I don't think it an understatement to say that H4350 availability is an issue in North America. It used to be here (the UK) too. Likewise H4895, VarGet and H4831sc, all key ingredients in handloading for various competition disciplines, also deerstalking and 'foxing'.
Well, things became much worse for us and the rest of Europe on 1st June last year when the EU REACH regulations came into force for explosives and propellants - a so-called health & safety initiative which identifies dangerous ingredients in chemical products. Thanks to tiny amounts of DNT and other things importation of various marques and grades became illegal - all Australian manufactured Hodgdon extrudeds; all IMR rifle powders other than the six new Enduron grades; the older St. Marks produced sphericals including all Winchester branded powders and old established Hodgdons - H335, H414, BL-C(2), H380 etc.
Many of us are surviving on what we had on hand in the way of banned products or what we can still scrounge / buy (I'm using pre-ban imports of IMR-4350 in 300 SAUM). But inevitably, many of us have been forced to look for alternatives to the 'lost' products. I thought I'd run a simple exercise and range test series to identify and the try alternatives to the three key missing grades: H4350, VarGet, and H4831 starting with H4350. I had my first couple of test sessions at the end of last winter with spring and summer and hopefully better weather to look forward to. But then Covid struck and we were 'locked down' all summer. We've only recently restarted shooting, under many constraints and 'rules' at that, so I've only been able to resume testing as of last week. (However, such is the resurgence of Covid in the north of England, this may be abruptly curtailed again any day now.)
I'm using my Savage / Dolphin Gun Co. F-Class rifle with its off the shelf Savage PTA action and a very nice fluted 31-inch Bartlein 9-twist in the H4350 series. My usual match load is reformed Lapua 308 Palma SP brass, a case-full of Viht N160 and the 160gn Sierra TMK. As the barrel likes this bullet, it was retained, but standard Lapua LP cases employed primed with elderly Russian PMC LR Magnums (modern equivalent the Murom KVB-7M), a very mild model which I've found performs well in this cartridge and which has a 'soft' cup that shows pressure symptoms clearly. (Too much so in fact, as even starting loads flatten it!)
IMR / H4350 have many possible UK replacements, all available in the US too bar one Nitrochemie 'Reload Swiss' grade. (RS62, a single-based Europe only powder, slightly slower burning and more flexible/cooler burning than its RS60 stablemate which Americans know well under its US identity of Alliant Re17.)
............. and of course, H4350 itself to get a baseline for comparison.)
You may wonder why Viht N150 and N560 weren't included, likewise Ramshot Big Game. Viht may put N150 on the same line as IMR-4350 in its burning rate chart but loading data and QuickLOAD both show that its maximum charges are much lower than those for the 4350s and true equivalents. It's closer to VarGet than H4350 in most applications. Big Game is also marginal in this respect, and N560 falls the other way being in the '4831 class'. Despite Viht saying its N500 and 100 powder equivalents share burn speeds, the N500 version is invariably 'slower' in practice, hence N550's inclusion here, although it is barely eligible.
SO-65 / SW Long Rifle falls the other way. Whilst Explosia shows Lovex SO-65 on the same line as H. VarGet in its chart, it's a lower energy and slower burning grade and falls between between VarGet and H4350, closer to the latter IMO. SW gets it more right in its chart
https://shootersworldpowder.com/canister-propellants/#burn
where it shares a level with H414 / Win 760.
Two powders are new to me - Re16 and the just released Viht N555. There is plenty of data around for the former, but only that for nine cartridges on Viht's website for the latter. My old version of QuickLOAD has neither. So I used charges from Sierra's new Edition VI reloading manual for Re16, but had to 'wing it' for N555 as Viht doesn't include data for the 7mm-08. It is obviously intended to challenge H4350 and Re16 in cartridges such as 6mm and 6.5mm Creedmoor putting it into the '4350 bracket'.
To get a feel for a possible maximum in the 7mm-08, I did a simple back of an envelope exercise on the data that Viht does provide.
https://www.vihtavuori.com/powder/n555-high-energy-powder/
The listed maximum charges for N555 were compared to those for N550 and N160 for the nine cartridges covered. (Actually eight as Viht shows 6.5X55mm twice in its higher pressure SKAN / SE version then again as c. 45,000 psi loads for 'Swedish Mauser'.) 260 Rem has data for a single bullet only with all three powders, so then were was seven! 224 Valkyrie only has loads for N555 for a single bullet and no N160 loads are lsited at all for the cartridge losing us yet another comparison.
Fortunately, most of the others have a large range of bullet makes / models / weights with loads for the three powder grades. So I did a simple + or - listing for each cartridge/bullet combination where + = N555 has a heavier maximum charge than the other grade and - is lower. Here's what I got:
First, all N555 maximum charges are significantly higher than those for N550 - up to 5gn in one or two cases. This applies across the board, so there are getting on for 45 examples where this is the situation. N550 data are therefore unsuitable for comparing / choosing N555 loads.
Second, it appears to be pretty close to N160 with N555 maxima falling either side of N160's and usually by modest amounts. However, as case size / capacity grows so N555 maxima fall below those of the nominally slower burning 160. Summary data for N555 v N160 by cartridge work out as:
So loading manual / Viht website data for N160 was used as the base. ........... but VERY cautiously!! Viht shows 45.8gn N160 as maximum in 7mm-08 for the nearest equivalent bullet to the 160 TMK (160gn Sierra BTSP). 12 X 3-round batches were loaded from 40.0 to 45.5gn, shot from the bench at 100 yards past a Labradar with a very close eye kept for any over-pressure signs.
40gn gave 2,531 fps average and this rose pretty steadily (no spikes appearing) to 45.0gn at 2,815 fps. After there (45.3 and 45.5gn batches) MV increases tailed off at 2,823 and 2,825 fps respectively, both 3-round lots with a 3 fps ES range suggesting the powder had reached its limit. (ES's were generally small throughout.) However, there were no pressure signs with any charge, easy extraction and no primer extrusion.
For comparison, 45gn H4350 with all other components / dimensions / loading practices otherwise the same gave 2,784 fps ES26. (45gn is max in both Sierra and Hodgdon sources, but I'm sure that I could safely work up a bit more and break 2,800 fps.)
Both H4350 and N555 produced a number of satisfactory groups down to the one-hole type and 0.2" or less - subject to the usual caveats about the value of 3-shot groups of course.
My SP brass match load of 47.1gn N160 (a pre reformulation to temperature tolerant form powder lot) produced 2,865 fps ES 19 from five rounds. (I'll load up a range of three-round batches in LP brass to hopefully test later this week.) Note: 47.1gn will undoubtedly be TOO HIGH in standard Lapua LP brass - I'll stop at 46gn, or maybe even a little less.
Sierra's maximum of 45.5gn Alliant Re16 produced a compressed load despite use of a 5-inch drop tube funnel and slow 'swirl' pour - yes, it IS a bulky powder as AS Forum members report. MVs were good as expected given its reputation as a 'hot number' - 45.0gn 2,876 fps, nearly 100 fps up on H4350, and 2,899 fps at the 45.5gn top load - highest MV I've seen with the 160 TMK in this rifle. Easy extraction and no case-head marking, but primers show a touch of extrusion above 45gn. Groups though were poor compared to N555 and H4350 - my rifle doesn't appear to like Re16's characteristics.
Five 3-round batches of N550 were tried with charges from 41.3gn up to 43.6gn. QuickLOAD said I could go considerably higher up to 45.6gn for 58,927 psi and 2,879 fps MV. However, N550 (alongside N160) is one of the powders where I don't trust the program's default values and I'll always depress charges to levels that QL says will produce PMax values around 5 or 6,000 psi below where I want to end up. (QL says my on-the-range top load of 43.6gn will give 51,147 psi / 2,767 fps.) Viht's data on the other hand is even more pessimistic with 41.8gn listed maximum with the 160 SGK.) In the event, 43.6gn produced an actual result of 2,856 fps, a speed that QL had said needed 46.2gn. Again, easy extraction and no case-head marking, but primer extrusion suggested I was at or close to a sensible maximum. Groups and ES also opened up above 43gn, so my 42.8gn's 2,804 fps appears to be almost as much as I could achieve with this powder in this action and barrel.
N160, IMR-4451 in LP brass and more N555 in reformed Palma 308 SP brass will be tried shortly. This series will be written up in due course in greater detail in Target Shooter online magazine.
targetshooter.co.uk
Covid allowing, I'll get all 11 powders run through and maybe some 5-round batch follow-ups before the end of the year.
Note, my rifle has a non-SAAMI freebore to suit 160-168gn match bullets. COAL with the 160gn Sierra TMK is a fraction under 3-inches. A standard SAAMI chamber will produce higher pressures, so maximum charges quoted should be reduced by at least 1.5gn in such. The usual caveats about using other people's data, starting low and working up all apply.
Well, things became much worse for us and the rest of Europe on 1st June last year when the EU REACH regulations came into force for explosives and propellants - a so-called health & safety initiative which identifies dangerous ingredients in chemical products. Thanks to tiny amounts of DNT and other things importation of various marques and grades became illegal - all Australian manufactured Hodgdon extrudeds; all IMR rifle powders other than the six new Enduron grades; the older St. Marks produced sphericals including all Winchester branded powders and old established Hodgdons - H335, H414, BL-C(2), H380 etc.
Many of us are surviving on what we had on hand in the way of banned products or what we can still scrounge / buy (I'm using pre-ban imports of IMR-4350 in 300 SAUM). But inevitably, many of us have been forced to look for alternatives to the 'lost' products. I thought I'd run a simple exercise and range test series to identify and the try alternatives to the three key missing grades: H4350, VarGet, and H4831 starting with H4350. I had my first couple of test sessions at the end of last winter with spring and summer and hopefully better weather to look forward to. But then Covid struck and we were 'locked down' all summer. We've only recently restarted shooting, under many constraints and 'rules' at that, so I've only been able to resume testing as of last week. (However, such is the resurgence of Covid in the north of England, this may be abruptly curtailed again any day now.)
I'm using my Savage / Dolphin Gun Co. F-Class rifle with its off the shelf Savage PTA action and a very nice fluted 31-inch Bartlein 9-twist in the H4350 series. My usual match load is reformed Lapua 308 Palma SP brass, a case-full of Viht N160 and the 160gn Sierra TMK. As the barrel likes this bullet, it was retained, but standard Lapua LP cases employed primed with elderly Russian PMC LR Magnums (modern equivalent the Murom KVB-7M), a very mild model which I've found performs well in this cartridge and which has a 'soft' cup that shows pressure symptoms clearly. (Too much so in fact, as even starting loads flatten it!)
IMR / H4350 have many possible UK replacements, all available in the US too bar one Nitrochemie 'Reload Swiss' grade. (RS62, a single-based Europe only powder, slightly slower burning and more flexible/cooler burning than its RS60 stablemate which Americans know well under its US identity of Alliant Re17.)
- Alliant Re16
- Alliant Re17 (Reload Swiss RS60)
- IMR-4451 Enduron
- Lovex SO-65 (Shooters World 'Long Rifle')
- Lovex SO-70 (Shooters World 4350)
- Norma 204
- Norma URP
- Ramshot Hunter
- Reload Swiss RS62
- Viht N550
- Viht N555
- Viht N160
............. and of course, H4350 itself to get a baseline for comparison.)
You may wonder why Viht N150 and N560 weren't included, likewise Ramshot Big Game. Viht may put N150 on the same line as IMR-4350 in its burning rate chart but loading data and QuickLOAD both show that its maximum charges are much lower than those for the 4350s and true equivalents. It's closer to VarGet than H4350 in most applications. Big Game is also marginal in this respect, and N560 falls the other way being in the '4831 class'. Despite Viht saying its N500 and 100 powder equivalents share burn speeds, the N500 version is invariably 'slower' in practice, hence N550's inclusion here, although it is barely eligible.
SO-65 / SW Long Rifle falls the other way. Whilst Explosia shows Lovex SO-65 on the same line as H. VarGet in its chart, it's a lower energy and slower burning grade and falls between between VarGet and H4350, closer to the latter IMO. SW gets it more right in its chart
https://shootersworldpowder.com/canister-propellants/#burn
where it shares a level with H414 / Win 760.
Two powders are new to me - Re16 and the just released Viht N555. There is plenty of data around for the former, but only that for nine cartridges on Viht's website for the latter. My old version of QuickLOAD has neither. So I used charges from Sierra's new Edition VI reloading manual for Re16, but had to 'wing it' for N555 as Viht doesn't include data for the 7mm-08. It is obviously intended to challenge H4350 and Re16 in cartridges such as 6mm and 6.5mm Creedmoor putting it into the '4350 bracket'.
To get a feel for a possible maximum in the 7mm-08, I did a simple back of an envelope exercise on the data that Viht does provide.
https://www.vihtavuori.com/powder/n555-high-energy-powder/
The listed maximum charges for N555 were compared to those for N550 and N160 for the nine cartridges covered. (Actually eight as Viht shows 6.5X55mm twice in its higher pressure SKAN / SE version then again as c. 45,000 psi loads for 'Swedish Mauser'.) 260 Rem has data for a single bullet only with all three powders, so then were was seven! 224 Valkyrie only has loads for N555 for a single bullet and no N160 loads are lsited at all for the cartridge losing us yet another comparison.
Fortunately, most of the others have a large range of bullet makes / models / weights with loads for the three powder grades. So I did a simple + or - listing for each cartridge/bullet combination where + = N555 has a heavier maximum charge than the other grade and - is lower. Here's what I got:
First, all N555 maximum charges are significantly higher than those for N550 - up to 5gn in one or two cases. This applies across the board, so there are getting on for 45 examples where this is the situation. N550 data are therefore unsuitable for comparing / choosing N555 loads.
Second, it appears to be pretty close to N160 with N555 maxima falling either side of N160's and usually by modest amounts. However, as case size / capacity grows so N555 maxima fall below those of the nominally slower burning 160. Summary data for N555 v N160 by cartridge work out as:
- 6mm Creedmoor ............... + 8 / -2 examples for 87 to 115gn bullets
- 243 Win ........................... + 4 / 0 (ie no bullet weights where N555 max charges are lower than for N160 - 90-108gn range)
- 6.5 Creedmoor .................. + 6 / -2 (100 to 144gn and small differences mostly 0.1-2gn)
- 6.5X55 Swedish Mauser ...... + 6 / 0
- 6.5X55 SE/SKAN ................ + 4 / and 2 bullets where the maximum charge is identical
- 260 Rem ............................ 1 load only (144gn Lapua FMJ) with an identical maximum charge
- 284 Win ............................. + 1 / -8 (120-180gn bullet range; the N555 maxima down on N160 by 0.1 to 1.7gn , mostly under 1gn)
- 30-06 ................................ + 3 / -6 (150-220gn bullets, N555 0.6 to 3gn lower than N160 in the six 'negatives')
So loading manual / Viht website data for N160 was used as the base. ........... but VERY cautiously!! Viht shows 45.8gn N160 as maximum in 7mm-08 for the nearest equivalent bullet to the 160 TMK (160gn Sierra BTSP). 12 X 3-round batches were loaded from 40.0 to 45.5gn, shot from the bench at 100 yards past a Labradar with a very close eye kept for any over-pressure signs.
40gn gave 2,531 fps average and this rose pretty steadily (no spikes appearing) to 45.0gn at 2,815 fps. After there (45.3 and 45.5gn batches) MV increases tailed off at 2,823 and 2,825 fps respectively, both 3-round lots with a 3 fps ES range suggesting the powder had reached its limit. (ES's were generally small throughout.) However, there were no pressure signs with any charge, easy extraction and no primer extrusion.
For comparison, 45gn H4350 with all other components / dimensions / loading practices otherwise the same gave 2,784 fps ES26. (45gn is max in both Sierra and Hodgdon sources, but I'm sure that I could safely work up a bit more and break 2,800 fps.)
Both H4350 and N555 produced a number of satisfactory groups down to the one-hole type and 0.2" or less - subject to the usual caveats about the value of 3-shot groups of course.
My SP brass match load of 47.1gn N160 (a pre reformulation to temperature tolerant form powder lot) produced 2,865 fps ES 19 from five rounds. (I'll load up a range of three-round batches in LP brass to hopefully test later this week.) Note: 47.1gn will undoubtedly be TOO HIGH in standard Lapua LP brass - I'll stop at 46gn, or maybe even a little less.
Sierra's maximum of 45.5gn Alliant Re16 produced a compressed load despite use of a 5-inch drop tube funnel and slow 'swirl' pour - yes, it IS a bulky powder as AS Forum members report. MVs were good as expected given its reputation as a 'hot number' - 45.0gn 2,876 fps, nearly 100 fps up on H4350, and 2,899 fps at the 45.5gn top load - highest MV I've seen with the 160 TMK in this rifle. Easy extraction and no case-head marking, but primers show a touch of extrusion above 45gn. Groups though were poor compared to N555 and H4350 - my rifle doesn't appear to like Re16's characteristics.
Five 3-round batches of N550 were tried with charges from 41.3gn up to 43.6gn. QuickLOAD said I could go considerably higher up to 45.6gn for 58,927 psi and 2,879 fps MV. However, N550 (alongside N160) is one of the powders where I don't trust the program's default values and I'll always depress charges to levels that QL says will produce PMax values around 5 or 6,000 psi below where I want to end up. (QL says my on-the-range top load of 43.6gn will give 51,147 psi / 2,767 fps.) Viht's data on the other hand is even more pessimistic with 41.8gn listed maximum with the 160 SGK.) In the event, 43.6gn produced an actual result of 2,856 fps, a speed that QL had said needed 46.2gn. Again, easy extraction and no case-head marking, but primer extrusion suggested I was at or close to a sensible maximum. Groups and ES also opened up above 43gn, so my 42.8gn's 2,804 fps appears to be almost as much as I could achieve with this powder in this action and barrel.
N160, IMR-4451 in LP brass and more N555 in reformed Palma 308 SP brass will be tried shortly. This series will be written up in due course in greater detail in Target Shooter online magazine.
targetshooter.co.uk
Covid allowing, I'll get all 11 powders run through and maybe some 5-round batch follow-ups before the end of the year.
Note, my rifle has a non-SAAMI freebore to suit 160-168gn match bullets. COAL with the 160gn Sierra TMK is a fraction under 3-inches. A standard SAAMI chamber will produce higher pressures, so maximum charges quoted should be reduced by at least 1.5gn in such. The usual caveats about using other people's data, starting low and working up all apply.
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