Some here may remember Winchester 452AA powder and that when Winch. discontinued it Hodgdon bought all their remaining exiting inventory and sold it under Trap 100 till it was depleted and then it was gone forever.......I've never shot any and can't verify it but I've read that WST comes close.
Although originally designed as a shotgun powder, back in the day (80's & 90's) 452AA was the powder to use in IPSC in the 45ACP and I've shot a bunch of it in my 1911's and I still have two unopened one pound bottles of Trap 100 and a partial can of 452AA that are over thirty years old.
I've got other suitable powders on hand for .44 Mag but I got a wild hair and went looking for actual printed data for 452AA / Trap100 to use with Hornady 240 gr. XTP's in the .44 Mag 7.5" Redhawk that I purchased back in May and found some in the older Speer #11 manual noted below.
10" test barrel.....Min. 12.5 grs........1197FPS
10" test barrel.....Max. 13.5 grs........1205FPS
Monday evening, using powder from the partial can of 452AA and splitting the difference between the min. & max., I loaded 50 rounds at 13.0 grs with Winch. std / mag primers and took them to the range early yesterday morning and fired them on bags at paper hung at 25 yards. After I fired a wheel full, adjusted the sights and got settled down, I was able to keep all the rounds in the bull........satisfied I then was ready for a little play time and I went to work hammering the steel plates.
Right now I don't have any intentions of using the Redhawk for hunting but I figure it will make a good 25+ yd plinking round.
Moral of this story ?........don't be afraid to think out of the box or try older components if they've been properly indoor stored and there is printed data available.
Although originally designed as a shotgun powder, back in the day (80's & 90's) 452AA was the powder to use in IPSC in the 45ACP and I've shot a bunch of it in my 1911's and I still have two unopened one pound bottles of Trap 100 and a partial can of 452AA that are over thirty years old.
I've got other suitable powders on hand for .44 Mag but I got a wild hair and went looking for actual printed data for 452AA / Trap100 to use with Hornady 240 gr. XTP's in the .44 Mag 7.5" Redhawk that I purchased back in May and found some in the older Speer #11 manual noted below.
10" test barrel.....Min. 12.5 grs........1197FPS
10" test barrel.....Max. 13.5 grs........1205FPS
Monday evening, using powder from the partial can of 452AA and splitting the difference between the min. & max., I loaded 50 rounds at 13.0 grs with Winch. std / mag primers and took them to the range early yesterday morning and fired them on bags at paper hung at 25 yards. After I fired a wheel full, adjusted the sights and got settled down, I was able to keep all the rounds in the bull........satisfied I then was ready for a little play time and I went to work hammering the steel plates.
Right now I don't have any intentions of using the Redhawk for hunting but I figure it will make a good 25+ yd plinking round.
Moral of this story ?........don't be afraid to think out of the box or try older components if they've been properly indoor stored and there is printed data available.
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