reloader 7 in a revolver?

[johnson1942]

forgive my lack of knowledge with hadguns but is it possibe to use reloader 7 in a 38 special and a 45 long colt. dont want to turn them into magnums and want to keep them with in the cowboy loads. i know every one here has a lot more knowledge with this sort of thing so tell me what you know? thanks.

[Deep Six]

It definitely won't work for cowboy loads. Way too slow burning. Some have had limited success using powders in that burn rate range in heavy 45 Colt loads in rifles but it's just too slow for a revolver. You'd never get it to burn anywhere near completely.

[ReloaderFred]

Reloder 7 is my favorite powder for full power loads in my .375 Winchester rifle, but it's not suited to handgun use.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Outpost75]

RL7 works fine in the .44-40 in both rifle and revolver, using a compressed caseful of powder. A charge of 25 grains with a 200 grain bullet is an excellent approximation of factory loads available before 1950 and does not exceed SAAMI pressure limits, being safe in the Winchester 1873. I use the same load with either jacketed or cast bullets in my .44-40 revolvers and velocity uniformity is BETTER than loads with 4227 or #2400 which are often recommended. RL7 also gives me the best accuracy in .44-40 of any smokeless load. Yes, there is some unburned powder, but no more than with 4227 or #2400 when loaded to appropriate pressure levels for the .44-40, not exceeding 14,000 psi.

Here is how much unburned powder I got firing six rounds in my revolver.
147713

And here is how it groups at 100 yards from my Marlin 1894S, shoots great!
147714

And here is how it groups at 7 yards DA from my S&W Model 544 revolver, no gumming up the works with unburned powder, it runs!
147716

[johnson1942]

thanks, i really like the powder for 45/70/s and it is very very accurate and case filling but was wondering about revolvers. i use blackhorn 209 powder now and that works good also for my cowboy guns.

[44man]

Lots of slow powders that work in revolvers as long as you load to base of boolit or compress a little.
Just need some barrel length.
I tried 3031 in my 45-70 BFR and it shot slow with a lot of unburned powder but accuracy was very good.
I actually use Varget in my 10" single shots with 120 gr bullets, 7BR and 7R. Hodgdon told me it would not work but how about 2175 fps and sub 1" groups at 50 yards?
Anything is worth a try. Varget is MUCH slower then RL7.
I never got 5744 to work in anything but RL7 might be a better sub for BP.
Do it and let us know. At the worst, you will turn your gun into a powder measure! :veryconfu

[FergusonTO35]

I wonder how well it would work loaded strong with a magnum primer in my Marlin 1894 .357? Real magnum handgun powders have been extinct here for a few years now.

[Outpost75]

v
I wonder how well it would work loaded strong with a magnum primer in my Marlin 1894 .357? Real magnum handgun powders have been extinct here for a few years now.
A compressed case full, about 17 grains, works well in my Marlin 1894 with the 190-grain Ranch Dog flatnose, about 1450 fps in 24" barrel. Have not tried in a .357 revolver, but 14" Contender loves it.

[johnson1942]

now here is another question. compared to real black powder and blackhorn 209 powder in a 45 long colt case would reloader 7 over pressure as compared to the other two powders. im shooting the ROA with a conversion cylinder. love the gun and was thinking one day reloader 7? as it works well in my 45/70. i go the low end with them at 35 grains. to me reloader 7 is very very accurate.

[FergusonTO35]

A compressed case full, about 17 grains, works well in my Marlin 1894 with the 190-grain Ranch Dog flatnose, about 1450 fps in 24" barrel. Have not tried in a .357 revolver, but 14" Contender loves it.

Ooh, that sounds like exactly what I am looking for!! The new Lee 200 grain mold is on my letter to Santa. What Hodgdon powders are close to Reloder 7? Maybe 4198? My usual place has a very good stock of Hodgdon and W-W but they never get any Alliant rifle powders in, the owner says they just don't sell well.

[44man]

now here is another question. compared to real black powder and blackhorn 209 powder in a 45 long colt case would reloader 7 over pressure as compared to the other two powders. im shooting the ROA with a conversion cylinder. love the gun and was thinking one day reloader 7? as it works well in my 45/70. i go the low end with them at 35 grains. to me reloader 7 is very very accurate.
Should be OK in the conversion cylinder.
I don't think you can over pressure RL 7 in any revolver case. Fill it full.

[johnson1942]

thanks guys, going to try it when things slow down around here, still a lot of yard and garden work.

[Outpost75]

Ooh, that sounds like exactly what I am looking for!! The new Lee 200 grain mold is on my letter to Santa. What Hodgdon powders are close to Reloder 7? Maybe 4198? My usual place has a very good stock of Hodgdon and W-W but they never get any Alliant rifle powders in, the owner says they just don't sell well.

I have used a compressed caseful of 4198 in the .32-20, .357 and .44-40 rifles with similar results.
I have not tried it in revolvers, but it will be safe. Not sure how well it will burn in a wheelgun, but I would anticipate performance similar to RL7, which while not your first choice for revolver use, is entirely acceptable as a dual-use rifle and revolver load in hunting applications, which is my purpose for doing so.

[AllanD]

RL7 is a propellant in the same range as IMR-3031 & IMR-4198 and has long been a favorite of mine in 45-70 & 444 Marlin
and a sort of secret weapon in the 223Rem...

I'm not sure I'd use it in a pistol, but I can see it being used in desperation when 2400/H110/W296 are out of stock...

[Lloyd Smale]

it will work if you need something to burn up a can in but if not why? It takes twice as much to even come close to the velocitys of something like unique and I doubt without a lot of fooling around your going to get as good of accuracy with it. I never was one for trying to use powders where they were efficient. Theres good choises for every application. Use your re7 in a 3030, 35 rem, 4570 444 ect places where it shines.

[FergusonTO35]

Alot of the magnum handgun powders arent much faster or easier to ignite than cartridges. Hodgdon instructs not to reduce 110 or 296 by more than 3%, which sounds an awful lot like a magnum rifle powder. In the longer barrel of a .357, .41, or .44 Magnum carbine I would think R7 or 4198 woukd be ideal, given you have a longer barrel to burn it and higher pressure than some rifle cartridges.

[44man]

I have a lot of powders that never seemed to work in anything, many are AA things. No waste at all to me to try them. Who knows what would happen?
But like Lloyd says, some powders will not be wasted if they work where I need them.
Cost too much, just found a pound of Varget, cost an arm and leg!

[FergusonTO35]

A little hint for you: IMR 4064 will do everything Varget can do better and is much easier to find. My .30-30's love it!

[jmoore]

Tried 22.2gr RL7 under some Speer swaged 240gr LSWCs out of an 8 3/8" barreled S&W 629-6 last weekend. Shot as well or better than my usual IHMSA field pistol load at 100yards and left the revolver cleaner than when I started. (Which would be not very clean as it's been run several months without a scrubbing.) 10 round groups in 3 to 5 inches at 100yds with scope. It did shoot about eight inches higher, though! And that's just the first attempt with no charge, primer, crimp, etc. tweaking.


Was sort of reluctant to try until I found a reference in the Lee loading manual in the .44-40 section. My .44mag and .44-40 cases seem to have almost equal charges when filling the case to just touch the bullet base, so figured it ought to work out close enough.

Thanks for the tip!

[johnson1942]

reloder 7 works very very well with my 38 special cowboy gun. i used 15 grains and a 60 thousands fiber wad and a 38 round ball sized down to .357. i compressed it so the balls nose was even with the mouth of the case, which is a lot of compression. i then rolled crimped the cases mouth over the roundball. it was very very accurate and i found very very little unburned grains of powder. i believe the wad and compression and go crimp did the trick. i also tried it in my 45 long colt and it felt a little to much for the gun. just didnt feel like it was as safe as i would like. in a ruger blackhawk im sure it would really work good. i went back to blackhorn 209 for the long colt and im going to keep useing reloader 7 in the 38. also the light resized round ball keeps it from over pressureing. the gun was very very clean when done and no leading in the barrel at all. the fiber wad helps with that. thanks every one for all the input and good shooting.

[jmoore]

Got some fantastic RL7 results out of a 6" barreled S&W 657 .41 mag last Friday. At least at 25yards. But could not find paper at 100yards. Needed my spotter. Again, very clean bore afterwards with 240 and 190gr SWC boolits. Low recoil to boot, which is important when shooting lots of rounds at a match. (esp. with multiple entries!) Need to try again with a spotter present to see what kind of long range accuracy I can get out of the .41.

[9.3X62AL]

I'm another crank that has put RL-7 to good use in the 44-40 WCF cartridge at traditional pressures, for use in an original Winchester 73 carbine and replica SAA revolter. My original source for this information was a member here known as "W30WCF", and his recommendation of 100% load density under a 200 grain-class bullet came out to 24.0-25.0 grains depending on brass make. I did not see a significant difference in velocity level or variance between standard and magnum pistol primers; I have not tried rifle primers to date. These loads gave the best accuracy ever derived from my much-used Win 73 carbine, and if I hit the deer woods this Fall it will be with these loads on board. Powder debris in the rifle was negligible. These same loads shot well in the Uberti Cattleman x 4-3/4", and as Outpost noted the powder debris rate was little different than that produced by 2400 or 4227.

Unable to leave well enough alone, I just had to try RL-7 in my other hyphenated Winchester levergun rounds. I don't have much history with the fuel. Its rep in the 30-30 WCF needs no elaboration, same story for the 45-70. My new-to-me 38-55 awaits further work and better health to test its mettle. Where RL-7 has really shined is in the 25-20 WCF with both jacketed and cast bullets. RL-7 gives the caliber its best velocity and accuracy across the board; IMR-4198 is a close second. I've tried 100% density loads in 32-20 WCF under 120 grain-class bullets, about 11.5-12.2 grains again depending on case make. These loads behave like the 44-40 loads did, giving traditional-level velocities in the carbine (1200-1225 FPS) and pretty consistent work in the revolvers. Not much debris in the carbine barrel, but the gritty junk got under the S&W M&P's ejector star with frequency. The SAA Bisley was far less affected by grit. (Note--in all 25-20 and 32-20 loads, Rem #6-1/2 primers were used).

[Outpost75]

The key with my S&W Model 544 Texas Commemorative .44-40 N-frame, is always to point the muzzle up when ejecting the brass, so that any unburned powder particles fall out with the brass, instead of under the extractor star!

[9.3X62AL]

The key with my S&W Model 544 Texas Commemorative .44-40 N-frame, is always to point the muzzle up when ejecting the brass, so that any unburned powder particles fall out with the brass, instead of under the extractor star!

There ya go. I've likely been spoiled by several decades of Bullseye/WW-231 relative cleanliness in the 38 Special.

[johnson1942]

again ill say i think compression really makes reloader 7 work in a pistol cartridge. i found very little unburned powder.thanks to who ever it was who suggested compression. it works.