44 rem mag and trail boss

T

tdoyka

New member
i have a ruger super redhawk(7 1/2" barrel) in 44 mag. i have a can of win296 but i want to try trail boss. i have either 265gr hornady fn or 280gr ranch dogs. heres the kicker. i had a stroke a couple of years ago and the right half of my body is like around 25% good. i shot a couple of 265gr hornady fn with trail boss and i really liked it. this was one handed and no rest, i didn't expect it to hit anything. but i was wondering if i took the redhawk hunting for deer and i use it for less than 50 yards(more like 25-30 yards) will the trail boss work?

also for next year if the trail boss works, would i be better off going to matt's bullets for his 250gr hp (44 Caliber : Matts Bullets) or montana's bullets ( http://www.montanabulletworks.com/44_Mag_U99O.html ) for his 220gr wadcutter or 240gr flat nose?

thanks!!!
 
I would suggest you try HP-38 instead. It's readily available, cleaner burning that TB and can be loaded mildly in a .44. With a 4" barrel I'm getting just over 900 fps with a 240 grain bullet over 8 grains.
 
I've got a little experience for you that may give you some insight. My grandfather had a stroke in the early 90's and loss the use of his left arm completely. Well, he still likes to hunt with his 29 smith. Back then, he was casting SWC's, no idea of the weight, and was using TrailBoss. He was able to work up a load that he liked and didn't have a hard time controlling and killed a bunch of deer and hogs over the years. I've use TB for years as a plinking powder but I wouldn't hesitate to use it for hunting if I was in your situation as long as you were able to maintain control and got decent accuracy.
 
If you get that 265 gr slug moving @ 850 fps or so, I think you could certainly hunt deer if you kept your range to within 40 yards. You are probably looking at a 90-95% of case capacity load.
 
It'll take a full case of TB to get that slug running fast enough to do the job. Again, 900 fps or so will do the trick.

Keep in mind that TB will burn like Red Dot if you compress it. Stay away from that kind of load.
 
I'd skip the Trail boss and go with a 45LC type load with Unique which also gives you the option of loading it a little warmer if you can handle it.
 
feets:
What is meant by compressing Trail Boss resulting in burning like Red Dot? Sometime back on the forum we kicked around why not to compress TB and even tried unsuccessfully to get an answer from Hodgdon. The Lyman manual does list some TB loads but only to a limited extent. One load they do show as compressed. So what is the comparison to Red Dot, have never used it but use unlimited amounts of TB with mostly mag rifle calibers?
 
While I have never used Trail Boss, I do have a can of it kicking around here, somewhere...

My understanding is that its essentially a black powder replacement, giving black powder speeds and pressures with enough bulk to prevent a double charge in about any pistol case.

You should be able to use Trail Boss in the .44 Mag, to essentially duplicate the ballistics of the .44-40 (at max).

Plenty enough to take deer within proper range.
 
What is meant by compressing Trail Boss resulting in burning like Red Dot? Sometime back on the forum we kicked around why not to compress TB and even tried unsuccessfully to get an answer from Hodgdon.-condor bravo


i don't know why it shouldn't be compressed? when i tried it( like hodgon says), i would find the amount of trail boss and find the 70-95% and go from there.
it may be because of compression strike? i don't know, so i'll keep it down.
 
I think what feets meant was that Trail Boss has a very fast burning rate (like Red Dot) but the powder is designed with such large flakes that is takes up a -LOT- of space. If you compress Trail Boss (never! never do this!) then you break and crush these flakes which obviously allows you to put too many of them in a cartridge case.

Hodgdon/IMR will tell you that you can make up your own "max" load with Trail Boss in any handgun round: simply load to the base of the bullet and no higher, NO COMPRESSION!

If you compress it, it will burn like Red Dot and I should hope we would all know what would happen (to even a Super Redhawk) if you filled a case with Red Dot and seated a bullet over it.
 
Tdoyka
Thanks for the tip that Montana Bullet Works has been purchased from Dave Jennings and will be back in business full time. Best source of cast rifle bullets, and probably handgun, on the planet although they apparently do not yet have every selection available. Payment seems to be the same, by check or money order but not by credit card. Good delivery times.
 
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just for kicks i found a few 200gr xtp(win296 27.5gr) and winchester 265gr factory loads. i took 2 of each and i shot them at my 50 yards target(shooting for recoil, not accuracy). i soon discovered what the right hand is for. i shot the target with my left hand, unsupported, and felt what the recoil was like. the 200gr and the 265gr shot about roughly the same. recoil, well lets say i wouldn't shoot more than 5 or 6 with them at a target.
i think the trail boss will work for me, it may be a 44 mag but i ain't able to use it. i just say its a 44 without the mag. i think i'm going to go with montana's bullet, either the 220gr wadcutter or 240gr wide flat nose.

what do you think?
 
The Lee book lists a 44 Special load with 240 gr lead bullets and 4.8 gr max of TrailBoss. In 44 Mag cases, I would maybe test a few at 5.0 grains and go up from there to find your sweet spot.
 
Yes by going with Trail Boss, recoil will certainly be reduced with whatever bullet you prefer. With TB used as a max load per Hodgdon definition of max, even the largest mag rifle calibers are reduced to almost wimps and the same applies to handgun mag calibers, you have the caliber without the mag. That's what TB is made for and does a wonderfully good job. Bullet weight will hardly make any difference on perceived recoil. Just fill the case to where the base of the bullet will be seated to and you have Hodgdon's max load (still a wimp).
 
Lol, compressing them. Crunching all the flakes that had been occupying bullet space before you seated them and crunched them.

I'm sure most of us have worked with compressed loads -- Trail Boss is not to be compressed.
 
Well, TB can be compressed, but TB has a sharp pressure curve being a fast burning powder. Therefore it is recommended to never compress it when you don't know what your pressures will be, and you'll be ok pressure wise. That is how it is intended to be used. Need to go faster, go to a slower powder like Unique or slower yet 2400. In .44Mag, I've loaded up to 9.5g under 240g SWC which almost fills the case (a compressed load). 9.6g was the 'max' given in the manual. I settled on 8.0g under 240g SWC as my TB load for the .44Mag which is a 900fps load out of a 6 1/2" barrel and was accurate. BTW the 9.5g load was only 1000fps, so not gaining much if anything put spiking the pressure. In fact 9.0g was only a couple fps behind it, so you know you are hitting a wall anyway. I ONLY tested 240g SWCs as that is all I shoot out of my .44s (magnum and special). I am just relating my experience as I've tested a lot of TB loads in different cartridges. The .44Mag was the ONLY one I compressed and that was because it was 'in the manual'. YMMV .

Did not say anything about 'hunting' as I have no experience there! Not a handgun hunter.
 
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