Viht N150/.260 Remington ?

Uncle Norm

Well-Known Member
Has anyone tried N150 in the .260 Remington with 120 grain bullets ?

I understand (from PMs) that two of our members have had success with Alliant Reloder 17, which has a similar burn rate to N150 albeit slightly faster.

I fully appreciate that burn rate charts must not be used for load development.

The Viht website lists a load for N150 with the Lapua Scenar bullet in 120 grains but not with the Speer soft point 120 grains.

They state that they used an eighteen and three quarter inch test barrel for some loads but others marked with an * used a longer barrel.

The shorter test-barrel load figures seem rather high velocity for what I have been getting in a 20 inch barrel with Sierra 120 grain Prohunters and 44.5 grains of N160, which average at 2,721 fps. Speer's max is 45 grains of N160.

Whilst the 2,721 fps with a 120 grain bullet and a 1.25 inch group is plenty good enough for my stalking needs, I like to have a good trial of various components before settling on a load and sticking with it.
 
Norm, N150 should be a good fit for the 120gr / 260rem. I did try N160 in my 260 early on, it was only "OK - ish". Velocity was not great, nor was accuracy, I gave it up as too slow.

Your load of 44.5gr of N160 seems very mild to me, and your velocity numbers support that view. I would use the Viht N150 load data for a 120gr scenar without concern with any other 120gr bullet bar a monolithic copper bullet such as Barnes.

My 260 was maxed out with 43.5gr of Reloder 17. In theory, Re17 is a little quick for a 260, it sits between N140 and N150, and case fill was poor, but it worked extremely well and I never felt the need to change it.

Without looking up data, something in the 44gr - maybe 45gr - region of N150 should work well. The Chronograph is your friend keep a good eye on it, 2900 is possible with the 120gr / 260rem, but if you are getting good accuracy in the mid 2800's FPS, I would stop there and call it good.
 
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Interestingly Brian, your .260rem is shooting very nicely with 44gr rl17 and 123gr bullets. Also shoots well with 45gr (just not quite as well as 44gr) with no obvious pressure signs. I am using lapua .260 brass, neck sized and seating 10 thou off the lands. Had to totally redevelop the load upon buying new brass. 45gr RL17 gives 2883fps ave. 43.2gr gave 2765fps and I suspect 44gr should be circa 2815fps.
 
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I've got a tub I could let you have a bit out of to try it if ya want foc, and what's more although I'm away next week the following week at some point I'll be down your way meeting jager as he's recrowning my 6.5 and I'll be picking it up so meet me with a tub and bobs ya auntie.
Regards
Jimmy
 
Don't use 44-45gn N150 with 120-123gn class bullets in 260. Those loads are way too hot. 260 Rem is heavily affected by throat length and bore dimensions (as with all cartridges), also with bullet bearing lengths so there can be a significant difference in pressures between a long 120/123gn match bullet and a short PSP type. In a competition rifle set up for the 123s, I run 40.5gn N150 and that is 'hot', also 1.3gn heavier than Viht's max for the 123gn Scenar match. An expanding sporter bullet generating lower in-barrel friction and pressures may allow higher charges, but start low in the 36-37gn range and work up.

Viht N150 is not a forgiving powder in this application - a 0.2/0.3gn charge weight increase can take you from an apparently happy load with easy bolt lift and good case life to a leaking or blown primer. Beware!

Don't even think of comparisons with Alliant Re17 (aka Reload Swiss RS60, this being the Swiss powder repackaged in a different bottle). The RS 'EI' technology propellants use a very advanced 'deterrent' infusion process that totally changes their burning characteristics. Re17/RS60 is also a 'high-energy' type which has nitroglycerine added to its base nitrocellulose grains and this again changes the burn characteristics and pressure build-up substantially. The nearest Viht propellant isn't N150, but the quite different NG modified N550 which can accept considerably higher charge weights. Reload Swiss RS62, a 'traditional single-base' type to use Reload Swiss's own words is closer to the 4350s and N150/N160 in this cartridge and likely allows higher charges and MVs than N150 safely, although load data are very limited for this range so far.
 
Maybe Refer to 260 load data on the Nosler site.?

FWIW - I have used the RL15 recipe given here for 120 NBT, the results from my rifle are exactly as predicted in terms of velocity, and accuracy on paper is less than .5 MOA consistently.
 
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I've got a tub I could let you have a bit out of to try it if ya want foc, and what's more although I'm away next week the following week at some point I'll be down your way meeting jager as he's recrowning my 6.5 and I'll be picking it up so meet me with a tub and bobs ya auntie.
Regards
Jimmy
Thank you for the kind offer Jimmy. I have half a tub of N150, which was one of the reasons for my question.
You are welcome to call in on your journey for a cuppa though. Junct 16 A1(M) is only just over a mile from me.
Thanks again.
 
Has anyone tried N150 in the .260 Remington with 120 grain bullets ? ..

No, and I don't have any plans to. I've worked away with N160 and 123 gr A-Max for 2+ years and have a satisfactory performance with Nosler brass and ~44.8 gr N160 at present. This recipe seems to work for me in both my long throated 260 Rem and short throated 260 Rem.

Regards

JCS
 
Interestingly Brian, your .260rem is shooting very nicely with 44gr rl17 and 123gr bullets. Also shoots well with 45gr (just not quite as well as 44gr) with no obvious pressure signs. I am using lapua .260 brass, neck sized and seating 10 thou off the lands. Had to totally redevelop the load upon buying new brass. 45gr RL17 gives 2883fps ave. 43.2gr gave 2765fps and I suspect 44gr should be circa 2815fps.

Interesting Tim. I always used resized Lapua and Norma 243 brass, wonder if that accounts for the difference?
 
Thank you for the kind offer Jimmy. I have half a tub of N150, which was one of the reasons for my question.
You are welcome to call in on your journey for a cuppa though. Junct 16 A1(M) is only just over a mile from me.
Thanks again.
Not a problem and thanks for the offer of a cuppa, if time permits i may well take you up on that.
Regards
Jimmy
 
Interesting Tim. I always used resized Lapua and Norma 243 brass, wonder if that accounts for the difference?

Perhaps so. When I finally managed to resize some Federal .243 to .260, I loaded it with 44 grains N160 and 120 grain Sierra Prohunter. This gave 50 fps faster than the identical load in a new Lapua .260 case. Shot well and no signs of excess pressure.
 
No, and I don't have any plans to. I've worked away with N160 and 123 gr A-Max for 2+ years and have a satisfactory performance with Nosler brass and ~44.8 gr N160 at present. This recipe seems to work for me in both my long throated 260 Rem and short throated 260 Rem.

Regards

JCS
Thanks JCS.
Having just read Laurie's comments at #5 above, I am rapidly loosing interest in the N150 :eek:. I am not very 'brave' (nor stupid) when it comes to cooking up hot loads i.e. I don't do it.
What velocity to you get and what length of barrel please ?
Would you mind sharing your deer load too ?
Best regards.
 
Maybe Refer to 260 load data on the Nosler site.?

FWIW - I have used the RL15 recipe given here for 120 NBT, the results from my rifle are exactly as predicted in terms of velocity, and accuracy on paper is less than .5 MOA consistently.
Thanks. I have had a look at their site and well worth it.

I also had a look on North Florida Shooting site, who have Sierra #5 manual loads posted. They give 39.5 grains of N150 maximum for the 120 grain Sierra bullet that I am currently trying. Velocity 2,800 fps. Probably a longer barrel than my 20 inch sporter used for test too.
 
Using N150 in my 24" barrel sako with 95 gr v-max couldn't wish for a better load so far taken it out to 250 meters with outstanding results planing to go to 350 sometime in the next few weeks anyone using 100 gr A-max ?I haven't had time to work on a load yet
 
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