Lovex powder

[czgerry]

Hi currently loading for the below, looking for recommendations from the Lovex range and opinions on Lovex powders in general.
.308 18” barrel 150g sst used for hunting
.22-250 20”barrel 55g bt used for hunting and long range plinking
.260 24” barrel 123g used for target shooting 1in 9 twist

Was using h4895 in all worked well
Thanks in advance
Gerry

 

[Liveonce]

Nothing wrong with Lovex powders, they end up rebranded for lots of others makes as well and used by lots of different ammunition/cartridge manufacture.

 

[SimonWies]

Lovex Powders have Always been Good nice clean Burn

 

[Smellydog]

Is it me or does the brand name lovex make others think it is a marital aid of some kind?

 

[SimonWies]

Is it me or does the brand name lovex make others think it is a marital aid of some kind?

Only if your other half think's it could be your ex lover lol

 

[Laurie]

You'll find the maker's load tables here

https://explosia.cz/app/uploads/2016/11/reloading_Lovex_EN.pdf

Very European cartridge orientated, so 260 Rem isn't included.

There are also more data on the US Shooters World website, SW importing Explosia (Lovex) powders and bottling / distributing them under its own names in the USA.

Reload Data - Shooters World

(Use the 'Interactive Data' facility as it contains more cartridges than the other option.) It does include 260 Rem data for three UK available powders.

Single-base tubular grades all start with 'S0' and possibles for your trio of cartridges are

S060 a fast burning grade, rather faster than H4895, but usable in 308 Win / 150gn and probably 22-250. (SW doesn't do this powder, so no data in its tables)

S062 a tad slower burning than H. VarGet. Potentially suitable for all three of your cartridges. (US SW table shows this as 'SW Precision' and it has data for 22-250 and 308 Win)

S065 too slow-burning and bulky for 308 Win, usable in 22-250 and 260. (US SW table shows this as 'SW Long Rifle' and has data for 22-250 and 260 Rem)

S070 a slow-burner usually associated with the 4350s, but IME a fair bit slower burning still. Suitable only for 260 Rem. (SW4350 in the Shooters World US data)


There are also three potentially suitable ball-type double based Lovex powders:

D073.4 (AR-Plus in SW data) a fast-burner but with data for 22-250 and 308 Win.

D073.5 (No SW equivalent) Probably OK for 308 and 22-250, but a bit fast burning for 260 Rem

D073.6 (SW 'Match Rifle') might be usable in all three cartridges, but Explosia doesn't have any 260 Rem data, and SW doesn't list this one for the cartridge.

I'm very fond of the S-series tubular grades - work well and clean burning. Not temperamental.

I have used the three D-series ball powders, but a long time ago and they may have changed. I found they give high performance, but were dirty leaving a very hard coating on case-necks that tumbler cleaning won't remove (but steel pin wet tumbling would). (I'm going to try D073.5 and D073.6 in heavy bullet 223 later this year as H4895 and VarGet replacements.)

 

[czgerry]

Thanks for the replies guys Laurie in particular. It seems to be the most available powder near me

 

[Smellydog]

SO60 might be good in 30-30

 

[Laurie]

SO60 might be good in 30-30

Pretty well ideal. Great powder too for the big-bore straight case numbers like 45-70 and .458 Win Mag. Excellent in 222 and 223 Rem especially with lighter bullets, but just suitable for up to 80gn in 223.

This powder was sold both here and in the USA as Accurate Arms XMR-2015 until around 2003. It gained a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic as one of those ultra-flexible grades that do far more and can be used in far more cartridges than its position in burning rate charts would lead you to believe. (I'm sure that @Muir has also mentioned it warmly at one time or other.)

There is a new Accurate-2015 made in Canada and on sale in North America, but that isn't the same thing and it's never been imported here.

 

[Smellydog]

Pretty well ideal. Great powder too for the big-bore straight case numbers like 45-70 and .458 Win Mag. Excellent in 222 and 223 Rem especially with lighter bullets, but just suitable for up to 80gn in 223.

This powder was sold both here and in the USA as Accurate Arms XMR-2015 until around 2003. It gained a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic as one of those ultra-flexible grades that do far more and can be used in far more cartridges than its position in burning rate charts would lead you to believe. (I'm sure that @Muir has also mentioned it warmly at one time or other.)

There is a new Accurate-2015 made in Canada and on sale in North America, but that isn't the same thing and it's never been imported here.

The moment you mentioned H4895 it rang my bell.
Thank you sir for replying

 

[25 Sharps]

73.5 (similar to AA2460) is my go to powder in 25-45, very good in .308 for light lead free bullets too….

 

[treetop]

i use SO65 in 6.5 creed - ran 100 gr & now run 130 gr bullets with it - its fantastic

& I am looking to use SO60 in my .20 prac -

I belive that SO60 was branded at one point as the old AA2015 , which was used in the 223 to great success

 

[sikamalc]

Just about to try some Lovex S065 powder in my 270. Loading 150g SP bt bullets. Cant get Hodgon anymore H350.
Load data says 47.8 grains for 150g head out of a 270.

 

[JTO]

It seems to be the most available powder near me

I think Lovex and Semtex are/were both made by Explosia, so there is probably an importer in Ireland.

 

[paul o']

Have two pots of S071 more like H4831sc and n560 but it's more suitable for the likes of 30-06 etc

 

[wanderer]

I have recently done some testing for 223 69gn smk's to replace my current RL15 load due to the lack of availability of this powder.

I did a small batch of stepped loads with D073.6 ( lovex) and some rocking horse stih Varget of which i have a few tubs.

Every step load of the Varget (3 of each step) when chrono'd had a very small deviation in velocity.
The D073.6 loads had a much larger deviation in comparison.

Then i did 4 shot groups at 100yds and the Varget won hands down on each step load in terms of group size.

What a shame we cant get Varget any more..

I use D073.6 in 308 150gn sierra 2125 in a 24" CF2 and no complaints.
I use D073.6 for 55gn FMJ 223 for target shooting in an AR and all ok.
It meters consistently being a ball powder.

 

[old 30-06]

I am currently using Lovex SO60 in my 222. It has the same burn rate as Accurate 2015. I use 22.4gr of it to shoot 50gr V-MAX at 3100fps. I could go nearly a grain more and 100 fps faster, but I had a four shot wing mirror group measuring 0.232". This load is devastating on foxes.

 

[25 Sharps]

Great powders, current imports are stalling though.

 

[Muir]

I use Lovex 73.6 in my 6.5 Grendel, my 7-08, and 308. Excellent powder. I have just shy of 20 pounds on hand. It is the BEST powder I've found for the CZ Grendel: top speeds and accuracy.~Muir

 

[Foxyboy43]

I think Lovex and Semtex are/were both made by Explosia, so there is probably an importer in Ireland.

In certain quarters Semtex used to be very popular up North - thankfully it’s popularity seems to have waned….