Alcan 5

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  • Last Post 05 April 2024
delmarskid posted this 04 April 2024

Hello again, I was given some alcan 5 . It’s working nicely in my ‘06 . 14g with 165 and 200 grain bullets are 4” high at 50yards and nearly dead on at 175. The stuff is very clean and cases aren’t sooty. The bad news is that the factory blew up decades ago. What’s a good next step with a charge like this when my alcan is gone?

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Ed Harris posted this 04 April 2024

AL5 IIRC was a shotgun powder for 12-ga. Duck and Pheasant loads. Burning rate between Unique and Herco. A good substitute for WW2 era Hercules Infallible. I used lots of it in .45 ACP, 6 grains with #452374 to approximate hardball..

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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MP1886 posted this 04 April 2024

 delmarskid a good next step is Unique. 

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delmarskid posted this 04 April 2024

I’m thinking about BE-86. It’s supposed tob between Unique and Power Pistol. I liked Red Dot at 14g but it’s not around.

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cbaMollyy42 posted this 04 April 2024

I have a can of Al-7 on the back of my shelves.  Has anyone worked-up any loads with Al-7?

 

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delmarskid posted this 04 April 2024

Speer #9 manual is supposed to have al 7 data.

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delmarskid posted this 04 April 2024

On a burn rate chart alcan 7 is between HS5 and HS6

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4060may posted this 04 April 2024

some info

 

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Eutectic posted this 05 April 2024

I burned a lot of AL-7 and AL-8 in 357 and 44 mag in the 60's and 70's. They were manufactured in Sweden by Aktiebolaget Bofors and were great pistol powders. AL-7 was tiny cut flake and measured very well. It was medium speed for the Magnums, burned clean and gave 90% of top velocity at ~60% of the charge weight of 2400 and 296 without needing magnum primers. Excellent for cast bullets.

AL-8 gave me the most accurate shooting in the 44 with Lyman 429421. It beat 2400 by a considerable margin in my Model 29.  However, the large flakes did not measure well in the Lyman measure I had at that time. I could use dipper measures for sub-maximum loads but maximum loads had to be weighed. Sub-Max loads of AL-8 were accurate but did not burn clean.

Later cans of Alcan powders had both Smith and Wesson and Alcan trademarks. Then for some reason importation stopped. The last my dealer was able to get was sometime in the late 70's.

Steve

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 05 April 2024

This reminds me that I have one box of large pistol primes with the S&W/Alcan label. My thought is to just keep as a piece of history. Like my small collection of empty powder cans from 80's and 90's. Seems like just yesterday but wow has time disappeared.

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