44-40 Replacement Powders

[Bryan Austin]

I know this may be a sticky subject, with reloading manuals and such but.....

I have recently been looking at "slower burning" replacement powders for the 44-40 rifle cartridge. As powders get harder and harder to find, new types seems to be on the shelves.

I am making the following list and am looking for some insight....

The current burn rate chart can be found in the back of Lyman's 51st edition. Everything I load centers around Reloder 7 as the slowest rifle powder I use in the 44-40 cartridge. I may try LT-32 if I find it local.

68 Accurate LT-32
67 Alliant Reloder 7
66 Hodgdon CFE Black
65 Accurate LT-30
64 Vihta Vuori N133
63 Hodgdon H-4198
62 IMR-4198
61 Alliant Power Pro 1200-R
60 Hodgdon Lil'Gun
59 Accurate 1680
58 Vihta Vuori N130
57 Accurate 5744
56 Hodgdon H-4227
55 IMR-4227

[RoyceP]

I have a couple pounds of Dupont IMR 4227 (not the more recent Hodgdon version), in 44 WCF I find it is just OK - often there is unburned powder kernels. In 357 Magnum it works very well but in lower pressure cartridges it tends to be dirty.  Note - it may work better in rifles, my testing has been in several revolvers.

[Bryan Austin]

I have a couple pounds of Dupont IMR 4227 (not the more recent Hodgdon version), in 44 WCF I find it is just OK - often there is unburned powder kernels. In 357 Magnum it works very well but in lower pressure cartridges it tends to be dirty.  Note - it may work better in rifles, my testing has been in several revolvers.

Yes, in my chart above, anything faster than IMR-4227 would be best used in revolvers while anything between IMR-4227 and Reloder 7 is best used in rifles.

IMR-4227 is what I used for the High Velocity strong action rifle loads, where it burns and performs best!

[Slamfire]

Been asleep in the saddle. Have been loading IMR 4198 22.5gn.-WLRP-.215-.218gn. -10-12 BHN-427098 Lyman- lubed & PC'd- .428-.429 Using my 92 Rossi x 24", load clocks at 1320+fps. very accurate load.
  I also use this load in my 40-60 wcf (chapparal) .215-.218gn. 403168 Lyman. (Federal primers drops FPS 100+ fps.)
 I enjoy your post and always learn something from them.

   coffee's ready,, Hootmix.

 

[44 Richard]

I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I'm looking seriously to using CFE Black in this round. Like you, all I use at this time is RL7. Using starline brass, 25.2g powder and a 206g Missouri bullets RNFP sized at 0.430 and crimped with a Redding profile die. I'm seeing ~1300-1350 fps from my Uberti '73 24" barrel.
Since RL7 is an extruded powder, it doesn't meter well through the powder measure on my Dillon 550b and I have to trickle each one by hand. CFE Black is a fine ball powder that meters VERY well and consistently for me...I use the stuff for a .458 SOCOM round in an AR platform (best pig gun ever) to good effect. Has anybody tried it yet?