Win 244 Powder

[catmandu]

Has anybody tried Winchester 244 powder? It’s 31 on the Burn Rate Chart, a bit slower than W231 (29) and right above Unique (32). so it would seem to be a very useful choice, Unique is hard to find lately and W244 meters as good as W231 and it has the clean burning additive.

So has anybody tried it? What do you think of it?

Paul in WNY

[rintinglen]

I am a little perplexed by he published data. Some cartridges, it is slower than WW-231. others faster. Take a look at the 9mm luger 125 grain loads. No rhyme nor reason that I can see. In the 327 Federal, 244 seems to be definitely slower. In the 32 S&W long, it's faster.
Moving up the line, in the 45 ACP with a 230 grain LRN, ,4 grains less of a max charge of 244 is faster than the max 231 load. But with a 230 grn. jacketed bullet, it takes .3 grains more 244 than WW-231 to achieve the same result. In the 38 Special +P, it seems much faster than HP-38 (231's identical twin) with the 158 grain bullet, but slower than its running mate when the bullet weight drops to 125 grains.

I have used 231 for 30+ years and have a god idea what to expect from it. I clean my guns, I shoot mostly lead, and the range closes at sunset: I see nothing to tempt me away from my current path,

[black mamba]

I also looked at a bunch of different loads, comparing 231, 244 and also Universal. The one thing that came through with consistency is that 244 is more energetic than 231. Whether it took more or less powder to reach an equivalent pressure, the fps per grain was higher with 244, so it would be slightly more cost effective. My experience with 231/HP38 is that a decent amount of pressure is needed for it to burn clean. I'd be interested to see how 244 compared in that consideration.

[Burnt Fingers]

It's supposed to be the "NEW" 231, I've tried it in 9mm and 45 ACP, ho hum. Just another powder with nothing special to recommend it.

[onelight]

Another powder close to Unique burn rate that flows well in measures is Alliant be-86 I use it quite a bit and is easier to find around here when powder is hard to find , it sounds similar to Winchester 244 which I have not used