WSF in 44 Special

[Petrol & Powder]

I am currently seeking a good 44 Special load that will push a 250 LSWC somewhere between 900-950fps, but handgun powders are a bit tough to come by these days. I've been using WSF [Winchester Super Field] in 9mm for years and it is an outstanding powder in that application. I never could get it to work as well in 38 Special, so I stayed with 231 or Bullseye for those cartridges.
I had some WSF on hand and tried 8.0grs behind a Keith style 250gr bullet. I was a little surprised to find that it worked better than WSF in 38 Special. It burned clean and was fairly accurate. I don't have a chronograph available but the round is way below the recoil of the 44 magnums I shoot in the same gun and there are no signs of excessive pressure. It also meters well through a powder measure making it way more user friendly than the Bullseye I tried.
Does anyone have any experience or data on WSF in 44 Special? This may be a contender for my "all around" 44 Special load.

[fecmech]

Think of WSF as Herco or slighly slower than Unique. In the .38 spl and 9mm it mirrored Herco exactly for me with better metering. Should work great in the .44 spec.

[Petrol & Powder]

10-4, Unique was my first choice but it's not available currently, at least not at prices I'm willing to pay. There's very little info on WSF but I think is shows promise.

[bobthenailer]

I have used alot of WSF in the 9mm and 38 super with excellent results !
As far as 44 special or as i use light 44 mags loads, Bullseye or currently Tightgroup are my go to powders for loads from 700 to 1,100 fps in the 357 mag , 44 mag & 454 casull with excellent accuracy.

[Petrol & Powder]

Yea, loaded some 44 Special with Bullseye and it worked well. Bullseye just doesn't meter like WSF or 231. It's also very fast and takes up a tiny amount of that big 44 case. I've always liked powders that produce the pressures/velocities I want while filling the case. Never tried Tightgroup?

[bobthenailer]

Tightgroup takes about the same powder charge weight and case volume as BE. I beleive its a flattened ball powder like WSF & 231 . It is also designed NOT to be powder position sensative , so its good for reduced loads in larger pistol cases. in the 44 mag i normaly use 7.0 grs @950 fps in the 454 casull i use 8.0 to 9.0 grs @ 1,000 to 1,100 fps. TG powder also keeps the gun a little cleaner inside & out than BE powder.

IMO if you are worried with a double powder charge! choose a powder that will about fill the case with a double charge , say 20 grs cut that in half and use 10 grs of a approate powder that will get you the velocties you want.
Or possibly try Trail boss powder which is bulkier approx 2.0 to 2.5 times more so than most and made to take up alot of case volume for med to low velocity loads with large pistol cases .

[Petrol & Powder]

I'll give it a try, provided I can find some. Thanks

[bobthenailer]

Tightgroup takes about the same powder charge weight and case volume as BE. I beleive its a flattened ball powder like WSF & 231 . It is also designed NOT to be powder position sensative , so its good for reduced loads in larger pistol cases. in the 44 mag i normaly use 7.0 grs @950 fps in the 454 casull i use 8.0 to 9.0 grs @ 1,000 to 1,100 fps. TG powder also keeps the gun a little cleaner inside & out than BE powder.

IMO if you are worried with a double powder charge! choose a powder that will about fill the case with a double charge , say 20 grs cut that in half and use 10 grs of a approate powder that will get you the velocties you want.
Or possibly try Trail boss powder which is bulkier approx 2.0 to 2.5 times more so than most and made to take up alot of case volume for med to low velocity loads with large pistol cases .

They may have renamed this powder Tin Star ?

[Bazoo]

P&P, did you ever do any further load development with WSF?

I have a couple pounds of it and use it happily in 45 acp. I got mine about 5 years ago when things were scarce.

[Larry Gibson]

They may have renamed this powder Tin Star ?

Tin Star is Vihta Vouori N32C....a completely different powder.

[Petrol & Powder]

P&P, did you ever do any further load development with WSF?

I have a couple pounds of it and use it happily in 45 acp. I got mine about 5 years ago when things were scarce.

Nope, the powder situation got better and I abandoned the WSF/44 Special experiment.

[Bazoo]

I appreciate the reply. I'm not hot to use the WSF in 44, just like options. If it ended up being a good powder for the application, it'll make my stash of unique last that much longer.

[farmbif]

I don't have any guns specifically chambered for 44 spl, they are all 44 mag, but I load lots of 44 spl for lever gun and would have no hesitation in using 5.5 grains wsf the same as a mild Herco load with 240 grain cast bullet. my go to herco load for 429421 in spl brass for a long time has been 8.5 gr herco i have loaded a bunch in the past with 8.5 gr blue dot but now save blue dot for 12 gauge. I really come to like be86 quite a bit for spl and mag loads can be loaded from powder puff to a couple hundred fps less than maximum magnum h110/296 loads.