VihtaVuori Powder Discussion

[Jud96]

N570 is like magic in anything I have shot it in.

I have heard that the N570 is awesome. Do you have any experience with some of the other VV powders? Thanks

 

[SKWERLZ]

N570 is like magic in anything I have shot it in.

I’m certainly a big fan of it.

 

[Ccrider]

N570 is like magic in anything I have shot it in.

What calibers would those be? Have you tried it in a Bra or Dasher?

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have heard that the N570 is awesome. Do you have any experience with some of the other VV powders? Thanks

N555 is a great one in the 4350 to 4831 burn rate. N540 is a good one in the br cases. I have shot some others a long time ago.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

What calibers would those be? Have you tried it in a Bra or Dasher?

No its a magnum powder. N140 and n540 are what you would try in the br

 

[Ccrider]

N555 is a great one in the 4350 to 4831 burn rate. N540 is a good one in the br cases. I have shot some others a long time ago.

Thanks. I think I have some 540 and will give it a try.

 

[Gary in MD]

N160 has been clean burning and produced great accuracy in my 6mmAI.
Been using it here lately in a fast twist 22-250 with 75 grain Bergers.

 

[358WCF]

I had always stayed away from VV due to the price. The usual powders all could be made to work well enough for my purposes. I started snagging containers of VV in 2021. They were cheaper than Hodgdon & actually available from time to time.

As Laurie noted, the burn rates in charts seem about 3/5 a mile off from actual, there are apparently old & new burn rates maybe from around the time they addressed the temp & copper, & there's just not that much solid data available. What data is around may have been shot with the older powder, as Sierra & Nosler data don't jive real well with my results many times. While fairly familiar with H & IMR applications, I've been stumbling along trying to get a handle on where these powders actually will shine. An email netted me a 2023 loading manual. Thanks, guys. It's better than the 2019 version, but is still lacking data for the newer 500 series powders & some common US chamberings are just not there at all.

N135 is just dandy in 358 Winchester. Good speed & small groups with 225s. Same with N133 & 200s. N150 seems a bit closer to 4064 than 4350, N160 seems closer to 4350 than 4831, N555 might be a good substitute for H4350... further testing needed. Not quite sure what to do with N550 yet, it's not really a good 4350 substitute in the cartridges I've tried it, & I've just cracked open my 1st jug of N140 to try in 35 Whelen with 225s. Hopefully it's a workable RL15/H4895 substitute. Next up, as the budget allows, will be N165 to see how it replicates RL26 speed & accuracy.

The grades I've tried so far burn clean at reasonable pressures & haven't shown any strange quirks or surprises, except maybe N110 which pressured up at lower speeds sooner than data said it would in 44 Mag. Using different brass & primer than the data, so maybe not so strange after all.

I'm very happy with it so far, while a bit frustrated with lack of good data, & will be using it more.

 

[tthomp302]

N570 is like magic in anything I have shot it in.

This right here. I use it in 30 nosler. 81.2 grains gets me 2900 fps with 245 grain bergers.

 

[SKWERLZ]

What calibers would those be? Have you tried it in a Bra or Dasher?

It’s awesome in my 338 edge getting near a 100 grains charge, three times the powder of my 6BRA.

In a bra probably lucky to hit 2400 fps with a 107 and 80% burn rate! Lol!

 

[TIMO]

N-130 and N-133 both work well in my 30BR especially with the heavier class bullets.

Bill,
picking up some N130 tomorrow. Looking for a load starting point. If you have time, send me a PM if you wouldn't mind sharing. My H4198 go to load in my 30BR has always been 34.5 grains.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[Bill Norris]

Bill,
picking up some N130 tomorrow. Looking for a load starting point. If you have time, send me a PM if you wouldn't mind sharing. My H4198 go to load in my 30BR has always been 34.5 grains.

Thanks,
Tim

Will do.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

I had always stayed away from VV due to the price. The usual powders all could be made to work well enough for my purposes. I started snagging containers of VV in 2021. They were cheaper than Hodgdon & actually available from time to time.

As Laurie noted, the burn rates in charts seem about 3/5 a mile off from actual, there are apparently old & new burn rates maybe from around the time they addressed the temp & copper, & there's just not that much solid data available. What data is around may have been shot with the older powder, as Sierra & Nosler data don't jive real well with my results many times. While fairly familiar with H & IMR applications, I've been stumbling along trying to get a handle on where these powders actually will shine. An email netted me a 2023 loading manual. Thanks, guys. It's better than the 2019 version, but is still lacking data for the newer 500 series powders & some common US chamberings are just not there at all.

N135 is just dandy in 358 Winchester. Good speed & small groups with 225s. Same with N133 & 200s. N150 seems a bit closer to 4064 than 4350, N160 seems closer to 4350 than 4831, N555 might be a good substitute for H4350... further testing needed. Not quite sure what to do with N550 yet, it's not really a good 4350 substitute in the cartridges I've tried it, & I've just cracked open my 1st jug of N140 to try in 35 Whelen with 225s. Hopefully it's a workable RL15/H4895 substitute. Next up, as the budget allows, will be N165 to see how it replicates RL26 speed & accuracy.

The grades I've tried so far burn clean at reasonable pressures & haven't shown any strange quirks or surprises, except maybe N110 which pressured up at lower speeds sooner than data said it would in 44 Mag. Using different brass & primer than the data, so maybe not so strange after all.

I'm very happy with it so far, while a bit frustrated with lack of good data, & will be using it more.

I doubt you will see the same speed with N165 vs Rl 26, if you want speed look at the 5 series powders in the VV range

 

[17VLD]

I have always liked VV powders, especially for my small caliber rifles and pistols.
In the past I was always concerned about the temp sensitivity of the VV powders and actually started moving towards the Hodgdon Extreme line to avoid changing loads for hot weather pd trips.One of the attributes I always liked about the VV powders was how clean burning it is though so I was intrigued by the newer versions with the decoppering agent and temp stability.I was testing some older N540 in my 6 BR and really liked the speed and accuracy but was not happy about the burn temperature of 4100 degrees and I was running out of it, so after looking at N150 I figured I would try it even though it seemed like it would be too slow. Well surprise 30.00 of N-150 is faster in my 6BR with the Berger 105 than the same 30.00 of N540, so Laurie’s comment about VVs burn rates being 3/5 of a mile off really hits home with me.I wish I had Quickload to be sure of the pressure of this load the s.d. is 3 and it shoots bugholes with primers that still have nice round edges. I am at 5 cycles on the Lapua brass and feel like I have found the magic dust I have been searching for.Really like the burn temperatures of the 100 series powders and if I can ever find N140 I will try it too.I hope the supply chain issues get better and I feel blessed to have even found an 8lb jug of the N150.Heres to the future of shooting
Matt

 

[SeabeeKen]

I recently made the change to VV since Hodgdon priced themselves out of my powder magazine and cancelled my beloved 4166. I tested VV in my 6xc, 257ai, and 20vt in the last 2 weeks. 338 coming next week. I currently have all their powders except the very slow burners.
With that said, I did extensive testing in a number of my rifles with 4166 since it came out. It shot in stellar fashion in my 284, 257ai, 7x57ai, and a couple others. It shot groups .2 and under and single digit ES. I got good speeds with it also. It being discontinued was the first step in me leaving hodgdon.
Ive liked VV powders for decades but they were too expensive at the time but that has changed. If I'm going to pay a premium price I'll buy the best powder, VV

 

[Elwood]

Odd isn’t it! As a UK shooter with Viht powders being very available I would still choose H4350, H4831sc and RL23 over any offering from Viht, with the exception of N165 in magnums. I think many other F class shooters in the UK would agree with me, not all, but a good percentage anyway.

 

[6.5 forever]

Odd isn’t it! As a UK shooter with Viht powders being very available I would still choose H4350, H4831sc and RL23 over any offering from Viht, with the exception of N165 in magnums. I think many other F class shooters in the UK would agree with me, not all, but a good percentage anyway.

Thank for tempering my desire to experiment with VV powder!!

 

[Retired shooter]

Just getting a good start on load development for 6 ARC, Have only run Hornady factory 108 Eld match thru a gas gun so far. 26 in barrel. 2700 fps. Whatever powder they are using seems to be very dirty. ( maybe the nature of the ARK. IDK)

VV is listed in quickload, someone stated it is a cleaner burning powder , do most agree.?
I may be able to pick up several different #s next week.

Anyone have suggestions, and or thoughts.

Thanks. !

 

[spike-55]

I have a GrizzlyII bolt gun that I just started playing with. Bought some cheap privi 6.5 grendel brass from Grafs and ran it thru 6mm mandrel and then trimmed for overall length. Then ran it thru the ARC dies to bump back the shoulder a bit so it would chamber. Loaded with some cheap speer 100gr solid point bullets to fireform the brass. Used 28.2gr of H335 just to form and set the brass. OMG this thing stacked them, some groups .20-.25. The H335 worked very well in the bolt gun with S&B small rifle primers. Clean ignition and barrel clean-up was easy, shot 100 rounds to get me some brass to play with until Lapua becomes available if ever.
Before it starts, the only reason I bought the gun because it came with 2 barrels - the ARC in 8TW Krieger and a PPC Bartlein gain twist 13.85-13.75. The gun was smithed by Speedy and I wanted it, the ARC was just a what the heck. But it looks like it will show some real potential with some good brass and premium bullets in the 85-100 gr range. H335 seemed to work well, I may look at 8208 and Benchmark as well as N135.
stan

forgot to add that I had found these later and ordered 20 boxes lol!!!

 

[Retired shooter]

I had wondered about the H335 as I have used it in many 223 rounds. Always seemed to be a cleaner powder.

Thanks