An old mate was cleaning out his gun cabinet and he gave me an unopened tin of Winchester 440 shot shell powder, my manuals have no reference to 440, can anyone give me a load on it for winchester compression formed hulls
Hotrack
Just for the hell of it I tried searching for it online...found nothing.
Is OLD old, or what?
Franc
Winchester sold "540" shotgun powder. Take a real close look at the marking/title.
I just took a quick scan through all the Winchester Ball Powder loading data from the first edition in 1973 through the 2003 edition and there is no 440 mentioned. There was for a number of years 540, and in the first six editions they mentioned their older powders that the currant line replaced and there was 540MS and a 450LS, and references to a yellow 1969 manual that covered those powders.
Have the tin in my hot little hand, 16oz, at very top ias a black narrow band with AA440 in 4 places at 90 degrees, at bottom a narrow yellow band with all the warnings in black letters" read warnings and caution on label before using"
On white backgroung WINCHESTER, AA in Black on yellow in a box surrounded by black.
Smokeless powder
In Bold BALL POWDER
AA440 for 12gauge AA Shot Shells
For Target & Standard velocity Shott Shell Loads
In a box under that
Danger
Smokeless gunpowder
Extremely inflammable
Keep away from heat or open flame. Store in a dry place
Keep out of reach of children
on the back of the tin are all the warnings and cautions
Hotrack
PS I also have a quantity of 540 571 and 296 from the same source, which I have data for, I also have some 4740 Canadian Sporting Powder explosive Class 3 Division 2 nett weight 1lb
On the back of the can are advertisements for Hornady Bulletts and Federal Primers, I suspect it is rifle powder
Hotrack
Hotrack,
Suggest you contact Winchester/Olin or their distributor there for best input, but suspect that it may be the equiv. of AA452, but labeled dif for use/distribution in Oz. That was the original designation for the older ball powder for the AA Winchester 12ga. hulls here in the US.
Will be interesting to see what comes of your inquiry. Also, I'd save the container, once emptied, as there is probably some collector interest.
I would concur w/ tw's assessment of saving the container. I would do that right after I poured the contents in the toilet. My first clue would be no loading data.
I am amazed, well actually not, that people persist in using off the wall shit usually because it's free. I can tell ya straight and true that the couple pennies a load that the powder costs me is a non-issue of the first water.
But that's just me.
have a day
Dr.WtS