45-70 loads using 5744 powder

[Edward]

A 1/2 grain of dacron over 25 1/2 gr of 2400 powder, has been my go to load for years in multiple 45/70 rifles and they all have survived as I too listen to Larry Gibson /Ed

[EOChief66]

A 535 gr. Postall pushed by 26gr. of 5744 is what my Shiloh Sharps 45-70 likes! Shooting out to just 200 yds so far, more distance this year will tell!

[FrankJD]

I burned a lot of AA5744 for both Sharps and rollers. NO wads OR fillers needed - AA5744 was meant for large cases.

But, that white devil dust was just a passing fancy and a whole new and way mo' bettah shooting world was revealed whence I went to the holy black and paper patched slicks.

Accurate 5744

It can best be described as a fast burning Rifle or slow burning Magnum handgun double base “hybrid” powder, having the typical chemical composition of handgun powders i.e. 20% NG – and the geometry of a typical extruded single perforated rifle powder.

Rifle applications:

This makes the powder very ignitable, which makes it ideal for low loading density applications, such as reduced loads on bottle neck rifle calibers, and low performance “straight case” designs, such as the old “black powder” calibers i.e. 45-70 45-110 50-110 etc.

The powder is virtually insensitive to powder position, and there is no need for “fillers”. It will deliver consistent results at low performance levels. Although there will be some un-burnt powder (see paragraph below) the performance will remain consistent.

Due to its ignitability, any strength rifle primer can be used.

Handgun applications:

This powder makes for an excellent powder in large capacity handgun calibers such as 44/45 “Magnum” types or “std” cases with similar capacities. With some of these calibers full power or close to full power is achievable, usually at full case/maximum loading densities. The powder can also be at reduced levels in handgun calibers, but with same effect re un-burnt powder. (See paragraph below)

Un-burnt powder granules:

Although, this is a powder recommended for reduced/low performance loads, it cannot be completely efficient (clean burning) at very low Pressure/performance levels of <18000psi.

It still is a modern, high-density, smokeless powder, with limitations regarding complete combustion at very low chamber pressures. With nitro-cellulose based “Modern” powders, the burn rate and pressure are directly proportional.

This means that some level of un-burnt powder will be present, constituting the remainder of some of the powder granules. This cannot be improved with primers or crimp etc, the only way to eliminate this, is an increase in chamber-pressure.

[FrankJD]

Quigley Match Safety Rule #6 ...

Smokeless powder is allowed for modern reproduction rifles using safe published data. No over- powder wads are allowed if using a double-base powder (over-powder wads are cotton or Dacron or similar wads pushed down into the cartridge case over the powder column with the intention of holding the powder column tight against the primer and leaving an air space between the over-powder wad and the base of the bullet or card wad at the base of the bullet). The most popular one used at the Quigley Match is Accurate Arms 5744. If you don’t know if your powder is double-base, check the manufacturer’s website and find the Material Safety Data Sheet for the powder. If the composition in Part 3 includes nitroglycerin it is a double-base powder. Do not use smokeless powder to achieve “hot loads” or exceed published loading data. Smokeless powder should only be used to achieve black powder equivalent loads. When cartridge case powder fill is less than 50% extreme caution should be used to avoid the possibility of double charging. You must physically check every case!

https://www.quigleymatch.com/safety.html