You should try the 45-70 Boca. I can see where the shorter .44s would be less of a problem. I was in a gun shop that the owner is involved with SASS shooting and has a lot of customers from that bunch because he does smith work on single action revolvers and shotguns and lever actions of the cowboy era. I was telling him how my thumb gets sore from loading my 45-70 and the last two shells really tear it up so I only load three. He showed me a push rod he developed for the SASS shooters who must reload many times over a days competition, it looks like a ball starter but it is made of a very hard black plastic. It looks like a ball started for a muzzle loader. The rod is 3 1/2 inches long with a ball on one end. I bought one it was only a couple of bucks, when I go for hogs and I take it with me because I load the tube all the way because sometimes when you are walking up to your hog others start coming back so I feel better having a fully loaded rifle.