Accur 5744 Question

[35 shooter]

My brother is working with accur 5744 in a 35 whelen rifle and having good results so far with a 200 grain fngc boolit. Accurate powder co. shows 5744 with a max load of 38 grains @ 2452 fps. My Lyman manual shows Max load of 37 grains of XMP 5744 @ 2124 fps with the same 200 grain boolit. Accurate powders says their powder is the same as the old xmp so my question is has anyone actually chronoed that 38 grain load of accur 5744 powder at anywhere around 2400fps in a 35 whelen? Both Lyman and accura show 24 inch bbls. for their testing so that doesn't account for the big difference between their tests. Seems like from their data that the the new 5744 is a bit hotter. My chrono is missing a sky screen and rods right now and he doesn't have one. It's no big deal about the speed but just curious. He's already getting 1/2" and less at 50 yards with the 38 grain load and bug holes with 28 grains @ 50 yards with initial testing. I definitly want to try some in my whelen. Just was hoping someone out there knew for sure about the speed...Thanks 35shooter:-D

[nvbirdman]

Different gun, different cases, different primers, different alloy, different boolit sizing can all affect velocity.

[swheeler]

Different gun, different cases, different primers, different alloy, different boolit sizing can all affect velocity.

All nvbirdman mentioned above is true. I seem to remember Accurate uping the NG content of 5744 not that many years ago, from 15% up to the now 20%?

[35 shooter]

swheeler thanks for the info. As i said above, they had told my brother it was still the same powder but it seems they left that tidbit of info out. And yes different componets and guns can make a difference in velocity but in my experience i've never seen it be a 250 to 300 fps difference. What you said makes more sense as to what's going on with that big of a spread in vel. With the accuracy my brother has had so far even with the top end load, if he repeats it with more groups i've got to find some to try. Still hoping someone has chronoed it. If it truly gets 2400 fps on top end it would be the only powder i would need for the whelen! Just my luck when i really need my chrony can't find all the parts to it. What's really bad is when i put it all up 6 years ago i remember putting it all where i would be sure to find it when i needed it. I've been looking for 2 months now and the house just ain't that big you know?:)

[TCLouis]

Someone I used to shoot with said he had some powder he wanted to get rid of.

He said he had no idea who would want the AA XMP 5744 at 60 or 80 (forget which) bucks a 8lb jug.

I took the one he had left and he said he could not figure why anyone would want that powder for that price.

DANG, I missed the other two jugs he had!

I got to thinking, it must have been 60 bucks a jug because I was figuring $180 for 3 would have been a steal to me and unbelievable to both of us.


35 Shooter . . .

Killing you,

Just imagine I missed out on that . . . AND . . .

Had to listen to him question who would want that powder anyway.

[35 shooter]

TC you're killin me. I can't even find a 1 lb. can of it.:(

[GabbyM]

It's pretty rare for me to assemble any load from a book then shoot it over the Chrony and get within 100 fps of listed velocity. Ramshot TAC in all three of my 223's and 55gr bullet did it.

Tested a load with 5744 under a 180 gr boolit in my 30-06 last week. Never clocked it but it seamed light. Am testing it against AA4064 to see what wins.

[35 shooter]

It's pretty rare for me to assemble any load from a book then shoot it over the Chrony and get within 100 fps of listed velocity. Ramshot TAC in all three of my 223's and 55gr bullet did it.

Tested a load with 5744 under a 180 gr boolit in my 30-06 last week. Never clocked it but it seamed light. Am testing it against AA4064 to see what wins.

GabbyM i'd be interested in your results on that test if you don't mind posting it. Was that the old xmp or the newer aa5744? If i can find a can of it i could load up some and shoot at 200 after sighting at 100 yds. and tell pretty close what the velocity is by the drop at 200. Still looking for my darn sky screens and rods for my chrony. My brother in co. is running another test at 100 yds. tommorrow as that is as far as he can shoot at his range.

[GabbyM]

Both the AA powders are new 8lb jugs. Powder Valley has it in 8 lb but not 1 lb. At least this afternoon.
So far what I know about AA5744 and the AA4064 is they are both short stick and run very smooth through my powder measure.
It's +10 degrees F outside right now. I think the 4064 has greater prospect under my 200 grain 311299 than the lighter bullets.
Both powders were burning clean. The AA5744 load was 30-06 caliber 27.0 grains under a MiHec 30-180 HP cast very soft from 50/50 + 1% Babbitt. That kind of extrapolates to around 1950 fps. The AA4064 load was AA’s start load listed for 180 cast. 40.5gr booked at 2148 fps. Those were air cooled. I put a couple hundred of those bullets in the oven yesterday. 450* for one hour then dumped in cold water. The soft lead gave me groups I could cover with a hand. Wind drift about 3” with the slow load. With the heat treated bullets I think there is a good chance for some 2300 fps loads under 2”. I didn’t have a bench set up so it’s hard to tell how good they could of done. I may have been getting 1950 fps out of the 5744. Guess it would seam pretty light weight compared to the other load. Sure was blowing down wind though.

[detox]

My older 5744 (purchased 1997) is long stick and meters poorly. It shoots verygood in my 45/70 Guide Gun with RCBS 405gr bullet.

[jonas302]

The velocity difference is possibly from just a different ballistics lab with different equipment

By the way you don't need screens unless its bright and sunny out I'm sure you can rig up a little something with some sticks and cardboard