Ramshot True Blue and Enforcer powder review

My goodness, it’s good to be back in the saddle. Regular readers know I went out of the reloading business almost four years ago when I took a fall and wrecked my (other) shoulder. I wish I could say the rotator cuffs have fully healed – they haven’t and apparently won’t, but I’ve reached a tolerable new normal and at least I can shoot again although my full-power long gun days are apparently done. Intermediate caliber carbines are okay.

But we’re here to talk about pistols. Just before I took my last tumble I got two free pounds of powder from Wideners with the agreement that I’d put their link on my sidebar and review the powders. They … got the first and a mention. Since they stopped bugging me about the reviews a long time ago I assume they’re not speaking to me anymore and I can’t say I blame them. But in the interest of catching up on an old obligation and for the benefit of anyone who cares, here’s an old reloader’s impressions of Ramshot True Blue and Enforcer powders for the .44.

I shoot a lot of .44 Special and used to shoot a lot of .44 Magnum when I was – er, younger. Living in the boonies (and getting a little long in the tooth to credibly play Tactical Tod) has re-taught me the joys of the .44, though one quickly learns that a pistol big enough to comfortably shoot a lot of .44 Magnum is probably too heavy to comfortably carry all the time. An L-frame, like my current darlin’…


…is light enough to carry every waking moment, and I do, but frankly not a lot of fun to shoot Magnums through. So the temptation to find a compromise loading is always with me but I mostly stick with .44 Special loadings. As I’ve said before, what I like about a .44 Magnum revolver is the versatility. You can load it down for varmint control or all the way up to a credible defense against bears. And when you live by yourself in the boonies, you’ll find yourself wanting to.

Which brings us at last to those two new Ramshot powders. I asked for recommendations for the best modern powder for .44 Special and for .44 Magnum, and these are what I got…

Ramshot True Blue is the 21st century’s answer to Alliant Unique – it’s good for pretty much anything reasonable pistol shooters shoot.


It’s the finest spherical powder I ever saw, other than the other Ramshot powder I’m about to mention which is physically identical, and meters like a dream. You can throw identical powder charges all day long without resorting to a trickler, and you get very reliable results.

As for the powder made for unreasonable pistol shooters…


Ramshot Enforcer is for magnum big-bore reloading: .44 Magnum, 454 Casull, 460 S&W, and 500 S&W. I have no experience with those last two calibers and only one with the Casull – and please permit me to belatedly apologize to all the people who left in a huff that one time I rented one at an indoor range – but over the decades I’ve spent a fair amount of time with the .44, starting back when Hunter Pistol Silhouette matches were popular. My go-to powder for heavy .44 Magnum loads was always 2400 which worked fine but you did end up weighing out your powder if you wanted complete consistency. Ramshot Enforcer is the same fine spherical powder as True Blue – I weighed out sample after sample from my powder thrower and got no variation at all. But the burn rate is lower, more appropriate to Magnum loads. In my Model 69 some of the loadings from the data chart made me a little nervous and I stuck to the lower spectrum. I used to like to play Elmer Keith with my Super Blackhawk but those days are long done.

And – within my modest ability, since I never was Elmer Keith – the results are nice and predictable.


I was pleased with both these pistol powders. They seem to have no unpleasant vices and I expect to get more.

About Joel

You shouldn't ask these questions of a paranoid recluse, you know.
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4 Responses to Ramshot True Blue and Enforcer powder review

  1. Howard Brewi says:

    I usually use 296 for .44mag and .357 mag and To regroup for .44 special and .38 special. I do weigh charges. They seem to work ok at least for the bullet weights I use.

  2. Howard Brewi says:

    Damon spell checker. That’s Titegroup.

  3. WAYNE DYGERT says:

    2400 was always my go to for .44 mag and special as well as .41 mag. Somewhere around my 65th year those little Trail Boss o-rings started creeping into my everyday loads not just my cowboy action .45’s. Not anywhere near the smackdown potential of the Elmer Keith wannabes I used to stuff into my Super Redhawk but much much nicer on my arthritic old hands

  4. WAYNE DYGERT says:

    P.S. You can swage down a .32 round ball and plink all day for very little money with dacron stuffed on top of a few grains of surplus powder in a 30.06 case. Cheap thrills for a guy with a lot more time than money

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