VV N540 for the 6mmBR

[243Mendoza]

I've found that VV140 and 205M are a good substitute for Varget and CCI 450.

 

[Laurie]

N540 is a superb powder for the 6mmBR! It will produce excellent accuracy and a concomitant increase in velocity. You will love it! However, you will also see a noticeable decrease in barrel life due to it's being a double based "nitro infused" powder. But make no mistake, if high performance is what you are after, VV N540 would be hard to beat in the 6mmBR..

N540 is 'hotter' than the other Vihtavuori N500 series powders, in fact is probably the highest-energy handloading powder on the market, and that does impose a price in barrel life. In the early days of FTR, N540 was very widely used in 308 with 155s for a brief period - brief because barrels went south in under 1,500 rounds with the heavier loads. As a result, most UK target shooters stay clear of this number even when they'll use other N500 grades such as N550.

Over here N150 and to a lesser extent N140 are used in the 6BR with heavier bullets. We 'lost' all of the Hodgdon 'Extreme' powders last year courtesy of new EU health & safety regulations, but people switched from H4895 and VarGet long before, going back to around 2012, because you simply couldn't get these powders here during the time of powder and components shortages. They soon found that far from being indispensable, there were equally good and reliably available alternatives, many 6BR precision competitors in fact preferring Viht N150. I know it doesn't work for everybody and for some reasons not in the Dasher, and we'll have VarGet users here for many years to come, people building up a precious stash before the EU ban came into effect.

(There are lots of swaps currently going on right now between people with one or two bottles of no longer available grades - I swapped a can of H4831sc for VarGet earlier this year to help a desperate 284 shooter have enough powder to use his existing load in an important F-Class match.)

 

[ShootDots]

N540 is 'hotter' than the other Vihtavuori N500 series powders, in fact is probably the highest-energy handloading powder on the market, and that does impose a price in barrel life. In the early days of FTR, N540 was very widely used in 308 with 155s for a brief period - brief because barrels went south in under 1,500 rounds with the heavier loads. As a result, most UK target shooters stay clear of this number even when they'll use other N500 grades such as N550.

Over here N150 and to a lesser extent N140 are used in the 6BR with heavier bullets. We 'lost' all of the Hodgdon 'Extreme' powders last year courtesy of new EU health & safety regulations, but people switched from H4895 and VarGet long before, going back to around 2012, because you simply couldn't get these powders here during the time of powder and components shortages. They soon found that far from being indispensable, there were equally good and reliably available alternatives, many 6BR precision competitors in fact preferring Viht N150. I know it doesn't work for everybody and for some reasons not in the Dasher, and we'll have VarGet users here for many years to come, people building up a precious stash before the EU ban came into effect.

(There are lots of swaps currently going on right now between people with one or two bottles of no longer available grades - I swapped a can of H4831sc for VarGet earlier this year to help a desperate 284 shooter have enough powder to use his existing load in an important F-Class match.)

Hello Laurie! I had excellent luck with N150 in the 6mmBR. I had excellent luck with N540 in BOTH the 6mmBR and Dasher. However, I never could get N150 to shoot in a Dasher and that has always puzzled me. That is a mystery I can not figure out!

 

[Laurie]

That is a mystery I can not figure out!

Nor me Benjamin - makes no obvious sense!

 

[swadiver]

I switched from Varget to N140 in my straight 6BR F Open rifle. it was load for load the same as Varget, better ES/SD, and better vertical control on the target at 600 yds. 108 Bergers, about 2900 fps from a 30 inch Krieger. i won't being going back to Varget

 

[HTSmith]

I switched from Varget to N140 in my straight 6BR F Open rifle. it was load for load the same as Varget, better ES/SD, and better vertical control on the target at 600 yds. 108 Bergers, about 2900 fps from a 30 inch Krieger. i won't being going back to Varget

How much N140 are you using in that load if you don't mind me asking?

 

[brxlefty]

It will shoot. I loved it for a while but went back to RL-15 and Norma 203-B.
I still have it and I may just give it another look.

That s what I shoot with 90 gr. Bergers...
With a 10 twist...

 

[Bob3700]

I tried VV540 in my 308 and one 2 lb container provided outstanding accuracy and I thought that it was the holy grail. Used that container up n purchased another only to find the new lot didn’t measure up. So it seemed, for me, that lot-to-lot variations produced inconsistent results.