Trail Boss lower limit's

[zuke]

Right now I'm playing with 15 grain's of it in my Marlin 1895 in 45-70 pushing a 330gr. HP.
Is there a bottom line limit?
Can I use say 8 or 10 grains with this combo?
I've heard of some powder's not liking less then xx amount of powder and having to worry about detonation.
Do I have to worry about this?

[tacklebury]

When I wanted to find out the minimum with Unique in my .45-70 for RB I started at 6gr. and went up in 1 gr. increments until I got a group on paper. With the 32" barrel that sweetspot was 10 gr., although further tweaking showed me that 11.5gr. worked a bit better. More than that leaded. As far as I've heard Trailboss isn't sensitive like Unique. H110 (W231) is dangerous to go under with and I'm sure others will pipe up.

As an aside, I laughed so hard I almost had to quit shooting when I shot the first 6 gr load. In that 32" barrel, it kinda just pooped out the end of the barrel, bounced once on the picnic table I was shooting from then bounced off the opposite seat and into the grass. I kinda sounded like PLoooF, plunk, bonk, shiss. All in all it was a fun day, but I definitely found out that 6 gr. is minimum. ;)

[firebrick43]

[QUOTE=tacklebury;1271999] H110 (W231) is dangerous to go under with and I'm sure others will pipe up.

QUOTE]

I do belive you ment W296???

[tacklebury]

Probably, I don't personally use the Winchester version, just H-110. Sorry for my mistake. ;)

[btroj]

I would think that with TB the minimum will be when you stick a bullet in the bore. TB is not sensitive to pressure or load levels like some powders. It was designed to operate in reduced charges.

Brad

[zuke]

I might try to put some load's together today, starting with6 grain's :drinks:
And I'll bring my Stainless Steel cleaning rod just in case :coffee:

[buck1]

http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

Heres the data for trail boss.

[tacklebury]

Interesting post over at GBO guy is stating he's using less than 6 gr TB in a 32" barreled Buffalo Classic. ;)

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,234180.0.html

[geargnasher]

I would think that with TB the minimum will be when you stick a bullet in the bore. TB is not sensitive to pressure or load levels like some powders. It was designed to operate in reduced charges.

Brad

+1. If the boolit sticks, you're below minimum. TB is one of the faster powders in existence next to BP, it lights all at once no matter the charge.

Gear

[zuke]

Well I tried 6 and no problem's with some expansion. Same with 7 and 8 grain's.
But when I got to 9 I got expansion and moreso at 10 grain's.
I tried a LEE 500 grain sitting ontop of I believe to be 50 grain's of IMR3031. It punched clear thru the 5 gallon pail of sand I was using to catch my bullet's and recover them to check expansion.
Next time it's gonna be 11,12,13,14 and 15 grain's.
I'm surprised at the total expansion I got with only 9 grain's of Trail Boss.

[stubshaft]

Interesting post over at GBO guy is stating he's using less than 6 gr TB in a 32" barreled Buffalo Classic. ;)

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php/topic,234180.0.html

I know him. He is making catsneeze loads to headshoot hogs. I just saw him this sunday shooting them and they are very quiet. Kinda like a CB cap for 45/70's. With the penetration he was getting at 50 yds. I doubt that boolit sticking would be a problem, but, it is always good practice to check if you don't see any indication of an impact.

[bigted]

Well I tried 6 and no problem's with some expansion. Same with 7 and 8 grain's.
But when I got to 9 I got expansion and moreso at 10 grain's.
I tried a LEE 500 grain sitting ontop of I believe to be 50 grain's of IMR3031. It punched clear thru the 5 gallon pail of sand I was using to catch my bullet's and recover them to check expansion.
Next time it's gonna be 11,12,13,14 and 15 grain's.
I'm surprised at the total expansion I got with only 9 grain's of Trail Boss.



50 grains of 3031 behind any 500grain boolit is not for the timid...huh? tryed this in my ruger with the 457125 lyman 518 [actual weight] grain boolit smeared with my home made lube...sparked with a cci mag primer all inside a rem case and oh my...i knew i touched off a monster with that but is shot fairly well on rocks n such.

i went to the t/b site and learned where to begin...thanks for the reference and now looks like i have some more experimenting to do.[smilie=s:

[zuke]

I went out again today and touched off the rest of the 500 grainer's sitting on 50 grns. of 3031.
With a new pail they all went right thru.
Next was the Trailboss.
The lowest load was 3 grain's.
They all fired and left the barrel and thunked into the pail.
No real expansion but still plenty loud with some recoil!
I might as well go down to 2 then 1 grain just to see what happen's.

[spqrzilla]

Be very cautious since those loads have dangers of sticking.