What's with Accurate 5744 ?

[Wolfdog91]

So I'm curious about this. Was studying up on possibly doin some cast with my .243 and started looking in the book and what powders I can actually find right now and noticed I can actually find accurate 5744. Then I noticed that this stuff is on near about every load table for most of the rifle calibers in the Lyman 4th edition... So now I'm wondering. What makes this stuff so versatile?
This is the description from the website

Accurate 5744 is an extremely fast burning, double-base, extruded powder. This unique powder can be used in a wide range of rifle calibers and magnum handguns. 5744 is characterized by excellent ignition and consistency over a very wide performance range. Low bulky density and superior ignition characteristics make 5744 an excellent choice for reduced loads in many rifle calibers and in large capacity black powder cartridges such as the 45-70 through 45-120 and 50-90 through 50-120. Made in Canada.

So seems to me the combination of fast bringing and bulkyness is good ? Or am I missing something?

[pworley1]

5744 is the "Unique" of rifle powders. If you can get some at a reasonable price get it.

[Jack Stanley]

I'm using a jug of it with my Russian 7.62x54R infantry rifle . It is working out very good .

Jack

[NSB]

I use this powder in several different rifles. It produces very good results with some loads and I always keep a couple of pounds on hand. One thing you will notice is that it leaves unburned granular in the bore after the first shot. It doesn’t seem to get any worse after the next shot, it seems to blow most of it out and doesn’t build up. Accuracy doesn’t deteriorate on successive shots. It wipes out easily.

[ShooterAZ]

It's a great Cast Boolit powder. It's quite flexible, and I use it in a lot of different rifle calibers. It turns my 300 Win Mag into a 30-30 for accurate and pleasant shooting practice loads.

[Thumbcocker]

While not my favorite it is an excellent and very versatile powder for boolits in rifles. If I had access to some I would buy a few pounds.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I use 5744 in the 308, 303 Savage, and 32 Special. It is easy to work up accurate loads with cast boolits in the 1500fps plus range. It is a coarse grained extruded powder, measures OK but of course not like the ball powders. It might leave a few 'ghost' grains in the barrel but there is little residue left coating the barrel. 5744 was called 4475 when developed as the powder for the 5.56x45 in the very early days of the M16. The service rifle(M16) powder was changed to ball powder due to cost, causing the problems in the early M16's that had to be resolved. Shooter's World markets a Buffalo Rifle that is like 5744. It is probably one of the best powders for moderate loads using cast bullets in many calibers. I have not noticed position sensitivity in my 15 to 20 grain loadings.

[Dancing Bear]

I use it in my Savage 10ML muzzle loader amongst other calibers.

[Bigslug]

So seems to me the combination of fast bringing and bulkyness is good ? Or am I missing something?

One of the useful listing categories found in the Nosler manual is figures for "Load Density", meaning that if you only fill half of the space behind the base of a bullet, you are at 50% load density; if you can shake the cartridge and barely hear the powder rattle, you're filled to 100% or very close; if you hear powder granules crunching when you seat the bullet, the manual will call it a "compressed load"

This is a bit of a simplification, but generally, for a given velocity and pressure level, the higher the load density, the more consistent the burn, and the better the accuracy. In a lot of larger cases, you need a certain amount of elevated load density for safety - the goal is to get your powder to burn steadily, not chain-detonate like chaff dust floating through the air in a grain silo.

5744 is a GREAT cast bullet powder because it's bulky, filling the case without generating the massive amounts of energy seen in something like 4350 or 4831 which are used for getting maximum speeds out of jacketed bullets. If you want to take a .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, or even .30-06 down to the levels at which cast bullets like to operate, it's a good one to have on hand.

And yeah, the big black powder rounds too - they're big because with black powder, the only way to get more performance was to use more of the only fuel they had available, and the loads were always compressed. 5744 is a tool that often lets you safely work in those big voids.

[scattershot]

5744 is a great powder for 45/70 and other cast loads, but be aware that a pound is not a pound when you buy it. A can is 8 Oz., if I recall correctly. Makes for a pretty expensive can of powder.


ETA: 5744 is indeed sold in 1 pound cans. I was thinking of another powder. Sorry for the misinformation.

[doulos]

5744 is a great powder for 45/70 and other cast loads, but be aware that a pound is not a pound when you buy it. A can is 8 Oz., if I recall correctly. Makes for a pretty expensive can of powder.

I dont know where your buying it. I have been using it for awhile in 45-70s. I have never seen it in anything but 1 lb containers. Yes its expensive. But are you thinking of Blackhorn 209? It comes in 10oz containers for about $45!!!!.

[tmanbuckhunter]

Can't explain it any better than it's already been explained, except to say it's essentially magic dust in my book. One of my most used powders.

[doulos]

To The OP AA5744 is a very useful powder. It has a lot of applications. I use it in a Henry 45-70 lever gun. I have shot a lot of 3 shot groups inside of 1 inch(scoped of course) at 100 meters using this powder and a 300grJHP.

[NSB]

I dont know where your buying it. I have been using it for awhile in 45-70s. I have never seen it in anything but 1 lb containers. Yes its expensive. But are you thinking of Blackhorn 209? It comes in 10oz containers for about $45!!!!.

You beat me to it. You are correct.

[beemer]

Maybe thinking about Trail Boss, it comes in 9 oz containers.

I use AA5744 mostly in my 30-30 but does well in a 45-70 also.

[reddog81]

It's a good powder for lower pressure rifle loads. It's bulky so it fills up large cases and gives consistent performance even with loads not running at peak pressures for rifle cases. The downside is that it's expensive and you won't get top end velocity with modern cartridges. It's about the most expensive powder out there.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

It's my go to powder for cast boolits in 762x39 and 308 Win.

[blackthorn]

I was gifted 2 lbs of XMP 5744-----Same stuff???

[waksupi]

I've used it in my .45-70 Trapdoors with good accuracy, but always had a lot of unburned powder left in the bore.

[bdicki]

I use it in my Savage 10ML muzzle loader amongst other calibers.

Me too.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2183114906?pid=932501