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Shooters World Precision Rifle -- Replacement for Varget?

Temperature sensitivity comparison will have to wait until summer. In my limited tests, it seems to produce slightly higher velocities with the same loading as Varget.
 
I just got 8 lbs of Precision Rifle. I haven't had any Varget for a few years now. So, I can't really compare it. I plan to shoot it in my .223 and 6br. I'll post results and load data as I collect it.

PopCharlie
 
I have used it in my 223 benchrest rifle, 22-250 and 6.5 Creedmoor. It is a bit faster than Varget and very stable. All three are as accurate as Varget. It is my intention to use it all the time.
 
normmatzen said:
I have not validated the temp characteristics, but I bought a lb of Precision Rifle and it shot exactly like my Varget did.
The only two things I can vouch for is that it is available and meters bette than Varget
Click to expand...
Where are you finding it? I'd like to try it out but everywhere I've looked it's oos
 
So far it is almost identical in velocity to Varget in my .308 loads with 168 and 175 grain SMKs. As others have noted, perhaps a bit faster. I will see if summer temps here in the tropics affect it.
 
So far temperature has not affected the accuracy, 40+ degrees difference thus far. The consistency is better than my last jug of Varget. I bought mine from Midsouth Shooters Supply. I got on the waiting list and they sent it when it came in.
 
I'm just starting a series of H4895/VarGet alternatives range tests using a Savage PTA based F-Class riflle in 223 Rem and the 77gn SMK bullet. Here (the UK), we have lost all Hodgdon / ADI extruded grades and most of the 'sphericals' too thanks to health & safety regulation changes.

(I did similar tests last year using a 7mm-08 F rifle to look at H4350/H414 UK-available alternatives which I've yet to write-up for Target Shooter online magazine. Whilst there are some 13 or so 4350 possible alternatives, the number grows for 4895/VarGet with over 20 possibilities!)

We've had these (SW in the US) Czech Explosia A.S. manufactured powders continuously in the UK for nigh on 30 years, first under the Accurate Arms brand name, then for the last 19 years as the European brand name Lovex, so I know them pretty well. Lovex SO62 (SW 'Precision') is an excellent plain-Jane does what it says on the tin alternative to IMR-4064 and H. VarGet. Go back 19 years and this powder was sold in the US as Accurate Arms - 4064 and that sums it up, a mid burning rate highly flexible and unfussy propellant that did the same job as the evergreen IMR-4064, but was much shorter cut than the IMR product of that era.

I expect my SO62 range tests to show it is the equivalent of VarGet in the 223, likely even superior, with 77s, but maybe not quite as well suited as H4895 with this bullet weight. Temperature stability I can't comment on as our climate in the north of England tends to only have two conditions - miserable and very miserable, but to be serious I've never noted any real problem here with this or other Explosia/Lovex extruded tubular grades.
 
Laurie, great write up as usual! I was just looking at the Shooters World online loading data where they have a grid comparing their powders to other manufacturers. Curiously, they compare Precision powder to Varget and IMR 4320. It is their Match Rifle powder (D073.6) that they compare to IMR4064. I will have to pick up a jug of the Match Rifle to see as I have some accurate loads in both 308 and 30.06 using IMR4064. Interestingly, they specifically mention the 77 grain Sierra Match King:

"Match Rifle is an excellent propellant for long range shooting. Shot with a 77 grain Sierra Match King, in a 5.56mm chamber it launches bullets beyond 2800 fps from a 20” AR-15 barrel. That velocity capability makes Match Rifle a natural fit for Service Rifle and CMP competitions."
 
Laurie said:
I'm just starting a series of H4895/VarGet alternatives range tests using a Savage PTA based F-Class riflle in 223 Rem and the 77gn SMK bullet. Here (the UK), we have lost all Hodgdon / ADI extruded grades and most of the 'sphericals' too thanks to health & safety regulation changes.

(I did similar tests last year using a 7mm-08 F rifle to look at H4350/H414 UK-available alternatives which I've yet to write-up for Target Shooter online magazine. Whilst there are some 13 or so 4350 possible alternatives, the number grows for 4895/VarGet with over 20 possibilities!)

We've had these (SW in the US) Czech Explosia A.S. manufactured powders continuously in the UK for nigh on 30 years, first under the Accurate Arms brand name, then for the last 19 years as the European brand name Lovex, so I know them pretty well. Lovex SO62 (SW 'Precision') is an excellent plain-Jane does what it says on the tin alternative to IMR-4064 and H. VarGet. Go back 19 years and this powder was sold in the US as Accurate Arms - 4064 and that sums it up, a mid burning rate highly flexible and unfussy propellant that did the same job as the evergreen IMR-4064, but was much shorter cut than the IMR product of that era.

I expect my SO62 range tests to show it is the equivalent of VarGet in the 223, likely even superior, with 77s, but maybe not quite as well suited as H4895 with this bullet weight. Temperature stability I can't comment on as our climate in the north of England tends to only have two conditions - miserable and very miserable, but to be serious I've never noted any real problem here with this or other Explosia/Lovex extruded tubular grades.
Click to expand...
miserable and very miserable,

That cracks me up, reminds me of when I lived in he Straits of Juan de Fuca, rain, wind, and more rain!
CW
 
Lovex DO73.6 (SW Match Rifle) is popular here in 223 as it gives high MVs. The old 75gn Hornady Amax and this powder gave excellent and explosive long-range performance on foxes, our primary varmint species as badgers have legal protection and we don't have any ground squirrels. (We have zillions of North American grey tree squirrels, an invasive introduced species that has almost displaced the native red variety, but they are mostly trapped and/or shot with higher-power air rifles.)

I tried this powder maybe 25 years ago under its then name of Accurate Arms - 2520, but didn't like its dirty burning characteristics. I'm just about to buy a can each of it and its faster burning DO73.5 stablemate (no SW equivalent) for my 223 Rem tests to see if it has changed over the last quarter century.
 
Laurie said:
Lovex DO73.6 (SW Match Rifle) is popular here in 223 as it gives high MVs. The old 75gn Hornady Amax and this powder gave excellent and explosive long-range performance on foxes, our primary varmint species as badgers have legal protection and we don't have any ground squirrels. (We have zillions of North American grey tree squirrels, an invasive introduced species that has almost displaced the native red variety, but they are mostly trapped and/or shot with higher-power air rifles.)

I tried this powder maybe 25 years ago under its then name of Accurate Arms - 2520, but didn't like its dirty burning characteristics. I'm just about to buy a can each of it and its faster burning DO73.5 stablemate (no SW equivalent) for my 223 Rem tests to see if it has changed over the last quarter century.
Click to expand...
Off subject but I wanted to ask. Your powder knowledge is impressive, I always enjoy it when you post. What life experience/experiences gave you the opportunity get to this point, I’m just curious. If it’s deemed “nosey” just say so.
 
@nakneker I'm just an ordinary shooter / competitor. I've handloaded for around 40 years though and always found the subjext fascinating so do as much research as possible both in printed publications (eg the Bryan Litz / Applied Ballistics external ballistics / bullet design / 'advancements and Wolfe Publications collected Handloader / Rifle 'Propellants Profiles' articles) and also online.

I've also written handloading features for shooting magazines for over 20 years and try to keep up with both corporate and product changes and new products. The Internet is a very powerful resource here.

Take these Czech powders. They are imported into the UK by a very small outfit in my part of England owned by two brothers. They did a deal with the then Accurate Arms Co. in the US to buy them direct at the factory gate. (Literally! - they drove a specially fitted van to the factory, filled it up to the roof with powders and S&B rimfire ammunition / primers and drove back to England using a North Sea ferry in a 48 hour round trip). I wrote a feature on these then new to the UK powders and range-tested several. Then Western Powders bought AA Co 19 years ago and switched suppliers away from the Czechs, but we retained them here as Lovex brand and a couple of new ones were introduced. Then not so long ago, I started to see mentions of Shooters World powders and a look at the company's excellent website quickly showed they are renamed Explosia / Lovex products. SW is a boon to me as well as US buyers as the Explosia web and printed material 1) has some major flaws in things like the burning rate table and 2) leans heavily towards loads data for popular older continental European cartridges and European produced bullets - but no 6 or 6.5mm Creedmoor, no Grendel, no PPCs or BRs etc. SW has done its own tests and pressure-measuring, so its growing dataset is much more useful to me and most UK shooters as we've always leaned towards US cartridges and products rather than European ones.

Coming full circle, we have had a major shake-up here in our handloading as we've lost many of our most popular powders due to health & safety regulatory changes. It's illegal to import more than a metric tonne p.a. of any Hodgdon extruded powder for instance, so we've lost the very popular and flexible H4895, VarGet, H4350 and H4831sc. I've been researching and range-testing alternatives - for H4350 in a 7mm-08 F-Class rifle last year between Covid lockdowns and just starting on H. VarGet/H4895 replacements in a 223 F rifle with 77gn SMKs. That was some 13 or 14 powders for H4350, over 20 this year which will involve loading and test firing over 750 rounds. Lovex SO65 and SO70 were in last year's 4350 tests (SW Long Rifle / 4350) and this year's 223 tests will include SO62, DO73.5, and DO73.6 (SW Precision; no SW equivalent; SW Match Rifle). All this is recorded, chronographed, targets retained etc so I have a lot of stored information to look back on which is useful - all manual: pen, notebooks, comments and pieces of paper with holes - the most useful asset. A test target for Viht N160 + IMR-4451 from last autumn is attached as an example.

H4350 alt - N160 + IMRF-4451.jpg
 
Laurie said:
@nakneker I'm just an ordinary shooter / competitor. I've handloaded for around 40 years though and always found the subjext fascinating so do as much research as possible both in printed publications (eg the Bryan Litz / Applied Ballistics external ballistics / bullet design / 'advancements and Wolfe Publications collected Handloader / Rifle 'Propellants Profiles' articles) and also online.

I've also written handloading features for shooting magazines for over 20 years and try to keep up with both corporate and product changes and new products. The Internet is a very powerful resource here.

Take these Czech powders. They are imported into the UK by a very small outfit in my part of England owned by two brothers. They did a deal with the then Accurate Arms Co. in the US to buy them direct at the factory gate. (Literally! - they drove a specially fitted van to the factory, filled it up to the roof with powders and S&B rimfire ammunition / primers and drove back to England using a North Sea ferry in a 48 hour round trip). I wrote a feature on these then new to the UK powders and range-tested several. Then Western Powders bought AA Co 19 years ago and switched suppliers away from the Czechs, but we retained them here as Lovex brand and a couple of new ones were introduced. Then not so long ago, I started to see mentions of Shooters World powders and a look at the company's excellent website quickly showed they are renamed Explosia / Lovex products. SW is a boon to me as well as US buyers as the Explosia web and printed material 1) has some major flaws in things like the burning rate table and 2) leans heavily towards loads data for popular older continental European cartridges and European produced bullets - but no 6 or 6.5mm Creedmoor, no Grendel, no PPCs or BRs etc. SW has done its own tests and pressure-measuring, so its growing dataset is much more useful to me and most UK shooters as we've always leaned towards US cartridges and products rather than European ones.

Coming full circle, we have had a major shake-up here in our handloading as we've lost many of our most popular powders due to health & safety regulatory changes. It's illegal to import more than a metric tonne p.a. of any Hodgdon extruded powder for instance, so we've lost the very popular and flexible H4895, VarGet, H4350 and H4831sc. I've been researching and range-testing alternatives - for H4350 in a 7mm-08 F-Class rifle last year between Covid lockdowns and just starting on H. VarGet/H4895 replacements in a 223 F rifle with 77gn SMKs. That was some 13 or 14 powders for H4350, over 20 this year which will involve loading and test firing over 750 rounds. Lovex SO65 and SO70 were in last year's 4350 tests (SW Long Rifle / 4350) and this year's 223 tests will include SO62, DO73.5, and DO73.6 (SW Precision; no SW equivalent; SW Match Rifle). All this is recorded, chronographed, targets retained etc so I have a lot of stored information to look back on which is useful - all manual: pen, notebooks, comments and pieces of paper with holes - the most useful asset. A test target for Viht N160 + IMR-4451 from last autumn is attached as an example.

View attachment 1249519
Click to expand...
Good stuff for sure!
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing more of your test results.
I am very interested in both of the powder studies you are performing.
Please keep us posted,
CW
 
Interesting thread. So, is the issue that you can’t find Varget, or that you are looking for powder that out performs Varget?
 
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