The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Norma powder came back on the market a year or two ago but it seems to have not been very popular. A local shop to me stocked it but he said it did not sell very well and he will not be getting any more. He has three tubs left that he has had for a year. I have used Norma 203-B in 7.65x53mm with a Federal primer and it shot very well.
Has anyone used Norma powder and thoughts on why it has not sold well? Is it lack of shops stocking it so intermittent supply or just other powders doing the same job just as well? The chap at the shop said he can sell Vihtavuori all day long, Hodgdon sold well until most of it went off the market and Alliant has taken up a bit of the slack from Hodgdon. I would be interested to know what make of powders people here use most and why.
Regards
Peter

Norma R1 in 38 Spl was very good for target shooting from my Revolvers back in the day

I use Vihtavuori N140 and N120 as it is very good in the calibre I reload and it is easy for me to get hold of locally.I have used Ramshot Big Game and Reloader-15 in the past but it meant travelling further to get it and often they weren't in stock when I wanted them.

I only reload 7.62x54r and N140 powder was originally developed for the 7,62x53R cartridge for the Finnish Army in the early years of Vihtavuori’s history so it is the ideal powder for my needs with FMJ bullets and I use N120 for a cast bullet load for two of my old M91 Mosina's.

.308 = N140
.223 = Ramshot Tac (although when i've got some spare time I plan on trying N140)
.38 = N320
.45LC = Ramshot True Blue

Hand loaders are mostly a conservative bunch and once they have found something that works then they like to stick with it. The other thing is that over the years we have been plagued by intermittent supply so finding a good load a with a readily available powder is also of importance when developing loads. No point in working up a good load with a new powder only to find that you cannot get it.

Vihtavuori have been one of the stayers in the market, that combined with it being good powder, not that I can say I have ever found a bad powder just some a bit more appropriate for my application, which has made it a powder of choice for many hand loaders.

I used to be an Hercules (now Alliant) powder devotee and there was a time when that along with ICI/Nobel were the only powders you could get but when the supply became intermittent I moved onto Vihtavuori and never looked back.

I have an eclectic range of powders that I like to play with for shites and giggles but my banked loads are all Vihtavuori.