B737 CREW AT CRUISE OFF LAS; WHILE DEVIATING FOR WX; ENTERED A RESTR AREA AND WERE INSTRUCTED TO SQUAWK 7700 UNTIL THEY EXITED THE AIRSPACE.

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WHILE PROCEEDING DIRECT HEC ON THE BOACH1 HEC DEP; WE OBSERVED MULTIPLE CELLS IN THE AREA AROUND HEC. THE LARGEST CELL WAS 'PAINTING' RED ON THE WX RADAR. WE ADVISED ZLA THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DEVIATE AND ASKED IF A R OR L DEV WOULD BE BEST. ZLA TOLD US WE COULD ONLY DEVIATE 15 DEGS R AND THERE WAS RESTR AIRSPACE TO THE L. WE ASKED FOR A CLB AND WERE TOLD 'UNABLE DUE TO TFC.' WE STARTED A L DEV ABOUT 10 DEGS L (15 DEGS R WOULD PUT US RIGHT IN THE CTR OF THE LARGEST CELL) AND ADVISED ZLA OF THE HDG. THE CTLR WAS VERY BUSY HANDLING TFC AND I DID NOT HAVE A 'GOOD FEELING' ABOUT THEIR ABILITY TO HANDLE THIS SIT. I ASKED MY FO TO TELL THE FLT ATTENDANTS TO TAKE THEIR SEATS. THE CTLR GAVE US A RADIAL/DME FIX ON THE BORDER OF R-2501. I TRIED TO MAKE THE DEV AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER TO AVOID R-2501 YET AVOID THE TWRING BUILD-UP. ZLA TOLD US THAT WE WERE GOING TO ENTER R-2501 IN 3 MI AND ISSUED A HARD R TURN. WE COMPLIED WITH THE CLRNC AND INFORMED ZLA THAT THE HDG WOULD TAKE US RIGHT INTO A CELL. WE ENTERED THE CELL AND EXPERIENCED MODERATE TURB. ZLA TOLD US WE HAD ENTERED R-2501 AND TO SQUAWK 7700. WE COMPLIED. ABOUT 30 SECONDS LATER THE CTLR ADVISED US WE WERE CLR OF R-2501 TO SQUAWK OUR ORIGINAL CODE; AND WE WERE CLRED DIRECT PMD. WE ADVISED THE CTLR WE NEEDED TO DEVIATE 10 DEGS L (FROM PMD HDG) TO AVOID THE LARGEST CELL AND ADVISED THE CTLR OF THE HDG. WE THEN PROCEEDED TO BUR UNEVENTFULLY. IN BUR I CALLED OUR DISPATCHER; DISCUSSED THE SIT WITH HIM; AND SUGGESTED ALTERNATE ROUTING FROM LAS-BUR. HE SAID THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED AN ALTERNATE ROUTING MESSAGE FROM ZLA BUT THE MESSAGE DID NOT CHANGE THE ROUTING. HE SAID THAT LA PREFERS DEVS VERSUS REROUTES. I WAS VERY UNHAPPY WITH THE OUTCOME OF THE SIT. OBVIOUSLY; I NEVER WANT TO FLY IN (HOT) RESTR AIRSPACE OR CUMULONIMBUS CELLS PAINTING RED ON THE RADAR WITH THE ASSOCIATED HAZARDS OF MODERATE TO SEVERE TURB; LIGHTNING; HAIL; OR ICING. I HAD A GENERAL IDEA OF THE LOCATION OF R-2501 (DEPICTED ON US HI-2) AND HAD HOPED TO AVOID THE RESTR AIRSPACE AND THE CELLS. I WAS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE ZLA CTLR. THEY KNEW OUR POS; OUR DEV HDG AND HAD A MUCH MORE ACCURATE DISPLAY OF R-2501. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE ASSERTIVE WITH THE CTLR REGARDING THE DEV HDG AND THE PROX OF R-2501. 'ON THIS HDG WILL WE CLR R-2501?' OR 'WE CAN'T DEVIATE L; FAR ENOUGH R; WE CAN'T CLB AND I'M NOT GOING TO FLY THROUGH THIS CELL; WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO?'