thoughts on 8208 xbr?

I was one

who got all excited when the word was coming out about the soon to be new miracle powder XBR 8208.
Thankfully I only bought 1 jug to try.
I HATED how dirty I found it.
I put it aside and then heard about blending it with H322. I blended it 50/50 and tried it again. Still found it dirtier than 133.
Here I was with this powder I did not like and some blended powder. I decided to try it in my 223. Well I found something I can burn it up in.
Maybe I need to give it another try???? But why????? With the likes of the LT-32, 2015(CDN made or the LT-32 that does not make burn grade), and 133, why would I want to try...............
The sad part is my local gun shop brought a whack of 8lb jugs and it is just sitting there. Thankfully he does not hold it against me or at least I am not aware that he does.

Calvin
 
I agree, with LT-32 the slower 8208 will struggle to find footing with the PPC crowd. It definitely shines in the heavy bullet 6 BRs though and for that reason I'll keep shooting it. As for blending it with H322, I may try it for you know what and giggles. But beyond that it'll be a last resort.

-Lee
www.singleactions.com
 
+1 Calvin. I did the same.....
Shoots good in .223, .308, and 30-06. The last 2 are for M1 Garands. Still shooting the last jug..........:rolleyes:
 
CYanchycki said:
who got all excited when the word was coming out about the soon to be new miracle powder XBR 8208.
Thankfully I only bought 1 jug to try.
I HATED how dirty I found it.
I put it aside and then heard about blending it with H322. I blended it 50/50 and tried it again. Still found it dirtier than 133.
Here I was with this powder I did not like and some blended powder. I decided to try it in my 223. Well I found something I can burn it up in.
Maybe I need to give it another try???? But why????? With the likes of the LT-32, 2015(CDN made or the LT-32 that does not make burn grade), and 133, why would I want to try...............
The sad part is my local gun shop brought a whack of 8lb jugs and it is just sitting there. Thankfully he does not hold it against me or at least I am not aware that he does.

Calvin
Click to expand...

This thread has me fascinated, you are the third person that has mentioned how dirty this powder is. I listed the 2 lot #'s that I own and they are the cleanest burning powder that I have used in over 40 years of loading ammo.

At what point did they change this powder ????? I still use it in my 6ppc. it is slower than my N133 but much cleaner burning.........also copper fouls less than N133

Do you have a lot #......???
 
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UncleB said:
This thread has me fascinated, you are the third person that has mentioned how dirty this powder is. I listed the 2 lot #'s that I own and they are the cleanest burning powder that I have used in over 40 years of loading ammo.

At what point did they change this powder ????? I still use it in my 6ppc. it is slower than my N133 but much cleaner burning.........also copper fouls less than N133

Do you have a lot #......???
Click to expand...

I must have missed where you posted the lot numbers of yours. Do you mind posting them again. I have been sitting on a 8lb just for quite a while and would like to know what to expect.
 
UncleB said:
At what point did they change this powder ????? I still use it in my 6ppc. it is slower than my N133 but much cleaner burning.........also copper fouls less than N133

Do you have a lot #......???
Click to expand...

Smokeless gunpowder changes burning rate with each batch (lot). Gunpowder making is a batch process, not continous, and each lot/batch is some different. That is why the really serious benchresters buy in big batches. One well known shooter I know bought 248 # (31 jugs) of the first lot of LT-32.

At one time one imported powder, Norma, used cotton as their cellulose feedstock and it didn't change much but most of todays gunpowder uses wood pulp as the cellulose source. Some powders used in the PPC vary as much as 225 fps from one batch/lot to another and that is measuring by weight. Measuring by volume gives worse variations and many BR shooters use a Culver measure.

Vihtvouri changed something in 2007 and since then their VV133 is some more consistent. Word is going around that they are not making powder right now. I talked to the VP Operations of the company that bought Patrina Lapua Oy (EURENCO Vithavouri Oy), manufacturers of VV and he said "I know we bought the company but I don't know what we are going to do with it"??? This was about 6 months ago and his office is in France,
so take that for what it is worth.

EDIT-some powders contain a lot# and packaging date. For example, I have some 133 jugs that the sticker contains both. I think the manufacturers do this for their own benefit, not ours. I'd guess they wished we would ignore the numbers and just shoot it!!
 
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thoughts on 8208XBR?

ok uncle B here is my
Lot number I have 3 +jugs of the same lot 81021094773



Jerry Powder valley has since sold some of the newer N133 date about Nov 2013.
Its around at times.
 
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GerryM said:
ok uncle B here is my
Lot number I have 3 +jugs of the same lot 81021094773



Jerry Powder valley has since sold some of the newer N133 date about Nov 2013.
Its around at times.
Click to expand...
The guy ro my right, Jeff Graves is shooting LT and doing good. Just shot a 107!!
I shot a 148 with my mix!
 
My observations of little consequence:

There is no magical powder that will be "load and forget" if you want to win at group benchrest. To find one would mean you have left this galaxy for a parallel universe and our known rules of physics no longer apply.

Powder must burn differently in different parts of the world because around here, XBR is WAY cleaner than any lot of N133 I've ever shot with maybe a single exception of the '99 Sept lot. But if you live east of the great Miss, your results appear to vary.

XBR will not throw as well in some powder throwers as N133 and vice versa even among throwers of the same make.

I have shot and won wood with all the lots of XBR that have been made to this point. Even shot a teen agg at 200 yards in 95 degree heat with it when everybody else using N133 and LT-32 struggled. Sometimes, I think 3550 fps isn't ALWAYS desirable. I'd much rather be shooting teen aggs with 3150 fps than shotgun patterns at 3500+ fps!

When using the old wives tale killer (which is also commonly known as a chronograph), one can easlily see that XBR doesn't jump up in velocity with temp increase as drastically as most lots of N133. It still does increase (see observation #1), just not as much.
 
If you don't like XBR in the 6 PPC, find someone with a 6 BR to sell it to. I have a 10 twist straight 6 BR that I shoot in varmint matches. XBR is far and away my favorite powder in it. Some folks are even shooting it in a Dasher with the 104-108 gr bullets.
 
6br and 6x47 lapua

I use 8208 xbr in my 6br 12 tw with 65 gr hornady vmax and in a 6x47 lapua 8 tw with an 80gr sierra varminter. Works really well for those cartridges.

I find it similar to Varget and N135
 
thoughts on 8208XBR?

Jerry I'm also on to the LT32 it works very well and as you know has a wide loading window.
I also use H 4198 with great results That load is not in the book''
 
GerryM said:
Jerry I'm also on to the LT32 it works very well and as you know has a wide loading window.
I also use H 4198 with great results That load is not in the book''
Click to expand...

Gerry, watch that 4198, it is spikey and can get too hot in a hurry over about 27g. I used to shoot it some but at about 26.5-27.5 and Perry Morton slowed me down to 25g and my next 3 groups were ones...then we went to 200!!
 
thoughts on 8208XBR?

Yes Jerry I know but... my best groups come from H4198.
I do adjust for temperature. 26.4 grs shoots Dots"' I use that load in the winter spring and I plan on going down on the loads again when it gets hot 90 degs or so.
The velocity is around 3325.
 
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