VV N135 Temp Stable?

[WYO300RUM]

Good idea, I'll run down to the Cody, WY Scheels and pic up a pound and try it

I was in Billings last week. Stopped at Scheels. They had 8 pd. N570 only. Dont remember price.1 pd. N565, N560 and N550. If I recall correctly they were $51.99. I have plenty 570 and 565. Haven't seen 560 in long time. I got 3 pds. LRT for $42.99 pd.. Was sale on H1000. $56.99 pd.

 

[Doom2]

I believe that N135 was actually designed around the M80 308 round (147gn). Probably for the FAL. I use it in 223 with 53/52 gn bullets an its not as dense as N140/Varget/8208XBR. I have been trying it with 168's in 308 but haven't decided if it's a fit or not. I would probably go with N140 for the 168's and 175's.

 

[highfinblue]

I cannot address 135 directly, but I can tell you for certain 120 is ABSOLUTELY temp sensitive. Loaded some 20 VarTarg loads, one with H4198, the other Viht 120 in mild temps. Took some out this summer and the 120 ended up with a heavy bolt lift and the Hogden was just fine.

 

[cape cove]

On my 1 kg bottle of N-135 it states it is temp stable. I've used alot of N-135 but just in the summer so I can't attest to the stability of the powder.
I see it also says temp-stable on my bottles of N-133 and N-140.

 

[C-130 Dude]

Varget = VV N140. Check a Powder Rate burn Chart. At the cost of powder and primers. i would humbly say that VVN135 is a waste if you are looking at 308 and 175-grain bullets. N150 would be the best choice for 190-grain bullets.

I used to shoot NRA "across-the-course" matches with 308 and found 4x
.30 cal ammunition cases with 125 Speers over 44.0grains of N140 for rapid-fire to reduce muzzle jump. I just pulled a half- dozen to see if they will work - with 175's; normal load would be 43.5-grains for a bolt -gun.

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-Smokeless-Relative-Burn-Rate-Chart-WEBSITE.pdf

N135 is a bit fast for 175s. N135 does work well for 135s. Been using N140 for 155s and 168s. N150 for 175s and 180s. Seems to do well. H4350 also works well for 175s and 180s and up. Your milage may vary.

 

[marc357]

Thanks to all. We shoot 155s not 175s, so N135 might be perfect for our application.

 

[Stefan Wild]

Does anyone have any data on temp stability of VV N135? I was thinking of trying it in the .308 Win. ( boring I know, but we still like to play with them)

Always got good results with Varget, and never saw a reason to try anything else, but someone has a 8lb jug of N135 and thought I might try it.

I had some SAKO factory .308 ammo (still have some left actually)- SAKO headstamped Lapua brass, 175 gr SMK and an unknown VV powder. Although it shoots great, it is WILDLY temp sensitive, we tested it and it's on the order of 2fps/ degree.

Hate to bite the bullet on 8lbs and find out it swings that much.

If you want temp stable VV powders look to the N 500 series.
Personally I would just develop my charge during the winter then you use what you have, what you like when you are going to use it.
Using the temp stability chart you can determine how much to adjust your charge based on temp.
For instance if you have 2800 fps as your optimum charge speed, you look at the difference based on temp and adjust your charge up or down by the appropriate amount to hit your "target speed". Then temp stability only comes into play if you put a bunch of ammo together under different conditions you wind up using it at.

 

[Rodbolt]

I use N133, N135 and N140 shooting prairie dogs in South Dakota with 204 Ruger and 20BR. They are less sensitive to high temps than anything I've tried. They also make barrel cleaning easier, I switched years ago when VV was expensive compared Hodgen. N135 and N140 work well in a 308 too.

 

[hembrook]

My experience has been the single base N1XX series powders are more temp sensitive than the double base N5XX.

The burn rate is similar (e.g. the N140 and N540 are similar, etc) but the 5XX is more temp stable.

When I lived in Germany I burned a lot of VV Powder because it was less expensive and easier to get than "American" powders. N140, N540, N550 and N560 as well as the pistol powders for 9mm, .30 and .45ACP for my M1A1 Tommy Gun.

Dave Emary and I discussed N140/N540 for the .308 Marlin Express as LVR was unheard of in 2009 in Germany. It worked well, burned like Varget and gave good velocity, clean barrels and moderate pressure. A Marlin will let you know when the pressure gets too high.

I used a lot of N540 loading .30-06 and 9,3x62 shells. I got great velocity, accuracy and low pressure signs. I also used N560 in .416 Rigby as well as 8x68S and .300 Win Mag.

Overall a very favorable impression.

 

[Stefan Wild]

Does anyone have any data on temp stability of VV N135? I was thinking of trying it in the .308 Win. ( boring I know, but we still like to play with them)

Always got good results with Varget, and never saw a reason to try anything else, but someone has a 8lb jug of N135 and thought I might try it.

I had some SAKO factory .308 ammo (still have some left actually)- SAKO headstamped Lapua brass, 175 gr SMK and an unknown VV powder. Although it shoots great, it is WILDLY temp sensitive, we tested it and it's on the order of 2fps/ degree.

Hate to bite the bullet on 8lbs and find out it swings that much.

If you want temp stable VV powders look to the N 500 series.
Personally I would just develop my charge during the winter then you use what you have, what you like when you are going to use it.
Using the temp stability chart you can determine how much to adjust your charge based on temp.
For instance if you have 2800 fps as your optimum charge speed, you look at the difference based on temp and adjust your charge up or down by the appropriate amount to hit your "target speed". Then temp stability only comes into play if you put a bunch of ammo together under different conditions you wind up using it at

 

[eshell]

Does anyone have any data on temp stability of VV N135?...

I'll say it: "No, very sorry, no facts".

 

[RYEWSKY25284]

Does anyone have any data on temp stability of VV N135? I was thinking of trying it in the .308 Win. ( boring I know, but we still like to play with them)

Always got good results with Varget, and never saw a reason to try anything else, but someone has a 8lb jug of N135 and thought I might try it.

I had some SAKO factory .308 ammo (still have some left actually)- SAKO headstamped Lapua brass, 175 gr SMK and an unknown VV powder. Although it shoots great, it is WILDLY temp sensitive, we tested it and it's on the order of 2fps/ degree.

Hate to bite the bullet on 8lbs and find out it swings that much.

VV powders are in general, insensitive to temp swings.
I have been using VV-N133 for 15+ years on a 223AI and also VV N550 on a 25-284 and I've hunted on some days have a 60 degree swing from a cold morning hunt to a hot afternoon hunt and find very ,very little difference.
I do use other powders, I find VV powders are excellent for shooting situations where you might find big temp swings.

 

[C-130 Dude]

Does anyone have any data on temp stability of VV N135? I was thinking of trying it in the .308 Win. ( boring I know, but we still like to play with them)

Always got good results with Varget, and never saw a reason to try anything else, but someone has a 8lb jug of N135 and thought I might try it.

I had some SAKO factory .308 ammo (still have some left actually)- SAKO headstamped Lapua brass, 175 gr SMK and an unknown VV powder. Although it shoots great, it is WILDLY temp sensitive, we tested it and it's on the order of 2fps/ degree.

Hate to bite the bullet on 8lbs and find out it swings that much.

Can't say about N135, but I was loading N140 today and it does say "Temperature Stable" on the label. Hope this helps.

If anyone out there happens to have a bottle of N135 handy, help this brother out and post back.

 

[Doom2]

Can't say about N135, but I was loading N140 today and it does say "Temperature Stable" on the label. Hope this helps.

If anyone out there happens to have a bottle of N135 handy, help this brother out and post back.

Somewhere areound 2016 VV changed the formulations on the 100 series to be more temperature stable. I have a 2015 N135 that doesn't mention it. The date is shown on the lot number label.