Vihtavouri 160 vs. 560

[chucksniper]

I read that 560 is especially for the .270 winchester,
but 160 is used for the factory loads for the 270. I've shot some really good factory stuff, such as Federal
power shok, and Winchester supreme ballistic silver tip
that shoots fenominal at 100 to 300 yards.

 

[Rtheurer]

Chucksniper. , do you have a real Name?)

Judging by the statement that you wrote Im guessing your just getting into this Reloading game or are thinking about it. First off I would like to say welcome. with the price of Off the shelf ammo, This might be a wise choice. Along with most shooters on this web site I put well over 3000 rounds down range in one year. You wont ever be proficient in Marksmenship till you startpulling triggers, alot.) The down side to that is the cost of ammo. The up side to it is that You will learn to reload. Its very rewarding and sometime it turns out guys like to reload as much as shooting. Its like having that science kit as a kid.

OK back to your Question
Yes the factory ammo of today combined with the CNC capabilities of machining a rifle have gotten a whole lot better these days. What either of those two Manufactures use for powder is beyond most folks including me. Im guessing most of those manufactures dont give out there special recipe, like Coca Cola)
N 560 and N160 both have the same Burn rate Or that is the way they advertise anyway. Both of those powders should work for that large case with just about any bullet combo. With that being said A reloading manual, even if you dont reload) has a ton of information in the front cover and is worth every penny. Go down to the local gun shop and buy one or two.
My two favorites are the Sierra manual and the Nosler Manual followed closely by the Hodgden book.

Feel free to keep asking questions. These folks here will set you down the right path. There is a Polethera of information here.

Shoot Good Have fun and Be Safe
Russ T

 

[chucksniper]

So far after 8 years I shoot .25 inch groups at 100 and 1.25 inch groups at 300, is that proficient enough without squeezing triggers alot and only shoot about 300 rounds a year?

I practice enough to be as proficient as I want to be. My rifle can out shoot me. And as far as reloading, going on 8 years, I have loads that shoot very well without as many steps as others. From my experience powder and bullet combinations give you accuracy.

I don't use bulk brass, just factory or lapua bulk, and don't
do any brass preping, other than chamfer and deburring, uniformclean primer pocket, and tumbling, everything else is a waste of time. The BARREL is the heart of accuracy.

I like to narrow down certain elements to help me save time and money and space, that's why I asked for advise with these two
powders.

Sierra is underloaded due to thier concerns of liability. Even when you talk to thier techs you get VERY conservative long drawn out responses, so I e- mail them instead, and it tends to shorten thier responses.

With the way factory ammo is loaded today I try to dupe thier ammo.

 

[flatlander]

Sometimes it's possible to duplicate factory ammo performance, and other times it's not. The powder companies supply custom-made lots of propellants to the factory ammo companies, more often than not a non-cannister grade that's not available to the public.

Whatever - at least the ammo companies have to be more realistic with their ballistic claims nowadays, since so many of us have our own chronographs.

 

[TonyR]

I have tested N560 and N165 in the 284 Shehane case with berger 180 VLDs, and I get about 100 fps more with the N560 than the N165. In the Shehane case, QuickLoad predicts slightly higher velocities for the N165 than for the N160 at the same pressure. The Shehane case has only about 2 to 3 grains more water volume than the 270 Win so I would expect you to see comparable differences.

 

[jlmurphy]

From what I have read the 100 series V.V. powders are single based, similar to standard Hodgdon and IMR powders, the 500 series is double based, similar to the Alliant Reloder series. The double based are apparently have a higher energy content and can give increased velocity, but I have read that they are more temp. sensitive.

 

[TonyR]

I believe that you are correct about the single versus double base powders. I never did a full workup on the N560 because I was getting better accuracy going slower, but I did a lot of work with N540 in my 6mmBr. It was by far the least picky load I found with CCI450s and Berger 105 and 115 VLDs giving both high velocity and vertical precision. I shot it in temps from the 40s to the high 90s with no problems.