Winchester 572 powder usage.....

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Bob Wright

Hawkeye
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
7,686
Location
Memphis, TN USA
Some time back I bought some Winchester 572 powder on a lark. This is a new (to me) ball powder on the slow burning side. So, why not try it?

I as at the range Saturday with cartridges using this powder. In .44 Magnum I had the 240 gr. coated (Missouri Bullet Co.) SWC and both 8.5 and 10.0 grains of 752; in .45 Colt useing a 255 gr. SWC of the same source and also coated, with 7.3 grs. of 572.

I don't shoot as well now as I once did, but 10.0 grs in the .44 is around 1,000 f.p.s. and at fifteen yards twenty five rounds made one jagged hole in the paper maybe centered slightly to the right of the bulls eye. Recoil was very mild with noticeable flash out to the side. All in all, a very pleasant .44 Magnum target round.

The .45 Colt load was a real sweet shooting thing. Almost imperceptible recoil, equally accurate, and very, very pleasant shooting. Estimated velocity maybe 850~ 900 f.p.s.

All in all, very satisfying day at the range, after a satisfying day at the loading bench.

As a matter of interest, I've also used some Winchester 244, but so far seems very close to Winchester 231, a coin toss between the two.

Bob Wright
 

Flyover_Country

Bearcat
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
62
I was looking back in my old archives of reloading manuals thinking that WW572 was an old powder like WW571. Nope, it's new, just like WW244. Out of an 8 3/8" bbl (S&W M29/M629) according to Winchester's online data for a 240 grain cast LSWC, minimum is 9.5 grains for 1168 fps and maximum is 11.4 grains for 1327 fps. It looks to be fairly similar to Blue Dot or IMR 800X but since it is a ball powder, will meter much better. 800X meters about as well as Wheaties. I suspect with you getting 1000 fps from 10.0 grains and having muzzle flash with a medium-slow burn rate powder, than your barrel is probably no longer than 6."

If you've ever used 2400, is there more flash from 572 than there is a decent load of 2400? 2400 for me seems to be quite "flashy."
 

Bob Wright

Hawkeye
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
7,686
Location
Memphis, TN USA
Flyover_Country said:
I was looking back in my old archives of reloading manuals thinking that WW572 was an old powder like WW571. Nope, it's new, just like WW244. Out of an 8 3/8" bbl (S&W M29/M629) according to Winchester's online data for a 240 grain cast LSWC, minimum is 9.5 grains for 1168 fps and maximum is 11.4 grains for 1327 fps. It looks to be fairly similar to Blue Dot or IMR 800X but since it is a ball powder, will meter much better. 800X meters about as well as Wheaties. I suspect with you getting 1000 fps from 10.0 grains and having muzzle flash with a medium-slow burn rate powder, than your barrel is probably no longer than 6."

If you've ever used 2400, is there more flash from 572 than there is a decent load of 2400? 2400 for me seems to be quite "flashy."

Can't say as to muzzle flash, but there is generous flash at the barrel/cylinder gap. Not quite as much as 2400, but it is there.

Bob Wright
 

Biggfoot44

Blackhawk
Joined
Sep 6, 2009
Messages
829
* Similar Thread Necro Revival *

W572 is substantially similar to Blue Dot in Speed and usages .
 
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