RS60 real world temperature stability UK

[7Miller]

Hi all.

I'm after people's experiences with this powder here in the UK.

After seeing that RS60 is supposed to be a very forgiving and good powder, I thought I'd get some to try out in a new load development for my 7mm-08 with 140gr TGK bullets, along with other powders. I've not opened it, nor started new load development as I'm still using up my 120gr bullets.

Since getting getting it I've read it's not very temperature stable.
So in real world conditions, here in the UK, how "unstable" is it likely to be?

My usual load development for my rifles gives me half MOA, or better and that is always my goal. Consistent accuracy is key. So am I overthinking it or will it make little to no difference here in the UK?

 

[Malxwal]

Personal experience is its really not very temperature stable. I use it in a deer load, I wouldn't use it in a target load. A load I developed in the Winter recently tested, with a slightly increased neck tension, showed a significant increase in velocity, with an increase in external temperature of about 13⁰c.

 

[Dave_45]

Personal experience is its really not very temperature stable. I use it in a deer load, I wouldn't use it in a target load. A load I developed in the Winter recently tested, with a slightly increased neck tension, showed a significant increase in velocity, with an increase in external temperature of about 13⁰c.

I had a load I wouldn’t use in the summer in regards to RS60

 

[7Miller]

2 responses and they're both telling me what I need. I will not bother breaking the seal on it

Thank you for the replies

 

[Trigger260]

Personal experience is its really not very temperature stable. I use it in a deer load, I wouldn't use it in a target load. A load I developed in the Winter recently tested, with a slightly increased neck tension, showed a significant increase in velocity, with an increase in external temperature of about 13⁰c.

Surely you can't change the neck tension on a round then point your finger at the powder for a velocity change!

 

[mjr@460]

Like RL15 in my .243, I just lowered the powder charge. It made little difference, except that it's now a safe summer load.

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

I haven't found it to be too bad for temp stability - about 2 FPS per degree change.
Certainly not enough to worry me too much for using the rifle in summer.


(300WSM W/ 148 TLR, 3429FPS @10*C 69.4 Gn RS60)

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

See RL 17 which is the same powder:

 

[bobo]

Personally, I am a big fan of RS gunpowders, and use it a lot.
When it comes to RS 60, I have never experienced problems at high temperatures.

On the other hand, RS 62 (It's a completely different type of gunpowder than RS60) can be a bit "aggressive" at high temperatures.
However, they have tried to counteract this by treating the RS62 with camphor which you can also clearly smell.
When you look at the table, you can wonder how well camphor works in this case.

Temperature coefficient

www.reload-swiss.com

It should be remembered that the caliber 8x68S used in the table for RS60 has a huge powder chamber, which makes the caliber much less temperature sensitive than, for example, a short case with a heavy bullet.
Same reason why, for example, the 416 Rigby has such a large casing to be able to handle the large pressure fluctuations from cordite charges at tropic temperatures.
A caliber like 7-08 with a large fill rate will always be more sensitive to temperature than a caliber with a larger case capacity, like a 7mm rem mag. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be any major problems on a summer day, unless you're running close to max load from a cool winter day.

RS60 Rifle Powder

www.reload-swiss.com

RS62 Rifle Powder

www.reload-swiss.com

 

[Greenmist]

I use it in my .22-250, same powder charge throughout the year and can't say I've noticed any difference, shoots accurately no matter what the weather, as a caveat, I am in Northumberland where is rarely get hot

 

[Malxwal]

Surely you can't change the neck tension on a round then point your finger at the powder for a velocity change!

No, you're definitely changing two variables. However, in the same session, I was using rounds loaded with the original neck tension and the newer (bushes .001 different), and the SD was extremely similar to what it had been previous, just a higher velocity.
But, I've experienced significant changes with temperature only before using RS60.

 

[Tralle]

See RL 17 which is the same powder:

View attachment 477724

What is the source of this?
Interesting that n550 should be more stable than n150

 

[Malxwal]

What is the source of this?
Interesting that n550 should be more stable than n150

I was told by a well regarded competitive shooter that N550 was very tempted stable, and he uses it all year round in F-TR & F open competitively.

 

[sauer]

We had an informal gong long range shoot and one of lads...was a hot day ...was blowing out primers and using a vhit powder ...I've heard more folk have temperature variation issues with vhit than I have RS.

Paul

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

What is the source of this?
Interesting that n550 should be more stable than n150

Found on a US long range shooting forum, my results have been pretty close in the powders I’ve used, so IMO not a bad reference as to how the powders compare, though individual temp variation will likely be rifle/cartridge dependant.

 

[Demetrius]

I use RS powders exclusively, and if the weather looks like being overly hot, I take the ammo to the range in a cooler box.

D.

 

[bobo]

See RL 17 which is the same powder:

View attachment 477724

What is the source of this?
Interesting that n550 should be more stable than n150

They come out of the same factory, and even off the same line.

 

[Scooby-3]

People loading too hot initially is generally the problem, working up a load properly and keeping a 2/3 grain depending on case size below max is the way to go.

 

[r judd]

Reload swiss supplied alliant with RS60 which alliant then re packaged it into reloader 17.

 

[Demetrius]

Correct.....(allegedly).

D.