re: such discussions as 'lighter boolits/faster velocity' I was recently exposed to a buddy's new recipes for his 44 magnum.

It's rather eerie how accurate they shoot, and very pleasant as well.

Somehow I've missed the velocity/powders, but we did try a few loads with 160 grain RNL and 200 RNL. The 200g was packed with Trail Boss, unsure of the other.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Back in my CAS days, I always used 180 and 200 grain Cowboy lead bullets (flat point) with 7 grains of Bullseye in .44 Mag cases for both revolver and carbine. They always worked fine for me, and was within CAS MV limits. Never used Trail Boss and I never will. A very uneconomical propellant.

I used to do a lot of jackrabbit smacking out in The desert. I shot full bore 180gr running 1450fps. Effective to as far as you could connect. Also used to run a 200gr full wc for light/accurate plinking loads.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

180 lswc hardcast. A long time ago. An amount of 2400 that I don't remember right now.
But accurate and FAST!
An aside... Sierra 180 gr jhp works better. LOL

thanks for the tip, can you elaborate on this observation?

Mainly (98%) use cast lead of various design.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

The Sierra will blow a Western Jackrabbit in 2 pieces (a few bits holding it still sort of together) at 80 paces.
The hard-cast 180 leads usually just blow a 44 caliber hole through any small game animal.
I have even shot ground squirrels with a 180 hard cast out of a model 24-3 (.44 Special) with a stout load. All it does is punch a hole through 'em.

Yes...

180 Sierra for high velocity deer loads.

200 grain Speer Gold Dot HPs for medium velocity (1050-1200 fps) self-defense loads. Perfect for a 4" Mountain Gun or 3" 629...

Bob

I've used 200gr RNFP from Missouri Bullets with ~7gr of Trail Boss. I have not done any accuracy testing but this a very low recoil load.

I also load 200gr Speer Gold Dots with ~9.4gr of Vihtavuori N340. This is very pleasant to shoot. Haven't verified the expansion, but I can say the 1 gallon water jug was blown apart with this combination more so than the PMC factory 125gr .357 Magnum JHP.

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Authorized AMSOIL Dealer

Despite enjoying the package and the act of shooting it, in range target use I was unable to get much accuracy out of my 3" 629, sorry to say.

It was hard to find a powder that didn't produce objectionable fireball as well.

What worked better for me was a 4" 629.....almost like an entirely different species. Considerably different creature even with the same recipe loaded....but alas, I was unable to rely on it for bowling pin accuracy.

While I long favored 45LC/200 cast/Trail Boss, never really appreciated TB in the 44 mag/special loads I built.

Will be experimenting with it this fall.

There's so much range of performance in the 44 mag realm.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

I understand as reloaders we are...economical. But Trail Boss doesn't add that much to the cost (about 50¢ a box for me in .41) to bother with if you're getting the results you want.

"A very uneconomical propellant."

Trail Boss is marketed by volume. Others are sold by actual weight. Trail Boss is fluffy and not so much weight to fill up what is otherwise a "1 pound container". It doesn't take much to fill up a cartridge either.

Long ago I too was concerned about the appearant premium cost for TB.

I delved into making various cost/volume; cost/weight; and cost/shot in a given container. While that was circa 2001 or so, and I have lost the actual math process I used, the 'per shot' cost difference was not worth my financial concern.

At the time was doing SASS at least twice a month for a total of maybe 6000 rounds/year. Add the cost of 4 guns/leather/gasoline/match fees, whiskey for my posse and beer for my horse, the cost of Trail Boss was minimal. Given the other desirable characteristics of the powder, I was pleased to use it in preference to others. YMMV.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

And I might add that it kinda smells stinky.
Qc