HS-7/Win 571......now what?

[RobS]

With these two powders discontinued there are a few ball powder options but nothing that is a straight strike in comparison. HS-6 would have more energy or burn quicker of course, AA#7, Hodgdon Longshot, and then Ramshot true blue are other possible considerations. From those who have experience in trying to substitue for HS-7/Win 571 which powder gives the closes comparison for loading Ruger 45 colt/454 Casull loads. My most accurate load is 16.2 grains of HS-7; it is very reliable and consistent pushing 300 grain LFN PB boolits out at around 1,150 fps. Looking at burn rate charts, which means not a whole lot of beans, but true blue may be the closest...........any suggestions out there????

[hpdrifter]

I liked HS7 meself. Pssst, I know where there's 3 ir 4 pounds of it......but they're awfully proud that they've got it also. $29.99 each.

[TCLouis]

I have about 6 pounds of Bartlett's WC 820 Fast which he stated as HS-7 speed.

Took a while to find the niche it filled, but have found some loads for 44 Mag.

So far accuracy is limited from the loads I have tested using it.

[454PB]

I'm a ball powder fan, but for midrange loads in nearly everything from .357 magnum up, I love BlueDot.

16 grains of BlueDot behind your 300 grainer should yield about the same velocity you get with HS-7. I've gone considerably higher than that in my FA 83 .454 Casull, but that's a good starting load.

[RobS]

454PB:
I've shot quite a bit of blue dot as well from the 454, but the accuracy with the PB boolits is a bit better with HS-7 and with less pressure it appears as the barrel starts to lead with blue dot once I work much over 1100 fps. The extreme spread is also better with HS-7 and in fact the lowest of all the powders I've used working up mid house (1150-1200fps) loads.

Looks like I may have to start up a thead about Ramshot True Blue for heavy 45 ruger/454 Casull load application.

[mtgrs737]

All three pound cans of my HS-7 are marked clearance $6.33 so that tells you how long I have had it. Still smells and looks fine though.

[RobS]

Resurrection:

I've played around a bit with trying to find a powder that gave similar results as HS-7 in combination with the 300 grain LFN PB boolits I shoot from my SRH 454 Casull. The closest in performance, pressure, and accuracy has an end result with AA#7 showing supreme. It takes about .5 to .8 grains more powder to produce the velocities of HS-7 but I've found what I was looking for............finally. Using the same boolits of around 13-14 BHN, all the flake powders of Herco, Blue Dot and Steel could not get to the same velocities before leading started in the bore. Longshot and True Blue were about the same as the flake powder in regards. These two latter ball powders were close but I didn’t like that the lower powder volume of the charges used so eliminated them as I don’t like to look in the case and have to search for the powder.

So as it goes:
Ruger SRH 454 Casull 7 ½ barrel; 300 grain LFN style plain base boolits; 13-14 BHN

-Herco for 1000 fps to 1050 fps--anything with less velocity than this doesn't shoot worth a hoot with this boolit design/weight and the 1:24" twist rate of the SRH

-2400 for 1050fps to 1100 fps or so--groups well and is always consistent

-HS-7/Win 571 (well what I have left) and AA #7 for 1100 fps to 1200 fps--these powders are in the in between range (almost magnum) and AA#7 may produce higher velocities without issues. I haven’t worked up with it past this velocity range as I like the results so haven’t changed things.

-AA#9 & 4227 for 1200 fps to 1300 fps--more velocity can be had with these two powders however much more and I prefer H110 if I'm going to step up. I like 4227 at the lower end of these velocity ranges as I don't have to worry about squibs.

-H110- used to bring the house down.

[KYCaster]

Have you considered SR4756?

I like it for similar velocities in 44 Mag.

Jerry

[RobS]

I thought about 4756 and I did have some of it a while back when I was working up 255 grain Keiths. It worked well for them however it's been a long while sense the last grains run through my powder measure. I found some of the other test powders from fellow reloaders for a few cylinders to test, but no one else had any 4756 sitting around or I would have worked with it for sake of experiementing.

I'll note, I never bought any more 4756 as Herco was just a smidge more accurate for the lighter 255 Keiths. I then came accross 4 1/2 to 5 lbs of HS-7 from a forum member and it worked better for the 255 Keiths than even the Herco so I just never returned once I ran out of 4756.

Experience tells me that 4756 would have possible potential that would be better than the Herco for the 300 LFN PB but probably not as good as HS-7 or AA#7 especially at 1100-1200 fps range.

[Rocky Raab]

The good news is that I've found two truly great powders for 3/4 throttle loads in the 45 Colt (I don't own a 454).

The bad news is that those powders are W630 and Alcan-8.

[RobS]

Bad news yes...........they are endangered species just as my Win. 571 & HS-7 and are soon to be extinct.

[Rocky Raab]

I keep lobbying Winchester/Hodgdon to bring back W630 but no encouragement yet. Alcan has been gone for something like 40 years.

Other powders very close to the departed 571 would be WSF, Blue Dot, Acc#7, and VV N350.

[Lloyd Smale]

I guess im the odd man out here. I never did get great accuracy with it in anything. hs6 has allways outperfomed it when it came to accuracy. I dont care for aa7 as its a poor metering powder and bluedot is only used in this house in shotgun shells. It isnt a real stable powder for handguns. When loading toward the top of pressures suggested for it it will go from mild to wild with a half a grain increase in charge weight. I use alot of hs6 and if i want something a tad slower i step up to 2400. I did get some good results with the 820 batch that burned fast but its long gone.

[mtgrs737]

Bad news yes...........they are endangered species just as my Win. 571 & HS-7 and are soon to be extinct.

RobS, I know where a 10 lb. case of NOS HS 7 is if Your interested? Drop me a PM.