.444 for fun

[KWK]

The Marlin in .444 is not what I'd call a "fun" gun, at least not for casual shooting, but it was today. My son and I had loaded up some Trail Boss loads under 240 gn plated bullets. I used about 90% of the available case, and it made 1240 fps, more or less. The recoil of such loads is pretty mild; it's like shooting a fat .22 LR. The report is relatively mild, too.

I'd read Trail Boss isn't very consistent with speed, and the chronograph this cool day showed speeds from 1170 to 1270 fps, so perhaps those rumors are true.

Perhaps I'll grab that jar of 777 and see if its speeds are more consistent.

Regardless, the boom/shove/splat of these loads was definitely fun.

Karl

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have shot Trail Boss in many different calibers from .32-20 to the .50-95. It is not for the Benchrest shooter,that is for sure. BUT, for a fun plinking load that can duplicate black powder velocity in most guns safely or just for an afternoon of fun with your favorite deer rifle., it's great.
You might want to play with that load a little more,primers also can make a big difference in the extreme spreads.

[KWK]

Yes, I plan to experiment further with these. I used CCI-200 today. Most of the T.B. data for cartridges of similar proportions (.45-70, .38-55) at Hodgdon's site use this primer, so it seemed a good place to start. Have you found one which T.B. tends to favor?

One other thing I noticed is this powder has a rather sooty burn; the cases are black inside. The holes in the paper plates have a dark ring around them, and this was a plated bullet, as if the bullet was carrying soot all the way to the target.

Karl

[earlmck]

I've been using the CCI 200 in all my TB loads and have not experimented further. All my use has been in bottleneck cases (mostly the 243 Win) for light loads for the grandkids to use. Excellent accuracy, fairly decent velocity spreads, with extreme spreads ranging from 30 to 60 fps. The smaller spreads were at a the upper pressures, but these were still 20K psi range (according to QuickLoad) which should have been real similar to the 240 grain, 90% case capacity load in the 444.

But I have used up my one bottle of TB and don't find any more to buy anywhere I have looked.

With the passing of TrailBoss I've been using Green Dot or Red Dot for velocity equivalent loads but with greater velocity spreads and less accuracy (though still quite acceptable -- there are no olympic-grade shooters among my crew).

[HCH]

I've used TrailBoss and small charges of Titegroup for reduced loads. Lots of fun, and cheap!

[KWK]

With the passing of TrailBoss...

Has it been discontinued or is it just unavailable? I haven't seen any recently either.

[AJMD429]

I think SR-4759 has been used for lots of big-bore reduced loads; don't know velocity consistency though.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
For 50 years 10 grains of Unique has been a "standard load in any large rifle cartridge" for a fun shooting round. Starting with 30-30 all the way up through the 50-70 Unique has never failed in my plinking loads to give a fun blast at the range. In the long barreled BP cartridge rifles it hardly disturbs the red wing black birds out in the grass between muzzle and target. If you need more power then start adding more Unique in half grain charges.
Mike in Peru

[earlmck]

With the passing of TrailBoss...

Has it been discontinued or is it just unavailable? I haven't seen any recently either.

Our Australian friends assure me it is still being manufactured (it is made in Australia by ADI) but Hodgdon must have quit importing it because I haven't seen any on the shelf in a couple of years. Every other powder marketed under the IMR brand can now be found, including 700X. But not TrailBoss.

For 50 years 10 grains of Unique has been a "standard load in any large rifle cartridge" for a fun shooting round. Starting with 30-30 all the way up through the 50-70 Unique has never failed in my plinking loads to give a fun blast at the range. In the long barreled BP cartridge rifles it hardly disturbs the red wing black birds out in the grass between muzzle and target. If you need more power then start adding more Unique in half grain charges.

Totally true Mike, but TB has one advantage over the many powders such as Unique with which we have always made these nice reduced velocity loads. The big advantage is that it is really bulky (almost twice as bulky as Unique, which is not a particularly dense powder) so that a typical TB load occupies well over half the case. The typical Unique (or Red Dot or Tight Group or 700X or....) load occupies somewhat under half the case so leaves plenty of room for a double charge. There are a fair percentage of reloaders who abhor such low charge density loads, so will not try the fun loads available with small charges of fast powder. I myself have become much more attentive to charge density since incorporating grand kids into my reloading process.

[earlmck]

I think SR-4759 has been used for lots of big-bore reduced loads; don't know velocity consistency though.

A wonderful powder but genuinely discontinued now: I am hording my last keg for a few special loads. And while it is somewhat bulky it is nowhere near as bulky as TB. Also it meters rather poorly and is more a 4227 replacement than a replacement for the faster powders so I use it with gas-checked casty loads rather than for lower velocity plain-base loads.

[6pt-sika]

I tried Trailboss in the 444 a couple years ago . I wanted a sub sonic load with a 300 or 350 grain cast bullet . I was doing it in a 444 Marlin that had the 1-38 twist and stabilization was a factor . At sub sonic that twist wouldn't stabilize what I wanted so I gave up .

[Chuck 100 yd]

Mine has the faster twist Ballard rifling and works great with mild cast loads. My best groups in almost all large capacity cartridge / Trail Boss loads were shot with CCI BR primers.

[TedH]

My 444 plinker is a 240 gr cast round nose with 16 gr of Unique. That's an all day fun shooter, and cheap.

[EdinCT]

I have no experience with 777 but would recommend you make sure that the plated bullets will work with it. I know Black powder needs a good lube to keep it soft.
Earl I was disappointed when I heard SR-4759 was being discontinued again. I had a load of 20 gr under a .243 80 gr sp bullet I bought cheap from Midway. It shot nice small groups about two inches low at 100 yards from the standard hunting loads zero in the 6mm my kids used. The oldest Grand child is 3 so Lord willing they will use the same rifle and time flies.

[KWK]

... with 777 but would recommend you make sure that the plated bullets will work...

Hmmm, I hadn't thought about that. I probably won't give it a try, though. I looked at information on 777 cartridge loading and see it will make more than the 1250 fps for which Berry recommends for their bullets --and no reduced fill loads permitted. I'll use regular cast bullets for the 777 experiment.

I wanted to try the Trail Boss since I can nearly fill the case with it (and I have it on hand). As Earl said, it eliminates any chance for double charging. None of the major on-line powder suppliers have it, either.

My older Lyman cast bullet manual has numerous loads for powders such as 700X, Unique, etc. Once this bottle is gone, I'll have a go with those.

Karl

[earlmck]

Earl I was disappointed when I heard SR-4759 was being discontinued again. I had a load of 20 gr under a .243 80 gr sp bullet I bought cheap from Midway. It shot nice small groups about two inches low at 100 yards from the standard hunting loads zero in the 6mm my kids used. The oldest Grand child is 3 so Lord willing they will use the same rifle and time flies.

Yes, I don't like to lose our 4759. You can probably do OK substituting 4227, or using 4198 with 2 to 2.5 more grains of powder in your favored load, Ed. I may have to try your load: it would be a reasonable power step up from the 13 grains TrailBoss load I can no longer use, and yet quite a lot down from full power. And using either 4227 or 4198 would be right at 50% fill, so a double charge would be quite easy to see, at least.

Ooops! I'm sorry KWK -- I contributed to a considerable thread drift. I do try to avoid that.

[Aussie Chris]

I have no trouble finding Trail Boss here in Melbourne. I've only used it in my ancient '94 but will try it in my 444 for plinking rounds now! The full house sambar hunting reloads (265gn) do hurt my shoulder and leave a bruise....