Favorite reduced loads

[ez4545]

If this topic isn't in the correct place, let me know and I'll repost it in the right spot!

What is your favorite reduced load?

The ones you would put together for rifle or revolver?

Bill

[DanWalker]

6.5 grains of Red Dot under a 250 grain keith boolit, in a 45LC.
I shoot a thousand or so per year of this load.

[Buckshot]

..............45-70, 12.0 Unique and either the Lyman 292 FNPB or the RCBS 300gr FNGC.

30-06 is 8.0 SR7625 and the Lee C309-113F

357 is 3.0 W231 and most any 140 to 158 WC or SWC.

...............Buckshot

[725]

.45-70 or .458 Win Mag -- .457 roundball & 9 gr Unique It's a real zipper, resonably accurate (enough for rabbits and coons), and quiet.

[jonk]

11 gr of Red Dot in basically any military cartridge of the 30 cal class with bullets up to 200 gr.

[MT Chambers]

19.5 grs. of 4759 with 180-205gr. cast gc bullet in the .308 Win.

[felix]

My Standard Loads, where typical means start one grain lower than shown:

32WS is 30-33 of any of the H335/WC844 variants with the one and only RCBS 170 grainer.
35Rem is 38-40 of any of the H335/WC844 variants with any of the 180 grainer boolits.
308W is 23.0 VeeVee-N120 and the Lee C309-113F.
22-250 is 15.0 VeeVee-N110, or 19.0 VeeVee-N120 and the Lyman 225646.
222 is 9.0 BlueDot, or VeeVee-N105 and the Lyman 225646.
357Mag is 13.0 WC820 or 13.0 AA-9, any boolit/bullet at or less than 165 grains.
44Mag is 19.5 WC820 typical or 18.5 AA-9 for any boolit/bullet at or less than 250 grains.
41Mag is 17.5 WC820 typical for any of the 220-230 Keith types.
45Colt is a case full of RL7 or WC680 with any boolit heavier than 300 grains with zero compression, boolit just touching powder. This is NOT a cowboy load.

... felix

[Ron in PA]

11.5 grs. of 820 with 115 gr. RCBS cast gc boolit in the M1 Carbine. Ron

[sundog]

30-06 - 20-22/4227 and just about any GC'd 165-200 grainer
35 Whelan - 38-40/4895 or 40-42/4064 and 358009 (not really a reduced load)
6.5x55 - 17.0/4227 and Ly 150 grainer (don't recall the #)
32 Win Spl - what Felix said
308 Win - 4895 and 311041 and push it as hard as accuracy allows
30-30 - 16.0/4227 and 311041 (this is a very mild shooting and accurate load)
.357 Mag - 10.0/HS7 and 358156 (nice medium load)
35 Rem - 4895 and the RSBS 35-200-FN (you pick the charge/fps)
44 Mag or 44 Spl - any of the Grn Dot cowboy loads (I prefer Lee 200 RF for the light loads)

[Old Ironsights]

5gr BP or Sub under Farina and a 180gr pure lead boolit in .38 or .357... though I may try 1gr Titegroup next...

[Boomer Mikey]

357 Magnum 4 grains TiteGroup and any 158-160 grain cast bullet (cowboy load)
357 Magnum 15 grains H110 and 170 Sierra JHC, 13-15 grains H110 and any 180 -200 grain cast bullet [Federal 205 primers] (full power loads)
375 Win./38-55 23-25 grains H4198 255 grain cast bullet.
44 Magnum 6.4 grains TiteGroup and any 240 grain cast bullet (cowboy load)
45-70 25 grains H4198 & RBS 45-325-FN-U Plain Base

[NVcurmudgeon]

Most of my rifle CB loads could be called "reduced," being in the 1400-1800 fps muzzle velocitiy range. To avoid redundancy, I'll list only one greatly reduced load. Rifle and revolver .44 Magnum load: 7.0 gr. Green Dot/RCBS 245 PB SWC. This load is very accurate in a S&W 8 3/8" M629, mv 950. It also shoots about as good as any load in a Marlin Cowboy 24", mv 1200.

[Ben]

30 - 06 Springfield
11.5 grs. Unique
Cast bullet 160 - 200 grs. in weight.

Always an accurate load in all 06's I've shot it in.

Ben

[Uncle Grinch]

This thread needs a sticky...

[pumpguy]

6 grains Red Dot under 150 or 170 grain gas checked in the 30-30 or 32 Special. Lobs them in slow and quiet.

[outsidebear]

10.0 grs Unique in .308 WCF under 100 grain Speer Plinker or 110 gr cast bullet, guesstimate it being about 1550 fps...

[S.R.Custom]

is 3.0 W231 and most any 140 to 158 WC or SWC.


That's a sweet load. 3.0 grs of 231 (or HP-38-- same thing) is also fun under a 125 gr bullet in that caliber.

.44Mag or .44 spl: 250 gr LSWC over 8.5 grs Herco. 950 fps, and very accurate.

[Bob B]

My favorite reduced load for the 308 is 16grains of 2400 powder under the RCBS 30-180 bullet Bob B

[Whit Spurzon]

30-30: 6 gr of 4756 under a 170gr cast bullet, with a GC it averages 980fps, plain base averages 1057 fps (not sure why that is..). Accuracy is very good out to 50 yards but requires moving the rear sight up three notches to be zero'd, minimal recoil and report. It shoots very clean too.

45-70: 11gr of Red Dot under a 405gr cast bullet. averages just over 1000 fps in all of my 45-70s regardless of barrel length. Easy shooting and accurate out to 100 yards.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

Trail Boss is your perfect reduced load powder. Designed for bulkiness to fill the case and still maintain the low pressures that are favored by Cowboy Action shooters. My 44 caliber loads (44 special and 44-40) really like 5.5 grains under a 200 grain projectile.

[LET-CA]

This may be a obvious question to most of you, but when you load up a reduced load, do you have to "wall off" the powder to keep it all together in the cartridge or do you just let it lay. I've been hesitant to experiment with smaller loads because I didn't know the mechanics.

Basically, do you need to put a small wad over the powder before you seat the bullet?

Thanks!

[shooting on a shoestring]

30/30 reduced loads:
18.0 gr 2400, Lee 150 RF GC WWWQ'd, Felix, 1860 fps
10.0 gr Herco, Lee 150 RF GC WWWQ'd, Felix, 1500 fps
2.5 gr Bullseye, case full of Cream of Wheat, pure lead round ball, 500 fps-quiet, doesn't feed, so I single shot them, good for skunks just inside the city limits (my yard)

.357 snubby reduced loads in .357 cases
4.0 gr Bullseye, 358091, 358089, 358156 w/o GC, Lee TL 150 SWC, 800-900 fps

Other .357 reduced loads: .38 specials, all flavors

[floodgate]

LET-CA:

As I understand it - from reading here, not from personal experience - some powders are not sensitive to being loose in the case, while others perform better in charges that require contact or compression by the bullet; but I'm hesitant to specify which powders behave which way. BUT, putting a small wad over the powder, with substantial space between it and the bullet base, is a definite NO-NO. There may be exceptions; I'll hope others with more knowledge chime in on this - I just wanted to give you a "heads-up".

floodgate

[wiljen]

I've got to second Floodgate's statement. DO NOT "WALL OFF" the powder to hold it to the primer and leave space between the wall and the base of the bullet. This is asking for a ringed chamber at the least. If you use a filler to hold the powder to the primer, it should fill all the space between the powder and the bullet base.

[rockrat]

44mag---7.2gr WW231 and the lyman 429421

[tn gun runner]

I have used unique gun powder in every pistol and rifle I have owned ..from 32 auto to 50-70 and at least 30 different cailb in between for the last 40 years with great sucess with cast and jacketed bullets..I only stock three powders and I can loads everything on this earth with them... Unique, IMR 4227 and 3031 and I buy them in 8 lbs containers.. I got tired of 10 different powders with one for each gun, seem like I was out of that powder to reload or everyone was out of stock

[mag_01]

:coffee: --- If you don't mind tearing up the X ring in the bullseye any 190 200 or 225gr.swc with 6.5grs. of good old bullseye or 255gr. swc with 6grs. of bull will get the job done if you do your part in the 45 Long Colt. A filler load for these boolits would be 5grs. of bull with a solid type filler (ground walnut) no compression ---- Start 1 gr. lower --- Note: The filler load will leave your gun clean.
Note: Filler load for RUGER only would not try in other 45 Long Colt guns. --- Mag_01

As with any load data use caution --- These loads have worked for me---:castmine:

[miestro_jerry]

I generally use a reduced load to fire form my brass. I got a deal on .308 brass, primed, but the shoulder were sized too far down. Got these for a penny each. So what ever power I have, any misc bullets, I formed these and then load them for serious loads.

I am thinking burying an old oil drum in mt back field to have a safe place to discharge these and some day recover the lead.

Happy New Years,

Jerry

[HABCAN]

Me too, but substitute 'shoot' for 'farm'.

[Guido4198]

.250 Savage: Lyman 257464-H.P., 91 gn., 6.5-8.2 gn. Winchester Super-lite powder, WLR primer. good precision @ 50yds., consistently under 1" grps.

.308: Lyman 311467-H.P., 4gn. WC-846, CCI-200, Mv(ave)=1435 fps, .482" grp @ 50 yds from an out-of-the-box Rem 700.

.375 H&H : Lyman 375449, either 26-28gn. Blue Dot OR..45-47 gn. WC-846, WLRM primer, Mv(ave)=1800 fps, consistently <1" @ 50 yds.

.458 Win mag: 500 gn. NEI, 50 gn. IMR 4895, WLRM primer. Mv(ave)=1380 fps from my 21 " bbl. Shoots "cloverleafs" from 50 yds.

.41 mag: 6.7 gn. Unique, CCI-300, 225gn. commercial cast...This is a VERY mild load which exhibits excellent precision from all of my .41's.

[Crazy4nitro]

My Personal Fav. Loads are:

.38spcl-----3.8gr of Unique under a 158gr LSWC
.40S&W----3.8gr of Unique under a 180gr RNFP <---(Lead)
.40S&W----4.0gr or Red-Dot under a 180gr FMJ
.40S&W----4.4gr of WSF under a 180gr RNFP <-----(Lead)

*All WSP Primers*

I have More but I dont have my Notes with me...

[38 Super Auto]

One load I developed to help my son get used to centerfire pistol - I started him shooting when he was 8. He very quickly became comfortable with 22 pistol and a 10/22 rifle.

So I ginned up a load for my 686 to help him step up to the big boy rig...

.38 special 2.5 grains Red Dot under a 105gr SWC (Lee 6-cav). I used Red Dot because I had a four pounder.

It's a good target load, won't knock over 8" steel plates reliably, and you can actually see the bullets in the air with the sun to your back :)

[Molly]

Great topic! It's interesting how many posted loads are the same as some of my own, but I can still contribute a few.

1. Multi-bullet loads for .357 rifle or pistol: 6.0g H-110 or 2400 under three bullets, seated to compress and crimped to prevent the pressure from de-bulleting the round. This was originally worked up with three 000 buckshot, with a bit of wax paper between them to enable sure separation. Worked pretty well, but it was perfected when I machined off the top of a 148g wadcutter bullet. This gave me a cast bullet of 75g full wadcutter, and with a short raised nose. Durn thing was actually wider than it was long, but it shot fine, at least at reasonable distances. But when I put three of them over the powder in a .357 case, it was a winner. (you can only get two in a .38 Spl case). Fired from a 6" revolver, it packed plenty of punch, and made a consistent equilateral triangle that spread out to ~ eight inches at 15 yards. A friend still carries nothing else to entertain unexpected guests, but it has considerable potential for short range bunnies or even phesants or tin cans in the air. Needn't worry too much about hurting someone a mile away, because the slugs are so light that I don't thnk they'll travel much more than a couple hundred yards, nor hurt anything much beyond a hundred yards or so.

I once pulled a real trick on a friend with them. We went paper target shooting, and both loaded up with six rounds (yeah, I know, but this wasn't formal NRA bullseye) and emptied our guns at 25 yards. When we went up, his target was cut all to pieces, and he couldn't understand it. When he said something like "What the BLEEP?, I pretended innocence when I looked over. He asked me if I was missing any shots, but I of course told him no. He asked if I was SURE, and I told him, "Look, here are six empty cases, and six holes in my target. How could I have done it? You know, I wonder if your barrel is lined up straight. You know if it isn't, the bullet might be breaking up as it goes across the gap, and that would explain why you have so many holes in your target." had a lot of fun, but finally showed him what was really going on. He promptly got a grin and filched half a box. Wonder who else got the trick played on them?

2. Everyone knows what a squib load is, and most of us play with them at times. One of the nice things about .308 to .312 bores is that 00 buckshot works just fine in them for squib loads, but most other common calibers aren't so fortunate. But a while back, I was reading a BP article that commented on the importance of patch thickness vs ball diameter. The idea was that a thicker patch was needed if your mold cast an undersized ball. A light went on!

I had a 25-20 that I didn't have a mold for (yet), but I had some misc. small buckshot around the shop. Using a case as a guage, it was quick and easy to sort them into (goes in) and (no-go) piles. Then I miked the (goes in) to find a handfull of common size buckshot that went in the case. I preped about 25 cases (primer, belled and charged with (as I recall) 2.0g PB. Then I dug through my wife's rag bag until I found a cotton cloth resembling denim. I soaked it with some Crisco, and blotted it nearly dry. Then I copied the ML approach of placing the patching material over the charged case, adding the buckshot and pressing it flush with the mouth of the case. That was it. I found that it delivered pretty decent accuracy - though I didn't target it, I did shoot a few squirrels with it, quite effectively. The same basic technique should work for any caliber or case, so long as you can get a round ball close to bore diameter, and some sort of cloth that makes it a tight fit in the case.

Molly

[JSnover]

Molly, thanks for jogging my memory. This post is directed more towards the new guys who might want to experiment with light loads.
Years ago I went really light with my .357, can't even remember the load now but I learned an easy way to clear the barrel after a squib. When I loaded light, I got in the habit of carrying a couple of primed cases to the range. If a boolit should stick in the bore, a magnum primer generates enough pressure to pop it out and there's no chance of ringing the barrel or scraping it up with hand tools. The first time I had to take a mallet and cleaning rod to my new revolver was the last time.

[John F.]

Has anyone here worked up any good reduced loads with Trail Boss? It looks like it should work very well in this application.

John

[abunaitoo]

I've been playing with IMR 700X in rifles. .308, .303, 7.5SR, 8x57.
So far it seems like 10.0gr to 11.0gr works really well. Clean burning.

[MT Gianni]

Has anyone here worked up any good reduced loads with Trail Boss? It looks like it should work very well in this application.

John

Mfg says to load at near 60% full in straightwall cases. No less, no more. Gianni

[miestro_jerry]

Maybe I am the unsafe guy, but I shoot an old Spanish FR8 in 308. I use brass that has been thru the mill with a door gunner or salavaged out from a commercial loader. I shoot 120 grain spire point lead GC bullets and what ever powder I have onhand. I try to have about 50% of the book max load in it.

This either fire forms the brass for me or just is a lot of fun to shot cheaply, some times both. :Fire:

A few years ago some commercial loader had some 308 military brass that had been primed and load, but was pushed too deep in the sizer die. Worked great in the FR8 and they were only a penny each. I bought 5,000.

Jerry

[hotwheelz]

Well I have loaded down some stuff to help with teaching the girlfriend and it turned out to be a bit of a laugh when I grabbed it by mistake to shoot at a steel match. I shot one of those plastic 55 gallon drums from about 15-20 feet and it went in didnt come out you could here it swirling around in there[smilie=1:[smilie=1: At first i thought holy crap I messed up when loading but 2 more rounds same thing. load was 3.6gr Titegroup with 200gr rainier in my 625 , I tried a few in my 1911 wouldnt cycle it. But i worked well to get her more confident with the bigger pistol......

[Coastie]

Anybody load "light" for a 243 Win? I've worked with 30-06 and 35 Whelen with good results, but the 243 Win is new territory for me.

[Blackhawk Convertable]

Trail Boss is excellent for mellow plinking loads. I use it almost exclusively in my Cowboy Action loadings. My experience is that if you are loading a bottle neck cartridge, minimum is just fine. If loading a straight wall cartridge, the tendency is to not get a good powder burn (low pressure) until you get toward the middle range of what IMR lists on their web site (http://www.imrpowder.com/trailboss.html). That being said, I use 5.5 grains of Trail Boss in my 44 Special, 38-40 and 44-40 cartridges using a bullet in the 165-175 grain range.

[Molly]

[SIZE="5"]Trail Boss is excellent for mellow plinking loads. I use it almost exclusively in my Cowboy Action loadings. My experience is that if you are loading a bottle neck cartridge, minimum is just fine. If loading a straight wall cartridge, the tendency is to not get a good powder burn (low pressure) until you get toward the middle range of what IMR lists on their web site (http://www.imrpowder.com/trailboss.html). That being said, I use 5.5 grains of Trail Boss in my 44 Special, 38-40 and 44-40 cartridges using a bullet in the 165-175 grain range.

Sounds like a nice general purpose load. Do you ahve any idea what kind of velocities you are getting?

Molly

[Blackhawk Convertable]

They are in the 750ish FPS range. Like I said before, very light recoil which is perfect for Cowboy Action or just general light plinking loads. Also perfect for starting the kids on a big-bore without them getting beat up by the recoil. The nice thing about Trail Boss is it's bulkiness which will generally overflow if you try to double charge.

[Lee]

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!
2.5 grains SOLO 1000 under a 44 grain (.311)round ball in a .32 H&R Mag in a Ruger Single Six.
(round balls available from VillageIdgit...see posts on the forum)

Report just like a .22 and minute of beercan accuracy out to 10 yards. I'll try the 600 yard steels later, once the weather warms up...........Lee:wink:

[Molly]

They are in the 750ish FPS range. ... The nice thing about Trail Boss is it's bulkiness which will generally overflow if you try to double charge.

Sounds like fun. Might have to play a bit with it, but right now am preparing to teach three guys to reload.

BTW, the heavy, bold text isn't really necessary. Some folks take it at the equivalent of shouting in their ear, and don't like it at all.

Regards,
Molly

[Molly]

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!
2.5 grains SOLO 1000 under a 44 grain (.311)round ball in a .32 H&R Mag in a Ruger Single Six. (round balls available from VillageIdgit...see posts on the forum)
... :wink:

Round balls are also available as 5 pound bags of buckshot, dirt cheap, and work great.

Molly

[timberlost]

7.62/39 6.5 red dot lee 185 .311 ruger 77 about 2inch group at 100yds

[clodhopper]

Coastie,
Years ago I fooled around with #3 buck and about 8 grains of unique.
had to cut open a 20 ga shotshell to get the buck shot. Back then I did not know about copper fouling wrecking lead accuracy and results were not good. Did kill a down deer with one once.
I have a couple of 20 ga buck loads and some 243 cast bullets and gas checks laying around though. Trade you something for some.

[sidehammer]

I use 10 grains of Unique behind all standard bullet weights in my "big" levers and single shots so my small kids can shoot them. This includes 45/70, 50/70, 30-40, 308, 348, 33 Win, 375 Win, etc. I have never tried this load in any caliber below 30 nor in any cartridge smaller then the 30-30. The loads shoot accurate and are very mild.
Enjoy.

[dougader]

38 Special: 148 HBWC over 2.1 grains WW231. Recoils like a .22 LR and is accurate. Got this from an old Shooting Times article in the 80's. I also ran 2.3 WW231 in 357 cases for similar results. I ran with bullets up to 158 gr SWC also. Its a great load for teaching new shooters. Never had a bullet stuck either with barrels from 2" up to 6".

9mm: 124 gr. Lee TL bullet (TL356-124-TC) over 3.0 gr WW231. A fun plinker with low recoil in a G19 with a 13# reduced recoil spring from Wolff.

45 Colt: 250 gr. RNFP over 6.5 WW 231. Easy load for the old revolvers or just plinking.

30-06: Lyman #31141 170 gr. over 11.0 grains Red Dot. Decent at 100 yards and also makes a great close range finishing round for wounded animals.

[yondering]

The last few days I've been playing with 45 Colt two-ball loads; two .454" muzzleloader round balls over 4gr of Unique. Haven't chronographed it, but the balls only penetrate about halfway through a 2x10 board. They do bust the board in half pretty nicely though. I found it works better to tumble lube the round balls in LLA to prevent leading.

[SpaceGlocker]

9mm............. 3.8 grains of WSF with a 147 gr lead FN bullet is a light paper punching load....very little recoil....great for gun games!

[Riverrat]

Does anyone know a good reduced load for 30-06 using jacketed factory bullets? I have seen loads on this site for @ 8 grns. of Unique which I have lots of, but they seem to want to use a lead Boolit. Would this work with jacketed?? I have a lot of .30 cal. jacketed bullets left over from the past. Thanks.

Ed

[clearwater]

The powder companies have shy'd away from unique with jacketed rifle bullets. Possible
detonation problems I've heard.

The powders recommended for reduced jacketed rifle loads today are SR4759 and xmp 5744.

In the Lyman #48 they list reduced loads for 30-06 in the single shot pistol section.

150 grain sierra RN bullet with Winchester primers and brass
30 grains Sr-4759 is their accuracy load at 2208 fps.

[WineMan]

Ed Harris recommended his (a) "The Load" of 13 gr of Red Dot that will work in any 1898+ (strong action) 30 cal+, and cases at least as large as a 30-40 Krag with both lead and jacketed boolits/bullets in the normal weight for each caliber. There is a thread on the cast bullet association forum:

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=1387&forum_id=22

Hopefully it is Ok to post this on this Forum.

Wineman

[Ricochet]

The powder companies have shy'd away from unique with jacketed rifle bullets. Possible
detonation problems I've heard.Possible stuck bullets and a blowup when a following one hit the obstruction would seem more likely.

[dougader]

Does anyone know a good reduced load for 30-06 using jacketed factory bullets? I have seen loads on this site for @ 8 grns. of Unique which I have lots of, but they seem to want to use a lead Boolit. Would this work with jacketed?? I have a lot of .30 cal. jacketed bullets left over from the past. Thanks.

Ed

Speer #14 lists reduced loads for 30-06. (1) 150 grain bullet over 26.0 - 28.0 grains of AA5744 for 1933 - 2052 fps. (2) 165 grain bullet over 21.0 - 25.0 grains of SR 4759 for 1616 - 1941 fps. (3) 180 grain bullet over 26.0 - 30.0 grains of IMR 4198 for 1723-2000 fps.

[Pitmaster]

I'm looking for a light load for 45-70 Government to use in a Marlin 1895g. Any suggestions. I'm starting from scratch and don't have bullets or powder for it yet. I'll be using cast bullets. I've got access to 300gr, RNFP bullets and am planning to buy 250 to start. If they work well I'll start casting my own.

Thanks,

[jimkim]

Pitmaster if you go here http://www.gmdr.com/ and click on Oregon Trail Cowboy data you will find low velocity loads for the following. 30-30 Winchester, 30-30 Ackley Improved
30-06 Springfield, 300 WSM., 300 Win Mag, 300 Rem Ultra Mag, 32-20 Winchester
32 Win Special, 35 Remington, 357 Magnum, 375 Winchester, 375 H&H Magnum
41 Rem Magnum, 44 Rem Magnum, 44 S&W Special, 44-40 Winchester
44 S&W Russian, 444 Marlin, 45-70 Government, 450 Marlin, 450 Alaskan

If you click on additional data you will find even more recipes.

[bcp477]

MY favorite reduced load is also my "standard" load for target shooting, as well as hunting:

for 8 x 57 JS (8mm Mauser)

170 gr. cast flat-nose bullet, BHN of 15, sized to .314"...paper-patched with two wraps of lined loose-leaf notebook paper, final dry diameter of about .3237", lubed with 1 coat of Lee Liquid Alox.

28.0 grains of IMR-4064

0.3 to 0.4 gr. of cotton wool filler

Win. or R-P cases

Win. LR primers


Velocity a bit less than 2000 fps through an (essentially) new barrel, 20" long.

Accuracy potential - as close as I can shoot them. Best 5 round group so far: about 3/4" .

[missionary5155]

For years I have been loading in 38 special 3 - 3.5 grains Unique under any soft cast boolit from 150 SWC to 165 WC. I made 2 scoops for these two powder weights and use whichever scoop and whichever boolit depending on who is going shooting with me.

[dale2242]

38 Spec- 3 gr Bullseye-148 WC
357 mag-5 gr Red Dot- 158 SWC
44Mag- 8.5 gr Unique-240 SWC
All boolits cast

[jimkim]

Sierra bullets sent me this.
"There is a load for Unique with a jacketed 30-30 bullet in 125/130 grain also with about 8 to 8.5 grains. The Unique powder is a little better choice for a reduced load than Blue Dot, since it is easier to ignite. Velocity on that Unique load should be around 1500 fps."

I prefer 13gr of BD under 150gr bullets though. I should say my rifle prefers it.

[buffalorunner]

4.0 gns. Unique with any cast from 65 to 110 gn.
3.0 gns. Red Dot with any cast from 65 to 110 gn.
3.0 gns. 700X with any cast from 65 to 90 gn.
These loads work well in my lowall.

[JohnSmiles]

I have a Handi Rifle in .500 S&W.
Got tired of breaking scopes(I had to break four of them before deciding full house 500 loadings were not required to kill deer), so I developed a couple of accurate and LIGHTER loadings.
Using the Lee 440 gr cast boolit, sized with gc's.
16.5 gr Blue Dot, seated to the first crimp groove.
22.0 gr Lil'Gun, also seated to the the first crimp groove.
Both loads are mild enough to shoot all day, and still carry enough punch to take a deer cleanly.

[35 Whelen]

Lately, I've been shooting my Swiss K-31 with an NEI 150gr. FP plain-base. 6.5 gr. of Bullseye must run it around 1050 fps. Very accurate at 100 yds. with a group or two under 1 1/2". Also have been shooting 8.0 gr. of Red Dot with the same bullet. This load is a bit more peppy proabably running 1100-1150, but every bit as accurate as the BE load if not a tad bit more so. Either load should work well in any of the .30 calibers. Maybe next weekend I'll drag the chronograph out and clock them.
35W

[ulav8r]

5.9 grains Unique, 214 grain Lee SWC, 44 Special case shortened to 1.00".

[madsenshooter]

Don't see any Krag loads here yet, so my favorite is 12.5grs of Blue Dot under the Belding and Mull 311169 Squib bullet. Chronograph says 1575fps, it's ungodly accurate at that speed but throws fliers for me if I go much above that. A lot of folks here shy away from Blue Dot, a friend tried it recently, emailed me, subject: Blue Dot Kicks A--! He'd been doing the 2400 thing before with lackluster results, don't think he'll be going back to that until his BD runs out.

[kjohn]

Am I too late to post my .25 cents here?

I have used around 10 gr of 700X in my milsurps - .303, 8mm, 7.62x54R, 7.62x53Arg, as well as 30-30, 32 Spec, with bullet wgts of 150-170gr, cast #2, WW, Lino, w/ and w/o GC. As accurate as the shooter, at least!

One of my favorite loads is 5 gr 700X under a 93gr Lee in 30-30. I have fired thousands of these.

[a.squibload]

2. Everyone knows what a squib load is, and most of us play with them at times. One of the nice things about .308 to .312 bores is that 000 buckshot works just fine in them for squib loads, but most other common calibers aren't so fortunate. But a while back, I was reading a BP article that commented on the importance of patch thickness vs ball diameter. The idea was that a thicker patch was needed if your mold cast an undersized ball. A light went on!

I had a 25-20 that I didn't have a mold for (yet), but I had some misc. small buckshot around the shop. Using a case as a guage, it was quick and easy to sort them into (goes in) and (no-go) piles. Then I miked the (goes in) to find a handfull of common size buckshot that went in the case. I preped about 25 cases (primer, belled and charged with (as I recall) 2.0g PB. Then I dug through my wife's rag bag until I found a cotton cloth resembling denim. I soaked it with some Crisco, and blotted it nearly dry. Then I copied the ML approach of placing the patching material over the charged case, adding the buckshot and pressing it flush with the mouth of the case. That was it. I found that it delivered pretty decent accuracy - though I didn't target it, I did shoot a few squirrels with it, quite effectively. The same basic technique should work for any caliber or case, so long as you can get a round ball close to bore diameter, and some sort of cloth that makes it a tight fit in the case.

Molly


We used to load a .433 BP round ball in a 44mag case (44spl case leaves a grease ring
in 44mag cylinders)
with cotton from pill bottles over a small charge of Red Dot (I think, it's been a while).
Seated ball flush with case mouth and scraped lube stick with case mouth.
Had to clean shaved lead from seating die. Maybe 200fps, could watch the ball fly,
wouldn't penetrate a beverage can but would flatten 'em and knock 'em 20 ft.
Recovered balls had about 1/8" of flat from barrel contact, just enough.
Tried 2 balls with a little more powder, at 50ft they hit about 4" apart, one always low and right of point of aim.

[cast367]

In my .30-06 I use 22 grs Acc no.9. With 180 and 200 grains CB it gives a perfect result.

[Thecyberguy]

I have used 14 gr of Trail Boss in my 270 with 130 gr Sierra.
I don't have a chrony so I can't say the speed, But it is very accurate. You can use Trail Boss for nearly any caliber for reduced loads. It is a ball to play with. Check it out at Hodgdon's site.

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

Have a good 'un, Guy

[azcruiser]

Yup --TRAIL BOSS in everything heck I don't think you really need a scale with this stuff .My 6.5x55
8mm-762x54 are like shooting a 22 hornet even in the short m39 or 38 not sure 762.54r.
8mm 230 cast fill till it makes it to the bottom of the neck no problem filled it to the top compressed no problem-dare i say you can load your powder by eye ??

[Thecyberguy]

People say DO NOT compress it.

Hodgdon's site doesn't say don't, however, they do say that the max load is the case full to just under the depth that the bullet base is seated. So, in a round about way...that is saying DO NOT compress.

I have kept that in mind as I have loaded different calibers with trail Boss.

Maybe I will email Hodgdon and ask they specifically......

Have a good 'un ~thecyberguy

[Hank M]

I have had good luck with IMR3031with cast loads for my .358 Win (206gr gas check WW) 31 gr. Also my .32 SPL likes 26 gr with 150gr cast WW. The .358 is a Browning BLR and it will shoot 1/2" at 100 yds. The .32 is a M94 and shoots 1" at 50 yds with open sights and my old eyes. I am looking for load data for 150 and 180 gr cast boolits for the .358. Hank M

[82nd airborne]

38 spl: 6gr aa7 under 158gr swc

250 sav. 8gr unique under 74 gr cast

300 sav. 10 gr unique under 110 rn

[MikeG70]

Hey Y'all,

How many grains of H4198 do I need to get 1400 fps with a 405 (.459) hard cast bullet? My rifle is 1895 Marlin.

Mike

[Shooter6br]

45-70 10 g Unique with 350 g cast

6.5 Jap 14 g 4759 with 170g cast

32 S&W long 2.5 Unique with 90g cast

7.62x39 24 g H322 with 160 g lee

41 mag 6.5 Unique with 210 g cast :groner:

[MikeG70]

Het Y'all,

I do some research and found that 30.0 gr of H4198 should push my 405 slug about 1407 fps. Just thought I'd pass the information on.

Mike
USMC 1961-1965 and proud to be a Marine.

[JefferyL]

I've had good luck with 38 special 102gr round nose with 2.8 grains Trailboss. Kicks like a .22.

[Molly]

Here's a couple of squib loads that do a fine job for popping tin cans or close up target practice and the like:
1. .32 S&W Short, use 1.0 to 1.2g of HP38 and a 98 to 100g cast bullet, sized 0.313".
2. .38 S&W, use 1.5 to 2.0g of HP38 under a 155g SWC cast bullet, sized 0.360".

EDITED 6/7/12:

.32 S&W Short:
Try 2.8g of AL-8 under a 98g cast bullet that should be mild enough for any of the 32's. (AL-8 is a very old powder that I got a heck of a buy on about 30 years ago, and STILL haven't used it all up. It's about like Blue dot, which in turn is similar to H110.) I deliberately chose such a slow powder because I don't want to strain these lod junkers, and don't mind some unburnt powder. If you don't happen to have AL8, try the other two powders I listed. Enough power to stop enraged charging pop cans, but not enough to strain the old breaktops. Wouldn't want to get hit with it though!

38 S&W:
Try 2.3g Bullseye under a 150g SWC. This seems pretty close to factory ammo, judging by the feel and lack of apparent pressures. The breaktops seem to tolerate it well enough, and it's the smallest charge my RCBS Lil' Dandy powder measure will throw. Definately don't want to get hit with this one.

7.65x54R:
Try 30.0g IMR 3030 under almost any heavy cast bullet of 150g to 210g that fits the bore. Makes a real nice target loads with little recoil and enough power for deer hunting if you lean that way. Will keep most of its shots touching at 25 yards, and that's with iron sights and old eyes.

Anyone got a 38 S&W load with Trailboss and a 155g bullet that is low enough in pressure for use with a breaktop revolver?

[sniper]

Yup --TRAIL BOSS in everything heck I don't think you really need a scale with this stuff .My 6.5x55
8mm-762x54 are like shooting a 22 hornet even in the short m39 or 38 not sure 762.54r.
8mm 230 cast fill till it makes it to the bottom of the neck no problem filled it to the top compressed no problem-dare i say you can load your powder by eye ??

I had a conversation with a Hodgdon tech some time ago, and he gave me the same info regarding loads that has been mentioned many times elsewhere, with one difference...He said;"Trail Boss doesn't like compression!"
Good enough for me! I hear and obey, and will live long and prosper! 8-)

[Bryan Marino]

358311 Lyman 160gr w/ 2.7 Titegroup, .38 super, vel. 800, NRA AP/Bianchi,

457193 Lyman, 420gr, 20.0 grs 4759, .45-70, very accurate, soft, especially as my '86 Win. has a crescent buttplate

[eveready]

I have to agree with BLACKHAWK CONVERTABLE .I run TrailBoss in a 610 S&W for PPC, 3.5 grains under a 145 SWC cast. Soft shooting and accurate, we only shoot back to 25yds. indoors though.

[John Boy]

25-20
85gr Meister
3.0gr Unique

32-40
165gr Lyman 319247
5.2gr Trail Boss

8.15x46R
175gr BACO 316180
5.2gr Trail Boss

38-55
148gr Ideal 37583
5.0gr Unique

[weakhand luke]

One (1) grain PB under Lyman 252435 in .25 Automatic Colt Pistol.

[Boolseye]

.308: Lee 312-160-2R sized to .309, 16 grains 2400. moa in TC Encore.

[legend]

mosin 91/30 90 grain hornady swc .314 cci 200 4 grains pearl scot
what fun to plink with,and,minute of soda can to boot at 25 yards.

and same load with a 44gr round ball @ 313 shot the same.

try it with something similar,red dot,bullseye,both work well also.

[barrabruce]

170 lee fp without gas check.
Tumble lubed as cast.
4.8 grns Bullseye
Tuff of dacron
Seated to lands.
In my 30-30 the chrono-ed at 950 fps.
Moa on average at 100 yrds.
With enough elevation about 60 moa sighted at 50 yrds good for 300yrds if the wind is kind to me.
Rnd nose fly better out yonder

2gns bullesye same as above 500 fps .
didn't load enough to group or play around.

[QuickRick]

44 Magnum / 9.5 grns W-231 most any brand 44 Mag brass CCI 300 primers
with Lee 200 grn RNFP sized .430 Produces 1,170 fps and just over
600 foot lbs of ME from my 6 1/2 inch Smith M-629 Super accuracy
with mild to moderate recoil. Works great for any use I can envision
for my 44 with the exception of big game hunting.

38 Special / WW brass 5.0 grns 700-X with CCI 500 primers and the Lee 105 SWC
sized to .358 1,120 fps from my Smith K-38 with target accuracy.
Produces just under 300 foot lbs of ME with light recoil. Mimics a full
power 9mm Luger load without having to chase down your brass.
An excellent handgun load for small game or smaller varmints. Lots
more bullets per pound of lead than traditional 150-160 bullets.

[175lt2]

38-55 , 8 grains Green dot 250 lyman cast
About as fast as a spitwad but deadly accurate ,,,in my rifle anyway. Perfect load for cowboy Silhouette, never lost a ram!
For a huntin load same bullet but 29 grain reloader 7,, hot, Fast, bad recoil but still very accurate!

[ricksplace]

22 hornet 0.5 gr bullseye, a 22 cal pellet in the case neck. Case neck needs a small dimple in it to stop the pellet from dropping down into the case. A light tap with a center punch at the base of the case neck works well. These cases are saved for use with pellets only.

I'm guessing about 900 fps. I shoot these in a small .410 sXs with a full length barrel insert chambered for 22 hornet.

I started with just a primer. The velocity was too slow so I started with .1gr of bullseye and worked up to 0.5gr. At this loading, the pellet is accurate, and will penetrate 3/4" of soft pine.

Perfect grouse load. So quiet that you can hear the hammer of the .410 double drop louder than the report of the hornet.

[Dthunter]

19.5 grs. of 4759 with 180-205gr. cast gc bullet in the .308 Win.

Great powder/bullet combo!

I shoot 19.5gr. IMR SR4759, & a 200 gr. Lyman #311299 gas checked.
seated to touch the rifling.
Sized to .310, lubed with Lymans super moly.

I also lube the noses after loading the cartridge, by dipping into liquid allox. ( two layers applied over a day or two.

Average velocity is 1750 fps.

Average group is .075" at 100 (5shots).

The bullet alloy:

17 lbs. wheel Weight lead + 8 feet of lead/tin, 50/50 solder.

Mushrooms well on game out 125yards or so.

[Baja_Traveler]

8.2 grains Universal under a 115gr 311008 is my standard silhouette chicken load in the 30-30. Sounds and recoils like a .22, and is great for rabbits and squirrels to boot...

7.5gr bullseye can be used also to the same effect.

[Malamute]

I've been using 3 grs Unique with a .310 or .315 round ball in the 30-30 for grouse and small game. works great, and doesn't make much noise, about like a standard vel (not high vel) 22 LR. Works well on bunnies and snakes also. Slew mouse in the yard with that load in a 26" barrelled 30-30 rifle once. Seemed to do so authoritatively.

Recently aquired a 311252BT mold to try to make a similar load. Will see how it does when I get a chance to cast some.

Also use 3-4 grs Unique or Red Dot in the 348 with a .350" round ball, but it hasn't been as accurate. Need to work with it a bit. Kills grouse well in any event.


Couple grouse taken with the round ball loads,

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b387/Malamute/outdoor%20sports/IMG_0473.jpg

[Shooter6br]

10 g Unique with 350 grain in 45-70

[HighHook]

My favorite loads all come from the inexpensive military powders I have bought through the years.
Wc 680-820-844-846-860-867.

[One Gun Andy]

I have a LARGE can of 4756 that I am still trying to figure out what to do with... Anybody ever load this powder in the .45 Auto Rim?

[MasS&W]

3.6 Grains of unique under a 180 grain .38. I shoot about 400 of these a month in steel challenge, ICORE, and IDPA. That works out to... Way too many boolits a year.

[MasS&W]

I almost forgot .35 remington! 158 grain SWC over 12 grains of unique. Kicks so lightly I feel comfortable handing it off to lady friends and younger relatives. Never ran the pressures, but it can't be pushing much higher than .38 special.

[sparky45]

One of my favs in 38Special is: 2.7 Trailboss with 158gr LSWC @ 1.475 OAL. You just about don't know its in your hand.

[dmdracer]

One gun,

10 gr 4756 with 150 gr CB in Marlin lever 30 30.... about 1400 fps, light recoil.... fun out to 100 yds and accurate .

[jhickdog]

@ One Gun Andy.....I love 4756 and used it for years. Nice clean pistol powder and reduced loads in rifle. Always had good luck with it accuracy wise also.

I have been shooting indoor single shot 25 yard matches with my 38-55 using a 250 grain fnfb lead boolit and get 1/2" groups off the bench(It shoots better than I can) with 6 grains of Trailboss. I have a Marlin 375 and shoot 2" groups off the bench using the 38 grains of Reloader 7, a 220 grain j fn bullet for 2200 fps. Recoil is a little stiff though

[Rodfac]

I'll add a cpl...I gave up on Bullseye and Unique years ago, substituting Winchester 231 or its equivalent, HP38 for their ease of measuring. Either works extremely well in any handgun caliber I've tried: .30 Luger, .32 Long, .32-20, .32 H&R, .38 S&W, .38 Spl., .357 Mag., .41 Mag, .44-40, .44 Spl and Mag, .45 ACP/Auto-Rim, and .45 Colt. The loads vary obviously, but the powder is universally good. Here are some of my favorites...all listed will do at least 2" at 25 yds or better and are cast from WW+1% tin.

.32 H&R, 2.6 gr Win 231, Starline Brass, WSP, Lyman 311008
.41 Mag, 5.7 gr Win 231, Win Brass and Primer, Lyman 411459
.44 Spl, 6.5 gr Win 231, R-P Brass, WLP, MP431256 (Keith 429421)
.45 ACP, 5.3 gr Win 231, Fed Brass, WLP, H&G#68
.45 Colt, 7.2 gr Win 231, R-P Brass, WLP, Lyman 454190

Work up to these loads for your own guns, all were safe in mine. Best Regards, Rod

[jsheyn]

6gn of trailboss under 215gn SWC in the 41 mag

[Driver man]

2.9 grains of unique. 148grain hollow base wad cutter. 38 special case shot in a gp100 gives exceptional groups at 25 yards.

[brstevns]

10.0 grs Unique in .308 WCF under 100 grain Speer Plinker or 110 gr cast bullet, guesstimate it being about 1550 fps...
Tried this load once on a grey tree rat. Had the right hind leg left to feed on!

[Yodogsandman]

35 Remington with 11 gr. of unique and a 204gr. RN from mold 358315. Nine and a half LBS of wheel wieghts and 1/2 LB of 50/50 solder, gas checked, sized .358" and lubed with 50/50 Alox. One inch, 10 shot groups at 100 yds from the bench. That's with my boys shooting them when they were younger, not me. They had Marlin 336's with the microgroove barrels. Not much kick and they shot alot of them! I think they hit about 25" low, so had to mark how many clicks on tape for the scopes, to be able to reset them.

[scattershot]

Great info here, even if it is an old thread. Should be a sticky!

[MT Gianni]

It is in the classics and stickies.

[donald duck]

Does anyone have a reduced or light load using RL # 17. In my .223 with a 52 grain cast bullet with gas check I like 5.7 grains of Accurate # 5. dd

[donald duck]

Has anyone had any experience using 4350 or 4064 in reduced loads for 7mm ,7mm Rem MaG. or 7mm WSM?? Thank you!Q!

[WRideout]

For 7.62 Nagant revolver, 2.0 gr Red Dot - no filler- under a .311 round ball, seated to just inside case mouth. Lubed RB with Alox; keeps them from slipping inside the case. Finished with a taper crimp. Decent accuracy at 15 yds.

Wayne

[GhostHawk]

I've been playing with IMR 4895 in 7.62x54r, 20, 25,30 grain under 185 grain bullet all work very nicely.

Point of impact was lower, maybe 5-6 inches for the 20 grains. 3-4" for the 30's but they make a huge difference in how hard that steel buttplate smacks you.

[Whiterabbit]

I don't care for shooting reduced loads. My favorite reduced loads are full power loads for a smaller cartridge. At the moment, my favorite reduced load is shooting my flintlock. Soft on the shoulder, high on the fun factor. Still packs a wallop downrange.

[Newtire]

All using Standard Rifle Primers:
12 grains Unique or 14 grains Blue Dot 200 gr. Lee Rounded Flatpoint in .444 Marlin.
4.2 gr. Win 231 and Bator bullet in .22 Hornet.
15.2 gr. 2400 Lyman 266469 in 6.5 X 06

[GhostHawk]

Whiterabbit I have to admit shooting my SKS with its light recoil is much more fun than the Mosin.

Still in the end it is nice to be able to tame the big beast also.

[Alferd Packer]

77 gr cast bullet from RCBS mold 32-077-RN over 2 grs Be.in 30-30

and 98 gr bullet from RCBS #32-098-WC over 3 grs Be. in 30-06.

also shoot 44gr cast from Ly #225438 sans GC over 1.5 gr Be. in Savage .223 /20ga-24" bbl-quiet.
Load .22 backwards for yard pests-DRT!
All accurate to 25+ yds.

[Bentracin]

7.62/39 6.5 red dot lee 185 .311 ruger 77 about 2inch group at 100yds

[tdoyka]

i got a couple

30-40 krag(1898 spr arm.) --- 10.0gr - 13.5gr of trail boss with 165gr ranch dog
45-70 handi-rifle --- 10.0gr - 13.5gr of trail boss with 405gr cast

[Old Scribe]

I have a couple;
44-40 in my '73 Winchester--7gr Unique under 200gr cast boolit
6.5 Carcano--27gr H4895 under a 168gr cast

Fun to shoot!

[jacksonsmith]

One (1) grain PB under Lyman 252435 in .25 Automatic Colt Pistol.

[sandman228]

11.5 gr of herco under a lyman 195 lrn bullet (I cant remember the mold number) out of my 35 marlin . bullet is pan lubed with 50 50 petroleum jelly - paraffin wax with a tsp of stp . the only trouble I had was bullets were getting shaved when loading but the lee universal case expanding die took care of that . low recoil nice easy shooter decent accuracy at 50 yrds with open sights

[jazzman251]

5 grains of Unique in 257 Roberts with 85 gr cast bullets
5 grains of 231 in 32-40 with 170 gr cast bullets
Both shoot great out to 50 yards and under 1000 fps

[Outpost75]

Outpost’s Alliant Bullseye Data – These Are The Loads That I Use, Your Mileage May Vary

.32 ACP___________71 FMJ_____2.2____850___Min. OAL 0.955 Do Not Reduce
____________________________2.4____905___Max, Do Not Exceed
_________________87 LFN_____1.5____620___Accurate 31-087T, Quiet for inserts, don’t reduce
____________________________1.7___720___Max. for Keltec and light alloy frames
2.0 800 Max, do not exceed, steel frames only
.32 S&W Long______87 LFN_____ 2.5___850___Accurate 31-087t Max. I-frame S&W Hand Ejector
____________________________3.0___950___Max. Postwar J frames Models 30, 31,
__________________93 LHP___ 2.5 830 Max. S&W Hand Ejector, light alloy frames
___________________________3.0___900___Max. Postwar J frames, Postwar Colts, Rugers
__________________98 SWC___2.0___ 750___Saeco #325, Approximates Factory Velocity
___________________________2.5___850___Max. S&W I-frame Hand Ejector, light alloy frames
__________________114 LFN___2.5____750___Accurate 31-114D Postwar steel frames only
3.0 850 OAL 1.32” to feed in Marlin 1894 CB, OK in Rugers
.38 Specia_________148 HBWC__2.8____750___Do Not Reduce
___________________________3.2___800___Do Not Exceed with HBWC
_________________146 DEWC__ 3.5___830___Saeco #348, Standard pressure, OAL 1.20”
____________________________4.0___880___”Full Charge WC” Approximates +P Service
_________________160 LFN_____3.0___750___Cowboy load, Do Not Reduce
4.0 850 Approximates +P Service Min. OAL 1.50”
.357 Mag._________180 LHP____ 4.0____950___Rook Rifles, quiet, accurate
4.5 1080 “adjust up to +0.5 grain as needed for best accuracy
.44-40 WCF_______200 LFN_____5.0___750___Revolver velocity, Accurate 43-200Q, Do Not Reduce
___________________________7.2___1270__M92, Marlin 1894 Rifle Do Not USE in 1873 Win, Colt SAA
8.0 1380 Rifle velocity Max. Winchester ’92 and Marlin 1894
.44 Magnum_______ 200 LFN___6.0___ 850___Accurate 43-200Q Do not reduce in Mag. brass
__________________260 LFN__ 7.0____950__“Medium Velocity” plainbased bullet
240 SJHP 8.0 1030 Jacketed “Medium Velocity”
.45 ACP___________200 SWC___4.5___ 860___H&G68 or Accurate 45-200I
__________________230 LFN__ 4.5___800___Saeco #954
260 LFN 4.0 900 Saeco #955
.45 Colt 230 LFN 6.5 880 Saeco #954
7.62x39 162 NOE 5.0 1300 Lee C312-155-2R clone, manual op.
.30-30_____________152LFN___4.0____900___RCBS 30-150CM, Do Not Reduce
___________________________6.0___1200
175LHP 7.0 1300 Do Not Exceed
.30-40 Krag________162 NOE__ 7.0___1200 Do not reduce
And .303 Brit. 220 CBE 8.0 1200 Do Not Exceed
.30-’06____________134 FN____4.0___1050 Accurate 31-134D, Do Not Reduce
_________________162 LFN____5.0___1080 HM2-.312-160-5 no GC Do Not Reduce
162 LFN 8.5 1300 Do Not Exceed
.375 H&H__________270FN____ 10.0___1000 #37549, No GC needed, Do Not Reduce
__________________270FN___ 13.0___1300 Do Not Exceed, USE NO FILLERS!!!!

[Motor]

I have a few but these 2 are the ones I shoot the most.

1) 7.62x54R, 160gr Lee 2R,TL 6gr. Bullseye 1075f/s

2) 30-30 Win (Very old Marlin take down model IIRC 1893 model) same boolit as above sized to .311" driven by 10gr. Trail Boss Have yet to chronagraph it but the accuracy is VERY good and the fun factor is off the scale.:)

Motor

[mannyCA]

7 grains of trail boss with a 255 grain RNFP in the .38-55, nice and dead on at 100 yards out of a marlin 93.

[SniderBoomer]

12.0 grains Hodgdon 4198 under a 170 grain RNFP Lead slug in the 32-40 Win.

Saves on paper too, you only need a postage stamp for a target...

[crashguy]

I tried to replicate the M1906 guard cartridge with instructions from Ed Harris. http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=1176&forum_id=48
8g BE and a Win LRP in a 30-06 case under a Lee 312-155-2R (162gr with powder coat and GC) fired in a M1903. Shoots to poa with battle sights to 100 yrds...1250 avg at the muzzle.

[aap2]

For my Rem 700 Tactical .308 I shoot the RCBS 168 grain Sil boolit over 19 grains of SR4759.....not a mousefart load but a reduced load with little recoil and clean burning; guessing around 1600 FPS (no chronograph). 10 shot groups of about 1 MOA/100 yards which is as well as I can do with any ammunition in this rifle. I tried the "universal reduced load" of 13 grains of Red Dot and it worked o.k. but was not as accurate as 19 grains of SR4759. Since SR4759 has been discontinued I'm going to work up a similar load with 2400 or Unique.

[digger44]

44 Mag 240 cast 8/Unique

[Shooter6br]

10 g Unique with 350g bullet 45-70

[M-Tecs]

10 g Unique with 385g cast Lyman in 45-70 Trapdoor Springfield's.

[cliff55]

1.8 grains bullseye 60 gr cast bullet Savage 22 Hi Power

[brstevns]

5.5 gr Unique 22 bator bullet 223 Rem
10.5 gr Unique 185gr Lee in the 303 British
4.8 700-x 155gr bullet in 357 mag.
12 gr Unique 340 gr Lyman or Lee 45 minie sized to .440 in the 43 Spanish

[leebuilder]

6.5 gr titegroup in 303, 200Gr boolits. Whacks trees with athority, accurate in 2 groove rifles provided the boolit is big enough. Works well with 30 hunter too, sized to .311 in no1 and P14.
Be well

[Bookworm]

44 Mag , 250g RCBS 44-250-K, falls at 263g with 50/50 COWW/Range scrap.

10.5g HS-6, Winchester LPP, for 1000fps from my 7.5" Super Blackhawk Hunter. 12-shot 1.5" groups at 25 yds. SD is 15fps, if I remember correctly.

10g HS-6 gives 945fps, and single-digit SD. Also very accurate, very easy shooting. I can hear the boolitt smack the cardboard target-backer, at 25 yards.

Same 44 Mag -
200g LRNFP, 7.5g Universal, Win. LPP.
Haven't chrono'd this one yet, accurate and very easy shooting.

[Three44s]

Great minds think alike!

.44 Mag, RCBS 250K, Fed 155 primer, HS-6 @ 11.8 gr., 1176 fps & 15 fps SD out of RH with 7.5" tube and 1066 fps & 7 fps SD out of a Smith MG with a 4" tube

Same guns, cartridge and boolit:

Unique @ 8.5 gr. in magnum cases

Three 44s

[Bookworm]

Great minds think alike!

Three 44s

I got the HS-6 bug from reading your many posts about it.

Turns out you were correct... love it in mid-range 44 mag loads.

Thanks.

[Three44s]

You are welcome, but now you got me humbled! [smilie=s:

Enjoy that great powder and boolit

Best regards

Three 44s

[vrh]

30-06 rifle. 170 gr lee cast bullet. 16.5 gr of Unique powder. 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yds.

[Shooter6br]

45-70 350g Ranchdog 12.5 Unique/Universal ........12,5 Unique/Universal 30-06 314299(GC) Accurate Molds clone . Universal 7.5 200g 41 mag....................

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

.45-70 - 10 gr Red Dot under 350 gr Ranch Dog
9mm - 4.0 gr Red Dot under 120 gr Lee TC
.380 ACP - 1.5 gr Red Dot under 100 gr Ranch Dog RFN

[Wardo1974]

For any reduced load in my experience, my favourite ingredient in all regards is Unique gunpowder. All you need is a pinch to get the performance you want, so it's very cheap to use, and because it's not position sensitive, you can use it even in large cases like the .45-70 without any ignition issues. It's consistent as well with a low deviation of speed between shots. Really, I can't say enough about it. I think it's the best. I don't know why anybody recommends Trail Boss. You have to use a lot of it to get the same performance you get out of a few grains of Unique, so it's not cheap. It's dirty, and worst of all is that it's higher pressure. If you have an older firearm and you want to keep the pressure down, what's the point of an expensive, bulky powder that doesn't perform, AND stresses your firearm much more than something like a reduced load of Unique? Anyway.

.38-55: 9 grains of Unique with a 255 grain booltt. 1300 fps or so and very accurate out to 100 yards. It's a reduced load, but also a near-hunting load, so maybe that one doesn't really qualify. So the other one I use is 5 grains of Unique with the same boolit. It's about 750-800 fps. Almost no sound at all and extremely accurate under 50 yards. It's actually the most accurate load I've ever used in my .38-55, and I can hit anything I want with it.

.45-70: 10 grains of Unique with a 405 grain pure lead boolit. 1000 fps or so, all kinds of fun to plink with, accurate.

.44 Magnum: Rifle or pistol, I use 5 grains of Unique with a 240 grain pure lead boolit. It's about the same performance as this load in the .38-55.

.30-06: Unique, anything between 12-16 grains, with a 180 grain Saeco #305. Like all the others, accurate and fun.

[Alferd Packer]

Its been awhile since anyone posted.
I only load the quiet loads close to the catsneeze loads anymore.
In the 30 cals, i use Bullseye, Unique, Titegroup, Titewad, etc. Under 77gr cast .32 caliber bullets to stretch my dwindling lead supply.
I have cast plastic hot glue boolits and used wax boolits as well, where i once used to cast and shoot the ,405 grainers in 45/70, i now cast round ball and collar button slugs.
Still lots of fun though.
Easier on the old shoulder and the wrists.
Low as 2grains of the fast powders like Bullseye up to only five grains of Unique.
Well, now the factories are even selling reduced loads for rimfires and centerfire pistol and rifle.
More shooters and reloaders than ever. Thanks

[Tripplebeards]

Minimum suggested load of trail boss (which I think is 5.2grains...I’m not by my load book) with a 255 grain lee in my Ruger new vaquero. I can hit quarters at 25 yards if I hold still enough with the load. Barely any recoil as well. Similar to a 22 WMR recoil.

Anything else I load with trailboss I can’t hit the broad side of a barn with.

[Txcowboy52]

Amazing amount of good information here!!

[Alferd Packer]

My nephew with his .458 Beowolf wants to compare it to my .454 Casull.
Oh well, the cycle starts over at the top with the younger crowd.
I will load and He can shoot it.
I prefer the powder puff .45 Colt loads, but don't tell him
That!
He won't understand till much later.

[toallmy]

It looks like a lot of fun loads .

[Charlie Horse]

Re-primed, un-sized 357 case. Smallest Lee scoop of BE. Push a cast bullet all the way down on the powder charge and shoot out of my 357 Rossi carbine, single-loaded, of course. Surprisingly accurate at 50 feet. You might mop the soot out of the inside of the case before loading.

[Jedman]

I took a piece of 7/8-14 all thread and drilled and reamed with a taper pin reamer a tapered bore to where I could push a .490 muzzleloader ball thru and it would size it to approximately .460 dia. I would coat them with LLA and load them over 5 grains of fast powder such as bullseye or 700 X and use them to shoot different pests from my yard and garden out of several 45-70 rifles.
I never shot them for groups but at 25 - 35 yards they were quiet and killed everything I shot them at.
I used to shoot literally dozens of groundhogs, raccoons, possums, feral cats, and even fox squirrels that would not
fear me when raiding my bird feeders for sunflower seeds.

I called them resized lead balls jellybeans as that’s what they kinda looked like and from back in the day when I use to use 50 cal. round balls I have hundreds of them and found a good use for them.

Jedman

[Milky Duck]

For any reduced load in my experience, my favourite ingredient in all regards is Unique gunpowder. All you need is a pinch to get the performance you want, so it's very cheap to use, and because it's not position sensitive, you can use it even in large cases like the .45-70 without any ignition issues. It's consistent as well with a low deviation of speed between shots. Really, I can't say enough about it. I think it's the best. I don't know why anybody recommends Trail Boss. You have to use a lot of it to get the same performance you get out of a few grains of Unique, so it's not cheap. It's dirty, and worst of all is that it's higher pressure. If you have an older firearm and you want to keep the pressure down, what's the point of an expensive, bulky powder that doesn't perform, AND stresses your firearm much more than something like a reduced load of Unique? Anyway.

.38-55: 9 grains of Unique with a 255 grain booltt. 1300 fps or so and very accurate out to 100 yards. It's a reduced load, but also a near-hunting load, so maybe that one doesn't really qualify. So the other one I use is 5 grains of Unique with the same boolit. It's about 750-800 fps. Almost no sound at all and extremely accurate under 50 yards. It's actually the most accurate load I've ever used in my .38-55, and I can hit anything I want with it.

.45-70: 10 grains of Unique with a 405 grain pure lead boolit. 1000 fps or so, all kinds of fun to plink with, accurate.

.44 Magnum: Rifle or pistol, I use 5 grains of Unique with a 240 grain pure lead boolit. It's about the same performance as this load in the .38-55.

.30-06: Unique, anything between 12-16 grains, with a 180 grain Saeco #305. Like all the others, accurate and fun.

finally someone who reads the pressure line of loading data....... trail boss its lots of fun BUT you need to look at pressure figures and then make up your mind. in the wee 7.62x39mm case wit ha 151grn HP cast std primer and 4-5-6 grains will go subsonic...if you use magnum primer you down the 4grn end of it and that is scarey low amount of powder.

[Milky Duck]

so here is a question for you light load gurus.....
I have AP30N and AP50N I have 405grn cast projectiles and a .45/70.....
what would be a good place to start n finish powder weight wise???? Im not really interested in cat sneaze slow load but something usable for small/light skinned game or plinking would be great....currently I use BP for this job,its a heck of a lot of fun...but man is is dirty and rusts gun very quickly...
as said in above post...pressure levels with trail boss make me reluctant to use it for this job....
looking at equivilent charts..the above are SIMILAR to red n green dot....
normally Im a paper book load data sort of a guy,but you lot have got me thinking on this one.

[scattershot]

5.5RedDot with a 165 grain cast bullet in 33164010/30 Winchester