WC244 Pet Loads?

[black mamba]

I just ordered a couple pounds of WinClean 244 pistol powder, and wonder if anyone has any pet loads for 41 or 44 magnums, or 45 Colt. There's plenty of data out there, but wondered about youralls experiences with the 244. Thanks in advance!

 

[Charlie98]

I like W244 for 9mm and .45ACP... I wouldn't ever have thought to use it in those cartridges. In fact, Hodgdon doesn't list W244 or W572 data for the .41MAG (which just may be an oversight, of course.) Indeed, they list it for both the .44 and the .45... let us know how it shoots.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Bought a pound from the indoor range just because they had it and I’ve never heard of it before. I haven’t tried it yet. Too many other irons in the fire.

 

[BBarn]

I've used W244 in the 45 Auto and 45 Colt. Hodgdon lists loads for cast bullets, but in both cases I was using Berry's plated bullets; 200gr in the 45 Auto and 230gr in the 45 Colt. My loads were in the middle of the data range provided by Hodgdon for the same weight cast bullets.

I didn't do exhaustive testing, but both accuracy and velocity (consistency) seemed good. If it matters to you, those midrange loads tend to stain the cases a good bit. I find that fairly typical for standard pressure 45 Colt loads, but the 45 Auto loads seemed to stain the cases more than an average amount for that cartridge. Even so, I've continued to use that 45 Auto load since it shoots very well for me.

Don't have a 41, and haven't tried it yet in the 44 Mag.

 

[Charlie98]

If it matters to you, those midrange loads tend to stain the cases a good bit.

OK.... and I thought that was just me... and particularly in the 9mm, and even at max load.

 

[black mamba]

I had the same problem working up loads with 231 in a 44 mag. When I got to about 28 kpsi, the loads cleaned up nicely. 244 is named WinClean 244, and is supposed to leave cases and barrels cleaner, but we'll see. In comparing the data with 231, some loads the 244 is faster and with some loads it's slower, but usually very close, just a couple tenths difference one way or the other.