I use trail boss and a round ball or a lightweight case bullet. All my stuff is packed presently so I won’t guess at the powder charge or mold numbers.
Out to twenty yards it is grouse head accurate on either blues or ruffs. Pretty easy to sneak a full charge cartridge out of the chamber and substitute a small game load. Just don’t forget the replace the full charge cartridge.
How well does Trailboss flow thru your powder measures?
I have very limited experience with it and remember having issues in my Hornady measure, which could use a good polishing internally.
-Seconds Count. Misses Don't-
Trail boss can bridge in some powder measures. I have an old Redding that’s dedicated to trail boss loads. I visually check every charge. Lee dippers work pretty dang well and don’t bridge.
I shoot ten grains in my scout with a sintered 107 grain bullet. Hits on the crosshairs out to fifty yards and a great practice load. I think the velocity is close to 1600 so it’s very useful.
Several years ago I shot about three thousand rounds of 44 trail boss out of my model 69. Recovering from lumbar fusion will slow even me down. Shot the #1103 and five grains. Just a bit slower than five of bullseye and not quite as accurate. Beats not shooting though
Last edited by Frank500; 02-10-2022 at 07:42 PM.
The nearest thing in my neck of the woods are armadillos, raccoons, and piglets.Originally Posted by Lost River
Small game hunting you say?
Never heard of such a thing!
Generally I like .44 and .45s with a good wadcutter or semi wadcutter going in the 800 FPS range. Cuts a nice clean cookie cutter type hole right through just about anything.
Even round nose lead .44 Magnums can be fun just for rolling ground squirrels:
The first two I don’t care to eat.
That last one is tasty, but may require a “stopping rifle” for when mama takes exception to having her babies being plinked.
How did this shoot?
Thank you for asking. My apologies for not having updated this sooner.
The first 25-yard group I made was 1.2" inches, which was OK but 3" low. Then I made a 1.67" 100-yard three-shot group, also fine but 16" low. On the bright side, the chronograph says 1,450-ish, which will dump any deer that I'll encounter west of the Cascade crest at the ranges I expect.
The fact that groups aren't all over the map is reassuring. I've found data that goes up to 19-ish grains, so I'll see if I can't walk those rounds up the target. I'm just finishing a 308/150 test series and will get back to the Whelen in the next month or so. I'd really like to have a load that shares a usable POA with my big-game load, which is a 225-grain Sierra at just shy of 2,700 fps.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
Bump because it's been a while and because I'm thinking about a single shot .45-70 or .38-55 and want some mouse fart loads for "accurate" plinking at the indoor range.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Ive shot both .457 round balls and the old Lyman collar button bullets in 45-70, not very many of the latter, as I bought them rather than cast them. Both work well for low noise and low recoil loads for grouse and small game. They are fun to shoot.
I plan on similar loads in 38-55 when I get back to messing with it, both .380 round balls, and I have a copy of the Lyman 150 gr 38-55 bullet mold that was mentioned as a close range gallery and small game bullet in the older manuals. If I have that manual I may be able to get the info they had on both calibers.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
Trailboss. If you have to, this is the best choice. H4895 can be used as well. But a lot of the bullets will not stabilize out of standard rifling twists at 1/3 normal velocity. Lead round balls minimize this issue.
My solution? 20 VarTarg: 18gr CFE BLK, 32gr VMax, CCI400. Like reloaded 17HMR, but much better.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master"
Round ball loads would be perfectly acceptable to me.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
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