123456 Report post Posted December 30, 2012 I just bought a pound of this stuff and am planning on trying it out in my 300wsm. I have both the 185bergers and the 180 TTSX barnes. I have always been a big fan of the Barnes bullets, but I guess I have given into the berger bug as well. Seems lots of people shoot them and have had good experience with them. They are nearly 15$ more per 50 than the Barnes!!!! I read that this RL17 should give me more velocity and was designed with the short magnum cases in mind. If anyone has some knowledge of this powder or its' pro's or con's I would love to hear them. Also lots of the recipes I have seen use a standard primer and not a magnum. I plan on using GM215M primers and have had great luck with them in the past. Seems odd to me to switch to not as hot of a primer? Thanks for any pointers you give me and I appreciate your responses. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbryant11 Report post Posted December 31, 2012 Bergers should e cheaper they come in packs of 100 i have heard the 17 is a little more temp unstable but iam not sure how true that is Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rossislider Report post Posted December 31, 2012 Like cbryant11 said, the Bergers usually come in a pack of 100 so you probably got a better deal than you thought. That actually makes the price of them pretty reasonable. No experience with R17, but my gunsmith highly recommends it for .223 in ARs. Sounds like a lot for a .223 cartridge to me but he says it is awesome in an AR platform. I use R15 in my .243 and get great results. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
123456 Report post Posted December 31, 2012 Nice!! that makes the bergers a much better deal than I thought. I must be oblivious today. I bought both and just assumed it was another pack of 50. WOW! thanks for the heads up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BRYCE CANYON Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Works great for me. 48 grains of RL17 with 140 gr. Bergers in my 6.5X284. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cbryant11 Report post Posted January 2, 2013 Whats your velocity with that load bryce Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
STOMP442 Report post Posted January 2, 2013 Works really well in most everything I have tried it in. The 250 savage loves this stuff. It gives me an extra 60 fps with the Berger 115s with lower pressure. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BRYCE CANYON Report post Posted January 3, 2013 Whats your velocity with that load bryce My buddy gave me that load and he chronographed it at 3 grand. It was a little hot for my gun so I backed off to 47.5 grains which probably puts me at 29 something. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big or Bust Report post Posted January 3, 2013 RL-17 is good stuff but is not the magical powder some make it out to be. It does appear to be very useful in the medium capacity cartridges. It shines in my wife's .243 (3400+ with 80's), it shined in my old .260 (3200+ with 100's), and it provides good accuracy and velocities in my .22-250 Ackley with heavies (3200+ with 80's) and my 7mm-08 (2900+ with 140's). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
L Cazador Report post Posted January 3, 2013 You are way off base with RL-17 and 180g bullets ! That powder is way too fast for the heavy bullets . Read my prior post on this , Win. 760 or Hunter both sperical powders that will give you the best velocity , and the best extreme velocity spreads . And yes by all means use a magnum primer , Fed 215M's are great . Too bad all you got for brass is that junky Winchester stuff . Just check it all real well before you use it , Winchester will make it good if you get too much junk . I save all the junk and send it back . They've been very good about it . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mklong40 Report post Posted January 3, 2013 As my mentor L Cazador above states, RL 17 is too hot for 180gr'er. In the following posts, most of you say you have had great experience with RL17 with smaller bullets. Id say 140's is tops. I have a 7mag I shoot 175gr partitions out of. I use RL22. All rifles are different but with 63.3gr of RL22 I am getting 2950 fps with a 175gr round.......not shabby. If you want to stay with Alliant, bump it up to RL22 and give it a shot. I bet you see better groups right away with a 180gr ' er. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AverageJoe Report post Posted January 3, 2013 R17 great in the 308 with heavy bullets. R17 with 208 gn amax is awesome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
123456 Report post Posted January 4, 2013 Seems there are different opinions on this powder. L Cazador, if I choose to reload a few rounds with this powder, will I experience pressure issues or just bad accuracy? I have read many different reviews of this powder online, and seems that a lot of people have had good results with 180 gr. bullets. If I use the magnum primer in a recipe that calls for standard, should I stay away from max load because of a potential pressure increase. I see people talk about flat primers, and then I looked at some of my spent federal premium rounds and they all have flat primers on them after shot. Is this normal? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yotebuster Report post Posted January 4, 2013 You are way off base with RL-17 and 180g bullets ! That powder is way too fast for the heavy bullets . Read my prior post on this , Win. 760 or Hunter both sperical powders that will give you the best velocity , and the best extreme velocity spreads . And yes by all means use a magnum primer , Fed 215M's are great . Too bad all you got for brass is that junky Winchester stuff . Just check it all real well before you use it , Winchester will make it good if you get too much junk . I save all the junk and send it back . They've been very good about it . Win 760 is faster than RL-17..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
