My intro to AA#5

[RealGun]

I will be loading 32 H&R Magnum and 32 S&W Long for the first time shortly, maybe today. I noted that the potent load efficiency for the H&R comes with use of AA#5 among others. I have a pound of it that I bought as what has become a "collection" of various powders, so will be trying 3.5 gr with 100 gr LRNFP for the H&R. I skipped the coating on this bullet, because it runs perfectly for me without leading in my 327 Federal Magnum load (11.0 gr AA#9).

For the 32 S&W Long I have chosen to go with 3.0 gr of Bullseye with a 78 gr MO coated LRN.

I have a few hundred 85 gr Hornady XTP, if I ever find a need to make SD or hunting ammo, but I expect only the H&R can approach the velocities required for XTP expansion. For those, I think I will crack open my lone pound of Red Dot, 3.5 gr most likely.

 

[41 Mag]

Realgun,

I think your going to find that you like it.

I use it in a lot of loads that would similarly use Unique. It meters SO well and has such a low flash signature it works out fine for mid power hunting loads as well as nice target loads too.

 

[RealGun]

Test load of 3.5 gr for 100g LRNFP in 32 H&R worked nicely and allowed me to score well on the target. I can say more when I have more than 12 rounds to test.

 

[entropy]

AA#5 is my go-to powder. Unique & Bullseye are my 'can't find any AA#5 data' powders; I will confess I prefer Bullseye in my .38Spl. loads.

 

[ljnowell]

I use AA#5 exclusively in 380 auto and 40S&W lead loads. It's a fantastic powder.

 

[LiveLife]

ljnowell, now you got me wanting to test #5 for 40S&W.

Anyone done any comparison testing with #5/Herco/BE-86 for 40S&W?

 

[gunlaw]

Yep AA#5 is my go to pwder for 40 s&w. Also works great in 45 acp. Problem is that I haven't seen any for sale in the st. Louis area in quite some time

 

[ljnowell]

ljnowell, now you got me wanting to test #5 for 40S&W.

Anyone done any comparison testing with #5/Herco/BE-86 for 40S&W?

It really has worked out great for me. I use the Missouri Bullet 180 grain TC bullet and a load right smack in the middle of the load data out there. It's a very mild recoiling load that shoots very accurate out if the three different 40S&W pistols I have shot it in.

I would have to look up the OAL but the charge weight I used was 5.6 grains of AA#5.

 

[Slamfire]

Perhaps this post will be worthless as you are looking for AA#5 data in the 32 S&W Long. My load testing was with Bullseye and Unique, but in case this might prove helpful, this is what I did.

I had a hard time finding decent cast lead bullet information on the 32S&W Long. I looked through my reloading manuals and did not find any significant information on the 98 grain bullet and the 32 S&W Long. If there was data, it was with Bullseye. The bullets I used were commercial cast, and were two grain heavier than 98 grains, the difference is inconsequential for me. The bullet is a round nose with a flattened tip.

I chronographed factory ammunition as a guide.

I found factory equivalent ammunition (2.25 grs Bullseye) to be so mild that after shooting 1000 rounds of it, I shot 1000 rounds of 2.5 grains Bullseye. Nothing evil happened to my pistol, that is still a very mild load, and my next 1000 rounds that I loaded are 2.7 grains Bullseye. I have not chronographed that load, I expect it will come out around 800 fps.

Three grains of Bullseye produced a sharp recoil in my revolver. While cases fell out, I just did not want to deal with the recoil.

Unique had potential, but I found that Bullseye worked good enough.


S&W No. 3 Hand Ejector 3.25" barrel


98 LRN Aguila Factory
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F

Ave Vel = 665.9
Std Dev = 17.52
ES = 69.38
High = 697
Low = 627.6
N = 32
Horrible leading.

100 gr LBBFP .313" 2.25 grs Bullseye SS Brass WSP
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F

Ave Vel = 693.3
Std Dev = 20.71
ES = 103.9
High = 721.8
Low = 617.9
N = 32
Elevation good, Windage left, Mild recoil

100 gr LBBFP .313" 2.5 grs Bullseye SS Brass WSP
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F

Ave Vel = 768.2
Std Dev = 16.97
ES = 62.06
High = 807.3
Low = 745.3
N = 17
Elevation good, Windage good, Mild recoil, prefer this to 2.25 grain load

100gr LBBFP.313" 3.0 grs Bullseye WSP R-P brass
4-Feb-06 T = 44 °F

Ave Vel = 861
Std Dev = 14.83
ES = 57.83
High = 889.6
Low = 832.1
N = 31
no leading, easy extraction, rounded primers, sharp recoil


100 gr LBBFP .313" 2.9 grs Unique SS Brass WSP
19-Mar-06 T = 51 °F

Ave Vel = 717.4
Std Dev = 42.33
ES = 144
High = 789.3
Low = 645.3
N = 18
Elevation good, Windage good, Mild recoil accurate

 

[RealGun]

I used the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook for load data, but after having the powder measure bind up and create inconsistent measures up into the low 4 grain range and before pulling bullets on the whole lot, I checked other sources and found AA#5 loads ranging much higher than my 3.5 gr. I think I will just shoot these (32 H&R), since the gun is a Ruger 327 Magnum.