Roscoe Regulator

I know Vihtavuori N32C as Tin Star, which takes a heavier load than Trailboss and winds up about the same amount of case fill.

But each of those 32s and 45s are different cartridges.

You wrote caliber, but I wonder if you meant cartridge.

All willing to meet in a gun-free zone.

Northern Virginia should be a separate State with their own politics.

Then there is the benefit analysis. If you want a powder to fill your case or at least be easily visible when placing a bullet for seating, and while choices are few, you accept paying a bit for it.

From Alliant site: " Clay Dot® is an American-made and extremely clean-burning powder designed for 12-gauge competition shooters. It is engineered to perform similarly to Hodgdon® Clays® but at an economical price. Great choice for light and standard 12-gauge target loads with 7/8-, 1- and 1 1/8-ounce payloads Available in 1-, 4- and 8-pound containers Proudly made in America *Not for use in metallic cartridges" Even with that disclaimer they do actually list a load for 44 Special. There have to be better powder choices, when a powder company is not interested in providing load data, and other sources are informal.

TB is only more expensive where merchants put the same price on all their like size containers without looking at their invoice and the weight on the labels. p.s. While Trailboss is technically more expensive than many, there is no excuse for a 9 ounce jar of Trailboss being the same price as a 14 ounce or one pounder of something else.

I note that my Lighning rifle in 357 runs best with a bullet that is also rounded immediately from the crimp groove. I get those 158 gr TCFP from Penn Bullets.

With ten rounds the magazine spring will be near fully compressed, possibly pushing bullets into cases. Lighter springs should be available. I was wondering about that RCBS Cowboy die set and if you are using the 44-40 expander plug (.428) or 44 Russian/Spl/Mag (.430). Then when you say the bullets are Missouri 44-40 specific, do you mean .427-8? The question is whether neck tension is compatible with the bullet or vice versa. The other question is whether the snap cap bullet profile is the critical dimension. I know from my Lightning .357 that I have to avoid bullets with any type of leading band. The curvature of the bullet must start immediately after the crimp for complete reliability. The slightest corner in the profile can mean occasional jams. The bullet in your pictures has a flat band in front of the crimp.

From SIzemaster parts listing 65A Spindex Star Crimp - 12 Gauge ( 6 Point) 1008439126 65B Spindex Star Crimp - 12 Gauge ( 8 Point) 1008439128 Same site has the user manual, which makes only vague references to alternate crimp. My 600 came with both types of crimp starters. They just snap on and off. You should use the same number of points as the original.

Some of those crimps look like the bullet is simply seated too deeply for the case trim length. When the bullet needs to be set back in order to chamber, I think one can simply trim cases to where a proper roll crimp is possible.

Maybe that "wasp waist" comes from dies that are expecting .427 bullets. The Cowboy set doesn't do that.

Before leaving this topic I would like to be sure what difference the type of powder would make. If the black powder load was supporting the bullet, that suggests that seat and crimp dies should be set without any powder in a case or with smokeless powder loaded below the bullet's level. Then the black powder load would be reduced, if there were any issues once rounds contained black powder. If experiencing "collapsing" bullets, telescoping, etc. with smokeless powder, that sounds like the fault was with the black powder settings. It also sounds like the amount of crimp and neck tension was not capturing the bullet.

I use Extra-Lite and found that it requires a #25 bushing to yield 12.8 gr, Alliant's load of 13.4 less 10%. I use #8 chilled shot, and WinAA12L grey wad (or equivalent). Hulls are WinAA, 8 point. I also load Fiocchi 6-point hulls with a Lightning wad, same powder and shot measures. This same #25 bushing will yield the Clay's load. I would note that new Win AA is marked 26 grams while a MEC 7/8 charge bar yields more than 26 Grams (.91 ounce rather than .875). I see shooters doing fine with what they say is 3/4, which may actually be more than .75.

Winchesters are being advertised as now more "sensitive".

To be useful, responses should be qualified by which of the bullet sizes is being loaded, basically .428 or .430.

The point being that he may need more than a new part.

For my 200 grain .430 RNFP bullets from Bullets by Scarlett; same as I use for 44 Special; RCBS Cowboy dies with a 44 Russian/Spl/Mag expander (430) work with no issues and seat and crimp using one die. The crimp is a nice roll, no sweat. 44 WCF die sets are likely to be expecting .427-8 bullets, so expect loading or chambering issues with larger bullets. The cases need to be lubed, and the sizer's decapping pin base should be set to allow the case to be fully engaged by the die body. In order for these to fit in my Uberti Outlaw, bored and chambered for the larger size bullet, trim length is 1.285 and COL is 1.570. I have a nearly full suite of RCBS Cowboy dies sets, which solved all my issues with loading lead bullets that are larger in diameter than jacketed.

Should there be a concern about why it broke?

Deleted.

What regulation are you referring to here?

No data at this point, but Tin Star should be a candidate powder for 44-40. Powder Valley had it it, last I looked.

The question seems to be whether the guns are still reliable at a competition level. Since I currently shoot an unmatched pair, one Uberti 4-click and one stock Vaquero; guns I owned before starting with SASS; I can't quibble too much about exactly how the gun loads or unloads. I favor the Vaquero actually but also like having a gun that is close to the real deal like the 4-click Uberti. Never mind that I have to shoot the Uberti first because the trigger is so light. Coming off the Vaquero's heavier trigger to the Uberti instead surprised me with firing before I was ready for it. Turning it around worked fine.

Being able to work on ones guns is yet another prerequisite for CAS it seems, but since Longhunter has already fixed two guns for me, I think I will just plan on buying one of their prepared new guns and them giving me the real scoop on any questions. I already plan on sending my JM Marlin 45 Colt Cowboy, which works fine but is not slicked up or enhanced. Winter will be a good time for me to part with the gun.