RAMSHOT TRUE BLUE

PROPELLANT PROFILES

- Randy Bimson

In October 2020, Hodgdon Powder Company purchased the exclusive rights to Western Powders’ Blackhorn 209, a black-powder substitute, and the Accurate family of smokeless propellants. In this edition, our focus is on what I have found to be a superb powder from the Accurate Ramshot line – True Blue.

Like a lot of the Handloader readership, I have a penchant for wheel guns. Now don’t get me wrong, I love my self-loading pistols, but there is just something about having your fired cases dropped ever so politely into your open hand. Whether it be my Smith & Wesson (S&W) Model 60 Chiefs Special snubby or my old Ruger Flattop Blackhawk .44 Magnum single action, I always enjoy my time spent with a good wheel gun in hand.

Owning a selection of wheel guns usually introduces the shooter to what might be called the “classic cartridges” like the .38 Special, .44 Special, .45 Colt, and the .455 Webley, also known North of the 49th Parallel as the .455 Colt.

During a recent session at the load bench cranking out ammunition for a host of my classic caliber wheel-guns, I noticed there were three powders typically spoken of in high regard for assembling what we might call general-purpose loads for these guns, Bullseye, Winchester 231, also known as Hodgdon HP-38, and Unique. In my powder cabinet, there is another powder that I use a lot, but which I don’t hear as much chatter about among shooters/handloaders as I should, and that is Ramshot True Blue.