Reloader 17 in 308

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acj7382

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I had bought a few lbs earlier this year. I was looking at Hornady 10th edition for the eld match and eld x. 178 grain. I used some 17 in my 300 wsm a few times. Any thoughts or experience in the 308. I normally use Varget and 4064.
 
I do not see any mention of what you are loading for? I only ask because I load quite a bit of .308 Winchester and have been in agreement with this article by Zediker where he covers Reloading for the Match M14. I apply his powder rationale to my M1A and AR 10 loading but my bolt gun really doesn't care. The link has a section on powder and port pressure.

I have used Alliant Reloder 15 in my bolt gun but never tried Alliant Reloder 17. My best results have normally been with IMR 4064 and AA 2495 pushing 168 grain and 175 grain Sierra MK bullets. I can see where RL 17 could be a good choice for the heavier bullets. I would not really want to use it in any of my gas guns.

Ron
 
It was just a recipe for the 178 eld in Hornady 10th edition. I have a few lbs and was just going to put it to use. Never had much luck with rl 15. RL 17 done a pretty good job on 190 long range accubond in my 300 wsm. Don't own it anymore but have some powder left over. Only reason I inquired. Loading for semi bull barrel Savage
 
It will be happy in a Savage. 168 to 185 grain would probably be the general range (not much room left if you get higher grianage bullet.

175 is great. 168 is good.

I will see if I can find the ranges I have used it for in 308 (also a Savage, custom barrel though, cross check to see if I shot it in the Savage Varmint barrel when it was on)

I am probably going to put it back on and paly with it some more.

I got it because that was all there was for a bit and Hornady had recipes for it in 30-06, 10th has added 308.
 
50 grain capacity, medium burns. I've gone no higher than RL-15. RL-17 is in 4350 family.
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I too have had good results with RL15 in medium 308 weights.

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Heavier; 4064 has worked well for me also.

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Out of a savage axis 1 BTW.
 

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From my experience RL 17 is not the greatest powder choice for 308. But then that was with 168gr. Mks. Out of a Savage 10 LE. 18" bull barrel.
With a longer barrel it may work better.

My 7mm-08AI loves it.(22" Stevens 200). Along with my 257 Roberts and my neighbors 30-06.

140gr. Berger VLD Hunting getting just over 2900 fps out of the Stevens.
But having said that i usually use Alliant Power Pro 2000 due to the low ES and DS.
 
The longer barrel won't help. With any barrel length over about 10", the .308 load that is fastest with one powder and bullet combination will also be fastest in any other barrel. As bullets get heavier, that minimum length to give the same load maximum velocity gets shorter. With 180 grains anything much over about 3.5" will show maximum velocity with the same load. It's what has happened by the time the pressure has finished going through its peak range that matters to burn efficiency, so you only need enough for that plus a little to let the higher maintained pressure of a slow powder make up for not peaking sooner.

I infer from your 168 grain bullet experience that the .308 expansion ratio in combination with bullet weights much under 180 grains make for too little confinement for RL17 to burn consistently. A magnum primer might well help, if you didn't use that already.

It's hard to imagine 178 grains wouldn't be close enough to 180 to work similarly.

That said, I personally avoid going with the slowest powder I find listed with a bullet. Too often there are secondary pressures down the tube when the powder is really too slow for best work with the chambering. This can ring a barrel over time.
 
That said, I personally avoid going with the slowest powder I find listed with a bullet. Too often there are secondary pressures down the tube when the powder is really too slow for best work with the chambering. This can ring a barrel over time.
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That's a new one on me. Can you elaborate on that, examples of slow that are too slow? 4350 is a very popular powder for 270 and 30-06, but slow would seem to be relative as its slower than a lot but faster than a lot too (mid roughly)
 
For the 308 it's borderline too slow.
And if you can cram 50gr of RL17 into a 308 casing with a 168gr bullet, i'll be at the farend of the firing line.
 
std7mag: Oh yeee of little faith!

Just a pressure test.

I more use it for 30-06 and 7.5 Swiss but I have done 308.
 
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