That DP-68 powder......

[glenn asher]

I went to the range today,(only about the second or third time this summer), and one of my buddies showed up sporting some loads with DP-68, shooting them in his new 12 FV-S Savage (he has other rifles, too, but he just about "stole" this one, new, for $369). He's leaving in a couple of days for Colorado, and some PD shooting. He shot some 40VMs pretty well, using 24.5 of DP-68, and 25gr of same with 32VMs. I didn't take any pictures of his groups, as the range was getting busy and there wasn't time. He was pleased at the MOPD (minute of prairie dog) sized groups, so he gave the powder two thumbs up. I had to concur, they'll do what he wants them to do. . He's not too fussy about such matters, I'm not, either.

We also tried some of the 34 Dogtowns I had loaded with 27.3 Benchmark, and both our rifles shot them acceptably well (5/8") which will, of course, kill lots of stuff. I think we get too serious sometimes, these are ratkillin' rifles, after all, and if they shoot good enough to kill rats...............
For those who don't know, Data Powder #68 is a bulk powder sold by Accurate Arms, in eight pound jugs only, for cheap dollars ($75, less than $10/lb!) and it's very similar to 2015, maybe a tad slower. Considering the jump in bullet/primer costs here lately, it makes sense to investigate alternatives, especially if you're shooting large numbers of rounds. If you can find it, it might be worth a try. It'll work in any situation 2015 is suitable for, according to Accurate Arms. It's a limited time thing, though, so snatch it while you can, it's not a regular canister product.

[hoegebear]

I've had excellent results with data 68. I'm not loading hot,as I bought my xr-100, after I came back from my spring pd hunt in 2006. I was taking my son and grandson out for the first time in the summer, which ended up being July 8th,(the earliest they could go due to other commitments),so I knew it would be very hot, and needed to load down a little. I started low, and when I reached 24 gr (40 gr v-max), and 24.5 gr (32 gr v-max), I was getting 3/16 in. 3 shot groups at 100 yds. No signs of pressure, so stopped right there. A very unexpected bonus, both loads shoot to the exact point of aim. I have never had this happen before. So I can switch from 32 to 40, and not have to rezero. Well, it was hot out in sd alright. 108, 106, & 98. I did have signs of pressure in my 22-250 over 100 degrees, so stopped shooting that. Anyway, those loads shot so well, and just devestated the pds, I just loaded the same loads this spring. I haven't even cronoed them yet, but happy with the load. I'll probably mess with it some more before next spring just to see what I get. The bad thing is Natchez is out of d 68 now. Glad I bought 2 jugs. Jim

[glenn asher]

Thanks, all that is good to know, since I have had a jug of the stuff sitting around since last fall, and haven't done much of anything with it. I'll try your recipes and Doug's, too, and see which my rifles favor, so I can get some use out of it. Again, thanks for the data, it's pretty sparse for that stuff.