Trail Boss powder and the .44 magnum--some observations

[Shuz]

I've been playing around with Trail Boss powder in my 20" Winchester 94AE in .44 magnum. 7g of Trail Boss,Rem 2-1/2 primer,and a Lee 225g RNFP @ 1.625 OAL, gives me constant 10 shot groups of slightly less(1.95") than 2". Fun to shoot, and oh so easy on the shoulder. Velocity is only 1050fps, but the accuracy is sure there for me.

In my opinion, because the powder is so bulky, the granules sorta act like scrubbers and remove any traces of lead fouling that just might have resulted if the boolit is not the optimum diameter or hardness.

Anybody else using Trail Boss in the .44 mag?

[bangerjim]

I plan on it in the next couple weeks!

[tja6435]

I run 5gr Trail Boss under the 300gr Mihec 44/444-300 (tel:44/444-300) hollow point boolit. These are shot through a 7.5" Redhawk. Good, accurate load that doesn't beat your hands up.
I am planning on making some loads with the same boolit but with 4.0gr Trail Boss for some very low recoil loads for my buddy's kids to shoot through it. The love 3.5gr Trail Boss in a 38spl with a 158gr boolit in my revolvers

[Coyote3]

7g of Trail Boss,Rem 2-1/2 primer,and a Lee 225g RNFP

Anybody else using Trail Boss in the .44 mag?

I've been using that exact load in my 8" Colt Anaconda with fantastic results. Even my daughter loves shooting it.

[tdoyka]

i've shot alot of trail boss in cast and jacketed loads. 30-40 krag-165gr ranch dog and the 45-70-405gr fbfn and the 444 marlin-280gr ranch dog. my super redhawk 44 mag likes the 200gr xtp and tb. this winter i expect to use tb in the 44 mag and cast boolits.
its a real nice load, soft on the shoulder/hands, hardly makes a bang(45-70) and for 50 yards it can kill deer.

[Shuz]

I used the aforementioned 7g of Trail Boss and the 225RNFP custom Lee to shoot a little Whitetail buck this year. 1 shot, bang flop, Who says 1050fps ain't enuf for deer slaying?

[fecmech]

Who says 1050fps ain't enuf for deer slaying?
It was obviously a deer with some terminal disease, everyone knows you need at least 3000 fps and a minimum of 4K ft lbs of energy to kill a deer.:kidding:

[DerekP Houston]

*Just* acquired one and some Trail Boss, will give it a try once I get a mold and some brass.

[three50seven]

I load .44 special with 4.5gr of trail boss and 250gr SWC and they are quite accurate out of my 20" Rossi 92. Also load 8.5gr under a 155gr lead FP for my Marlin 30-30 with great results.

[dikman]

I've been using Trail Boss in my 44-40. It's a bit of a pain in the loading press, but it shoots nice and smells pretty good too :wink:.

[Kestrel4k]

Thanks for bumping this thread, I missed it the first time around.

I have been looking for TB for a while now, haven't found it yet but I'm guardedly optimistic.


I've been playing around with Trail Boss powder in my 20" Winchester 94AE in .44 magnum. 7g of Trail Boss,Rem 2-1/2 primer,and a Lee 225g RNFP @ 1.625 OAL, gives me constant 10 shot groups of slightly less(1.95") than 2". [...] Velocity is only 1050fps
Thanks for this info as subsonic .44Mag data with chrono results from a rifle bbl is very rare.
BTW, what distance for the ~2" groups? Thanks,

[tdoyka]

when i first bought tb(early august of '14) i only got 2 9oz cans of it. when i went back to the gun store a couple weeks later, it was gone. i'm still trying to find it!!!! i'm down to about 1/2- 3/4 of a can of tb. i shoot it in my 44 mag, 30-40 krag, 30-30, 45-70 and 444 marlin. its a great powder!!! i should have taken its picture, at 50 yards with a 444 marlin and 200gr xtp, it goes roughly 1/2" with 12 shots.
i did manage to get a couple of cans of unique, but for cat sneeze loads tb is the best.

[Shuz]

Thanks for bumping this thread, I missed it the first time around.

I have been looking for TB for a while now, haven't found it yet but I'm guardedly optimistic.


Thanks for this info as subsonic .44Mag data with chrono results from a rifle bbl is very rare.
BTW, what distance for the ~2" groups? Thanks,

The distance for those groups was 50 meters(55 yards).

[ironhead7544]

The max listed load with a 200 gr RNFP boolit went 1100 fps from a 20 inch barrel. 950 fps from a 5.5 inch Ruger Super Blackhawk. No leading and very accurate.

[fecmech]

i did manage to get a couple of cans of unique, but for cat sneeze loads tb is the best.
You should try some Bullseye for your cat sneeze loads, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.