Recent Win M94 Trapper .44 Mag - Recommended Loads?

[nicholst55]

I have an as-yet unfired M94 Trapper in .44 Mag; one of the (cough, cough) tang safety models that I bought very shortly before USRAC went belly up. I bought it to replace a well used pre-safety model that I traded away.

Anyhow, I bought this gun to shoot cast boolits in primarily, and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the newer, fast-twist version of this gun. I read through the thread on the older slow-twist variation, and learned a bit there. I'll use this carbine as a companion piece to my two Ruger Super Blackhawks - a 4 5/8" and a 7 1/2" Bisley.

I'm interested in an easy-shooting general purpose load of around 240-250 grains, and also a heavy bullet load - most likely with the Lee 310 grain boolit. I use 2400, H110, W296, and WC820, plus my old standby - Unique.

FWIW, I was gifted two O-L-D square metal cans of Unique; one unopened and the other very nearly full. There are no signs of deterioration in the open can, so I figure it's still useful for its intended purpose!

:castmine:

[felix]

Assume 26 twist, which is about perfect for all boolits you'd be interested in shooting through 150 yards. Use any standard magnum load, say 35K or less in PSI. Also, that twist will shoot all boolits very slow including your big boolits well. So, it it up to you for what "range" and/or power level. ... felix

[S.R.Custom]

...I have an as-yet unfired M94 Trapper in .44 Mag; one of the (cough, cough) tang safety models that I bought very shortly before USRAC went belly up...

Before you spend any time on that rifle, slug it. Here's why:


...a Trapper that I ordered from Bolsa Gunsmithing about a year before Winchester closed the New Haven plant. Groove diameter was .438" and it wouldn't even engrave rifling on a Hornady XTP. As you can imagine, it was key-holing at 20 feet with group size running about 10". (Now I ask you-- what in bloody hell is Winchester doing with a .438" broach cutter? After being informed of the specifics, Bolsa bought it back no questions asked.)


Link to thread, scroll down:
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=26620

[JesterGrin_1]

Lee 310Gr 18.5Gr W296 CCI-300 primer. Gooooooooood hunting round. :)

[nicholst55]

Before you spend any time on that rifle, slug it. Here's why:



Link to thread, scroll down:
http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=26620

Let me go slug that bad boy! I'll report back on what I find!

Edited to add: The groove diameter on my gun runs right at .431-.432", which is about what I expected. That's just a tad larger than what I consider ideal, but I think I can live with it - as long as I don't expect much accuracy from j-word bullets!