Skip to main content

New Powder from Alliant with Improved Stability

New Powder from Alliant with Improved Stability
Alliant Powder’s all-new line of temperature-stable powders is a top choice for long-range shooters, for whom a few differences in feet per second could mean a miss.

Before the long-range renaissance struck, gunpowder consistency across temperature extremes wasn’t a big deal. As long as a given propellant provided good velocity and was easy to tune for accuracy, hand-loaders loved it. Several of my favorite powders fall into this category: Reloder 15, Reloder 19 and Reloder 22, just to name a few. Manufactured in Sweden, all produce above-par speed and tend to provide outstanding accuracy across a broad range of rifles.

However, they have one Achilles’ heel. When the temperature plummets or climbs dramatically, velocity tends to drop or climb with it, and occasionally a pressure spike can occur when the weather is super hot. More than once I’ve worked up a beautifully accurate load in wintertime conditions, just to have the same ammo blow primers when fired on a sultry July day.

Funnily enough, pressure spikes aren’t what deters long-range shooters. Nope, it’s the fact that at long range just 40 fps difference can cause a low or high miss. Whether shooting at steel plates during a precision rifle match or at a big western mule deer across a canyon, that’s a bad deal.

Certain propellants have become known for temperature stability, meaning their velocity varies little whether it’s scorching or freezing. Hodgdon’s Extreme line started the temp stable trend and to this day remains the benchmark to which all others are compared. Unfortunately, this line of powders is manufactured in Australia, and just a few years ago the facility that produces it experienced a catastrophic fire. It took months to rebuild and begin manufacturing again, and supply has been slow to catch up to demand.

To help fill the void, Hodgdon-owned, Canada-based IMR designed and introduced its excellent Enduron line of powders, which not only is quite temperature stable but also has a copper fouling reducing agent.

Until recently, Alliant’s Reloder line has not provided competitive temperature stability characteristics. That’s changed with Reloder powders: 16, 23 and 26. They are advertised as stable across a vast spread of temperatures. And like IMR’s Enduron line, they feature a de-coppering additive that helps prevent heavy metal buildup. Significantly, Alliant promises outstanding lot-to-lot consistency.

Marketing-speak is one thing. Real-world extreme-temperature testing tells the true story. To test performance, I loaded two of the three new propellants in a couple of my favorite cartridges. Specifically, RL-16 and RL-26.

Intentionally, I chose one cutting-edge cartridge, the 6.5 Creedmoor, and one with classic, traditional design, the .300 H&H. For the 6.5 I picked Barnes’ outstanding 127-grain LRX, a sleek, tough pill with match-bullet accuracy. For the .300 I chose Hornady’s super-aerodynamic 212-grain ELD-X. Charge weights were 43.0 grains of Reloder 16 for the 6.5 and 67.0 grains of Reloder 26 for the H&H.

My deep freeze chills only to 20 degrees, which would have to do. The night before heading to the range, I put half of my test ammo in the freezer. Early the next morning I filled a cooler with hot water—at a temperature of 140 degrees to be precise—wrapped the remaining half in Ziploc bags and submerged them in the hot water.

Alliant Reloder Powder Chart

I tested the frozen ammo first, snatching each round out of the ice separately, dunking it into the magazine, closing the bolt, and triggering the rifle briskly to prevent the chamber from warming the cartridge before it fired. I did remove one frozen cartridge from the warm chamber after 30 seconds, and it was still significantly cold to the touch. I’m confident that between the barrier-like brass walls of the cartridge case and the naturally insulating and entirely chilled fluffy propellant charge inside, I got them fired while still frozen.

When extremely cold, most ammunition becomes less consistent, meaning extreme spread and standard deviation open up a bit. Sometimes a lot. That wasn’t the case with my RL-16 and RL-26 handloads. Instead, standard deviation was tight: eight fps for the 6.5 Creedmoor/RL-16 load and six fps for the .300 H&H/RL-26 load.

While the chambers were still warm, I forged on and tested the hot ammunition. Incredibly, the jump of 120 degrees from one test batch to the other made little difference. The 6.5 Creedmoor load averaged just five fps faster, and extreme spread and standard deviation were almost identical.

Recommended


To my surprise, the 140-degree .300 H&H ammo actually averaged one fps less in muzzle velocity. Consistency suffered a bit, at 36 fps extreme spread and 15 fps standard deviation. However, I have an explanation for that.

My double-layer Ziploc bags had sprung a leak, and the ammunition became a trifle damp. I suspect a bit of moisture had found its way inside a couple of the cartridges and created a variable that wasn’t present in the other test batches.

While my two tests compose a statistically small sample, I believe the results were significant. Needless to say, I’m now entirely confident that Alliant’s temp stable lineup provides top-shelf consistency and stability across extremes in temperature. Combined with Reloder powders’ propensity for top velocities and easy tunability for a desired level of accuracy, that makes it appealing indeed for long-range precision shooters.




GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Kimber Hunter Pro Desolve Blak - A Lightweight Heavy Hitter

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Browning BLR Lightweight '81 Stainless Takedown Lever Rifle

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Hodgdon Reloading

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Savage Impulse

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Mossberg Patriot Predator 6.5 PRC Rifle Review

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Marlin Model 1895 in .444 Marlin

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Review: Springfield Armory M1A Loaded Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Long-Range AR Shooting

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Colorado Pronghorn Hunt

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

RCBS ChargeMaster Lite Review: Not 'Lite' on Ability

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

RS Sako Finnlight II

The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task.
Rifles

Remington Model Seven SS HS Bolt-Action Rifle Review

RifleShooter Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Buy Single Digital Issue on the RifleShooter App

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Rifle Shooter stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All RifleShooter subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top Rifle Shooter stories delivered right to your inbox.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use