IMR Trail Boss in the 444 Marlin

[Borregos]

I have used Trail Boss in my 44-40 and 45-70 with some success.
Does anybody have any experience using it in the 444 Marlin??

[rwb]

Try 11gns 240swc this worked well for plinking. You can go up to at least 14 gns with no problems but why use up more powder

Russ

[1886]

A chrony will be your best friend. T.B. was not meant to be hot rodded. A 240-280gr cast bullet at 950-1000fps will be perfectly acceptable. Just make sure the bullet will obdurate at the pressures generated. Have fun, 1886.

[6pt-sika]

I've used Trail Boss in my Marlin 1895 in 40-82 .

It worked okay but it was not exactly what I was looking for

[Borregos]

Thanks for your replies.
I'm going to try 11gr with a 240gr cast. Will load tomorrow and head to the range Wednesday, and the chrony will be going with me! I am aiming for something around 1000fps at the max.

[6pt-sika]

Thanks for your replies.
I am aiming for something around 1000fps at the max.

I take it you aren't looking for a deer load ?

If you should want something in that area for a cast bullet shoot me a PM as I have worked up a number of different loads for the 444 Marlin with cast bullets ! And just about all my loads to date have used XMP5744 !

[Borregos]

6pt-sika
You are correct, I am not looking for a deer load, I run our IHMSA sillhouette matches and we also use lever guns at them (not sanctioned, just for fun!) and I was looking for a load for the 444 as it does not get used near as much as all my other levers, so I needed a light load to avoid target damage. However some cast deer loads would be good information, PM on the way.

[6pt-sika]

6pt-sika
You are correct, I am not looking for a deer load, I run our IHMSA sillhouette matches and we also use lever guns at them (not sanctioned, just for fun!) and I was looking for a load for the 444 as it does not get used near as much as all my other levers, so I needed a light load to avoid target damage. However some cast deer loads would be good information, PM on the way.

Your PM has been replied !

I also run lever action snactioned matches at our club where we also have IHMSA matches although not at the same time !

I had guys shooting Marlin 1895's with jacketed bullets that weren't hurting the targets but they were doing their shoulders no favors !

I think if were going to shoot silhouette with a 444 I would opt for a 200-215 grain bullet and run it up to maybe 1600 FPS . My 30-30 silhouette loads are 165 grain cast at about 1900 FPS .

[Borregos]

6pt-sika,
Thanks.

Our matches through the winter are all just to 100m which was why I was looking for a lighter load, I have enough targets to repair now!
As the lever action part of our matches is not sanctioned I allow any lever action as long as it use lead and is loaded down to no more than 1400fps, gives the guys a chance to use their 30-30s.
For the 200m stuff in the summer there are no restrictions other than using lead only. (our range has some wierd rules)

[6pt-sika]

6pt-sika,
Thanks.

Our matches through the winter are all just to 100m which was why I was looking for a lighter load, I have enough targets to repair now!
As the lever action part of our matches is not sanctioned I allow any lever action as long as it use lead and is loaded down to no more than 1400fps, gives the guys a chance to use their 30-30s.
For the 200m stuff in the summer there are no restrictions other than using lead only. (our range has some wierd rules)

I have targets for lever action 22's that are out to 100 yards , then I have hunter pistol targets that are the same size but of heavier steel for the pistol caliber leveractions out to 100 yards and finally I have the IHMSA big bore targets that are out to 200 meters for use with the full size leveraction rifles .

[Borregos]

Took the Marlin 444 to the range today (cold at 26 degrees but no snow yet), tried out three different loads with some interesting results.
All at 50 yards.

Load #1, 11.0gr Trail Boss, 240gr plain base cast:
Group size 3”, velocity 1165fps

Load #2, 11.0gr Blue Dot, 205gr plain base cast:
Group size 2.1”, velocity 1000fps

Load #3, 9.0gr Unique, 205gr plain base cast:
Group size 1.1”, velocity 1135fps

Going to use the Unique load at our match this weekend and later try the Trail Boss with the 205gr plain base and maybe up the Blue Dot load a bit to see what happens.