VihtaVouri rifle powders?

bigcitybill

Anyone have good/bad experience with their powders? How about the high-energy 500 series?

bpost

Very expensive and spotty to find sometines. The benchrest shooters love them in the 6PPC and some other cartridges.

BHAVIN

Very hard to find even for dealers much of the time. It is exspensive but many of the competition shooters I know use it. I don't because you spend a bunch of time working up loads and then when you go to buy more you can't find it.

nononsense

bigcitybill,

Of the 'High Energy' or double base powders, I use N-550 the most. It performs incredibly well in a properly balanced cartridge/bullet combination. I also have N-560, N-540, N-130, N-135, N-140, N-150... suffice it to say that I have most of the rifle powders on hand to run the tests that I want. The really slow ones 24N41 and 20N29 are proving to be useful in the large capacity cases which are so popular right now such as the .408 Chey-Tac.

I don't recall any bad experiences.

Best.

bigcitybill

Ah ha, interesting fact from local dealer: In order to stock VV powders, you have to carry the entire product line. VV won't let you pick and choose. If true, this explains why it's scarce in stores and cheaper online.

sandwarrior

bigcitybill,

I wasn't aware of their marketing requirements. But, I am aware of the powders they sell as being well worth the money spent. They are very high quality. Both the 500 and the 100 series. As far as I know of the 500 series, I used one pound only. I have used the 100 series of powder much more extensively and will say they are top notch.

The difference between Vihtavuori and Hodgdon/IMR is that VV uses cotton as its basic cellulose structure formula. Hodgdon and IMR use wood. As you may know the chemical possibilities are worked out, it just takes cellulose structure to provide structure for the ignition chemicals to be held until fired by the appropriate device...(primer)

-hope that helps

JustC

I am quite fond of the vihtavouri powders.

FYI, they also own Lapua Brass,...quite a pedigree if I do say so.

lpaalp

I use two types of VV powder - they work well. My local gunshop stocks 7-8 types- including the two I use- so don't think the "must stock the entire line" theory is accurate.

Rocky Raab

It probably is correct about the whole line requirement, but there's a difference between a dealer and a stocking dealer.

Any dealer can order powder of any type from a wholesaler like Powder Valley, but if a store wants to be listed as a full-fledged "Stocking Dealer" for a product line (guns or ammo) then they'd obtain their inventory directly from the manufacturer, BUT also have to abide by contractual requirements.

Example: The store where I worked was a Browning Stocking Dealer. Every year, they had to order a half-million dollars worth of guns of ALL kinds, plus clothing, boots and accessories in order to keep that Stocking Dealer designation. The store across the street was not a Browning Stocking Dealer, but could order a Browning gun or two from a jobber or wholesaler if they chose to - and pay a bit more for it.

mond

I have only used Vhit powder 110/120/133/140 & 160 with hornet/223/243/6.5 & 303 all with success. Even downloading 303 to 8.5gr & 100g head !! for 25yd paper punching [^]

steve4102

I use a few VV powders. N-120, N-130, N-160, N-165, N 560 and 3n37. It is great stuff, Never a problem or complaint.
I only have two sources for powder locally and neither of them stock VV powders. They do however order up what I need. Neither one of these guys have ever told me that they cannot get VV powders unless they stock their complete line. Sounds to me like maybe a specific wholesalers deal and not VV's deal.

Anyhow, it's great stuff and if you can find it, give it a try.