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azhuntnut

Anybody try RL26 in .260

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Found some RL26 and plan on loading in my .260. Wouldnt mind hearing if anyone else has been using this combo. Im gonna use 130 Hybrids. David

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I have been reading really good things about this powder in the Creedmoor. I think best results are with heavier bullets though. Depending on barrel length you should be able to push a 147 Hornady up around 2900fps. There is not much data out there available so you will have to start low and work up.

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I called Berger and they gave me load data for rl26 and the creedmoor so Im sure they have it for a 260 rem. They dont email it anymore

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48gr with three shot group avg of 2999 FPS? Those are 6.5x.284 numbers with a Creed! Crazy man, just crazy. You have to burn around 12 more grains of powder to get an extra 2-400 fps out of the SAUM and its variations.

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I agree with Stomp. RL26 is gaining a lot of momentum being used in the 6.5CM, .260, etc. to push a heavier bullet as fast as possible. I would think about the 140+ if you are planning on trying RL26. Unless your twist rebate is slower than a 1:8", give that .260 all the horsepower it is capable of handling.

Www.snipershide.com in the reloading section

Www.longrangehunting.com

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48gr with three shot group avg of 2999 FPS? Those are 6.5x.284 numbers with a Creed! Crazy man, just crazy. You have to burn around 12 more grains of powder to get an extra 2-400 fps out of the SAUM and its variations.

I was running 57.0gr RL26 in my fire forming loads in 6.5 SS behind a 142 SMK and getting 3155fps. Same load is getting me 3120fps with a 150 SMK.

Deer magic!

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48gr with three shot group avg of 2999 FPS? Those are 6.5x.284 numbers with a Creed! Crazy man, just crazy. You have to burn around 12 more grains of powder to get an extra 2-400 fps out of the SAUM and its variations.

I was running 57.0gr RL26 in my fire forming loads in 6.5 SS behind a 142 SMK and getting 3155fps. Same load is getting me 3120fps with a 150 SMK.

Deer magic!

 

Yikes! Too fun. Stop making me theory craft... please? I cant afford another build right now. The divorce would put the price tag out of reach.

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I called Berger and they told me 45g got them 2702 and max load was 48.8g with 2970 fps. They were all loaded 2.80 and the max load was at 106% full. My max coal is 2.90 so I shouldnt have an issue with a compressed load. I have some 130 Berger and 143 Hornady ELD-Xs. David

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I just picked up an 8lb keg of 26 this week. I am going to load up some 147s and see what it does for me in my 24" Shilen.

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Range Report:

 

First off my rifle hated this powder. Not sure why but I worked up loads from 47.0 through 48.5gr in half grain increments and the best five shot group I got was about an inch and a half. I never put the magneto speed on because I always look for accuracy first. I am not a speed freak and don't really care how fast it's going as long as it shoots good. I was a little disappointed as I was really hoping to see some good results with this combo. Guess I will have to stick with the Bergers and Reloader 16.

 

I did, however, have a client bring me a brand new Savage Model 10T to mount a scope and work up a load for this weekend. Since I have eight pounds of this stuff I thought I would give it a try in his rifle as well and see how it would do. I did the same work up from 47.0 grains up to 48.5 in half grain increments in new Nosler brass with CCI primers and the 147gr Hornady ELD-M set with 25 thou jump. Overall length was 2.873" and still had plenty of room to fit the mag. The first five shots out of the gun gave a nice 3/4" group and they just got tighter as I went up in charge weights. 48.5 grains gave me a nice group at just over a half inch. Not bad for a factory rifle with literally zero break-in and very little load development. So I went home and loaded 20 more rounds to send through the Magneto speed and see what kind of performance I was getting. A 10 shot average gave me 2860 fps and a single digit SD of 8. Not too shabby. So with 10 rounds left to shoot I put the wife behind the trigger and plugged my ballistic info into my applied ballistics app to see how it would do at longer ranges. I had her dial up for the 600 yard gong and send one, nice solid hit about two inches right of center. 800 yard gong which is probably about the size of a sheet of paper same thing. On to the 1000 yard plate. The wind got her on the first shot and pushed just left. She made a correction and proceeded to put four shots into about a 4" group at 1000 yards. It was very impressive.

 

So, all in all, it looks like Reloader 26 is a viable powder in the creed and does yield some impressive velocities and accuracy with the 147 ELD-M.

 

Tried to post some pictures but I keep getting an error

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