Trailboss Load in a Vintage 1873

[Criiter3030]

Hi Guys. A while back I picked up an 1873 in 44-40 made in about 1885. I've played around with a few bullet/powder combos and have found one that's working very well for me. Got some 215g FN bullets from Matt's Bullets and loaded them over 6.5 g of Trailboss powder and a CCI 300 primer. Accuracy out of the old gun has been great with this load. I recently shot an honest 1.25 inch, 5-shot group, at 50 yards which is my best to date with the gun. The load is very pleasant to shoot and burns very clean. I chrono'd a few shot and came up with an average of just over 600 FPS. Most load data indicates something more like 900 to be expected. So what's going on? The bullets are sized to .431. The bore slugged out to .4315. Is it possible that the gases are blowing past the bullet? Also, I'm curious about what kind of pressure the load is creating. I sure don't want to feed the old girl anything that could do any harm. At 600 FPS it seems like I should be fine but 6.5g of Trailboss is listed as a max load in the charts I've seen. I'm thrilled with the gun and love the accuracy and mild recoil of the load. Do you think that there's any problem settling on this as my go-to load for general plinking?

[TXGunNut]

A friend has a 38-40 of similar vintage, wouldn't shoot until he cast some oversize .401 boolits for it. He uses Holy Black but I know TB has it's fans. Good plan keeping loads mild, it was built for BP pressure levels.

[Skipper]

A recommended load for the 200 gn bullet is 6.5 grs. with a 200 gr. cast bullet for 826 f.p.s. @ 11,900 C.U.P.

The pressure rises very quickly with Trail Boss; if you're shooting an original '73, be careful.

Also, you should probably be sizing to .432"

[Criiter3030]

I'd don't currently cast so I have Matt size the bullets to .431 (the largest diameter he is set up for). I have considered purchasing the bullets as cast (about .432) and pan lubing so that I could try a slightly larger bullet but the .431's are shooting so good that I went ahead and bought a couple hundred. W30WCF was kind enough to provide me some Accurate 43-215c bullets sized to .431 that shot equally well when loaded over a full charge of 777. I may try hunting deer with the gun at some point but for now I'm just having a blast punching holes in paper. A couple 1892's recently found their way into my house, a 32-20 made in 1892 and a 38-40 from about 1914. Reloading components are on the way. Can't wait to work up some loads. This stuff is addicting.

[dikman]

This stuff is addicting.

[smilie=l:

[w30wcf]

Criiter3030,
Glad to see that you are getting great results with your vintage '73. :D

SAAMI MAP for the 44-40 is 14,000 CUP. Original Black Powder loads reportedly generated 15,000.

Hodgdon 6" barrel - 200 gr cast - 6.5 / Trail Boss / 826 / 11,900

I'm thinking that your chrono readings are suspect. 6.5 / Trail Boss in my Marlin (24") clocked an average of 1,017 with a 200 gr bullet.
I'm thinking that a heavier 215 gr bullet would likely be in the 950+ f.p.s. area.

My favorite smokeless load for the .44-40 is 6.2 / Titegroup with 200-217 gr cast bullets. Accuracy is very good and velocity runs around 1,150 f.p.s. (Hodgdon 20" barrel - 200 cast / 6.2 / Titegroup / 1,117 / 12,900.

The advantage of TB is that one can't accidentally double charge the case which could happen with Titegroup .

For a smokeless load replicating the original 1,300 f.p.s. cartridge, 17/4227 gets the nod.

w30wcf

[Criiter3030]

W30WCF. Great to hear from you. I'm not sure what changed but the old '73 seems to shoot better everyday. I'm consistently getting 2 inch groups at 50 yards with the TrailBoss load I mentioned. I honestly think that a big part of the change was the addition of bifocals into the process. The front sight is tiny and I now have a much better view of it. I think you may be right about the chronograph - I too suspect that it may be wrong as it sure doesn't feel like 600 fps. I'll have to check some other guns/ammo to confirm. Within the next couple weeks I'll be working on the new guns I mentioned. You wouldn't happen to be an expert on 32-20 and 38-40's. Thanks again for all your help with the 44-40. To all those reading: when w30wcf talks 44-40 - listen. He's the Man!

[Criiter3030]

Turns out the chronograph was inaccurate. Tried it again and it's now indicating an average of about 1,020 fps. Actually a bit faster than I would have expected. I mentioned that I had picked up 2 1892's recently - a 32-20 and a 38-40. The 32-20 (serial No 88XX) is a beaut. Perfect bore and in original condition. The 38-40 is unique in that it has a shotgun butt pad, round barrel and 2/3 magazine. It also has a great bore. Not much of a challenge getting these to shoot. Both have already shot 5 shot groups in the 1 1/4 inch range at 50 yards. Both using trail boss. I'm not sure my old eyes can do much better but I plan to have fun trying to get a true 1 inch 5 shot group out of them. If I never get better than the 1 1/4 inch group I got out of the 1873 I'll still be happy - that one was a challenge.