XBR powder with my 6brx

[Dennis]

What's your thought on the XBR powder. Some state it's made for the 6br family!

[ThorBird]

I'd love to hear myself. I have some, and have a 6brx, and a new brux 22brx that I have not fired yet. I will post if I find any load info.

[jpdown]

No complaints in my McGowan 6mm BR varmint barrel with 65 gr V-Max bullets.

[82boy]

I have gone through a few lbs of 8208 xbr. I find that it just doesn't shoot as good as N133, in a 6PPC. The burn rate is different as well. It is on the slow side of things, with it showing being close to 4895, on most charts. I can say I have shot it a long side the old 8208 or pull down powder ,and they are in no way similar. We also found it to burn a bit on the dirty side of thing. From what I have seen it works well in the 223 rem, and I have heard countless reports that it works great in the 6mm BR with light bullets, and many claim it is the go to powder. I don't know how it would work in a BRX. My thought is this should be a GREAT powder for the 22BR, but I have yet to try it.

[romulus]

I can't help you with the 6 but on my side of things (.308 win) it doesn't want to work too hard with the heavier bullets.

I bought some a few days ago just to try out with no real high hopes. I loaded up some 168 Noslers I had lying around and shot them at 39 gr with an ES of 4 on 5 shots! I know 5 shots isn't real hard data but it's saying something. I went up a grain and the ES went up to 29 : \ It stayed that way through the next grain as well.

I've shot some ladders with random bullets, some as light as 135's, and it seems to not want to push these bigger pills very fast. That's fine with me as I'm just jacking around while I decide on 6XC or a straight .284. I was going to shoot 6.5-47 Lap but I always shoot in the cold so that one's kind of a no go.

I will go back to the range when I get a chance and see if I can replicate the low ES again and perhaps generalize that pressure to some other bullets. I don't have a way to run Quickload so if someone can give me a .308 rundown in another thread as not to hijack, that would be great. I

I have a 24" barrel that I use KG's moly bore prep inside, and it has had some 3,500+ "slow" rounds through it, and have only cleaned with KG-12 and Kg bore prep. It did some polishing when I first got it, and can't say it hurt the thing as it shot and still shoots better than I can (prone).

[82boy]

I was going to shoot 6.5-47 Lap but I always shoot in the cold so that one's kind of a no go.


I am just curious, what is the reason that cold weather would rule out a 6.5x47L, as a candidate?

[romulus]

I've seen numerous postings that people's groups grow 2-3x when the temp goes below 35 degrees F. I'm not sure if it's the primer or the primer hole size, but the one common factor seems to be the small primer.

I've got no firsthand proof, but the rumors are enough to drive my $$$ away since I only shoot in the winter. When I get back from work I will try to get some links up.

[Danley]

XBR is for the lighter bullets. My 6BR did not like it with 105's. RL15 will probably be your friend in the BRX.

[GaCop]

I've gotten excellent results with it in the 204 Ruger with the 39 grain SBK. 26.6 grains gave me a five shot group at 100 yards of .143" Velocity was 3798 fps, SD-16.0 and ES of 42.0.

[GaCop]

I was going to shoot 6.5-47 Lap but I always shoot in the cold so that one's kind of a no go.


I am just curious, what is the reason that cold weather would rule out a 6.5x47L, as a candidate?

Yes, I too am curious as I have a 6.5 Lapua.

[romulus]

If you read about small rifle primers there's often a disclaimer somewhere in the article. Some articles say you can experience hangfires or misfires around 30 degrees and some have stated 10 degrees. Here is a secondhand statement from Lapua. Not very explicit but typical of the incident's mentioning. I can't seem to find any tests or scientific info about the issue. I will hunt and keep posting links even if they are merely these not so helpful tidbits.

http://www.westernshooter.com/2010/03/lapua-palma-308-win-small-primer-pocket.html

[sharpshooter]

A small primer in a .308 case would be more apt to a hangfire or misfire due to the case length. Jim Carmichael experienced this with the .22 CHeetah years ago with Remington .308 BR cases.
The 6.5 x47 is shorter and works very well with CCI 450's. I have not experienced any problems what so ever in cold weather with that case in 6mm,.22 or .20 cal. H-4350 and Rel 17 seem to be the powder for cases of that size. The original 8208 pulled powder came from 5.56 nato. The new stuff is a different blend made to have more of wider applications. It suited more for lighter bullets.

[romulus]

I'm glad to hear it is not a prevalent problem and from the maybe 20 or so forum posts I've dug through it seems that a switch to a different primer cleared up things for people having no-fires or hangfires in 47 Lap. I wanted to link or quote some of them but they are so scattered and riddled with impertinent info I chose not to undertake the task.

I do want to shoot a 47 Lap though. I guess I may have to build one regardless and shoot it in the deep of winter to see if I get any hangfires. I would assume for hunters that keep their ammo or ammo/rifle warm (truck, ammo in pocket, etc) it may not be a problem as long as each round is not below some cross component critical threshold. Anyone shoot extended strings under 30 or under 10 degrees?

I may have mentioned it before on SS but my favorite 180 grain 308 load shoots .5 moa or less, but one morning it dipped to 15-17 degrees and my groups went to hell. I could tell something was amiss just by how the rifle recoiled differently. I guess I have a stronger than average sensitivity to the possibility.