the 95 SMK's.

 

[243winxb]

Alliant -

Remarks:
Similar burn speed to IMR 4350 with added velocity

You might as well start with the best powder for the 243win. Thats IMR 4350 IMO.

 

[Sin City Shootist]

The 4350 was my next choice. I've heard great results from both powders.

 

[GJgo]

I shoot RL17 in a few calibers, but I don't have a 243. In the calibers I use it is very similar to H4350 charge-wise, just faster. There's not much loading info out there because it's too new still vs. manual publishing cycles. Plus, the software programs don't really understand (model) how it's wide pressure curve works so things like Quickload are usually off. I'd recommend searching over at Sniper's Hide for people actually using it.

 

[kelbro]

Give them a call. They will get you on the right track.

 

[Sin City Shootist]

Gjgo, I did talk with one guy at snipershide and his load was like 2.5 gr over max. I'm not even going to go there.

kelbro, I shot them a message a few hours ago asking for some load data.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Like another has already said, it's just too new of a powder for there to be a broad range of data.

I've used it in my 7mm08, .30/06, .338/06 and .257Robt. but have not gotten around to trying it in the .243.

I really, really like it in the 7mm08. Not crazy about it in the others.

Like others posted, charge weights are close to the various 4350's, though my lot# is a tad faster.

I'm also a little above the books with my 7mm08, but velocities are impressive.(139gr Hornady BT @ 2,900fps from 20"bbl) My rifle isn't that accurate so I can't assess accuracy (similar to H4350). My .30/06 and .338/06 are accurate. Again RL17 closely matched H4350 velocities but was nowhere near as accurate as IMR4350.

Start with IMR4350 data and reduce by 10% and work up. This is what I did and had no unpleasant surpises, except lack of hoped for accuracy.

However, I did get some unpleasant suprises with Hod. Hybrid100V. Even at 10% reduction of "standard" .257Robt. max loads with published 45,000cup loads, I'm getting flattened primers. Blew primer with the max load! Don't ask why I tried it........I just had to know!

If a posted velocity looks too good to be true, most likely it is!
ie: 48.0gr of H100V for 3,200fps from .257Robt. w/100gr bullets is published max.
My rifles max's out at 44.0gr and 3,050fps. Worse than average accuacy. Oh well, it was worth a try! Back to the IMR4350, IMR4831 and IMR3031.

 

[redbullitt]

My roommate gets great groups when we use reloder 22 and 95g nosler BTs. I have not chronographed it though. Cant remember off the top of my head, but it was about 80% of max load.

His rifle didnt like the 105 grainers, but it does very well with the 95s. Its an older ruger with a fairly short barrel.

 

[GJgo]

Sin City Shooter,

In a 308, 2.5 grains is only around 5%. Differences in brass volume, chamber roominess, and throat length (seat it farther out) can easily account for this. Optimization is why we handload.

Plus, if you've user RL17, you might notice that the "sweet spot" is a few grains wide in terms of pressure & velocity. It definitely can hit the wall and go over pressure so you need to know where that is in your rifle, but below that there's a lot of forgiveness.

To add, I have also noted that it's not as accurate as the H powders in the rifles I've tried both.

 

[LotI]

Alliant has suggested that you use the starting loads for IMR4350 as a good starting load for Reloder 17. My experience shows excellent performance with heavier bullets in the 243Win. 87gr. Hornady BTHP are running right at 3300fps using the Alliant max load.

btw...my Remington 700 Varmint with a 1:9 1/8" twist won't stabilize the 105gr Nosler Custom Competition. I would like to try some 90-95gr bullets but they are out of stock everywhere.