.30-30 Trailboss?

[quilbilly]

A good rule of thumb for TB in almost any caliber is that a full or 95% capacity charge will get you about 60% of the velocity of a factory load with the same weight jacketed bullet. For instance, if a factory 30/30 with a 150 grain bullet is about 2400 fps, then a 95% TB load behind a 150 gr CB will be approximately 1400 fps. In my case, I no longer weigh my TB charges, I do them by volume and I have had little success going below 80% for accuracy. TB is interesting to work with because with all the other powders I use, I use charge weights.

[CT-shooter777]

The whole point to Trail Boss is Bulk. 70% of a full case..........

If your inclined to use Unique or 2400, both great reduced powders,

http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=27114

Download the 1937 manual complete.

It's all there, knock yourself out.

PAGE 375..................


Why re-invent the wheel..................................

[pakmc]

15 gr.s of TB fills up a .303 case and doesn't seem to be very accurate. I've tried 17 gr.s in a .308 and that's not very accurate. and TB in a straight bolt Styer is a not a winner either. but I've got a 8lb carboy of Accurate number 9 and that works very well. 21 gr.s of #9 in a polytech M-14 is pretty accurate and works the action(175or so gr. lead gas check) 15-17 gr.s of #9 in 7.5x55, and 20 gr.s of #9 in a 8mm Mauser. the styers seem to like 17 gr.s of #9(I just got scout mount scopes on them and haven't really had to good shoot yet with them.)why? Accurate #9, because My supply of unique is kinda low and I've got 8 lb.s of #9 to play with. and its very close to 2400. most of my bullets cast out around 180gr.s but the styers are around 200 gr.s all are gas checks. anyone have a good gas check for a .330 bullet???
pat

[DukeInFlorida]

Here's Hodgdon's direct link for the sheet, showing you how to best effectively use TrailBoss Powder!

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Trail%20B...oads%20R&P.pdf

When used to this specification, the powder can be effective at reducing recoil, and at the same time, maintain accuracy.

I suggest that those who haven't ever actually tried TrailBoss to it's FULL potential, give it a go. I use a LOT of TrailBoss on large caliber sizes, and love shooting it.

[sthwestvictoria]

This is my attempt with trailboss in the 30-30. The rifle is a Marlin 336 with MG barrel. As per the discussion in the link I have been trying to get it to shoot and am getting there with large for bore boolets and also light for calibre Lee TL314-90-SWC. Best results so far is with 7.0 grains TrailBoss.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...t=TL314-90-SWC

I have found that Trailboss is such a bulky powder, even with a full case I am getting a good deal of drop with the 150grain Lee 309-150-FP as there is insufficient velocity. However the light 90grainSWC seems to work well. Still lots of experimenting to do!

[PAT303]

My No.4 will put 5 316365 spitzers into 1/2 at 50 with 12grns of TB,my '94 winny will put 5 311466's into 2'' all day at 100 over 10grns of TB.I use TB alot and once you work out what it likes it's a great powder,very safe also. Pat

[sthwestvictoria]

Good point Pat. I suppose I should correct myself - if you want the point of impact to be anywhere near a full house factory equivalent point of impact my experience is that Trailboss does not have enough punch at 50metres.

I believe that with more energetic powders like 2400 and unique people get groups at shorter ranges that are a better analogue of their full house loads.

With trailboss 10 grains in my .243 Win Model 70 it will place the 70grain jacketed into a half inch group at 50metres, 5 inches below the full house loads. The grouping is great but there is that significant drop, even at short distances. Don't get me wrong I love Trailboss and still have plenty of plans with it. I think I was expecting too much of it with heavier boolits is all.

[sthwestvictoria]

This is a picture of the Lee TL314-90-SWC, sized to .311, twice lubricated with LLA/mineral spirits. Larry Gibson on this forum is a proponent of this in all .30 calibre rounds.



The main difficulty I have with loading this is that with the Lee bullet seating die, even when dialled right down this Lee die will not seat the short SWC. I have been getting around this by standing the primed, powdered case in a .303 Lee Loader base and using a .308 Lee Loader Bullet seater (i do not as yet own a 30-30 Lee Loader). Slow but does work. Any other suggestions for seating this very short for calibre boolit?

This short boolit, seated as above feeds flawlessly in my pre-64 Win 94 and a Marlin 336.

[sisterjim]

I tried AP 100, a bit slower than TB. I have some 311465 acww GC'ed (125gr) and shot 2" groups at 50 yards 7.5-9 grains in 0.5 increments. Unburnt powder in barrel until 8.5. I will load up to 11 gr and let you now the results. I figure I'm getting around 1400 fps.

[sthwestvictoria]

Trailboss seems to be clean burning with no unburnt grains that I have seen at various loadings. I have read that AP100 will need a crimp or fair loading to burn fully.

One benefit with the Trailboss and these slow, well lubricated rounds is the lack of barrel cleaning required. I have been treating my marlin MG and Win 94 ballard rifles like 22LR and not cleaning. The bores are lovely - you could clean them easily with a couple of patches if you want however like a 22LR there is a slight layer of wax and soot that seems protective.

[PAT303]

This is a picture of the Lee TL314-90-SWC, sized to .311, twice lubricated with LLA/mineral spirits. Larry Gibson on this forum is a proponent of this in all .30 calibre rounds.



The main difficulty I have with loading this is that with the Lee bullet seating die, even when dialled right down this Lee die will not seat the short SWC. I have been getting around this by standing the primed, powdered case in a .303 Lee Loader base and using a .308 Lee Loader Bullet seater (i do not as yet own a 30-30 Lee Loader). Slow but does work. Any other suggestions for seating this very short for calibre boolit?

This short boolit, seated as above feeds flawlessly in my pre-64 Win 94 and a Marlin 336.

I've shot that boolit in the 303 alot,I used a longer seater that I machined down so it drops further through the die.It's a good cheap kids load that I use after they have shot the 22,the lyman 311413 over 10grns of TB is another,it has the benefit of being able to be cycled through the action so they learn how to crank the bolt. Pat

[Fishman]

The first metallic cartridge reloading my son attempted (with supervision)was using Trailboss. Just one less thing for me to worry about as I taught him the basics. All his loads went bang and were safe and many cans were ventilated. Maybe I'm easy to please or maybe there really is a place for Trailboss.

[PAT303]

Totally with you,to the knockers of TB the safety alone is worth it. Pat

[1bluehorse]

Gear I'm surprised you'd say such a thing. ...Trail Boss is okay for what it was designed for....(Poof...................................thu unk) my wife enjoys shooting it in her practice 357s...also, just me maybe, but I don't consider 9 or 10 gr. of Unique as "plinker" loads. I'd consider them as max in Colts or clones and medium in Rugers with 250 and above grain bullets..so maybe I'm a girlie man (no ones ever called me that to my face) but my walking around load for my Ruger 45 colts IS 9gr. Unique, if I want a little more I change powders...

[muskeg13]

I'm working up loads with a .303 Savage, which is the near twin of the 30-30 Win. The most accurate cast boolit load so far is the 180gr RCBS RFN with 11 gr of Trailboss. I got sub 1" at 50 yards. It was mild and shot to exactly the point of aim. I used the standard formula for working up a load based on case volume. 10 gr of Trailboss seemed too weak. The Hodgdon reloading website lists 9.0 as max recommended with Trailboss in the 30-30, so I'd carefully increase the load and see what you get.

[Doc Highwall]

I have noticed in the loading manuals that Trailboss has about the lowest velocity and the highest pressure. I think it would work great but you have to have a harder alloy due to the higher pressure.

Lately I have been shooting the SAECO#315 that I made into a plain base bullet mould with Unique powder. The 1885 Winchester (Browning) that I am shooting it out of with 30:1 alloy likes the Little Dandy #14 rotor, which throws 7.6 grains of Unique best.

[Alferd Packer]

so many only try one load and either hate or love it.
These loads need to be worked up and down.
The bullets seated in or out.
So much more to work with.
I say many just aren't trying enough

[FredBuddy]

There was at least one comment in the
above posts that mentioned lighter for
calibre boolits worked better with TB.
I find this true in my 30-30's. I mostly
use the 3118 Ideal and the NOE 127 gr
plain bases, powdercoated, and they are
good short range multi-purpose loads
for anything in rural North Central Ohio.

Good to see this thread resurrected
.

[1006]

165grain Missouri Bullet Co, Hi TeK Coating/Trail Boss 9.5/Federal LR/crimped in crimp groove/ average velocity =1020fps on a 75F day/SD=17/five shots fired, decent accuracy at 50yds, 1 inch group with a Winchester 94 Trapper (16” barrel)

[mvozz]

Trail Boss is one of my favorite powders. 30-30, 357, 44 mag 45-70 even 22 Hornet. I hated how dirty my brass came out due to the low pressure of Unique loads. The ability to have high pressure and low velocity keeps my brass cleaner and has my 5'2" wife loving plinking with the 30-30. 14 grains behind a 405 gr boolit in the 45-70 puts down deer in a hurry but is very easy on the shoulder. Do I use other powders? Yes but few are as fun to shoot. I shoot more for the fun of it rather than long range accuracy and bragging rights. A big container of 30-30 rounds loaded with Trail Boss, a dueling tree at 50 yards, two 30-30s and two friends is almost too fun to be legal! I found a Sportsman's Warehouse with an 8lb jug on sale for $99. I bought it and a week later they had another one, now I have 2!!