Opinions on VV N540 powder for 223/5.56 hand loads?

It’s supposed to be good stuff according to VV’s load data. I’m sitting on 8lbs of it myself but it’ll be awhile before I’m loading anything as we just moved. Hoping it works well, but tagging in for comments.

I find that N140 is a better fit with 77gr bullets, but N540 is doable yet wasn’t a remarkable improvement from my experience. It just seems that N540 is a better fit in .308WIN vs .223 REM, which probably explains its lack of popularity over N140.

Still, if you’re sitting on some, why not experiment?

Dogtown said:

I find that N140 is a better fit with 77gr bullets, but N540 is doable yet wasn’t a remarkable improvement from my experience. It just seems that N540 is a better fit in .308WIN vs .223 REM, which probably explains its lack of popularity over N140.

Still, if you’re sitting on some, why not experiment?

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I’m mildly surprised to hear that based on what VV’s own load data shows, at least from a velocity standpoint. Powder prices being what they are, I’m accepting of a somewhat lower velocity for a more reasonable price, and I got a good deal on the N540 I’m sitting on, but we’ll see how my rifle likes it I guess. Accuracy and precision will trump speed for me, but I’m hopeful.

Agreed, but one reason N140 may be more popular in .223REM is because it’s a single-base powder and therefore produces less heat, which helps when that cartridge is super popular in semi-autos.

Dogtown said:

Agreed, but one reason N140 may be more popular in .223REM is because it’s a single-base powder and therefore produces less heat, which helps when that cartridge is super popular in semi-autos.

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Ah, I hadn’t considered that as I’m loading it purely for a bolt gun. At least in .223c I’m primarily reserving my N133 and H335 for my ARs.

ZA206 said:

In my quest to find a good alternative to XBR-8208 (because it's never available) for my 77 TMK loads

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We used to burn through 8 lb jugs of that like it would last forever. Now I have my last full 1 lb container that I'm hanging onto for reference.

I’ve shot a bunch of it in 6br. I consider it almost a direct replacement for Varget. It should work very well for you

I know I really gave hornady 75s a bad rap when it failed with my worn out HK barrel but out of the new 16" Lothar it is great.

1.58g / 24.38gn of N540 sends them somewhere around 817ms to 830ms in 20C / 2680fps to 2720fps in 68F. I guess my Hornady scale is a bit weird but I think my powder was humidified in the earlier 817ms run as I made of bunch of them.

This is from PMC cases that have quite much capacity but quite soft head, I do get light swipes on some of them. At 1.6g/24.7gn the PMC brass starts to loose Ginex primers. But PMC is quite trash compared to sako which I have used earlier.

I have pushed 1.63g/25.15gn with Lapua brass at 853ms/2798fps and they did not show any problems!!! The accuracy went really bad though. And this was during the winter, do not put that amount of 540. The 1.61 and 1.63 was the load for my HK but it was really worn out at that point.

The 817ms/2680 was chronoed with Garmin (my Labradar did not work) and held dope with my earlier DSF out to 1.2km / 1300yds

The 830ms/2720 was chronoed with labradar that got 8 out of 10 shots!

This is the latest group of 10. I have no clue why my zero is off, I certainly did not freaking rezero it "quickly" to the wrong direction by any chance..
The first 5 shots went really well, the 2 on the right are a bit of me during last rounds.