Which powder would you buy?

[Paddyd]

Believe it or not, my wife just gave me $500 to buy primers and powder for the season. I load for 223R, 6BR Norma and 308W. I have pretty much narrowed it down to N140 and Varget since my past experience shows all 3 rifles will do well with these two powders. I like the anti copper ingredients in the Vihtavouri and it is temp stable. Varget is great , but considerably more expensive for the 8 lb jug. Both good , but as always, soliciting some opinions from y'all.

 

[NF1E]

I use both, but would go for the Varget. Whatta Hobby!

 

[coldboreshot]

You have more experience with these powders for 223 but for the other two, I discovered N140 runs grian-for-grain with Varget with ever so slightly better performance in target and on chrono. Just my 2 pennies.

 

[CJ6]

N 140
I use it in all 3 of your cartridges.

 

[Leo_B]

N140 is $339 and $342 from 2 reputable suppliers. Varget is $395 and up from several reputable suppliers. If I knew both worked equally well in my specific use cases I'd go with N140 and buy my wife flowers or take her to dinner with the savings.

 

[LBEdgin]

In my 223 rem I load heavier bullets like 80 Berger VLD & 85.5gr hybrids so AR-comp & RL15.5

 

[charlie b]

I use N140 in my .223 with 70-90gn bullets and 105s in my 6BR. I switched to VV powders when Varget and some others got hard to find. I have liked them enough I haven't gone back to the others. Haven't shot my .308 in a long time. When I did, Varget was what I used.

 

[One Eye Pete]

Both are great powders for those cartridges. I’d have to give the advantage to N140, based on lower cost and the fact that it has a lower flame temp which can give better barrel life. But then again none of the cartridges you are shooting are barrel burners.

 

[jlshaw]

I have several 8-pounders of both powders and like them both a lot. They both have done really well for me in the calibers you list, as well as .260 Rem.
I probably would go with N140 if I had to choose only one. One of the reasons is that the grain size of N140 is a bit smaller than Varget. When I run the powder through my Harrells powder meters, the N140 has a bit less weight variance.
Choosing between the two is not easy, but the good news is that you won't go too far wrong with either one.
Good luck!

 

[Webster]

Believe it or not, my wife just gave me $500 to buy primers and powder for the season. I load for 223R, 6BR Norma and 308W. I have pretty much narrowed it down to N140 and Varget since my past experience shows all 3 rifles will do well with these two powders. I like the anti copper ingredients in the Vihtavouri and it is temp stable. Varget is great , but considerably more expensive for the 8 lb jug. Both good , but as always, soliciting some opinions from y'all.

You are being redirected...

Check out the load maps at the far bottom of the writeup.