Reloader 16

[Backyardsniper]

I had posted on here a bit ago asking about RL16 in the 375H&H. There doesn't seem to be a lot of load data out there so I decided to start doing a little experimenting. From what info I can gather it is almost identical in burn rate to H4350. It is supposed to be very temp stable. It is slightly less dense than H4350 though. I checked some quick load data and decided.to give it a try in my 460 wby. It sits right next to H4350 on the chart so I started with just a couple grains under a starting load for 4350 and loaded up a round. I fired one test round at this level. Recoil seemed about right, bolt lift was normal and the edges of the primer were still rounded. I will get it to the range soon and also over a chronograph then I will try it in the 375H&H. I believe it has a lot of promise in the 375 but we shall see. I will keep you posted.

 

[Cleveland48]

I’ve yet to try it in anything but four 6.5 creedmoor rifles I have owned. It is my favorite powder, and completely replaced H4350 in that cartridge for me. Which I know we are talking about considerably different cartridges, but grain for grain RL16 has always given me a good bit more velocity than H4350. Let me find my recorded temp chart and I will post it.

 

[Cleveland48]

Here is my recorded temp stability with RL16 so far.

 

[Backyardsniper]

I saw a test a guy ran on another forum where it shows a bit more velocity and also showed it was quite temp stable. Seems like a really solid powder. I originally bought it for my 7 SAW and figured since I have a bunch of it I might as well try it in a few different cartridges

 

[Backyardsniper]

That's pretty solid right there

 

[Cleveland48]

After seeing everyone’s results with RL 17 in the 9.3x62, has made me really wanna try RL16 in mine.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I’ve yet to try it in anything but four 6.5 creedmoor rifles I have owned. It is my favorite powder, and completely replaced H4350 in that cartridge for me. Which I know we are talking about considerably different cartridges, but grain for grain RL16 has always given me a good bit more velocity than H4350. Let me find my recorded temp chart and I will post it.

@Cleveland48
You are doing what I did with hogdon superformance as it had very few loads listed for it and those listed were with light or medium weight projectiles. I found this strange as it is slower than H4831SC and Re22.
It is my go to powder in my 25.
Bob

 

[Cleveland48]

@Cleveland48
You are doing what I did with hogdon superformance as it had very few loads listed for it and those listed were with light or medium weight projectiles. I found this strange as it is slower than H4831SC and Re22.
It is my go to powder in my 25.
Bob

I have had a Quick load ran for RL16 in the 9.3x62 with 250 gr bullets. It looks very promising, I will have to try it out. Seems like it would also work very well with the 30/06 family of cases. Interested in seeing what it does with the 30/06, 35 Whelen, 338/06 I would expect it do really well. But that’s just a guess on my part.

 

[112Savage]

After seeing everyone’s results with RL 17 in the 9.3x62, has made me really wanna try RL16 in mine.

I think that due to the decrease in density versus RL17, you can’t get enough RL16 in the 9.3x62 to get top speeds. I tried it but would have to look at my notes. As I remember it was a 2-3gr difference when the case was fully loaded. I never shot a round with RL16 though just volumetric comparisons.

 

[Backyardsniper]

It is supposed to be really good in the 30/06. I have a new 30/06 on the way right now, Sako 85 Arctos. It should be here next week. I plan to start testing it as soon as it gets here and I'll keep y'all in the loop on how it goes. I'm gonna do more testing with the 375H&H and also the 460 weatherby and I will let you all know how it goes.

 

[Cleveland48]

I think that due to the decrease in density versus RL17, you can’t get enough RL16 in the 9.3x62 to get top speeds. I tried it but would have to look at my notes. As I remember it was a 2-3gr difference when the case was fully loaded. I never shot a round with RL16 though just volumetric comparisons.

Yeah the volume was concerning to me. I have a very long magazine, so hopefully that will offset some of the issues by seating the bullets out a good bit farther.

 

[wswolf]

I tried R16 in the very similar 9.3x66/370 SAKO and found that with the case filled to the neck a 286 Nosler Partition reached 2415 fps with good accuracy. I would expect a similar result in the 9.3x62 since it has only 4% less case volume. With the 285 gn Lapua Mega the same load reached 2470 to 2500 fps with excellent accuracy.

In a crude attempt at density comparison I filled a case with different powders in the 4350 range using a drop tube and was able to fit in the following number of grains:
R16 91.4
IMR4451 93.9
IMR4350 95.0
H 4350 96.1
R17 99.2
Hunter 101.7
N550 102.9