Testing Russian BW-68 Powder

[GermanS1]

The top target shows four groups,benchrest), 5 shots each fired at 29.0 to 30.0 of BW-68, Berger 105 LTB bullets,moly), PMC Small Rifle Magnum primers and Norma brass. 29.5 looked best,that's why I repeated it) and then below you see 3 ten shot targets fired prone at 100 yards with 29.5 grains. The shot in the 10 ring at 6:00 was my first shot after going prone, I clicked up two clicks and shot the rest.

That's an A25 100 yard Smallbore target, so the X ring is 1" and the 10 is 2" for those who aren't familiar with it.

 

[jb1000br]

German -- what does the russian powder do better than any other powder we have??

Seems to burn about like varget, or just a touch quicker eh?

JB

 

[GermanS1]

Jaosn, I just got back from a long range session with an Oehler 43,pressure and velocity readings) testing BW-68 and BW-70 in .308 and 6BR. We fired many loads in .308 with both powders as well as Varget, 4895, 4064 and 4320 - can you say "sore shoulder"...

I can say the following things with some certainty:

1. BW-68 is almost identical to Varget in pressures and velocity but is a bit bulkier in the case.

2. BW-70 is almost identical to IMR 4320 in pressure and velocity.

3. The 29.5 gr. load of BW-68 with moly coated 105s gave 2677 fps. I worked up to 31.0 and there was still no pressure signs. Accuracy at 31.0 was not as quite good as 29.5 but still good.

4. BW-68 velocities with moly coated 105 Berger LTB,30" barrel):
29.5 - 2677 fps
30.0 - 2748 fps
30.5 - 2792 fps
31.0 - 2832 fps
Norma factory 105 gr. - 2804 fps.

5. ES and SD numbers were relatively low,teens and single digits respectively) but are not worth quoting because these were five round strings trying to get an idea of velocity range. I prefer to shoot 20 shots when trying to gauge ES and SD.

To answer your question as to what BW-68 does better than Varget, right now I believe accuracy is better but it's also a bit premature for me to really say that. I'm going to load tonight for a 60 shot 300 Meter match tomorrow and we'll see how that goes.

German