280ai and RL23

[slas]

If you can find peterson buy it and sell the nosler you will be much better off people are buying the nosler brass on here all the time

Just ordered me 50 from Graf and sons.

 

[JMW67]

You will not regret it once you get this rifle tuned let us know how its shooting I think you will be impressed Im running the 143 hammer hunter for everything its not a long range bullet per say but darn good to 600

 

[nmbarta]

I run rl 22 in one
58 gr
Cci 250
162 eld-x
2935fps
I run 59.1 H4831sc
In another one
162 eldx
210m
2920fps

Both 24" barrels. Both shoot .5moa

 

[CTK]

Just ordered me 50 from Graf and sons.

You may need to drop your Nosler Brass loads by .5-1gr with the Peterson Brass. I bought 250 pcs from Euro Optic. They seem to have slightly less capacity.

 

[Bob Wright]

Seems slow....

10.0 98 58.50 2853 2530 43441 11136 99.6 1.302

I don't use QL yet. Not sure what I'm looking at. But if the powder wt is 58.5 and speed is 2850, I am scratching my head.
With a 140 AB and that charge I would think it would be ~3150 +.
Hmm.....I do have a 26" barrel on mine.

 

[Brandon.in.parts]

What surprised me was RL16. Running the 145gr Cutting Edge MTH. 58.5 gr for 3178fps according to QL. I haven't tested the load yet but from past experience with QL it should be well within 100fps.

 

[sodakota]

I have several boxes of 168 ABLR and 175 ABLR that shoots well in my 7mm RM but very poorly in my fast twist 280AI. I've tried RE26. I have not seen RE23 for sale around here.

 

[Bobcape]

You should also look ay IMR4451. It is very temperature stable and consistent. I was looking to change powders in my .260AI and tried both RL23 and IMR4451. Both gave great velocity but 4451 won the SD. I tried mag primers and standard. Give it a shot.

Bob

 

[Varmintnv]

I'd think twice about 140gr BT's. I killed a mule deer a few years ago with 140's out of a 7mag. Wind blew my shot into the shoulder and the BT completly seperated. The jacket was just under the skin on entry and required a follow up shot to put him down.
I think the 150's would be a better choice.

 

[SeboCreek]

Shooting 168 gr Barnes LRX in my 1-9 twist with H4831sc with very good results and 2910 FPS. Also tried the 168 accubond but surprisingly shot Barnes a little better.

 

[slas]

I'd think twice about 140gr BT's. I killed a mule deer a few years ago with 140's out of a 7mag. Wind blew my shot into the shoulder and the BT completly seperated. The jacket was just under the skin on entry and required a follow up shot to put him down.
I think the 150's would be a better choice.

I bought them because they were at a clearance sell (half price) at a local place that buys out fire/water damaged stores. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have ever picked them up as I usually go with the AccuBonds. I found some of the 140 AccuBonds also so I'll probably just work up the load with them as opposed to wasting precious powder and time on something I probably won't shoot after I run out. I'll put them in the "end times" pile.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

Seems slow....

10.0 98 58.50 2853 2530 43441 11136 99.6 1.302

I don't use QL yet. Not sure what I'm looking at. But if the powder wt is 58.5 and speed is 2850, I am scratching my head.
With a 140 AB and that charge I would think it would be ~3150 +.
Hmm.....I do have a 26" barrel on mine.

I've noticed some "slow" data in QL myself on a number of loads compared to charts and what actually was recorded over the chrony...things that make you go hmmm..."Load from a Disk" is also very conservative load data.

 

[Bdog35]

I have 215M's but have never used them before. Start all over on load development? Seating depth stays same usually?

Stick with the large rifle primers, you don't need magnum primers in this caliber.

 

[tooth doc]

ALLIANT RELODER 23

Seems to be hard to get. Has it been discontinued? Anyone have experience with it in 6.5-06 class cartridges?

www.longrangehunting.com

6 pages with some 280ai content. 140's work great in the 280ai. I used N165 with the 140's years ago. Like many I have gone to heavier bullets. This being a Long Range site there, is probably a bias toward 160+gr bullets in the bigger 7mm's. I am about to try some 160 class bullets in my new 20ai. First test was with 175 Bergers and RL23. Went great but feel the need to tinker. RL23 will be first powder tried on the 160 class bullets. RL26 did well for me with the 165 HVLD.

Lithe 68 vld berger in my 7 wsm. Shoots under .5 moa and has taken eland bull at 568 yds. and m

I've been reading about RL23 for the 280ai for a few months now, and with the improvement in temp stability I've decided to give it a go. I'll be picking up 3 lbs later today. I know many believe RL26 to be the "pixie dust" of powders, buts for my mainly hunting purposes I'll always take consistency over speed. I love the caliber and want to work up loads in my Cooper. To start with I have some 140gr Nosler Ballistic Tip and 160 AccuBonds on hand. I also have a bunch of Federal 215 and 210 primers. There seems to be more info on the 160gr than the 140gr out there but I plan on using to 140's this season on whitetail so looking for some load suggestions from the group. I've spent quite a bit more time doing load development on my 260 and 243 over the previous years, so I'68m working on bucking my tendency to grab one of them and instead solely use the Cooper this season for my whitetail hunts. Thinking about using the 10 shot load development process also, but I know that'll start a whole new conversation/debate. All load suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Use 168 vld b ergers in my 7 wsm. Work gr8!