Been having some grief getting consistent results from the Green 1/2". I have been corresponding with the boys at ADI and getting nowhere fast. So, tonight I sacrificed a 50BMG factory round and a reload. Stupid me stuffed a perfectly good projectile cause I could have just measured out the powder from the AR2218 bottle rather then pull a reload apart. I convinced myself that I was testing ways to pull big projectiles without stuffing them...but failed Twice!!
The Hornady "Factory" shell I'm lead to believe was part of the first shipment of 50Cal ammo into Australia for the sale to civilians boxed and branded as Hornady. From what I've found out, it's not actually made by Hornady but by Winchester for U.S military sniper operations. WCC = Western Cartridge Company which was bought out years ago by Winchester. Crimped and sealed primers are a dead giveaway of military intention along with the year of manufacture and it's well documented that snipers are using the Hornady AMAX projectiles on personnel. It comes in packs of 10 so it was never intended for belt fed auto's.
Now I established the heritage of the round I'm trying to figure out what powder they are using, initial searching points to it possibly being Vectan SP-2 made by Nobel but I'm hoping others can confirm if this may or may not be right.
ADI AR2218 for comparison - I'm curious why the grain size is so different,
Volumes appear similar but massive difference in grain size.
Gotta admire a projectile this big...The pointy end kills while the blunt end kicks.
Anyone got experience with Nobel powders that may be able to shed some light on what this powder it? Any surefire way to compare burn rates? Was thinking to place 50gr of each in a bowl and measure burn time with a stopwatch a few times to confirm if they are the same rate or different. Ideas, comments and advice always welcome