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Nosler RDF...

aqualung

aqualung

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May 9, 2008
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Co. Durham, North of England
I know that Nosler says that the RDF has the compound ogive, and is insensitive to seating depth, but has anybody found a sweet spot for the 140grn RDF in .260Rem? I was thinking of going with a 20thou jump.
Thoughts, comments, opinions...
Thanks guys.
 
.020 is a good starting point for many bullets. If you are just beginning and looking for velocity / pressure data its great. Once you have your powder close then play with OAL.
 
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I tried the same bullet in a 260 but couldn't get consistent results. During that exercise I talked to the support people at Nosler and they said the RDF likes to jump. They recommended 0.030" to 0.065" of jump.
 
As long shot said. I follow the same procedure, as written up in the berger reloading manuals or Dan newberry’s OCW . Start at 0.020” jump and find your node and corresponding powder weight. Then work on coal
 
Thanks for your help, guys.
I'm not an inexperienced reloader. Perhaps I should have said that in the original post.
I have a competition on Thursday at 1000yds at Bisley, and I want to use the RDF's.
I have a node for the powder, I just needed to know if anyone has a lot of experience with the RDF's and what jump/jam they like...
Thank you ShtrRdy, that's the info I needed!
Just as an aside, these bullets are not widely available in the UK yet, so this is all Terra Incognita.
 
Seat the RDF bullet so that the boattail to shank junction is at the same seating depth as the bullet you used to find the node.
 
aqualung said:
Thanks for your help, guys.
I'm not an inexperienced reloader. Perhaps I should have said that in the original post.
I have a competition on Thursday at 1000yds at Bisley, and I want to use the RDF's.
I have a node for the powder, I just needed to know if anyone has a lot of experience with the RDF's and what jump/jam they like...
Thank you ShtrRdy, that's the info I needed!
Just as an aside, these bullets are not widely available in the UK yet, so this is all Terra Incognita.
Click to expand...

IME they prefer a long jump, longer than most suspect.

Good luck at Bisley! It remains one of the most memorable places I have shot at, and thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie that permeated that environment. Immaculate place (save for the clock with all the bullet holes, though I hear they may have "fixed" that).
 
0.030" to 0.060" is the sweet spot we've found for the RDF in a .260, 6.5, and two 308s.
I just wrapped up load development in a .260 with RDFs.
PM sent.
 
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MarinePMI said:
IME they prefer a long jump, longer than most suspect.

Good luck at Bisley! It remains one of the most memorable places I have shot at, and thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie that permeated that environment. Immaculate place (save for the clock with all the bullet holes, though I hear they may have "fixed" that).
Click to expand...

Well, we're shooting on Stickledown on Wed pm (900yds) and Thurs am (1000yds), so I'll be real close to the clock. I'll go have a look to see if it has been patched up, and I'll let you know!
 
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MarinePMI said:
IME they prefer a long jump, longer than most suspect.

Good luck at Bisley! It remains one of the most memorable places I have shot at, and thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie that permeated that environment. Immaculate place (save for the clock with all the bullet holes, though I hear they may have "fixed" that).
Click to expand...

Was on the 1000yd point on Stickledown yesterday. Found 3 bullet holess in the clock tower.
The worrying thing was that they had obviously come from the target end of the range, and quite low down.
No corresponding exit hole...
My suspicion is that the clock tower has been shot at from the other side of the common (Pirbright barracks side), I can't think of another explanation.
They looked like .308 holes, just FYI.
I took pictures on my phone, so if I can work out how to, I'll post them up for you...
It was a glorious day, so the pics are quite good.
 
Then do a seating depth test in .010” then .005” increments. An oal from one rifle ties not necessarily translate to another.
 
aqualung said:
Was on the 1000yd point on Stickledown yesterday. Found 3 bullet holess in the clock tower.
The worrying thing was that they had obviously come from the target end of the range, and quite low down.
No corresponding exit hole...
My suspicion is that the clock tower has been shot at from the other side of the common (Pirbright barracks side), I can't think of another explanation.
They looked like .308 holes, just FYI.
I took pictures on my phone, so if I can work out how to, I'll post them up for you...
It was a glorious day, so the pics are quite good.
Click to expand...

I was told that the winner of the Queen's match was allowed to shoot at the clock in an attempt to strike the minute hand. It was also said that the tradition of this act was suspended due to safety concerns and the possibility of (bad) publicity, portraying reckless shooting. I had heard recently that the clock face had been replaced (it used to look like swiss cheese), and it sounds like (from your description) it has. I wonder who put the three rounds into it since?
 
I usually start a velocity ladder with a .020 jam into the rifling. A jam produces higher pressures than a jump so I start with a Jam to establish a pressure test at the same time as the velocity ladder.

Otherwise, you may find a powder charge with a bullet jump that is on the high end of pressure that you want to use for load development but as you play with seating depth the pressure can transition from safe to questionable as you transition from jump to jam respectively.
-T
 
I used them in a factory Tikka CTR barrel after about 1500 rounds thru it. I was jumping them .065" and they shot pretty good. Still had some random fliers at 100, 3 in one hole, then one 1/4-1/2" away. Made first round hits to 1200 only pusging them 2640 fps.
 
918v said:
Then do a seating depth test in .010” then .005” increments. An oal from one rifle ties not necessarily translate to another.
Click to expand...

Yeah, read what I said above.
I KNOW how to develope a load. What I didn't have was TIME. I was looking for a very specific short cut.
Didn't work.
Don't like these RDF's.

So...
Instead of using my custom .260Rem at 1000yds tomorrow, I will be using my trusty .308 with 175 SMK's.
Back to ELD's for me...

Anybody want to buy 500 140grn Nosler RDF's?
 
I ended up using the Berger 140 gr Hybrid in my .260. I couldn't get the RDF to work either.
 
I tried jumping them like everybody said. Not 260 but 6.5 CM. Didn't work in my rifle, AI AX, AINA Bartlein bbl, 26" 1 in 8 twist. Rifle was far from picky with other projectiles, 139 Scenars, 140 AMAX, 123 Scenars and a couple of others .Ended up trying 0.010" and worked like a charm, consistent. 1/2 " 5 rd groups @100 m w/ 42.3 gr of H4350. Single digit sd's and pretty consistent low extreme spread. .Shot them out to 900 m on steel and was very happy. They are great if you can get them to work, I was happy I didn't give up on them, I was about to. That's my experience with them anyway. Maybe jump them a bit closer and see they work.
 
Most of the time, asking for reloading help online is a waste of time. But the biggest waste of time is listening and trying what works for others. But as long as you have a good time doing it then it's not totally a waste.
 
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Nothing wrong with Rdfs. I find they like high pressure loads. Figures of you have any understanding of Noslers theory and also how their ogive works. I would find high pressure and then back down until you see promise. Then take care of horizontal.
 
Concur on the comment about RDF's preferring to be run hot.
 
CJS-6.5 said:
Nothing wrong with Rdfs. I find they like high pressure loads. Figures of you have any understanding of Noslers theory and also how their ogive works. I would find high pressure and then back down until you see promise. Then take care of horizontal.
Click to expand...

Could you explain Nosler’s Theory?
 
What has Nosler been doing recently? Pushing the performance envelope much like Weatherby used to do. Only they are doing it at long range. Why would Nosler design a bullet to be pushed slow when they are coming out with cartridges designed to push bullets as fast as possible? But this is just the internet. So I wouldn't believe it.
 
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