Powder for 50cal

[mmppres]

hi guys i have a few pounds of powder marked winchester ball for 50cal. plus primers. can this powder be used in other calibers. other wise i would have to sell it to someone loading for ma duce. thank you

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I would suggest selling it. That being said, I wouldn't buy it, without a positive ID it's just fertilizer to me.

[mmppres]

thank you for the information will try an get some more info an pictures up this week end

[Cosine26]

Since I do not know what type of powder you have I cannot you specific information. From experience I can recommend-discard it or dispose of it. That being said I shall try to provide some information (old) on 50 caliber powders.
After WWII the big powder companies would not sell powder or provide loading data so the handloader was left to his own wits. The US Army through the DCM sold off non-canister IMR4895 which handloaders experimented with. Bruce Hodgon started buying surplus and retailing it. Along with 4895 and 4831 he also advertised H570 and Spherical (ball) H870 plus 5010(M.G.) powder. As I understand it the last three were 50 caliber ammunition powders. They were very slow powders and not of much use to the average handloader.
To Quote form one of Hodgon's loading manuals (circa 1960):
"H570 and Spherical HS870:
These two powders are approximately the same burning rate-very slow. Adaptable to overbore capacity magnum cases such as 257,264,270 and 300 Mags with heavy bullets."
"510 (M.G.) :
This is the slowest powder adaptable to sporting arms. Only in large cases and extremely heavy bullets can pressures be brought up to give good velocity. Accuracy is frequently fund by using a case full with medium and heavy bullets."
Some of the cartridges he has recommended loads for are:
*375 Weatherby - 350 gr Barnes bullet-velocity 2151 fps-H570
*308 Norma Magnum- H570- with bullets ranging from 165 gr Speer to 220 gr Speerbullets
H870 with bullets ranging from the 110 gr Speer to 150 gr Speer
All velocities are well below what could be expected with other more suitable powders- pressure is as to be expected low-probably with many unburned granules.
*300 H&H- using H570 and H870 with 150 & 200 gr Speer give velocities in the more respectable 2800 to 2900 fps range
It is my understanding the 4831 was used in loading ammo for the 20mm Oerlikon MG and is much more suitable for normal (30-06) ammo. The 308/7.62mm was not available at the time. It was used extensively by hand loaders for the 30-06 and the 30 Magnums with very good results. There is no data given for the 458 Win Mag or any of the large British African ammo. The 458 Win Mag was not available yet and there was little demand for the Big British ammo at the time.
Why the Oerlikon powder was faster than the 50 caliber powder is a function of the action of the firearm.
Because I do not know what powder you have I am not including any specific loading data from th Hodgdon Manual.
FWIW

[browningautorifle]

From experience I can recommend-discard it or dispose of it.

This would be about right. Anything that's from or for .50 cal needs huge case capacity for any usefulness at all.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

If the propellant can be clearly identified and is in "fresh" condition, it should be OK.

4831 is a very "slow" powder used in stuff like the .50 BMG. Be aware that there are, oddly enough, TWO versions of 4831; Lots more head-spinning tech info can be found on the Web and in reloading manuals.

It is also one of the very best propellants for hot-rods like the .25-06 Rem., especially when using 120gn bullets, and is useful in many of the "overbore" magnum cartridges.

See also Nobels "0", if you can find any.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Why the Oerlikon powder was faster than the 50 caliber powder is a function of the action of the firearm.

Oerlikon canons are basically a giant SMG and use a pretty-much straight case. The Browning .50 cal M2 etc is a fully-locked, recoil-operated weapon that fires a bottle-necked cartridge.

Thus, the Oerlikon needed a relatively faster propellant so that it would burn in the almost straight-sided case, and in the short time before the breech-slide assembly started to move rearwards under pressure from that propellant combustion.

The Browning design, being fully-locked at ignition AND having a longer, bottle-necked case, would need a slower-burning propellant; VERY different pressure curves (and peak pressures).

[browningautorifle]

Bruce...he already has this unidentified powder...no idea what number to identify it. Just that it came from .50 cal...apparently. That's it.

[Bruce McAskill]

If the container is a later Winchester marked one then the type of powder should be on it. Most likely a series of numbers something like 5048 or such. There is a lot of 50 cal. powders around right now as not many reloaders have any use for it.

[browningautorifle]

Well, I guess we can speculate to death, but until he gets back with pics or info...I just think he means plain packaging written in crayon...he says he'll post pics.