About ready to abandon H4895 in 6 BRA .

[jamesdmock]

I have been shooting the BRA for a little more than a year and have used three different barrels. I have tried to force them to shoot H4895, but I am ready to try something else. I have shot three different lots with 4 different bullets. We have a 600 yard match Saturday and I plan to shoot 30.3 gr. of 8208 XBR/205M Federal primer and a 105 Bart Hammer loaded ~.006 into the lands. I haven't shot this load at 600 but it shoots well at 100 and 200 yards. We will see how it does in the March wind Saturday.

 

[R.Morehouse]

RL-15 really gets them moving. Easy to load on the light side and get that 2960ish. That what seems to be working for me right now....

Regards
Rick

 

[1885Winman4590]

I run 105 hybrids w/ 29.6 of 8208 for 2850. Has been very good for me. Jammed .008

 

[ckaberna]

As stated above R15

 

[johara1]

I have been shooting the BRA for a little more than a year and have used three different barrels. I have tried to force them to shoot H4895, but I am ready to try something else. I have shot three different lots with 4 different bullets. We have a 600 yard match Saturday and I plan to shoot 30.3 gr. of 8208 XBR/205M Federal primer and a 105 Bart Hammer loaded ~.006 into the lands. I haven't shot this load at 600 but it shoots well at 100 and 200 yards. We will see how it does in the March wind Saturday.

I too have been frustrated with H4895, I tried different lots and found one that gave me velocity and the accuracy my good lot did now all is good. Years ago I found Varget was and still totally different lot to lot. RL-15 seems to be very consistent for me over the years. 8208XBR is super with the light bullets but I have failed to get the combination for the heavy bullets...... jim

 

[KenOath]

I too have been frustrated with H4895, I tried different lots and found one that gave messed and the accuracy my good lot did now all is good. Years ago I found Varget was and still totally different lot to lot. RL-15 seems to be very consistent for me over the years. 8208XBR is super with the light bullets but I have failed to get the combination for the heavy bullets...... jim

Sorry Jim what’s your take on 4895 now?

 

[Jesswil61]

I have been shooting the BRA for a little more than a year and have used three different barrels. I have tried to force them to shoot H4895, but I am ready to try something else. I have shot three different lots with 4 different bullets. We have a 600 yard match Saturday and I plan to shoot 30.3 gr. of 8208 XBR/205M Federal primer and a 105 Bart Hammer loaded ~.006 into the lands. I haven't shot this load at 600 but it shoots well at 100 and 200 yards. We will see how it does in the March wind Saturday.

Have found a 6BRA to be a bit finicky in my experience, little changes make big differences however, I played with seating depth and went outside of the norm and found one of mine to really like it further out of the lands jumping around .012" with vapor trail 103's.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I found H4895 to be finicky in 6BR period. It is quite peaky. Too fast for 105-110 range here in Oklahoma. Maybe on the East coast it is consistent, but here where I live at our density I like slower powders.

I am going to try N150 next. Nice and slow. R15 already works great. Might even R16 since I have a long drop tube... I find slow powders to be much more forgiving with the big bullets.

We will see!!! I know the slow powders in 243 are so easy to make work... and the full case of R15 in a 223 case is just stupid consistent. You could just dip the case in powder and stick a 55 grain bullet in and it will shoot screaming bugholes.

 

[Joe Salt]

Three different barrels? What barrels and twist.

Joe Salt

 

[bsekf]

Reloader 15 is supposed to be temp sensitive........ have you found that?

 

[jamesdmock]

Three different barrels? What barrels and twist.

Joe Salt

Brux 4-groove, 8 twist, Krieger 4-groove, 8 twist, and Lederer 4-groove 8 Twist (this is my latest and I have had it on the rifle only one week. It refused to shoot H4895 but seems to like the XBR. The bullets that I have tried are: Bart's 105 Infinity, Bart's 105 Hammer, Bart's 103, and Berger 108 BT. I have used the "Hammers more than anything else.

 

[johara1]

Sorry Jim what’s your take on 4895 now?

The right lot hammers.... jim

 

[johara1]

Brux 4-groove, 8 twist, Krieger 4-groove, 8 twist, and Lederer 4-groove 8 Twist (this is my latest and I have had it on the rifle only one week. It refused to shoot H4895 but seems to like the XBR. The bullets that I have tried are: Bart's 105 Infinity, Bart's 105 Hammer, Bart's 103, and Berger 108 BT. I have used the "Hammers more than anything else.

Barts 105 VLD hammers with H4895, So does Roy Hunters 106, 31.0 of H4895 in both jumped a couple thous. drills them with low ES. ..... but again the right lot of H4895 that is out of Lederer and Brux...... jim

 

[Sniper338]

Reloader 15 is supposed to be temp sensitive........ have you found that?

Ive tested it. 1fps per degree.

 

[jamesdmock]

Brux 4-groove, 8 twist, Krieger 4-groove, 8 twist, and Lederer 4-groove 8 Twist (this is my latest and I have had it on the rifle only one week. It refused to shoot H4895 but seems to like the XBR. The bullets that I have tried are: Bart's 105 Infinity, Bart's 105 Hammer, Bart's 103, and Berger 108 BT. I have used the "Hammers more than anything else.

PS_ I wanted to use a Bartlein, but could not find one w/ 4-grooves and 8 twist in HV at the time that I ordered. All of the barrels mentioned have given me great accuracy in the past.

 

[Laurie]

I am going to try N150 next. Nice and slow. R15 already works great. Might even R16 since I have a long drop tube... I find slow powders to be much more forgiving with the big bullets.

N150 is the usual choice these days in the UK with the 'straight BR' and 105-108s. It seems to work well for almost everybody irrespective of barrel make. We discovered this some years ago when VarGet was either completely unavailable for a couple of years, or when one of a few small shipments arrived was sold out in 24 hours.

For those in the UK and Europe, I've also found Reload Swiss RS52 to invariably - so far - perform well as an alternative to VarGet and will see if this applies to the BR with 108gn Bergers later this year. (To those on the west side of the Atlantic think Alliant Re17 but with Re15's approximate burning rate, both made by Nitrochemie using the 'EI' advanced deterrents infusion process.)

 

[urbanrifleman]

N150 is the usual choice these days in the UK with the 'straight BR' and 105-108s.

What is the standard load?

 

[10at6]

Is not N-140 closer to Re-15 and Varget in burn rate than N-150? Have a couple kegs of 140 and in the 223 my loads were the same as Varget (0r Re-15).
Been anxious to try it in the BRA

 

[Laurie]

What is the standard load?

Around 30-31gn with 105gn Berger VLD / 107gn Sierra MK, although I've seen heavier charges used depending on the barrel.

 

[Laurie]

Is not N-140 closer to Re-15 and Varget in burn rate than N-150? Have a couple kegs of 140 and in the 223 my loads were the same as Varget (0r Re-15).
Been anxious to try it in the BRA

Viht burn speeds seem to be quite variable depending on the cartridge / bullet weight. I have seen people over here use N140 in 6BR, sometimes with good results, but N150 usually does better and is the more widely used grade now. All of these single-base Viht grades are rather prone to 'pressure-spike' at the top end and this is more likely here with N140 than N150.

I've also had excellent results in 308 with N150 even with 155s, although N140 was long regarded as the 'natural choice' in this application. N150 also works well in 223 with >80gn bullets although MVs are usually down a bit on VarGet and Re15 probably through not getting enough into the case.

Mind you, everything may have now changed or be in the process of changing as Viht reportedly switches to a copper erasing / less temperature sensitive formula for its powders. Nobody as yet knows whether this is going to / has affected performance, behaviour, and/or burning rates as yet (although there are some rumblings being heard). I hope not as one of Viht's great strengths compared to some Hodgdon / ADI or Alliant grades has always been its lot to lot consistency and people often use the same load for the life of a barrel never checking whether a new kilo tub behaves the same as the one before. I've used maybe five, six lots of N165 over the last few years and if I do a quick 100 yard check never see any change in group size or MV between them.