I’ve been running Varget for the last several years and like the Honey Badger it doesn’t seem to give a crap about temperature. With the recent Varget drought I’ve been using IMR 8208XBR and finding comparable accuracy with easier powder dispensing. IMR’s website claims it’s good to go in any weather.
Since I’m new to this powder I’m curious how it’s actually going to do in 90 - 95 degree weather this Summer? I normally load a bunch in the Spring and shoot it all Summer into the Fall and I’d hate to find that the advertisement copy was written by someone could have made the Titanic’s maiden voyage sound like a great time.
XBR is handsdown my favorite powder for 77gr SMK’s. I have yet to find anything bad about it. It meters very consistently, it’s accurate, and produces nice velocities. But I have heard pressure can spike very fast if you load it too hot. Shouldn’t be an issue if you know what you’re doing. Luckily, all of the bottom-dwellers swear by ball powders, so XBR is always on the shelf.
You will never touch Varget again for 223/5.56 after playing around with XBR.
Primarily I’ll be loading 77gr Noslers or Sierras for use in my 20" rifle. No competition, just 40 - 60 rounds per session on paper or steel at various ranges. So far accuracy seems good @ 23gr in my rifle.
I do have some 62gr PPU fmj and 64gr Nosler bonded bullets that I’ll be playing with to see how XBR does.
I’ll probably stick with Varget in the .308, 9.3mm and .416 because it just works so darn well. But for the hungry .223/5.56 Rifles XBR seems like good stuff
That’s the one powder that I haven’t been able to readily get my hands on in bulk. I have a few pounds but I’d like to pick up a couple of 8#'ers before I go all in with it. I have tons of 322 but not much 8208.
I got lucky and found 8lb jugs of both H322 and XBR at Widener’s a couple of months ago. Just keep an eye out. Locally, XBR 1 lbers are always on the shelf. Before I found the 8lb jug, I was picking up a pound or two once a week.
Lately no powder is common on the shelf except imr4064. I managed to find several 1# cans of XBR while visiting the inlaws out of state.
I’ve gone up to 23.5 gr of XBR with the 77gr Nosler with good accuracy, primers no worse than factory and no loose primer pockets out of my 20" FNH barrel. The same load from my 16" Tavor showed some ejector swipe with FC brass, that disappeared with LC or Speer nickle brass. I’m leaning toward backing off for my summer play ammo. Probably to 23.0 - 23.2gr
8202 XBR is THE go to powder for 223 IMO, I have found I can use CCI BR4, Fed SR, Fed GM SR, Wolf SR, Wolf SRM and it just shoots great with any of them. I use it for 55’s, 75’s and 77’s.
Ditto to jwfurman and markm - lots of XBR made here for both 75gr and 55gr. I had settled on TAC before the drought hit, but was able to pick up 20lbs in 1lb containers of XBR - since going through that and another couple of 8lb jugs, no issues.
The only downside to XBR is that you can’t achieve high velocities with heavy bullets. Those who are fixated on getting the highest possible velocities out of 77s, for example, should run a slower burning ball powder. XBR is rooted in Benchrest. I’ll give up 30-50 fps all day long for the accuracy I get from XBR.
I have to say that I my experience is quite different with heavy bullets and 8208. I run 8208 with 82 bergers out of a 7 twist bolt gun at 2900 with no pressure. I’ve found that 8208 is THE go to powder for .223 with heavy bullets. I can’t get that velocity with Varget without running out of room, and h4895 netted me velocity, but not the accuracy that I wanted. TAC was similar.
Are those loaded long? Loading long completely changes the characteristics of the load. I’ve loaded 80 gr SMKs a little bit, and that increased case capacity from loading the rounds with a really long OAL changes things up. It’s pretty interesting.
I found that 77gr Nosler / 23.2gr XBR worked best in my three most commonly used rifles and built a couple hundred. Now we’ll see how it works in July - September.
Has anyone found much if any lot to lot variation with XBR?
I had an unexplained batch of blown primers using the exact same charge weight, but a different lot. I can’t pin it on Lot variation with certainty. But I pulled bullets and the charge weight checked out.
(FYI it was at 23.8 gr with 77s… I’ve since decreased the charge to 23.4 and haven’t had any issues.)
Took Mark M’s advice with regard to 8208 XBR last summer … with my Douglas 18" 1:7, I’m getting 10 shots in roughly a nickel-sized group at 100 yards with 23.4gr of 8208 XBR in LC Brass trimmed to 1.750", loaded to 2.262" OAL. Absolutley love this stuff!
Just keep an eye out. Locally, XBR 1 lbers are always on the shelf. Before I found the 8lb jug, I was picking up a pound or two once a week.