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Unfortunately there is a bit of a problem here regarding powder availability, it's either Wano or Swiss. I know this seems like a no brainer but you can't ship powder interstate in Australia without a special permit. Wano sold in Australia is labelled Wano and comes in three different quality grades as well as the usual granulations. The first grade, and the cheapest is FA, I think the main use for this is in the manufacture of fireworks and for battlefield simulations by the army who just want a bang and some smoke. The second grade up are the F grades, 1F, 2F, 3F , and 4F, this is the second cheapest and works fine, say for offhand shooting and shotguns. The premium Wano is P grade, 1P, 2P, 3P, and 4P, this is what most of us use for serious target shooting. I have spent a considerable amount of time testing PP wano against Swiss 1 1/2 in both my 45/70 and the 45/90 and as far as accuracy goes there is hardly any difference that I can detect on the target, IF you clean between shots. Having said that there is a difference in explosive strength. As an example, 80 gr of PP Wano under a 530gr GG bullet in my 45/90 gives an average MV of 1245 fps for five shots, with an extreme spread of 9 fps. In the same rifle using the same bullet 72 gr of Swiss 1 1/2 gave an average speed of 1255 fps with a spread of 12 fps. Given this information you would be forgiven for thinking that why not use the lesser charge of Swiss rather than the Wano. There are two reasons, firstly you can't buy Swiss powder where I live, and secondly Wano is A$50.00 per kilo, Swiss is A$110.00, the price difference makes a compelling argument when you use at least a kilo a month. On the subject of accuracy the best group I have measured from the 45/90 at 100 meters using Swiss was 7/8" center to center. For Wano my best was 15/16", both shot on perfect days with a 24x scope on the rifle, off the bench. If I can get my PP bullets to shoot this well I will me more than happy. Mike.
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