Cowboy loads?

[Socalman]

I have never shot any 'cowboy' loads through my Ruger GP100. I was in a store today (Ammo Bros., Cerritos) and looking for reloading components and saw that they had a decent stock of "Cowboy" cast bullets in .38.

Are special dies needed to load the cowboy action bulletts or will the regular dies do the job?

Of course, I still need to find pistol primers...

[mjmagee67]

Cowboy loads are normally just lead bullets with velocities under 1000fps.

[russt]

Regular dies will work just fine

[Hallx7]

Your regular dies will work just fine.

[Cowboy T]

Same die set. The only difference is the power of the load, i. e. which powder, and how much of it, you stuff in there.

Example: I have two loads for .45 Colt. One is a so-called "Cowboy" load that chronos at 850 ft/sec with a 200gr cast boolit. The other one is a Magnum-level load, with a 255gr cast boolit, that chronos at about 1,300 ft/sec. I use not only the same dies, but also the same powder measure, all on the same press. I just adjust the powder measure way up when I do the Magnum-style load, and way down for the "Cowboy" load.

[wellfedirishman]

I shoot cowboy loads all the time with my own cast bullets.

I recommend Trailboss powder for light cowboy loads, it works great and it quite voluminous so it fills the case and prevents a double charge.

[G-forceJunkie]

Dito the Trailboss. I load 3 grains of Trailboss under a 148 grain wadcutter and its like shooting a .22 in my 686. Great for teaching new shooters.

[Socalman]

Thanks! I think I just may pick up some of those tomorrow!

[Capybara]

Great info for us newbie reloaders guys, appreciate the tips.

[dougolupski]

Trail Boss is king in my book. 3.7 grains behind a 158 SWC 38 special is yielding about 580 feet per second. There like whisper fart 22 coming out of my cowboy action revolver. Next work up is for the 45 Colt 1858 New Army Conversion I just got, it will be Trail Boss all the way. Plus the added benefit is since its so voluminous a single jar will go a long way.

[Swagman00]

1, 2, 3......okay, I'm fourth to give a thumbs up for Trail Boss in the .38/.357 then.

Best plinkin charge I've found yet.

[Battlewagon]

Yep, Trail Boss makes for an nice mild load. I find 4.2 gr in a 357 case under a 158 gr LSWC yields 758 fps out of a 6" GP100.

[bruceflinch]

Trail Boss is also great in Rifles!
I'm using it in all my 30 caliber loads.

[mif_slim]

I once filled a x54r case with trailboss, my friend mixed a full charge load amd trailboss into the magazine. The traikboss was in top the full power load. His first time shooting and was afraid to shoot. After a little cold feet he finally pulled the trigger. Bang, " thats it?!" He said, racked another and fired., BOOM! "WTF!?!?"

Scared the poop out of him and we had a good laugh. Lol.

Anyways, to the question... what everyone else said.

[wtkaiser]

Great way to turn someone off of shooting. Way to go....