Thread: .44 Mag Crimping

WillB - I would use AP70N rather than Trailboss for your sub loads. Although if what your doing works, then it works. I have tried sub loads in a .44 Magnum with Trailboss, but I do it with AP70N (Universal/Unique) in the .44-40, which is virtually the same case. 8.5 grains will get you just under the speed of sound with a 200 grain bullet for example, and accuracy is superlative.

(I found Trailboss unpredictable. Its really for Cowboy target shooters, who are not concerned at all with accuracy. The other downside is that Trailboss makes for higher pressures to achieve the same thing AP70 does.)

When dealing with the smaller amounts of powder in a big case, you can get velocity variations depending on which end of the case the powder is sitting in. I have tried filling the rest of the case with cotton wool, or folded toilet tissue. Both sort of worked to flatten out the variation in velocity by holding the powder back against the primer, but gave up on both, because its only good for the range - if you carry them around a lot hunting, and jack them in and out of the chamber, the powder sifts through your filler material, which cant be a good thing. (I pulled a couple of bullets and checked) Range sessions were interesting. Cotton wool and tissue paper flew everywhere.