8208 XBR??

[Saltydog235]

Anyone used much of this stuff? Results and opinions please.

The reason that I'm asking is that I'm trying to develop a load for my 7mm-08 and a Barnes 140grn TSX bullet. So far I've tried IMR4350, H4350, RL19, RL17 and some Hunter. Nothing is giving me the accuracy that I get with the same powders and the 150grn Ballistic Tips. In fact the Barnes bullets in general aren't doing as well as the Ballistic tips in anything that I load. Where I get sub MOA with the BT's the best grouping I have gotten with the Barnes is 1.25" with a seating off .025.

Its weird the rifle is a Sako 75 that I had topped with a Nikon Buckmaster (got it for a steal). I've always been suspect on the scope but rounds started walking all over the target so I switched it to a Ziess and my BT rounds went to .75, .50, .85 groupings, no groups with Barnes were better than 1.25"

[Brian Pfleuger]

I'm interested to hear what others have to say, as I also load for 7-08 and use Barnes bullets, albeit the TTSX and 110gr. I get groups right around 1 MOA, but my tests have been limited, by time restraints, to developing an effective load for hunting.

One question, you say best accuracy with the Barnes is at .025.... what other distances have you tried? I ask because Barnes suggests starting at .050 and a range of .030 to .070.

[A_Gamehog]

I have had good results using the powder with:

.223
LC 08 brass
26.5 8208 powder
Fed 205 primers
34 grain Midway dogtowns
Savage 1-9 twist
1/2 MOA or better!
3700+ FPS
I gained nothing going to 27.5+

Hornady also has a great new powder, look at the 22-250 load with a 60 grain V-Max!
Click this attachment for more loads

[RDub]

Hiya
You 7mm-08 shooters should try some Rx15, IMR3031 and W-748. I shoot a Mod 7 and I'm getting outstanding accuracy with these powders with 110 and 120gr bullets.
My favorite is the 120 Barnes TSX in front of 44.5 grs Rx15. I get 2850 fps out of that short barrel. It's been a good all around load in this rifle.
Rem case and Fed 210 primer.

[Kevin Rohrer]

Everything I read about 8208 says that it is the new "goto" powder. I plan on trying some in my 22/250 next year.

You also might try Varget amd 4064, as well as BLC2.

[billnourse]

Try coming .050 off of the rifling with the Barnes. That is what Barnes recommends, and with my 30/06 I got better groups there than I did at .020 and .030.

As far as the XBR powder goes, I have heard that it is as good as the old 8208 powder that it was developed to replace. The original was sought after and horded by bench shooters until supplies finally dried up.

Bill

[PA-Joe]

IMR 4064 works for me.

[Toddco]

I beleive the 8208 xbr powder was developed for the smalller faster calibers, such as the 17, 20, etc. it may work well in 22-250, i found that once i tried it in 243 win almost all the other powders, 4350, rl15, 4064, etc. worked better. It is an awesome powder in small caliber though.

[Saltydog235]

So you fellows that are loading the Barnes are having better accuracy results by seating the bullet further off the lands and having a jump. I had heard that they needed the jump to imprint in the rifling due to the hardness. It just doesn't seem logical when I've always gotten better results closer to the lands.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I started my loads at .050 as suggested by Barnes. I have done zero experimenting. I've only fired enough rounds (using IMR 3031) to establish a max charge. All my rounds were in the 1 inch neighborhood at 100 yards, from starting load to max. The lower loads were a bit better, maybe 3/4", and the highest loads (which were actually embarrassingly over max) were probably more like 1 1/4. Everything in between was essentially +/- 1"

All my other loads for "traditional" bullets are closer to the lands than .050. Even there, I have done limited testing, but they all shoot 1/2-3/4 at 100 yards in all rifles.

The TSX and TTSX bullets are not, however, "traditional".

[amamnn]

Ok--for what it's worth, I've been looking at this powder for some time and testing it this past summer and fall.


IMR 8028 XBR - this powder was "pre marketed" to selected short range BR shooters a couple of years ago. The feedback as posted on the BR forums was mixed, with a lot of very positive results from users, but some vehemently negative comments from a few others. When the powder became more widely available, some of the folks who liked the samples they were given bought large quantities. Some of these folks, upon trying the production lots of 8028 then joined the vehemently negative camp and with a vengeance.

I bought some of the post first lot commercial production 8028 to try in various cartridges, mainly of the BR Remington/Norma family. Lot# 4832. My results in the 22BR rem and the 6BR Norma left a lot to be desired and eventually, I went back to N-135 to load those cartridges. Accuracy with 8028 in those loads was just too variable to be reliable in competition. So, with a few pounds left over I went to Hodgon's online load data site to see in what other cartridges that I load they liked the 8028.

I tried it in my .223 Rem and 6WSSM loads and was pretty happy with the results. I don't try to get .1 MOA results with them as with the others, but it does seem that the 8028 worked just as well in the .223 as N-135 for my use and as well as H335 in the 6WSSM, both those powders being my former favs after a lot of testing.

Since then I have talked to a lot of BR shooters here and on the internet and was told that IMR 8028 XBR appears to be oversensitive to high humidity, in its current--post testing lots. This would seem to bear out the results experienced by the bulk of the folks in the negative camp who were, like me in coastal areas, or other areas which experience high humidity. There has apparently been some radical change in the formulation since more than one pre-release tester commented on how green the powder was--one wag who hated it said he figured it was made of ground up plastic army men. My lot is the same grey that any graphite coated powder displays. When testing this powder, keep in mind that it has the general burning characteristics of a powder halfway between N-133 and N-135, being originally developed, I am told, as a more forgiving powder for the 6mm PPC, which is almost unanimously used by short range BR shooters, even though they whine about the N-133 a lot, that is the go to powder for those shooters, by far. Also, there are claims that it was an attempt to revive a legendary 8028 powder of yesteryear--another example of idiotic nostalgia in my opinion, which was supposed to make BR shooting better--like it used to be--even though we have had many, many new records set since the old powders were discontinued in favor of N-133. IMR put a number on this new powder that was the same as the old powder that was one of those examples of unobtainium-- you can't get it anymore so it was the best stuff ever made. The number is the same--the powder may actually be the same although there are older timers than me who used it and say it is not--one thing for sure is that 8028 is not a modern miracle and the only powder that works the best for you is the powder you select after testing a lot of powders and pressures and seatings and--there's no shortcut..............still.

[Jim243]

Interesting, I too bought the powder to try, but mine was IMR 8208 XBR. Works exceptionally well with 60 grain Hornady V-Max in .223 Remington. Reduced my .25 MOA groups in a Bushmaster Varminter to .10 MOA at 100 yards. Of course this is with a 24 inch barrel in 1:9 twist.


It does an excelent job in reaching max pressure for the 223, I had to drop the charge down 0.2 grains to keep it from being over pressure in my load. But, I did bump the OAL back to 2.20 inch instead of the called for 2.250 inch. So go slow, this is hot powder.


Jim

[snuffy]

My thinking is that it will flow through a progressive loader quite well. The problem with the longer stick powders is the charge variance when throwing charges with progressive loaders.

I bought a pound last Saturday, it's such a short cut extruded powder that it looks like ball powder. I plan on loading it in .223, my go-to load is the 60 V-max using surplus WC-844. I use a Hornady measure on my dillon 650. It should meter the 8208 quite well.

I'll work up the loads on my lee classic turret, then switch over to the dillon for a production run. My bushy AR has never been a tack driver, maybe this powder will make it one!

http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

http://www.imrpowder.com/new_prod.html