Winchester WST powder

[BE Mike]

Another long time user of Winchester WST here; attached some pics of past testing.

The .45 ACP was tested at 10 yards though it is also accurate at 25yards when I get my &$%* in one sock. I did have to lengthen the OAL to get the SWC bullet profile to work in my G30s which led to a slight increase in powder charge.

The .38 Special was tested at 15 yards and is also accurate at longer distances when I get it together.

The quality of the bullet has more to do with accuracy than powder charge. It is hard to determine at those short distances however. Any decent handgun and ammo should be able to shoot one hole groups at 15 yards.

 

[trulyapostolic]

Some revolver 'smiths preferred WST over Bullseye for 38 special after testing. 148gr wadcutters with 2.7-3.0 is a good range to play with. WST also shoots spectacularly in my Manurhin MR38 using Zero 125gr JHP-C bullets.

 

[Newtire]

.45 AARP ??? What did you really mean?

AARP probabolly=ACP with autocorrect doing it's magic.

 

[rockquarry]

Since making earlier posts, I've done much more work with the .45 ACP along with WST and Bullseye powders using the 200 grain SAECO copy of the H&G #68. Using several 1911s, 4 grs. WST and 3.5 grs. Bullseye are pretty much identical and interchangeable as far as accuracy, but my testing has only been at 25 yards. I still have to try them at 50 yards.

 

[M29since14]

That’s what I used to use, and likewise never really checked the 4.0 grain load very well at 50 since most of my shooting was done at any indoor 25-yard range. We used 3.0 with .38 wadcutters, in both the 52 and revolvers, with good results.

I agree with BE Mike that the best bullets will probably make more difference than any type of powder, but I recall Gil Hebard made a convincing case that the early 52s he tested (I think he had either 5 or 7 of them) were powder sensitive and tended to favor Unique, which surprised me. So I had to try it in my gun, but couldn’t really detect much difference between Unique, 700X, and Bullseye. I think all my testing was done with the Lyman 35863 wadcutter seated flush. Possibly not the best bullet for a .38 wadcutter accuracy test, but it was what I had.

 

[rockquarry]

That’s what I used to use, and likewise never really checked the 4.0 grain load very well at 50 since most of my shooting was done at any indoor 25-yard range. We used 3.0 with .38 wadcutters, in both the 52 and revolvers, with good results.

I agree with BE Mike that the best bullets will probably make more difference than any type of powder, but I recall Gil Hebard made a convincing case that the early 52s he tested (I think he had either 5 or 7 of them) were powder sensitive and tended to favor Unique, which surprised me. So I had to try it in my gun, but couldn’t really detect much difference between Unique, 700X, and Bullseye. I think all my testing was done with the Lyman 35863 wadcutter seated flush. Possibly not the best bullet for a .38 wadcutter accuracy test, but it was what I had.

The only wadcutter I've used for more than forty years has been the H&G #50 flat base that I cast myself. I can't really comment on other wadcutter designs, but most look similar except the hollow base versions.

 

[H Richard]

I always used 231 for my target loads, but WST for my USPSA Major loads.