Vihtavuori N100 Rifle
Vihtavuori N140
Vihtavuori's most versatile mid-range rifle powder, covering everything from .223 up to magnums across hunting and sport shooting. They frame it as an accuracy choice rather than a maximum-velocity one.
The bottom rung of the workhorse ladder and Vihtavuori's most versatile rifle powder: .308, .30-06, .223, 6.5x55, and it will even work in a magnum. Vihtavuori frames it as an accuracy powder rather than a velocity powder, and that is honest, since you will not win a speed contest with it but you will get consistent groups. It also meters unusually well for an extruded powder. Price used to be the objection; the gap has narrowed, and availability is now better than the popular American extruded powders.
- .308 Winchester match
- .30-06 Springfield
- 6.5x55 SE
- heavy-bullet .223
Who has Vihtavuori N140 today
Checked October 10In stock at 1 store — lowest in hand $49.30/lb (8 lb at Graf & Sons)
| Store | Size | Shelf | In hand /lb | Stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 8 lb | $356.99 | $49.30 | In stock ↗ |
| Graf & Sons$23.50 hazmat per package | 1 lb | $54.99 | $92.44 | In stock ↗ |
| Lohman ArmsHazmat charged, amount not published | 8 lb | $259.99 | $36.43 est. | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 8 lb | $328.99 | $46.99 | Out |
| Bruno Shooters Supply$26.95 hazmat + $19.95 ship | 1 lb | $48.99 | $95.89 | Out |
“In hand” is the shelf price plus that store’s hazmat fee and shipping, spread over one container. Stock is checked once a day — confirm on the store’s page before ordering. Compare all powders →
Official Vihtavuori load data →
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Vihtavuori |
|---|---|
| Product family | Vihtavuori N100 Rifle |
| Status | Currently produced |
| Application | rifle |
| Grain form | extruded |
| Lee VMD (bulk density) | 0.0733 cc per grain · 0.88 g/cc |
| Composition | single-base |
| Burn-rate position | 127 of 198 (fastest = 1) — what this means |
| Typical cartridges | 308 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, 223 Remington, 6.5x55 SE, 375 H&H Magnum |
Grain shape
Symmetrical single-perforated tube: as the perforation grows the outside shrinks, so burning surface stays roughly level and pressure builds smoothly. Thinnest web in the N140, N150, N160 ladder, meaning the same recipe with less wall to burn through.
Why geometry decides burn rate more than chemistry does: Shape Is the Product.
Vihtavuori highlights the grain geometry and graphite coating as making it meter easily in progressive and volumetric equipment.
Burn rate
Mid-scale rifle powder; on Vihtavuori's chart it falls just ahead of N540 and N150.
Chart agreement: consistent across charts - listed in the same relative neighbourhood by every publisher that carries it Ranked by: Hodgdon, Vihtavuori, Shooters World, Wolfe/LoadData.
Powders charted near it — neighbours on the chart are not substitutes, and adjacency tells you nothing about what charge either one takes:
- Alliant Reloder 15 (position 124)
- Norma 203-B (position 125)
- Shooters World Match Rifle (position 126)
- Shooters World Precision Rifle (position 128)
- Hodgdon Varget (position 129)
- Winchester 748 (position 130)
What reloaders say about it
Unverified community anecdote. The following is a summary of what handloaders report in public forums. It is not manufacturer information, it has not been tested, it may be wrong, and it contains no load data by design. Treat it as colour, not guidance.
Vihtavuori's rifle powders occupy an interesting position: users describe them as consistently available and consistently excellent, with the historic objection being price rather than performance. Several posters report deliberately switching to VV after being unable to source Hodgdon or IMR powders, and reporting no regrets.
- reputation for consistency and clean burning
- historically the expensive option; users report the price gap has narrowed as everything else went up
- notably better reported availability than the popular Hodgdon extruded powders
- adopted by users as a scarcity refuge
Availability: Repeatedly described as 'always on the shelf' relative to Varget and H4350, and users report VV pricing rising less steeply than competitors'.
Consensus level: commonly held. Drawn from thread 1, thread 2, thread 3.
Sources
The specifications above come from Vihtavuori's own published documentation, linked below. The two “RCM's read” sections are ours, not theirs — our assessment of what this powder is like to load, drawn from its published characteristics and from what handloaders consistently report. No manufacturer endorses them and no source below backs them. If you think we have one wrong, tell us — we would rather fix it.