.348Win + TrailBoss = No Joy!!

[Rbertalotto]

Ok, I bought a Browning (Winchester) Model 71 this week. Sent away to Buffalo Arms for some brass which came in within two day! Great service here! Jamerson brass....

I found some Hornady 200g bullets at my local gun shop and a box of factory Winchester 348 ammunition.

Wanted to try "plinking" loads with the Hornady bullets so I used the TrailBoss powder formular...Fill the case to the base of the bullet, weigh this charge and start at 70%.

I loaded 5 rounds at 14.5G of TrailBoss, 5 at 16.5 and 5 at 18.5.....Off to the range.

Loaded the 14.5g load...pulled the trigger...couldn't open the action! Had to use a cleaning rod to bump the case out of the chamber before the lever would move and the case would extract. Primer was flattened like signs of high pressure......Strange....

I tried a factory load and the recoil was much greater, but the case extracted beautifully. Tried another factory load and the gun ran great. No issues!

Tried another 14.5g load. Same result. Very little recoil and a stuck case.

Thinking something was wrong with the brass, I measured every dimension and it was exactly to spec and identical to the Winchester factory brass.

Thinking that the 14.5 load was too low of power and doing something strange, I tried the 18.5g load. Same result, little recoil, locked up gun, flattened primer.

I returned home and pulled the remaining cartridges apart and reloaded them with a stout load of 4007SSC and 3031...Much higher pressure ratings than the TrillBoss loads....

Back to the range and these loads fired and ejected perfectly! Smooth as silk....and very accurate I might add. Not a "plinking" round as the recoil was stout.

Strange that a light load would show signs of pressure and lock the action up tight, but a full house load worked great.

It couldn't be "predetonition" (sp?) as the case even with only 14.5 grains of powder was 75% full. TrailBoss is an extremely bulky powder.

Any ideas?

[Mike]

I've never tried Trailboss but I have shot a whole lot of .348s. A fine big game rifle/cartridge combo. It sounds like Trailboss is mainly too fast of a powder for the .348. My favorite powder in mine is #4064 which is slightly slower than #3031. #4320 is another good one. In that big lever action, keep the powders on the slow side but give it plenty of fuel. The .348 is a good cast bullet gun too. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Rbertalotto]

Thanks Mike, I'm loving this Model 71! Super accurate with the loads I've tried. I have 4064 and will try that also.

Ordered an Accurate 35-220C mold. Can't wait to shoot some cast in it. This rifle will be going out west with me this fall for whitetail.

[Lumpy Grits]

Got any Unique?
Gary

[Mike]

R, The .348 will sure to the job on whitetails. I got the biggest deer of my not terribly illustrious hunting career with the .348 I still have. That was a five point (on one side) mule deer taken near Winchester, Idaho. The loads I used were factory, Peters, 200 grain hollow points. There was no doubt about it... My rifle was made in 1937. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Semtav]

Personally, I'd never shoot trail boss again. In anything.

[Mike]

Got any Unique?
Gary

Gary, I have used Unique in my .348 but only for light short range loads. That was done with a cast 180 grain bullet meant for the .351 WSL and it worked very well. Just very light charges though. Generally the fasted burning powder you'll find recommended for the .348 is #4759, about 15.0 grains under #350447 for 1200 fps. And you've got to go back into the old handbooks to find that. My old Lyman #38 handbook does list 5.0 grains of Unique for a light load in the .33 W.C.F. and I only used 7.5 grains in the .348. Phil Sharpe didn't even include any Unique loads for the .348 in his book on Handloading. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Lumpy Grits]

Unique is in the middle of slow-burn'n powder.
One of, if not the most universal powder ever made.
http://www.reloadersnest.com/burnrates.asp

Gary

[Mike]

Unique is in the middle of slow-burn'n powder.
One of, if not the most universal powder ever made.
http://www.reloadersnest.com/burnrates.asp

Gary

Gary, I'd call Unique in the middle of the fast burning powders. Maybe just my way of sayin' it. And it is very versatile, good for rifles, pistols and shotguns. It's been around since 1900. And that was quite a list of powders listed by their burning rates. A whole bunch of them I've never heard of. I never knew there are faster burning powders than Bullseye! Must be gettin' old... Shoot sharp, Mike

[Lumpy Grits]

Mike-Unique was the very first smokeless powder ever put on the market for us reloaders in 1898.
Gary