Trail boos in military rifles

[lead collector]

I have not really messed much with Trail Boss powder. I was looking through my inventory, and discovered that I had quite a bit of it, and not so much of some of my other favorites like Unique, and 2400, 4227 and others that I like in reduced loads.

So the question is how consistent is this stuff? Does any one have experience shooting over a chronograph?

I load for 3006, 8mm x 57, and 7.5 Swiss, and since other powders are in short supply, and I have a lot of Trail Boss, that it might be a good choice.

I dont shoot my cast as hard as some do, and like shot gun / pistol powders, as I get more shots per pound.
I usually load around the place that Ed Harris' article suggested. 12- 13 grs of Unique, or Red or Green dot, or 16 - 18 grs of 2400.

I am wondering if Trail Boos will get good accuracy in the 11- 13 grain range. Also, since I dont have a chronograph, I was hoping to get some feed back on how consistent Trail Boss is?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Paul in Oregon]

I used to live in an area where most of the lots were about 1 1/2 acres .I used a lot of Trail Boss in rifles from 6.5mm to 45 cal. averaging about 7 grains to keep the bullet subsonic. I had a 50 yard range and with some rifles ( all old milsurps) I could get 5 shots into a quarter (25 cent) group. I hear a lot of guys complain about Trail Boss but I have had good luck with it. Where I live now I can go to a very good public range so I up the charge for the longer shots. I have fired T.B. loads through a chronogragh and they seemed pretty consistant but I never kept records.

[john.k]

Production of Trail Boss has been suspended,perhaps permanently...unless Hodgon has another source for it.

[Daekar]

Production of Trail Boss has been suspended,perhaps permanently...unless Hodgon has another source for it.

Didn't know that, a shame if true. I enjoy using it.

In my experience TB is consistent with boolits and will produce accurate loads easily. If one of my guns won't shoot with TB, then it won't shoot when anything else either.

[lead collector]

Thank you all for responding. I looked and I have just short of 8 pounds, so I figured I may as well use it.
I had no idea that this powder had been suspended. Hopefully it will get back into production soon.

I think maybe I will try and load some up into some of the cartridges. Perhaps the Swiss, and see if I can build a load that will work.
Also talking with my buddy who has some experience with Trail boss, I think maybe I will start a little lower. Maybe around 8 grains, and up or down from there.

[r4322W05]

Anyone know why Hodgdon has suspended TB production?

Before you use it in your old rifles take a close look at the Hodgdon online reloading manual. I've noted that TB produces reduced velocities along with reduced chamber pressures in straight-walled pistol cartridges (as designed)...however, in larger bottleneck or semi-bottleneck cases the chamber pressure is actually higher than other powders on the chart. Nearly had a disaster with a Carl Gustav rolling block in 8x5R Danish.

[john.k]

The powder is made by ADI.....Hodgdon own the TB name ......and any statements from ADI are basically waffle,but seems they have massive military orders for shells and bombs and such ,and have trimmed their production of small arms powder to whats used in military rounds.........Funny thing is years ago some expert claimed it was battleship gun propellant (long bundles of sticks) ,shaved into thin slices......corresponding with the moving of the stocks stored underwater in barges in Sydney harbour so the billion dollar waterfront Navy land could be sold....Who knows?.........anyhoo,ADI say its unlikley TB will be in their future schedule....Thats not to say Hodgdon cant get it made elsewhere.

[lead collector]

Wondering if I should save it and use something else.
If this is out of production long term, the guys that really need it, such as cowboy action shooters.
I may be able to trade it to someone who needs it worse than I do, for something that would work better for me.

Thank you for the caution regarding bottle neck cases. I have always loaded everything on the side or caution, and since trail boss is a powder that has no real data, in bottle neck cases, I was especially conservative.
The recommendations regarding filling a case to the base of the bullet, and measuring it, and then starting with 50 % of that, and going up to 70 % seemed a little odd to me anyway.

While I used it in several cases, it is absolutely not a low pressure powder, in spite of what a person would think, or the report from the muzzle would indicate.

[john.k]

You should ask Hodgdon ,as they may decide to have it made elsewhere................I know for sure there is not a single grain to be had here.,and that situation has been for some time.

[26Charlie]

The powder was designed for low velocity lead loads for cowboy action shooting. So it bulks up twice as much as a charge of Unique of the same weight. Ignition is better for different positions in the case, fore and aft. Use it while you have it. IMHO.

[DonHowe]

The powder is made by ADI.....Hodgdon own the TB name ......and any statements from ADI are basically waffle,but seems they have massive military orders for shells and bombs and such ,and have trimmed their production of small arms powder to whats used in military rounds.........Funny thing is years ago some expert claimed it was battleship gun propellant (long bundles of sticks) ,shaved into thin slices......corresponding with the moving of the stocks stored underwater in barges in Sydney harbour so the billion dollar waterfront Navy land could be sold....Who knows?.........anyhoo,ADI say its unlikley TB will be in their future schedule....Thats not to say Hodgdon cant get it made elsewhere.

Regarding Trail Boss possibly being repurchased battleship powder, check out this link to a production photo from the now- defunct Indiana Army Ammunition Plant, Charlestown, Indiana (once the largest powder production facility in the US).
Imagine slicing this big-gun powder thin to use it in cowboy action loads.

https://www.in.gov/history/images/powder-300x257.jpg