Winchester WinClean 244 and .38 Special

[wcwhitey]

I thought some would be interested in some testing I have been doing with Winchester 244 as it seems to be readily available lately. I posted some results previously with my results in .44 Special. This is the next go around with .38 Special using Speer Swagged 158 SWC-HP and X-Treme Bullets 158 SWC plated. Mixed Brass, CCI SPP


15 Yards offhand 3.6 grains 244 X-Treme 158 SWC plated. After the obligatory flier and dialing in accuracy was very respectable, clean shooting, minimal recoil. 3.6 is midrange published data for the 158 Grain Hornady XTP. A nice shooting round.



Winchester 244 Speer 158 LSWC HP 3.6 Grains. Another sweet shooter, this is the suggested starting load from Winchesters website. I shot the lead second to check for leading, there was zero so velocity seems perfect for plinking. The same 15 yards offhand.



Test guns: S&W Model 66-2 6”. Cleanup was a simple wipe down after 100 rounds.

The next part of testing will be with .45 ACP 200 Grain SWC trying to find a target load.

Impression overall is that this powder is accurate and clean. It has a place on the bench. So far with the two calibers .44 and .38 I was able to get very satisfactory results. The powder meters nicely and is economical as far as weight.

Disclaimer: As an old Bullseye shooter I try all my accuracy tests in the traditional Bullseye stance 1 handed unsupported. I expect some flyers and groups show the human factor. I would venture to say these rounds are more accurate than I am these days. Hope this info helps someone here. V/R Bill

 

[nofendertom]

Look forward to your .45 ACP 200gr SWC tests. Thanks for the .38spl info---always looking for a substitute for Bullseye (unavailable).

 

[thorswhisper]

Its also a very good 9mm powder. I believe St. Marks makes it.

 

[Charlie98]

Look forward to your .45 ACP 200gr SWC tests.

Its also a very good 9mm powder.

That's exactly where I tested it... 200grn .45's, and 124grn 9mm. It worked well enough in both of those applications. One thing you might do is fool with the OAL in the .45ACP, I had to seat my bullets a little deeper to get the velocity up where I wanted it, very similar to WST in the same application. I also found the velocity expectations listed in what little loading data was available was very hard to meet at the charges listed.