50/95 WCF

[Eric Johanen]

Wayne, there is no reason to disassemble the rifle every time you shoot it. Just clean the bore and wipe out the receiver and bolt in place , dry and oil.....good to go. Take the rifle down once a year and clean the internals, leave a thin coat of oil on the springs and parts and reassemble. Any fouling residue that gets into the action will lay on the oil film and not cause any problems. I've done this for 40 years and not had any problems with rust. The guns are easy to clean, just a few minutes. It will take some bit of time to clean your brass depending on how many rounds you run in a session. Punch the spent primer, into hot soapy water, brush with a bottle brush and give the outside a wipe with 0000 steel wool. Let dry and reload.. easy and great fun!

[William Davis]

4759 was my go to powder for smokeless 45/70 & 38/55 loads. It's no longer produced. Switched the bigger cases to 4227 which is the most often used 32/40 powder . In the larger cases its position sensitive which is not a negative target shooting, if you mount the gun same way every time. Old manuals Recomended 4198, I don't know of anybody who uses it.

At one of the big long range shoots Quigly I think , several rifles have been blown up with 5744. All sorts of Internet arguments why. My guess is a double charge.

Really Black Powder is the best option with Trail Boss 2nd & I prefer Black by a large margin. Big cases are hard to load with smokeless. I had a Marlin 1895 45/70 tried my best to get good smokeless performance in NRA Lever Rifle Silhouette. (black not required) Gave it up for a 30/30, caliber that wins most matches . All that empty space has to dealt with somehow and the solutions all have negatives.

I still shoot some Pistol Caliber Silhouette with Black in a Marlin 1894 and clean up is not a problem, but a much better performer is a 2nd near twin 1894 in 25/20 using smokeless powder. Small case full.

William

[William Davis]

4759 was my go to powder for smokeless 45/70 & 38/55 loads. It's no longer produced. Switched the bigger cases to 4227 which is the most often used 32/40 powder . In the larger cases its position sensitive which is not a negative target shooting, if you mount the gun same way every time. Old manuals Recomended 4198, I don't know of anybody who uses it.

At one of the big long range shoots Quigly I think , several rifles have been blown up with 5744. All sorts of Internet arguments why. My guess is a double charge.

Really Black Powder is the best option with Trail Boss 2nd & I prefer Black by a large margin. Big cases are hard to load with smokeless. I had a Marlin 1895 45/70 tried my best to get good smokeless performance in NRA Lever Rifle Silhouette. (black not required) Gave it up for a 30/30, caliber that wins most matches . All that empty space has to dealt with somehow and the solutions all have negatives.

I still shoot some Pistol Caliber Silhouette with Black in a Marlin 1894 38/40 and clean up is not a problem, but a much better performer is a 2nd near twin 1894 in 25/20 using smokeless powder. Small case full.

William

[C.O.B.]

Trail Boss is a great smokeless powder for the large cases. I use it in a 500 BPE double and for reduced loads in a 450-400 3" NE. I down load my 375 H&H (pre64 M70) with 4227 and a jacketed pistol bullet. It makes for a fine deer round.

[James L. Martin]

You do not want to load old big bore cartridges with any powder that does not fill the case 100% . I think that real black powder is best , but if you worry about the fowling and cleanup I would try that Blackhorn 209, you load it the same as black , that is by volume. Fill the case and put a nitro card on top of powder then bullet to achieve AOL. I have loaded a few hundred rounds with it and all have shot great. I do plan on also trying Trail Boss.When you have extra air in the case you can get a chamber ring or worse. Just use a mag primer as Blackhorn 209 is hard to ignite. By the way Blackhorn 209 is I believe the only black powder substitute that is non corrosive and you clean up the same as any smokeless powder. Trail Boss is not a black powder substitute.

[William Davis]

Thing about small charges of fast powder is chance of a double charge. I double charged a 32/40 when breech seating my CPA Schuetzen rifle. Fellow distracted me loading at the shooting bench, not a excuse my fault. . Bigger bang no damage. It's a modern steel reproduction action that's capable of handing high power bottle neck cartridges, and the 4227 load was a mild one to start. .

After asked the question on ASSRA forum, who will admit they have double charged. Half a dozen guys said they have. Since I am more careful and check all loads with a drop gage. And that rifle will stand it. Weaker actions may come apart. Very good reason to use case filling loads in Lever action rifles.

William

[Tad Tadlock]

I use a lot of Trail Boss. My wife, my daughter, and I all shoot SASS Cowboy Action. I just got finished loading all 4000 of our .38 Special brass with Trail Boss. We shoot that from our revolvers and Marlin 1894C's. I also use it to load .44 Specials for my Wild Bunch 1894. Before we moved to all Marlins, I've used it in Rossi 92 rifles and carbines in .38/357 and .44. I still have those for backups.

I use Trail Boss in my original 1894 Marlin (1895) and my original 1892 Winchester (1910), my pair of S&W 1905's in .32-20 (1907 & 1909) and in my S&W Safety Hammerless in .38 S&W (1895).

Trail Boss is a lot more versatile powder than a lot of folks think. There is a data sheet from IMR, who originally developed Trail Boss, that tells how to make up a load for anything you want to shoot. There is a link to the sheet below. It's worth taking a look at.

Trail Boss Data Sheet

[wayne goerres]

I have some trail Boss laying around here somewere. I may try it.

[C.O.B.]

try it you'll like it. I sure do

[wayne goerres]

Rich is your 450/400/3" a double. What weight bullet are you shooting with reduced loads and if a double dose it regulate.