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View Full Version : Let's talk about SR4759



mooko
10-17-2011, 11:59 PM
Years ago, I bought two 4 lb. cans of 4759 to use in my original Sharps Borschart 45-70. In the Old, Old Lyman manual from 1959, it was recommended as a bulk powder for duplicating black powder loads.
I have used it extensively in the 45-70. A couple of years ago I started using it in my Rolling Block 577 Nitro Express. Worked great, so I tried it in an ancient German single shot bolt action conversion done on a French rifle from the Franco-Prussian War. (Never fired - only dropped once) The caliber (determined by chamber cast and a thorough perusing of Cartridges of the World) was 9.5X47R. I originally made brass by running 45-70 cases through a series of dies until they would fit the chamber, then fireformed them. The bullet I used was an old Winchester mold for the 38-55. I settled on a Lyman load for 38-55 since case volume is almost identical - 21 gr. 4759 and the 255 gr. 0.381 bullet. The velocity is 1850 fps, and the accuracy is great. My grandson uses it and knocked a squirrel off with a headshot at 25 yds.
I'm now embarking on loading for a 1892 Winchester in 32WCF made in 1918. Again, my ancient Lyman book lists 10 gr. 4759 with a 115 gr. lead bullet. Anybody tried this?
Actually, I'm anxious to hear about any loading done with 4759, since I load for a lot of cartridges.

fryboy
10-18-2011, 02:46 AM
hola ! and welcome to the forum , ummm my oldest book doesnt list a boolit that light , 137 grains with 9-12 grains of 4759 is the lightest load i have listed leaving me to believe that 10 is likely max ( reduce accordingly and work safely up ) i use a lil bit of the powder and years ago i vaguely recall an article stating a ratio to equate black powder with it but never pursued it ( hindsight is sometimes painfully poignant lolz ) i have a few fire forming loads worked up with it that are also great for plinking

versifier
10-18-2011, 02:26 PM
Welcome to the Guide, mooko.

Unfortunately, I have no helpful data on hand here and no experience with SR-4759, though as long as I've been casting, I probably ought to have by now. I should try some and do some experimenting, but with as many moulds as I have, that could turn into a decade-long project.......

I don't have QuickLoad, but that would be a good starting place to get something to check against data that old.

I suspect it might be a tad slow for the round as it was basically designed as a rifle powder for cast bullets in medium capacity cases. There's lots of data for it in larger cases and no data I can find for the small .32-20 or .30carb range. That doesn't mean it won't be worth trying if you can find some data - your rifle may really like it (or not) and you have a lot of powder to use up experimenting. The longer barrel may give the powder a bigger advantage than when used in a revolver.

runfiverun
10-18-2011, 02:32 PM
about all i have used sr-4759 for is reduced velocity jaxketed rounds.
i use more of the sr-4756 for shotgun loads and for my 45 colt.
when the kids weree gowing up, and "wanted to shoot the big guns", i started them with the sr-4759 loads.
and worked up from there with 4895 to full powered loads as they could take a bit more recoil.
the rounds look exactly the same [especially to an 8 year old] as the ones everybody else is shooting,and it gave them a confidence boost to be shooting with all the big people.
some pretty good conversations were had with my youngest girl and a couple of shooters about her shooting the ruger mountain rifle in 308.
that 10 gr load in the 32-20 sounds top end to me also.

Guesser
10-19-2011, 02:25 AM
I use SR-4759 in 32 Winchester Special, 38-55, and 45-70, all with cast boolits. It works reasonably well with 44 magnum in boolits 250 gr. or heavier, in carbine or longer barreled hand gun. It is a little too slow burning for a 4 or 6" barrel. I like it and have known of shooters using it in Smokeless/BP duplex loads. I've never used it that way, I always used Unique for that.

Paul B
10-19-2011, 06:20 PM
I've only used SR4759 in the 45-70. My rifle liked 16.0 gr. with a one grain tuft of Dacron and the Lyman #457122, a 330 gr. hollow point bullet sometimes called the "Gould" bullet. It was quite accurate in an 1895 (new model) Marlin and a Ruger #1S. FWIW, A.C. Gould was the first President of the newly formed NRA. I have both his books, "MODERN AMERICAN RIFLES" and "MODERN AMERICAN PISTOLS ANS REVOLVERS". They're worth getting just for the beautiful line drawings of the firearms common to the era circa 1892, the copyright date on the books.
Paul B.

firefly 1957
11-03-2011, 09:21 PM
I use it in my Sharps 50-3 1/4 under a 450 gr bullet for a deer load and in .223 Rem. for a reduced load with bullets swaged from a lead core in a used musket cap. 55grs both shoot good and seem to be clean.

dfrak
11-06-2011, 02:20 PM
Using SR4759, I whipped up some loads for my wife's 8x57 (8mm Mauser) Czech vz 24. A very mild and pleasant round to shoot with a 125 grain jacketed bullet.

I did pretty much the same thing with the 30.06, but have not tested it as much.

The results in the 7.62x54R were initially disappointing. I eventually bumped the powder weight up quite a bit and came up with something that worked. Overall though, I had better results with other powders for reduced loads in this cartridge.

pantannojack
12-04-2011, 04:12 AM
4759 was my first try in 3006 cast loads and I like it enough to look no further. 200g Lee GC hard hot lube to .309 gc and 23g 4759, hxp case, rem 9 1/2 primer. Case is stuffed with 1/4 square of thin tp to keep powder at primer. I get 1800 fps from 21" bbl. Best gp has been 1.5 moa at 100 yds. I frequently practice to 200 yds with enough snuff to penetrate both sides of a three gallon freon jug. No need to wast money on jacketed bullets during off season.