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44 special and TrailBoss


Swift Stoney 49735

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4.3 Grains of Trailboss.  .430" 200 Grain RNFP bullet.

 

Been using this load for years.   Works well in a 3" Sheriff's Model, a 12" Buntline Special, and everything in between.  

 

.44 Special is a fun caliber to shoot.   Too bad there are not more guns out there chambered for it.

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I  could never justify paying that much for a 1/2 a bottle of powder of Trailboss  

 

I use Unique or Universal  when shooting smokeless .

But most of the time I shoot APP a  Black powder Sub.

The 44 special actually shoots Black powder quite well .

But for that matter the 44 special or Mag  shoots everything well.

 

I cast my own bullets with a Lee 200gr RNFP .

And I shoot in all my 44 specials or Mags .

 

1. One Uberti 66 44 special 

2, Two Uberti Cattleman 5" 44 specials 

3. Two Uberti 72 Open Top 7.1/2" 44 specials 

4. Two Ruger 4.5/8 SS Vaqueros 44 specials

5. Two  Ruger 4.5/8 Blued Vaquero 44 specials 

6. Two  Ruger 4.5/8 Blued Blackhawk 44 specials 

7. Two  Ruger Blackhawk 7.1/4  44 Mag/Special  

8. Two  Rossi  20" Carbines 44 Mag/Special  

9. Two Marlin 20" Carbines 44 Mag/special

10.  S&W Mountain 3" 44 Special  

11. Ruger Redhawk 7.1/2 44 Mag/Special 

12. Henry Bigboy 20" Brass  44 Mag/Special 

 

( The only off Caliber gun is the )

 

13. Uberti Henry 1860 in 44/40 and I still us the same Lee 200gr RNFP Bullet in that too.

I have read about some being Converted  to shoot 44 specials .

But have never found anyone who could or would do this yet .

 

I have found that Loading the 44 Special long ,

By seating the 200gr Lee bullet only to the first lube groove .

They will fit in all the 44 special guns and feed just as good as the 44 mag cartridge .

This way you can getaway with loading only one Cartridge for all your 44 guns .

 

If you need any 44 Special or Mag Info I have been at it with this caliber  for many years .

Just PM me and I will try to help as much as I can .

Good luck with this adventure .

 

PS. You will find most powders will go much further then Trailboss for the money spent    

Rooster 

   

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13 hours ago, Swift Stoney 49735 said:

I want to start reloading 44 specials with TrailBoss powder. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any reloading data. Could someone aim me in the right direction?

 

Did you go to the Hodgdon website and look at the plethora of data they have? They have load data that allows for the use of Trailboss in every rifle and pistol cartridge that you can find or make brass for. Just follow the formula in the reduced rifle loads.

 

https://www.hodgdon.com/resources/data-sheets/

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4.3 grains Trail Boss under a 180 gr cast bullet is a soft-recoil load, used in 7" Open Tops, 4 5/8" Ruger NV, and Marlin 1894.

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Nice shooting load for me is  4.6 grains TrailBoss  &  200Gr LRNFP, Winchester LP primer and Starline Brass.  Very pleasant to shoot and  accurate out of my S&W M24 4"  Driftwood Dan

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On 4/12/2019 at 6:57 AM, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

I  could never justify paying that much for a 1/2 a bottle of powder of Trailboss  

 

I use Unique or Universal  when shooting smokeless .

But most of the time I shoot APP a  Black powder Sub.

The 44 special actually shoots Black powder quite well .

But for that matter the 44 special or Mag  shoots everything well.

 

I cast my own bullets with a Lee 200gr RNFP .

And I shoot in all my 44 specials or Mags .

 

1. One Uberti 66 44 special 

2, Two Uberti Cattleman 5" 44 specials 

3. Two Uberti 72 Open Top 7.1/2" 44 specials 

4. Two Ruger 4.5/8 SS Vaqueros 44 specials

5. Two  Ruger 4.5/8 Blued Vaquero 44 specials 

6. Two  Ruger 4.5/8 Blued Blackhawk 44 specials 

7. Two  Ruger Blackhawk 7.1/4  44 Mag/Special  

8. Two  Rossi  20" Carbines 44 Mag/Special  

9. Two Marlin 20" Carbines 44 Mag/special

10.  S&W Mountain 3" 44 Special  

11. Ruger Redhawk 7.1/2 44 Mag/Special 

12. Henry Bigboy 20" Brass  44 Mag/Special 

 

( The only off Caliber gun is the )

 

13. Uberti Henry 1860 in 44/40 and I still us the same Lee 200gr RNFP Bullet in that too.

I have read about some being Converted  to shoot 44 specials .

But have never found anyone who could or would do this yet .

 

I have found that Loading the 44 Special long ,

By seating the 200gr Lee bullet only to the first lube groove .

They will fit in all the 44 special guns and feed just as good as the 44 mag cartridge .

This way you can getaway with loading only one Cartridge for all your 44 guns .

 

If you need any 44 Special or Mag Info I have been at it with this caliber  for many years .

Just PM me and I will try to help as much as I can .

Good luck with this adventure .

 

PS. You will find most powders will go much further then Trailboss for the money spent    

Rooster 

   

You went off in your own direction here, but I would note that I have seen Trailboss, which I use extensively, priced significantly below the same generic jar size of other powders. Considering any number of pennies difference per round, I am not going to worry about it, when shooting at most two matches per month.

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30 minutes ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

I don't like Trailboss.

 

Since I don't shoot Smokeless anyway, just try loading APP to the base of the bullet and be done with it.  

 

 

TRAIL BOSS!!!!!

 

Hodgdon "Trail Boss" (two words)
REVOLVER
.430" Lead Bullets
1.450"
Minimum load - 4.3gr, 757fps @ 8,700 CUP
   Maximum Load - 6.3gr, 885fps @ 13,200 CUP

no load data for rifles, however...same load data has been proven to work fine.
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Trailboss works great as long as you shoot loads with a decent charge. I like it as it is just one more level of protection against loading a double charge in my wife and kid's loads. I can't really put a price on that.

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Timely discussion. Just picked up a JM Marlin in .44 mag/spl for possible WB or BW.  In process of  .44 spl load development now. Have quite a bit of Trail Boss, but have not contemplated using that. Was looking at Red Dot, Clays, 700x, Bullseye, etc. My only concern about Trail Boss is powder feed in my SDB. It works, but the powder is so "fluffy" I am skeptical of consistent load drops.  What are you doing to ensure consistent powder charges in a progressive press with Trail Boss? Or is it no different than other powders in your experience? 

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6 hours ago, Ripsaw said:

Timely discussion. Just picked up a JM Marlin in .44 mag/spl for possible WB or BW.  In process of  .44 spl load development now. Have quite a bit of Trail Boss, but have not contemplated using that. Was looking at Red Dot, Clays, 700x, Bullseye, etc. My only concern about Trail Boss is powder feed in my SDB. It works, but the powder is so "fluffy" I am skeptical of consistent load drops.  What are you doing to ensure consistent powder charges in a progressive press with Trail Boss? Or is it no different than other powders in your experience? 

To help avoid bridging I use the largest aperture available for the grains needed. I also remove the baffle in my powder measure, because it proved counterproductive with TB.

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As roscoe said, use the big insert and take out the baffle, that should keep you in the +/- .3 range which with trailboss is perfectly fine since you're not usually at the floor (which is well below published loads typically) or the ceiling.  If you want to be more in the typical +/-.1 buy a 5 dollar aquarium air pump from amazon and attach it to the side of the powder hopper.

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I load TB on my 650, no problems at all, and haven't removed anything.

I also use it on my Starr reloader, most accurate loader IMO.

 

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Started CAS a year ago.  Picked 44 cal so I could shoot WB and not have to buy a different caliber long gun. 

CAS = 2 New Model 44 Special Backhawk Beasleys, Marlin 1894 44 mag / Spec.  

WB = Springfield 1911 and the Marlin.

 

I load everything with Trail Boss.  It is a bit more expensive and I have experienced some bridging with a Hornady Lock N Load with a case activated power measure.  I was able to completely cure this with a mid-Cycle flick of the micrometer.  (lift the micrometer up 1/2 inch or so and let it snap back into position).  I also removed the baffle in the powder measure but still experienced unacceptable powder drop variance until I added the "flick".

 

For the Springfield 1911 

  • Missouri Bullet 200gr coated "ODD BALL" 
  • Trail Boss  4.4gr
  • Range brass
  • Winchester LP Primers
  • COL 1.225" (Standard Factory Length-ish)
  • Hard crimp on the factory crimp groove.
  • M Velocity 770 (5 rounds through a trap average)
  • Power Factor Aprox.  154.   Too close for formal match comfort but great for club matchs.

For CAS

  • After trying every 44 bullet weight from 165gr to 240gr.  I settled on Missouri Bullet Cowboy #20 (210gr coated).  I put a fairly hard crimp on the last groove in the bullet which yields a 1.55" COL that cycles flawlessly in the Marlin and and loads in the 44 spec Beasleys. 
  • 4.2gr Trail Boss (I have loaded as little as 3.8gr TB but was not happy with how dirty the guns got.  More powder helped)
  • Starline  44 spec Brass
  • Winchester LP primers
  • Hard Crimp for COL of 1.55"

Just Sayin'

Stretch

 

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