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Reloader 17 Powder
Ambrose
Member Posts: 3,209 ✭✭✭✭
I bought a can of this because it was reccommended as a short magnum powder. It even says so on the can! I loaded some .270 WSM cases with it and got good accuracy and great velocity. The burn rate seems similiar to the 4350's, though. Anybody else using it?
Comments
I've used RE-17 in many cartridges. It is outstanding stuff....provided you use in the correct cartridge. And...don't believe everything the marketing guru's here in the States would have you believe.
Number one...It doesn't work well in the WSSM, WSM RSAUM cases. At least not as well as other powders.
Two, it tends to do the same thing in Ackley or other 'highly improved' cases. There is a little more leeway than the cases noted above, but when you hit the 'you should've stopped point' you're way past due.
It works outstanding in the .308 based, and 30-06 based cases. Meaning you can run the full gauntlet with cartridges using the case but chambered in any different caliber.
It also works really well in the Mauser based cases, i.e. 6mm Rem, .257, 9.3x57 and of course 7 and 8.
The deal with this powder is: It has the burn retardant mixed integrally with it instead of sprayed on after the kernels are formed. All of the Hodgdon line has the retardant sprayed on afterwards. As they have shown they tweaked it pretty good. RE-17 made it better. They shortened and narrowed the diameter of the kernels which as you may know from the past is what determines burn speed. Some powders are double based, as in added nitro glycerin, and produce more pressure. RE-17 is double based. Hodgdon, remains mostly with the single base (no nitro glycerin added) in their Extreme line of powders. The double based powders end up using less powder because they produce more pressure in a given case. To get a benefit you have to move to a slower powder. Now, you have a powder burn pushing the bullet further down the barrel.
I don't have any exact formula's but the retardant is typically hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen rich compounds. Compounds that don't come apart until they reach very high temps and pressures, they then like to reform with other elements. When they combine, that causes the burn to slow or stop.
The problem is when the kernels burn, they have "X" amount of retardant to keep their pressures under control. Remember the kernels of the newer powders with retardant are much smaller than the kernels of old. This is important as you can 'use up' the retardant that is there to help you. Once the retardant is gone you have the remainder of the kernel now burning at full speed. Like using 4198 in a 30-06.
Now, the reason I think it doesn't work so well in the WSSM cases is because there is too much lateral movement of the plasma to reach the center of the bore vs. case width.
The reason it doesn't work so well in WSM cases is because it is too fast! What they've done with RE-17 makes it a more versatile powder. It doesn't make it the best powder for that size of case. You are burning too much of the safety margin out of that powder to be getting super high velocities with it. It is made to operate at max loads. The retardant is there to help keep it at that (or very close to) pressure. Exceeding that getting all the velocity everyone thinks is a good thing, until something goes wrong.
My best loads with the .270 WSM came using 66 gr. of H1000 behind a 130 gr. Nosler B-tip.
That's my whole schpiel on the stuff. Outstanding powder, but , be careful you don't get to the point of routinely exceeding pressure potential with it.