For this input-output differential voltage about 4V and up to 150 degrees C the typical minimum load current is 1.5mA.
Hi K7,
I don't want to argue about a few ohms of load, but:
You are talking about the premium-priced LM117's (150 degrees) and you listed "typical" spec's. I would think that National selects the "best" ICs and sells them as LM117, the lower spec'd ones are labeled LM317.
They guarantee a minimum load current of 10mA or less for the LM317 (with a 40V differential) so if you want to gamble, use just 5.2mA and hope that the ICs you get are "typical".
I always use "minmum and maximum" spec's to avoid problems like the big shipment you recently received had ICs all with the same date code, and they were all "low spec". The next shipment might be "typical" if you can wait that long but what are you going to do with the low spec ones if your circuit is designed for typical ones?