Trailboss & 454 Casull & 44 Mag with cast bullets for reduced loads ???

[Magnum Wheel Man]

anyone try Trailboss with these 2 cartridges... I've been using this powder alot in 32 & 38 S&W... & I'm thinking light 45 Colt type loads in my 454 Casull Ruger Alaskan might be a pretty interesting combination... also my 44 Mag is a full sized Dan Wesson with a custom cut barrel & a barrel nut compensator, that total about 3"

I'm starting to build myself some custom holsters, & thinking I'd like to carry these 2 guns for a couple weeks each, to evaluate & change as needed, different properties of the holsters I'm making... & something more in the power range of a "normal" CCW handgun would likely be more appropriate than "bear punching loads", if, heaven forbid, I did actually have to use one ???

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Never tried trailboss, but I do use titegroup for reduced loads in 454. I shoot a 220 grn cast HP gas checked at 1475 FPS out of my TC Encore (15" barrel) with 12 grains IIRC. I also am gonna test some 45 colt loads with the same bullet, only plain-based with 9 grns titegroup today. I will let you know how they shoot. I like the economy with titegroup and the load shoot well too. Also, titegroup is not finicky about light charges in big cases. For what it's worth...

Hodgdon's website has loads for trailboss in 454 casull and 44 rem mag.

454 on the left...460 on the right...

[Magnum Wheel Man]

I would think that as fast as Trailboss burns ( on the burn rate chart ) that it would do light loads pretty efficiently in the big bore snubbies ???

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I agree. I for some reason had a brain fart and thought trailboss loads pretty much filled the case with powder for light loads...my bad

[Magnum Wheel Man]

it will / should also completely fill the case, or close to it ( which I like ) but it's also a pretty fast powder & should work OK for my shorter barreled guns...

in fact... I found that expiriementing with the 32 S&W, my chrony, & several length top breaks with 2", 3", & 5" barrels, & Trailboss, that I got my highest velocities with the shortest barrels

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Yeah I use titegroup mainly because it is not sensitive to position in the case as some other powders are. Having a 15" barrel I am not too worried about getting a complete burn before the boolit exits the muzzle, but rather I just needed a plinking load instead of balls to the wall 296 loads! I guess a "light" load for some is not so "light" for others. For me a light load in 454 is 1400-1500 fps (with a 220 grn boolit) . I also wanted the pressure to be a touch on the higher side to bump my boolit up a couple thousandths before engaging the lands because my bore slugs at .454 and I am shooting .452 boolits thru it. I needed higher pressure, but lower velocity. Are you looking for more around 900-1000 fps? If so, I think Hodgdon's website should get you in the ballpark using trailboss. If it works well for you, let me know.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

yep... I have last years Hodgdon manual ( magazine ) but didn't think they had Trailboss loads for those two ( maybe they did ??? ) but I printed off both Trailboss sheets for those two calibers to add to my manual... just in case

[Magnum Wheel Man]

BTW... I do alot of Contender shooting myself, & my deer handgun is a 10" 45 Colt ( not the 45 / 410 with extra freebore ) & my loads with either H-110 or Lil Gun make my knuckle bleed sometime between 1st & 10th shots out of that 10" Contender...

... my "old deer gun" was a 14" hunter barrel in 45-70

... want something a little lighter than that for target use, & for the couple weeks I'm carrying these two snubbies for holster evaluation

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Yeah if you hold those thompsons wrong they will make your knuckles bleed after the first shot.

[FullCry]

I shoot 44 mag. light loads with Trail Boss and am having fair luck with it. I got the loads from Hodgdons site.

[Lost Sheep]

My shooting buddy uses trail Boss almost exclusively for plinking loads with his 4" 500 S&W Magnum. I recommended it to him because it is relatively voluminous and supposed to be not too sensitive to its position in the case.

9 to 10 grains only fills the case about halfway and delivers a 325 grain lead slug at about 900 fps if I recall correctly. If you shoot with the powder near the primer or the powder near the front of the case, it does make a difference in velocity, though. At those kinds of velocities in that heavy a gun, it feels like shooting a 22.

The manufacturer told me that Trail Boss "does not like jacketed bullets", but refused to say why, so I am not too happy with their help line. However the powder is just dandy.

If you want to get real precise, you could stuff a wad down on top of the powder to keep it contained near the primer for more consistent velocities, but we have not chosen to add that complication to the loading process. It is just a sweet plinking load, good for familiarization, practice and comparison to other power levels.

Good luck, good shooting.

Lost Sheep

[FrankenMauser]

The manufacturer told me that Trail Boss "does not like jacketed bullets", but refused to say why, so I am not too happy with their help line.

They may have been refering only to the specific cartridge you were inquiring about; the combination of a revolver, Trail Boss, and jacketed bullets; or something else specific to the load you wanted.

For rifle data, they clearly state that jacketed bullets are fine.

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

For those of you wondering about undocumented powder charges with Trail Boss - take a look at their load development method. So far, I have found their method to be 100% safe (even for pistols and pistol cartridges). But we're all reloaders - use at your own risk.