Dupont 5066

[Grampa]

I've been given a couple of pounds of Dupont 5066, and am looking for some load info for it. I'd like to use it for either 45 ACP or 9MM Parabellum. So far I haven't found any load tables for this old powder. (The stuff I was given was in unopened containers, and it looks and smells fine.) I'll probably want to use it with 115 gr. plated bullets in the 9MM, or standard 230 gr. FMJ in the 45 ACP. Does anyone have any load data for either? Is there an equivalent powder I can use for a starting point?

 

[Jim Watson]

duPont data, as reprinted in 1964 Handloader's Digest:

.45 ACP, 230 gr FMJ + 5.7 gr 5066 = 830 fps MAXIMUM
.300" seating depth (case length + bullet length - seating depth = OAL)


NRA Handloader's Guide, 1969 edition
data from H.P. White Laboratory

9mm P, 116 gr Norma FMJ + 4.5 gr 5066 = 1102 fps @ 30,838 psi
(Really CUP by current testing and terminology.)
1.15" OAL

 

[Grampa]

Thanks, Jim! I tried the 9MM load, and it works very well. I'm especially pleased how accurately it meters and how clean it left the gun. I only loaded and shot 35 rounds, but it left very little soot and no unburned powder. And, it fills the case. Too bad I have only a couple pounds.

 

[Jim Watson]

Yes, by all accounts it was a fine powder. There are dedicated old time target shooters scrounging all they can find to maintain their proven loads.