sr4756 powder

[Tommy Kelly]

I had a friend give me a 5lb can of sr4756 powder and was wondering if anyone used this powder. I load for about all pistol cal's and found a couple of loads using this powder in a loadbook for the 45 colt. I would like to find some more uses for this powder in other cal's if possible

 

[63November]

Get ahold of one of those old IMR Smokeless reloaders guides that Dupont/IMR used to publish. They had just about any imaginable application for every one of their powders.

 

[Rusty W]

I have a pound I've been meaning to try. I just haven't yet. Hodgdon has data on line. http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

 

[Snake45]

I shot five or six pounds of it in .45ACP and .38 back in the '80s. Always worked well for me but then I discovered WW231, which I liked even better. Prolly wouldn't buy any more 4756 but I wouldn't hesitate to load it up and shoot it if someone gave me a bunch of it. Have fun!

 

[K. Funk]

I have used it in .44-40 and have been very pleased. I have about 2 lb sitting around. I'm sure it would work well in .44 Special as well.

krf

 

[sluggo]

I tried my first reloads in my 44 mag last night and SR4756 won the first round. I was shooting 240gr Hornady XTP's with the following powder charges and 50 yard group sizes.

14.0 gr BlueDot 2.12" 4 shots
10.1 gr Unique (horrible, didn't bother to measure)
18.0 gr 2400 1.33" 4 shots
10.7 gr 231 2.00" 4 shots
13.0 gr SR4756 1.09" 4 shots
23.0 gr H110 1.79" 4 shots

 

[bub]

If you go to the S&W forum and search their reloading section for "THE LOAD", you will find all sorts of interesting discussion on a load for .38+P using SR4756. Allegedly, "THE LOAD" approached .357 velocities using .38 cases, so it is HOT. The loads came from an older (1973, I want to say, bit I can't remember for sure) loading manual and, according to that manual, is a suggested defensive load for short-barreled .38 revolvers. All my current revolvers are .357, so it's not that big of a deal to me, but I'm eager to try it out.....once I get some SR4756.

DISCLAIMER- No one but YOU is responsible for using load data obtained from the Internet. The listed SR4756 load is HOT!!! Use at your own risk! Also, I DO NOT condone using reloads for defensive purposes, as the manual referenced did. I suggest using factory ammo ONLY for defensive use and keep the empty box for the "lot number" data in case of a defensive shooting.

Bub

 

[Snake45]

The loads came from an older (1973, I want to say, bit I can't remember for sure) loading manual and, according to that manual, is a suggested defensive load for short-barreled .38 revolvers.

Bub

I believe at about the same time, Jeff Cooper was touting an SR4756 load for .38. IIRC it was in the annual reloading issue (February or March) of Shooting Times in 1973 or 1974.

I'll have to see if I can find that. :wink:

 

[bub]

Snake45, if you go over to the S&W forum (I think it's www.smith-wessonforum.com they did an upgrade a few months back and now I can't log in) and search the reloading forum for "THE LOAD", you will get lots of threads on it. In one of the threads, there is a link to a website where the owner scanned the relevant pages of the loading manual and it is available. I saved the pages for when I finally scrounge up some SR4756 but I don't feel right posting them since the other guy went to the trouble to do it already and the info isn't mine.

Erich, a member there, is a great proponent of "THE LOAD" and several members there have used it in even steel-framed snubbies, with no apparent ill-effects. IIRC, there were some members who used limited amounts in alloy-framed snubbies, too, but the reports were that "THE LOAD" was VERY unpleasant out of the alloy-framed guns. Do some looking, have fun but BE CAREFUL!

Bub

 

[J Miller]

Here you go:
http://www.bbhfarm.com/gallery/album06?page=1

Pauls added a lot more stuff since I've been there last.

Joe

 

[ChuckS1]

Snake45, if you go over to the S&W forum (I think it's www.smith-wessonforum.com they did an upgrade a few months back and now I can't log in) and search the reloading forum for "THE LOAD", you will get lots of threads on it. In one of the threads, there is a link to a website where the owner scanned the relevant pages of the loading manual and it is available. I saved the pages for when I finally scrounge up some SR4756 but I don't feel right posting them since the other guy went to the trouble to do it already and the info isn't mine.

Erich, a member there, is a great proponent of "THE LOAD" and several members there have used it in even steel-framed snubbies, with no apparent ill-effects. IIRC, there were some members who used limited amounts in alloy-framed snubbies, too, but the reports were that "THE LOAD" was VERY unpleasant out of the alloy-framed guns. Do some looking, have fun but BE CAREFUL!

Bub

I used THE LOAD in my Outdoorsman. Believe me, if you go with this, start 20% (not 10%) below and work up in not more than .2 grain increments. I had major pressure signs before I even got to the recommended load - flattened and pierced primers, as starters. But it was fun... . Remember, I was using an N frame revolver. No way I'd use it in a K or J frame.

 

[Snake45]

Okay, I found the source I was thinking of: August 1973 issue Shooting Times (I had the right year, wrong month), "Favorite Handloads of the Top Handgunners," by Skeeter Skelton.

Jeff Cooper (if you don't know who he is, shame on you!) says:

"The .38 Spl. I consider this cartridge to be a two-inch-barrel-only proposition. In a snubby I like a 160-grain lead SWC and either five grains of Red Dot or 8.5 grains of SR4756, to break 1000 fps. Such a load is hard on the gun, but you don't get something for nothing. For a policeman who is forced to use a .38 Spl. but can go to a six-inch barrel on his duty gun, I suggest the Speer 146-grain JHP and 10 grains of SR4756, for 1300 fps. This is an overlooked combination that gets the tired old .38 up into low-end .357 performance."

I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS INFORMATION, WHICH I REPEAT HERE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

Are those anything like THE LOAD?

 

[comanche]

I have used sr4756 in 38spl, 45colt, and 45acp.

I like it very much in the 45acp and I am using loads in the 6.8 - 7.2gr range with 230gr LRN and 230gr TCBB in my Springfield 1911 V-10.
I think it is a good powder and I feel that I will use it often.
It will most likely have a permanent spot on the shelf along side of my HS-6.

I haven't done any serious load development with 38spl and 45colt, but I plan to start sometime after hunting season.
Right now it's Doves doves doves.

 

[firescout]

In the '80s, I used SR4756 for max loading in .45 ACP. Now that I don't have anymore .45 ACP guns, I've been using what's left (powder) for some mid-range .44 Mag loads for 240 gr bullets. The loads seem to be acceptably accurate for plinking at 100 yds w/ my Marlin levergun.

 

[ChuckS1]

"THE LOAD" is the starting load for SR-4756 with a 158 grain SWC on this page.

http://www.bbhfarm.com/gallery/album10/aal

Like i said, I started 20% below that and by the time I got to the charge weight, I already had pierced primers (I was using Remington SP) and had to switch to Winchester SP). If you look at later editions of the Speer manual, you'll see that this load (at least at this level( is no longer listed.

 

[Snake45]

"THE LOAD" is the starting load for SR-4756 with a 158 grain SWC on this page.

http://www.bbhfarm.com/gallery/album10/aal

Like i said, I started 20% below that and by the time I got to the charge weight, I already had pierced primers (I was using Remington SP) and had to switch to Winchester SP). If you look at later editions of the Speer manual, you'll see that this load (at least at this level( is no longer listed.

Good heavens! The 4756 loads on that page are 50 fps faster than anything else on the page! And aren't the Speer 158s soft swaged bullets? Cazart! :shock:

 

[ChuckS1]

I used my own cast bullets with straight wheelweight alloy. No leading and actually it was pretty accurate at 25 yards, but not a load I would want to shoot in a little .38.

 

[bub]

Sorry, guys, the link that ChuckS1 posted was not "THE LOAD" as popularized by Erich and the rest at the S&W forum. "THE LOAD" is here.....

http://www.bbhfarm.com/gallery/album10/aan

.....under the "158gr Speer lead SWC" heading (right page) under "Defense loads in 2" barrel .38 Special revolvers". I remember because I specifically asked Erich if that was the one and he, and the rest, verified that it was. And yes, the first digit of the load is "8". Seems HOT, HOT, HOT, but like I said, I have only .357 revolvers right now and look forward to trying it out.

Again, use at your own risk, not responsible for kB!s, etc.

Bub

 

[ChuckS1]

Okay, I'm confused.

My link was to 8.0 grains of SR4756 and a 158 grain SWC and you said I was wrong. But then, you pointed us to the "correct" load, on another page of the same Speer #8, which was, 8.0 grains of SR4756 and a 158 grain SWC. So, other than the barrel velocity, what's different?

 

[bub]

ChuckS1, my apologies. When I clicked on your link, I saw the SR7625 in the right column, which starts with 5.0gr. My dyslexia, or whatever, kicked in and I assumed that, since it was an SR powder, it was SR4756. I just looked in your link again and the load for SR4756 is, indeed, the one referenced for "THE LOAD". Again, my apologies for not reading the entire page.

Bub