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Idaho Sharpshooter
01-16-2006, 01:22 AM
Anybody got any thoughts on good surplus powders for the 50-110?
thanks,

Rich

Buckshot
01-16-2006, 07:49 AM
...............50-110? OOF!:veryconfu Hurts even thinking about it. I'm thinking WC860, 5010, or maybe even IMR7383.

The WC860 is a ball powder and so would make a dense powder column. Possibly hard for even a mag primer to involve a good portion of it ...............maybe. Guessing here. Just talking, but in the 45-70 it's very dirty burning and produces low velocities. I'm sure a quantity is blown out the muzzle. If you add a booster (duplexing) to assist the primer in generating pressure and some extra heat energy, the load burns clean and vleocity is boosted a useable amount. Check Castpics, the 45-70 data for velocities generated. I found 3.0grs H4198 to do the deed. Others have required 5.0grs of it.

Something to think about here is the weigth of that charge. I tried straight WC860 in my 45-90 Sharps and the results were the same as the 45-70. Basicly unuseable. So I duplexed it. I had 82.0grs of WC860 in there vs the 60 some grains in the 45-70. The 45-90 showed me pressure. I think the booster charge got stuff going but that long heavy column of powder plus the slug presented a big load to get moving. So the powder close to the casehead got vigorusly going and built some respectable pressure before everything launched.

It's possible that IMR7383 would work. It's an extruded powder and pretty chunky. Plus it faster then WC860. It wouldn't present such a densely packed charge and should be easier for the primer to circulate amongst the grains. It was a 50 cal spotter powder, but the 50 BMG uses a larger more powerfull primer. Offsetting that is it probably held a lot more powder. I don't know how much more.

Hi Tech carries both WC860 and IMR7383. Even if you got some and neither proved useable in your 50-110 they'd be useable in other cartirdge cases. When you consider the huge number of canister powders out there, and how few are suitable for the 50-110, the few surplus numbers available have huge holes in the suitability range.

You just might be better off loading that dude with BP!

.................Buckshot