HS-7 replacement ??

[Jack Stanley]

I'm going to work on a load in a thirty-eight special case using a 358439 bullet . An article I read said that eight point five grains of HS-7 was the best thing to use , problem is it seems to be a discontinued powder .

Is there a replacement powder for this ? Longshot perhaps ?

Just looking for plus "P" or so and not looking to magnumize the case , I have read that this type of bullet needs to be driven rather hard is all . I did load a few rounds with Unique and used an overall length of 1.570 " but haven't put them on paper yet .

Hoping load will work well from a four inch 686 and a Marlin carbine .

Thanks for any help , Jack

[subsonic]

There are a ton of powders. Win 571 is the same powder, but I beleive it too is long gone.

A lot of people like HS6, and you said you already have Unique...

I had a thread about medium speed powder and there were lots of other favorites, but HS6 seemed to get the most posts, except for Unique. Or at least I was most convinced to try HS6.

[subsonic]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=127808

That's the thread.

[Jack Stanley]

Thanks , I read the thread through and I'm getting the impression Unique will get it out of the barrel OK . The "dirty" issue doesn't botther me in the least and after burning almost fifty pounds or more of Unique in my shooting career . I've never had a jam in the revolver or rifles I use it in .

The only reason I guess in looking for something like HS-7 was the articles written by Glen F. , I was looking for data and he seemed real positive on the stuff . Still , I'm looking for accurate data and if Unique will work as well .......

If Unique can drive the 358439 to let's say nine hundred and fifty feet per second from a four inch revolver with good accuracy . I imagine with the deep hollow nose the bullet has and cast soft it will work pretty well on any small critters that may try to slither into the yard and garden . Out of the carbine I may be able to sneak around the edge of the fields and get cull the stupid woodchucks from the herd .

This whole exercise is for the thirty-eight special and used in revolvers and the carbine and nothing else . Though my guns are .357 , I want to keep the pressure down to plus "P" instead of 38/44 levels just in case someone with a non magnum got one in the chamber of an older gun ( I do invite friends to shoot with me ) For me the identifying mark would be the bullet , it's the only hollow point in this caliber I have . This load does not have to kill the biggest things on earth , if I need more horsepower I do have other options .

Maybe the lower charges of 2400 would work as well but I don't know .

Jack

[RobS]

I wrote up a thread a while back about this too. Running mid-house loads in the 454 Casull HS-7/Win571 was giving me the velocities I needed to stabilize boolits from the slower twist rate barrel while keeping the pressure lower to not have the kick in the butt beginning that other powders do by pushing too hard out of the gate and create leading the first inch or so of the barrel due to skidding on the lands. Unfortunately I have yet to find a powder to perform the same. The closest for my application was #7 with Herco or Power Pistol behind it. 4759 may have worked but I never looked into it for some reason.

[sundog]

I've got only a little HS-7 left, no 571 (used up a long time ago). I'm going to miss that powder for 358156 in the .357 mag. I got a jug of surplus AA7 (cheap) awhile back, and while it does "feel" the same, performance is okay. Whether that would work in other applications, I can't say.

Maybe VV105 (that's 2 V's, not a W) would work, if'n ya wanna spend the bucks for it.

[Lloyd Smale]

what about hs6. Its not all that much faster and has allways given me better accuracy then hs7 ever did.

[fecmech]

In the current Alliant manual they show 6 grs of Power pistol with a 158 lead swc for 1037 fps and the same bullet with 5.2 Unique at 919fps with 5.2 grs for +P .38. Your HP'd 358429 pretty much becomes a 158 swc. So with PP showing a 100 fps advantage over Unique you should be able to get your 900 fps out of the 4" safely. BTW 5.1/Unique gets 900 fps with the 358429 solid out of my K-38 6".

[mellonhead]

I have had excellent results with HS6 in everything from 38 special to 475 Linebaugh.

[runfiverun]

accurate#9 is right close to hs-7
as is steel, nobel pp1, norma r123, rottweil 30 carbine, vv3n38, and winchesters 630
with 2400,longshot,vv's n105, and ramshots enforcer being a bit slower.
and bluedot,trueblue, vita's n350,and wnchesters-571 a titch quicker.
one of them should work.

[subsonic]

I wrote up a thread a while back about this too. Running mid-house loads in the 454 Casull HS-7/Win571 was giving me the velocities I needed to stabilize boolits from the slower twist rate barrel while keeping the pressure lower to not have the kick in the butt beginning that other powders do by pushing too hard out of the gate and create leading the first inch or so of the barrel due to skidding on the lands. Unfortunately I have yet to find a powder to perform the same. The closest for my application was #7 with Herco or Power Pistol behind it. 4759 may have worked but I never looked into it for some reason.

AA7, right? Not reloader 7... For anyone that might be cornfused.

[Jack Stanley]

what about hs6. Its not all that much faster and has allways given me better accuracy then hs7 ever did.

I dunno Lloyd , I never tried either so I'd be off the reservation with both .


I tried eight rounds today , four in the carbine and four in the revolver , both grouped well for a first time out . I weighed the bullets and they are 155 grains with this alloy ( bhn 10 ) I checked the seating lengths of some older manuals and they list 1.525" so the length I'm seating these I think would tend to keep pressures down a little .

Runfiverun jogged my memory a little I do have a jug of blue dot . I could look around and see if that might work with a charge of 7.8 to 8.0 grains . Also if 5.2 of Unique would get the job done I could try that . Not that I can't go buy another powder after all I was ready to throw down the cash for HS-7 . So maybe I'll try a touch more unique and see how that goes then see if a Blue Dot load turns up . What do ya think , sound like a plan ?

Jack

[RobS]

AA7, right? Not reloader 7... For anyone that might be cornfused.

Yes, Accurate Arms No. 7. Reloader 7 is more of a rifle powder and not even in the ball park here.

[RobS]

I dunno Lloyd , I never tried either so I'd be off the reservation with both .


I tried eight rounds today , four in the carbine and four in the revolver , both grouped well for a first time out . I weighed the bullets and they are 155 grains with this alloy ( bhn 10 ) I checked the seating lengths of some older manuals and they list 1.525" so the length I'm seating these I think would tend to keep pressures down a little .

Runfiverun jogged my memory a little I do have a jug of blue dot . I could look around and see if that might work with a charge of 7.8 to 8.0 grains . Also if 5.2 of Unique would get the job done I could try that . Not that I can't go buy another powder after all I was ready to throw down the cash for HS-7 . So maybe I'll try a touch more unique and see how that goes then see if a Blue Dot load turns up . What do ya think , sound like a plan ?

Jack

Sounds like a plan; use what you have and if it doesn't pan out look a different direction.

[Lloyd Smale]

I have to agree with the other posters though. theres about nothing you cant do in a 38 thats sane with a powder like unique or power pistol.

[Jack Stanley]

I have to agree with the other posters though. theres about nothing you cant do in a 38 thats sane with a powder like unique or power pistol.

That's a good point Lloyd . I've never used Power Pistol .... never really heard of it untill today . If the Unique doesn't pan out I may need to see if the next gun show has any .

Jack

[ColColt]

I have had excellent results with HS6 in everything from 38 special to 475 Linebaugh.

+1

This is one powder I wouldn't be without. Great groups from my 357 to 44 Magnum. Universal is another one of my favorites for either.

[ArchAngelCD]

HS-7 does equal W571 but like already said, both are now discontinued. Hodgdon has hinted at Longshot being their replacement.

For a .38 Special +P I personally feel HS-7 is too slow a powder. I have several .38 Special +P loads using HS-6 and I have gotten very good accuracy from them. Be aware though, HS-6 delivers better results at the top of the pressure curve so I usually don't use it when downloading, I switch to W231. I also recommend a magnum primer with HS-6 because I get much lower SD numbers and a more complete and stable burn with magnum primers.

Longshot also works well in .38 +P loads but more with jacketed bullets than with lead bullets. HS-6 is my hands down favorite with lead bullets, especially for building FBI replica loads.

[Jack Stanley]

I was wandering around the gun show today without supervision and found a can of Power Pistol to add to the fun . Since I ran Unique loads up to the plus "P" level and they grouped well there , I'll try this new fangled fancy powder and see what happens .

I'd sure like to see the groups come down to closer where my carbine is sighted with other ammo though .

Jack

[TheGameMaster]

I know it's an old thread but: I have a lot of 45 Super load data that uses HS-7, which makes it pretty much useless to me at this point as it's discontinued. I never did find a straight answer anywhere on the webs. I'd like to take advantage of some of that good load data. I have three molds I use: 90570 (160gr. RF, two cavity, drops at 165gr) and 90286 (230gr. TC, six cavity, drops at 235gr.). I am thinking about getting a 90349 (255gr RF, six cavity), for woodland use. I use the 90570 for target practice at 21 feet. I use 90286 for target practice/competition beyond 21 feet. I use Speer Golddot 230gr. for self-defense when I CCW with it. The HS-7 data I've found for 45 Super is rather impressive. I was hoping I could find a direct substitute for it. Thoughts?

Thanks,

Rodney

[marek313]

I like Unique but Power Pistol meters sooooooo nice it puts Unique to shame. I just picked up one pound to try and I'm really loving PP in 9mm so far. I like HS6 too I just loaded some 10mm with it.

Honestly my favorite 38S load is 130gr LEE 356-125-2R PCed sized to .358 loaded with 5gr of HP38/W231. Somewhat warm load for 38S but very accurate in my GP100 MC.

[TCLouis]

I have both 571 and HS-7 and no data for 9mm, 38SPL, 357, 44 Mag or SPL, 45 ACP or rifle cartridges .
I had high hopes when I saw the title of this thread.

ALL cast of course

[Outpost75]

AutoComp works well for .38 Special with 135-grain and heavier bullets, use 5 grains to start. Burn rate is similar to HS6. Published loads range from .38 standard to mid .357. The Hodgdon Reloading Data center lists a load that launches a 158 gr LSWC at 984 fps from 7" solid test barrel with 5.3 grains at modest .38 spl pressure. Looks like a safe and economical load. http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

[jonp]

Old thread but I'll bite. Try some IMR Target.

[mattw]

I have had really good luck using WAP for mid house loads and some on the higher end. I was a huge fan of HS7 in my 40's and 357's. I am just about out and have just about worked up loads for everything with WAP. WAP seems to have a good pressure curve, not great in 2.5" revolvers... tad slow. While WAP is listed as fairly fast on the burn charts, is just does not feel that it works that fast. Feels like it takes time to build pressure, does not have a super snappy recoil impulse.