Yes it does!Originally Posted by shorty500M
I love it in bottle neck rifle cartridges with both cast and jacketed. Before Trailboss I never considered trying to download my 300 Wby; now I shoot 200 gr cast at 1,700 fps. Used it extensively in my daughter's 243, with 95 gr RCBS, 75 gr NOE, and 65 gr V-Max.
Here is a link to IMR Trailboss load data for calculating minimum and maximum loads.
www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf
I like trailboss for 500 S&W special. H-110 in my snubnose 500 magnum is fun for five or ten rounds or in case there are three bears waiting in line to eat me but there's indeed something 'special' about an ounce of lead going 45acp speed.
I use titegroup or bullseye in the small old stuff- I was worried I wouldn't be able to get enough TB in a 38 S&W case to clear the muzzle of my 100 year old police positive.
I've also used TB to load 30-30 for my wife to shoot- full power ammo in a light '94 lever gun is no fun for her and a bottle of TB is MUCH cheaper than a pistol caliber levergun.
I will admit I haven't found any great accuracy in the powder but it does fine for offhand pistol and carbine shooting <25 yards.
Radar over and out.
PS let the man have his CB radio chatter style it's not like he writes ALL CAPS or doesn't understand paragraphs or complete sentences!
IMR Cheerios. I've never tried it nor will I. I chuckle when people say "I bought a pound of Trail Boss to try." No you didn't....you bought 9 oz. and you paid nearly as much for those 9 ounces as you would for 1 lb. of other handgun/shotgun powders.
I still maintain that it teaches bad habits. How many times have new handloaders been told "Since you're new at this, use Trail Boss and you won't have to worry about double charges!" Huh? Shouldn't new handloaders be taught to check, double check, then check again for double charges? I most certainly was taught that.
The only application I can see for it is CAS shooters who ONLY load on progressive equipment.
35W
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.
There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand.
NRA Life Member
Truckboss here,This powder is just one more tool in the box.If the tool fits(you must acquit)use it ,if it doesn't then grab another one.
I wondered that myself but with his simple explanation, it makes perfect sense. I hadn't even thought of it like that. over and out!
Sent from my computer using my fingers.
Trail boss is just a powder for a purpose like any other, If you don't like it just use what do like, why get on here try to convince everyone how bad it is. When I first started reloading I bought some W231 because a lot of people recommended it, I hated the stuff, and will not buy anymore. but I don't get on here and proclaim how bad it is, I wonder how many have really used it since their results are far from what I am getting with it.
hanleyfan,
I'm afraid to say this, but you probably aren't going to win the prestigious Sugar Coating of the Year Award. However....you said what I believe a lot of us are thinking but don't want to say out loud. My favorites are always the ones that go; "I've never bought it, never tried it but absolutely hate it" comments. Oh well, at least it makes interesting reading.
truth is, I wish everyone would start hating TB a lot more. Maybe then I could find another 10lbs!
TB is just another choice out there and I for one am glad to use it. I still have over half of my first 5 # but have had a lot of fun making my 7mm rem mag shoot-able with cast for my youngest as well as a few super light recoil loads for various calibers. Some have turned out to be quite accurate and will cycle the action on an auto loader when others won't with the same velocity.
Like many things in life I am thanklful for "choices" and understand that not everybody has the same opinion or likes. It does have a really odd smell burning that I just can't cozy up to though. Almost smells like standing around :takinWiz:
Seems like many like it so maybe I was unfair or missed something. I'll give it another try in the 38sp and 357Mag, 45lc
I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled
Fiat Justitia, Ruat Caelum
I get great accuracy and 22lr recoil with 3-3.5 grains with the Lee 105gr swc in my 38's.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same......." - Ronald Reagan
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The second amendment is a nail on which hangs a picture of freedom - member Alex 4x4 Tver, Russia
I wasn't trying to convince anyone to not use the powder. My point is it does nothing ballistically that any existing powder will already do. I have a huge assortment of pistol powders on my shelf and I don't dislike any of them. Granted, some are far more versatile than others, but they all have their niche'.
35W
The biggest waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.
There are people who, for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand.
NRA Life Member
Lefty here,
I bought TB when I couldn't find anything else. Tried it in my 357 magnum rifle loads and found out that a full case with a 158 grain RN would hit POA as my hunting load of 158 grain XTP. But has no recoil and son likes that. I like it.
Also, it costed about $14 for 9 ounces. So its in the same price range as the "regular" powders at $26 a pound.
I dip the loads, cause its messy to use on a progressive.
Jerry
I'll be needing that for squirrels and such.....
Yes Sir you hit it on the head. Fantastic if you run things like .308 suppressed and arelooking for subsonic loads. Also Groo was spot on with .41 data.
Our house is protected by the Good Lord and a gun and you might meet them both if you show up here not welcome son!
The best use I've found for Trailboss was showing my son the ropes while reloading for the .32 mag. What kid doesn't like cheerios? He really enjoyed it and it was very difficult for him to make a mistake we couldn't see. As far as I'm concerned, that's good enough justification for its existence and more than some other powders have.
"Is all this REALLY necessary?"
Ballistically speaking; It fills the case on my 32-20, accuracy improved in all my Colt and Ubertti hand guns chambered for the little bottle neck cartridge. Read what Ken Waters had to say about small charges in the case. TB fills the case and makes for a more consistent burn. You'll get the same effect with 2400 but I don't shoot heavy charges in my old guns. That's why I like TB.
Back early on when I tried TB I decided I didn't care for it BUT that was because I bought it with the wrong kind of shooting in mind and I think maybe that's where all this disagreement comes from. After learning about TB I realized that while yes it did fill up those big cases it does so at a very low velocity which is exactly what some folks want from it and those people are will usually like the stuff a lot, nothing at all wrong with that! Evidently there is a good demand for this stuff otherwise they couldn't sell so much of it and while it didn't work for me I understand why it did not and that was not the powder's fault, I was simply using it for the wrong thing. If you are needing/wanting low velocities with good accuracy then TrailBoss may be just the ticket!
One problem I do have with TB is the (what seems to be anyway) misconception that because of the very low velocity associated with TB that it must be a low pressure powder so it is always safe in Black Powder firearms, this is of course not always the case. In large volume cartridges TB can and does make some rather high pressures in relation to the very low velocity, according to Hodgdon's data it can produce about twice the pressure at similar velocities vs some other powders in some loadings. This doesn't necessarily make it dangerous but it does mean it's not direct substitute for BP as some folks seem to think it is.
About the price/weight per container, unless a person is shooting a LOT then I suppose it doesn't matter much but it would seem that TB is at least somewhat pricier to shoot. It has been correctly pointed out that while it's only 9 oz to the bottle vs a full pound for other powders it's so light that 9 oz is actually as much powder per container as other powders so that should even out the price. This however does not take into consideration that the very purpose of TB is to use more of it (usually about two or even three times as much by volume) in order to produce those filled cases TB users seems to want. Yes that 9 oz container is about as much as a pound by volume but each shot is going to consume a lot more of that equal volume!
Not trying at all to knock TrailBoss because if it does what you want from it then it fills the bill but if your wants/needs are for something other than mild low velocity loads you probably won't like it, there are lot's of other powders some of us don't use because they don't work with the type of shooting we do and we don't knock them so why pick on TrailBoss?
I always look forward to "Groo here". We all have our speaking quirks. I was told (since I had never noticed myself) that when I say "Saturday" I pronounce it "Sa-r-dy". We all have some. Keep up the good Groo!
FWIW I dont get the big fuss over trail boss. I have tried it extensively in .45 Colt & .44 Special. Nothing special about it. In facf worse accuracy across the board. Havent found any needed use for it really.
EXACTLY............I have no idea if TB was "designed, or manufactured" for CASS shooters for "old" black powder guns or not....doesn't matter....what it does do is stated above, and it does it very well.....I find it an accurate fun shootin' powder that you can load in your 45 colt with 6 or 6 1/2 grains under a 260gr lead bullet, get about 800fps, shoot it one handed and hit the target.....very low recoil .....just plain fun,....if that ain't "fun" to you then use a different powder....it's not for high(er) velocity "hunting" type rounds (however a 260gr. bullet at 800fps would certainly work for deer size game at least to 50 yds)...... use it for what it was intended for (see above reply).....while most of my 45 colt and 44 mag loads are with slower powders like Unique, Herco and 2400, TB is still a powder I like to use for just plain "fun" shootin.....however it does smell a bit "funny" upon bullet exit....I only have 2 9oz bottles left and would by a 4 or 8 lber if I could find one....it's a great powder for what "I" think it was designed for....fun.....
Lets see if I understand; slow, stinky, dirty, hard to measure/cut, worse accuracy.
Oh yeah...whats not to like!
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