Winchester AA powder use?

[geezer56]

I just bought an estate out. The guy was a competitive skeet hunter. I have about 10 pounds of AA powder, and don't hunt skeets. Is there any use for this stuff other than shotty gun loads? Pistols, or rifles?

[tazman]

It works well in pistols. Actual data depends on which AA powder it is.
There are older Winchester manuals available online that may have data you need.

[lylejb]

It should have a number on it, such as AA452, Aa473, Aa540, and so on. Tell us which number (s) you have and what calibers you're loading for and I can help with some some data.

[geezer56]

Label reads Winchester AA and underneath that Super Handicap. I load 9mm, 40 S&W, 38/357, 44 mag, 45 ACP, and 45LC. I am hoping to use it in cast boolit rifle loads. I shoot 7.62x39, 30-30, and 308. I could also use it in the big boomers. 416 Rigby or 375 H&H. I have waaay more guns to play with. So if anybody has information, I probably have something that matches. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing, right?

[tazman]

Winchester Super Handicap otherwise known as WSH is a current production powder. I have never seen this powder listed in a metallic cartridge manual.
That is not to say it can't be used. During the recent difficulty obtaining pistol powder, I used that powder a lot in my 9mm and it worked great. It is my go to powder for 135 and 125 grain boolits.
The burn rate charts show it to be slightly slower that WST and Green Dot which are both widely used in handgun cartridges,
I use 4.0 -4.2 grains under either of those boolit weights. As always, start lower and work up, paying attention to pressure signs.

[sargenv]

There isn't much data for pistols out there.. though I would look up data that matches it's shotshell performance and see if there is anything similar to compare it to charge for charge.. it might be that WSH is just not compatible with metallic pressures.

[tazman]

There isn't much data for pistols out there.. though I would look up data that matches it's shotshell performance and see if there is anything similar to compare it to charge for charge.. it might be that WSH is just not compatible with metallic pressures.

That is, of course, a possibility. My 9mm handguns don't agree. After several thousand rounds through the barrels, I can't point to a single flattened primer or difficult extraction.
I suspect it is more that the manufacturers simply don't have time to test every combination and stick to the more commonly used ones for testing purposes. The only reason I used it was because that was the only possible powder I could find. The fact that it worked well for me was a good thing.

[geezer56]

Thanks guys. Now if anyone has any info on 40 and 45 auto?

[clearcut]

5.5 grn. in a 30-30 with a cast 150 grn. is fun to plink with

CC

[sargenv]

That is, of course, a possibility. My 9mm handguns don't agree. After several thousand rounds through the barrels, I can't point to a single flattened primer or difficult extraction.
I suspect it is more that the manufacturers simply don't have time to test every combination and stick to the more commonly used ones for testing purposes. The only reason I used it was because that was the only possible powder I could find. The fact that it worked well for me was a good thing.

One other powder that comes to mind is Alliant Clay Dot.. it says right on the website that the powder is "Not for metallic cartridges".. not that it's stopped me from working up some limited data..

[tazman]

There are a number of powders out there that are known to work just fine within their limits. Exceed those limits and you get erratic or non-linear results.
I hope that we don't have a shortage where such experimentation becomes necessary again any time soon.