accuracy of Trail Boss loads...

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Throckmorton

Bearcat
Joined
Jan 1, 2003
Messages
42
Location
Wa state,the sw corner of it
as long as I load med. to full loads they are, Low end loads in 45 colt suck.I"ve not tried it in smaller cases like 357/38.

with low end loads in 45 colt, the sound difference is very noticeable ,shot to shot.
 

41 mag fan

Single-Sixer
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
306
Location
omaha NE
I love trail boss in the 32 H&R mag. It makes it almost cheaper to shoot then 22 rimfire. I haven't had any accuracy issue with it.
 

Clovishound

Blackhawk
Joined
Jan 3, 2012
Messages
802
Location
Summerville SC
In a word, Yes.

I have recently started using Trail Boss. What took me so long. I load them in .38 and .45 ACP.

I believe Hogdgon says don't use it for plated or jacketed.

I get very soft recoil, excellent accuracy, and good case fill. It meters extremely well. Part of that, I believe is that since it is a low density powder, the same difference in volume equals a lesser difference in weight. Some say that it is uneconomical to use, since it comes in 9 oz bottles vs 16 oz bottles. I find that not to be the case.

With the loads I use in .38 wadcutters, it is $1.20/100 for Universal vs $1.00/100 for Trailboss. In .45 200 grain SWCs, it is the same for either powder. This is using the middle of the ladder data and price of the two powders from the same store.
 

grobin

Blackhawk
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
846
Where do you get reloading info? The Hogden web site lists loads for black powder cartridges but not for modern.
 

Chuck 100 yd

Hunter
Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Messages
3,251
Location
Ridgefield WA
Hodgdon says to measure the volume in the case to the base of a seated bullet without compression. That amount of Trail Boss is your maximum load, suggested starting load is 70% of the maximum load.
Trail Boss was developed for Cowboy Action shooting using lead bullets but is often used to develop subsonic loadings using jacketed bullets. An article covering subsonic loadings is in the Hodgdon annual manual a couple years ago.
 

woodperson

Single-Sixer
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
460
Location
Knoxville, TN
Lets be a little careful here. My understanding is that, at least in revolvers, Trail Boss is recommended not to be used with jacketed bullets. There may be some rifle loads with it for jacketed bullets. You can get data for Trail Boss on the Hodgdon website in their reloading data section. If you do look at the data you will see Trail Boss loads for many calibers with lead bullets. I know data is there for .357 mag and .41 Mag because I load from it. You will not see any handgun loads with jacketed bullets with Trail Boss on the Hodgdon site. My understanding is that with Trail Boss there is a chance of sticking a bullet with a jacket in the bore. The pressure curve for Trail Boss is different from "normal" powders. The above mentioned method of determining a Trail Boss load is in the Hodgdon data but it is only used for lead bullets.
 

Chuck 100 yd

Hunter
Joined
Mar 20, 2010
Messages
3,251
Location
Ridgefield WA
woodperson said:
Lets be a little careful here. My understanding is that, at least in revolvers, Trail Boss is recommended not to be used with jacketed bullets. There may be some rifle loads with it for jacketed bullets. You can get data for Trail Boss on the Hodgdon website in their reloading data section. If you do look at the data you will see Trail Boss loads for many calibers with lead bullets. I know data is there for .357 mag and .41 Mag because I load from it. You will not see any handgun loads with jacketed bullets with Trail Boss on the Hodgdon site. My understanding is that with Trail Boss there is a chance of sticking a bullet with a jacket in the bore. The pressure curve for Trail Boss is different from "normal" powders. The above mentioned method of determining a Trail Boss load is in the Hodgdon data but it is only used for lead bullets.

^^^ that is correct, great care must be taken when developing any jacketed bullet load with Trail Boss to prevent sticking a bullet in the bore. I use it for it's intended purpose,Cowboy loads. Yes, there are more economical powders out there for Cowboy loads ,Clays,Red Dot and a bunch more come to mind for handgun.
 

PO2Hammer

Single-Sixer
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Messages
259
Location
Minnesota
In 357 I got good accuracy with lead, poor accuracy with plated, never tried it with jacketed.
Best used in big pistol cases like .45 Colt and reduced rifle loads. TB is outstanding in reduced 30-30 loads.
For .357/.38 loads Unique, Clays, Red Dot, even Titegroup are better choices IMO.
 

mhblaw

Blackhawk
Joined
Jan 15, 2009
Messages
942
Location
North Dakota
I use it a lot in 41 Special and 44 Special. At plinking distances, 25 yards or so, it seems as accurate as any other load I use.
 

Three50seven

Buckeye
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
1,131
Location
Indiana
woodperson said:
Are your Trail Boss loads for a revolver as accurate as loads with the same bullet and other powders?

I've found it varies a lot (more so than other powders) from gun to gun. I loaded up a bunch of .44spl 240gr SWC and they worked great in my C.A. Bulldog and Rossi 92 that I had at the time. I don't have either of those any longer and now none of my .44's will shoot worth a darn with that load. Same with some 30-30 loads I worked up, they shoot great in both my Marlins but not worth a plug nickel in any Winchester I've tried.
 
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
517
Location
Barnstead, NH
It was kinda entertaining loading TrailBoss loads in my 45/70 with 400 gn lead plain base bullets - MV was 950 FPS on some and just barely subsonic on a "stiffer" load. Shooting targets at 100 yards I could hear the powder go off, hear the impact of the bullet, then hear the echo. With the rifle lobbing them so slow, it was a bit hard to hit stuff with such an arc, but they were pretty consistent at least. In 45 Colt I don't use them with very heavy bullets.
 

mikld

Blackhawk
Joined
Apr 22, 2009
Messages
947
Location
Oregon
Yes. Used Trail Boss loads in 5 different .44 Magnums. Very good shooting in my Puma levergun with 265 gr. RNFPs...
 

Big Old Boy

Hunter
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
2,401
Location
Tn
I loaded in 45/70 with 300 gr and they were vary accurate with little recoil great for deer and young shooters.
 

Blackhawk Convertable

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jul 24, 2005
Messages
493
Location
Rochester, Minnesota
Trail Boss does 2 things well. One, it fills the case more due to it's bulkiness. Two, you can make a load for virtually any cartridge using the 80% rule. Other than that, there really isn't anything it does that other powders don't do better. But for plinking and Cowboy loads, where OPTIMUM accuracy is not required, it works great.
 

grobin

Blackhawk
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Messages
846
Hodgdon says that trail Boss is for reduced loads and has the advantage that it fills the case more evenly. It's very easy to develop loads for a given caliber. It is designed to work with cast and plated bullets. I've tried a couple loads with Barry's plated and Syntech, no problems, but haven't shot enough to establish accuracy.
 

Flyover_Country

Bearcat
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
62
Trail Boss is so bulky that you cannot put enough of it in a case that you will generate a dangerous pressure unless you compress it significantly. I have never loaded with Trail Boss since I can accomplish the same effect typically more inexpensively and certainly more cleanly with the traditional fast-burning shotgun/pistol powders. Trail Boss rarely achieves anywhere near full pressure for a case. Lower pressure leads to less complete combustion and more fouling, and higher pressure leads to more complete combustion and less fouling. The "super clean" powders are nearly always faster than the "standard" powders (e.g. Hodgdon Clays vs. Alliant Unique) and generate more pressure for a given level of performance. Shooting Clays vs. Unique is the same deal (Clays is much faster, which is why it's so clean), as is using full-pressure loads of 2400 in a .30-06 (using previously published Alliant data) instead of reduced loads of slower powders such as H4895.

The one advantage I see in Trail Boss is that you can easily use it to create a reduced load in a cartridge for which there is no reduced load data out there using faster powders- simply figure out how much fills up the case with the bullet seated and start at 80% of that. I shoot old and popular cartridges such as .30-06 and .44 Magnum, for which there are tons of verified safe reduced loads out there using other powders, so I can use a bunch of different powders for reduced loads. But let's say you have an obscure round like a .36 Nosler where you want to dial it back to plink with 9.3 mm Makarov bullets and there is of course no load data available for that. Filling the case up with Trail Boss is your only safe option unless you want to pay a bunch of money to get a lab to pressure test loads with fast-burning powders for you.

Accuracy very much depends on the particular firearm, bullet, and most importantly, shooter. The biggest detriment to accuracy other than a shooter who flinches is a bullet that is too small in diameter for the barrel, or a bullet that is too short/light or too heavy/long to stabilize with the barrel's twist rate and it's velocity. My '06 doesn't shoot lead bullets less than 150 grains well at all due to its twist rate, ditto with my .44 Magnum SRH not shooting 0.429" bullets very well due to its bore diameter being a smidge larger than that.
 
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