Why no Trail Boss??

[Twodogs]

curts had some on saturday.

 

[The Heretic]

Finally found some online at Reloading Unlimited and bought five 9oz. canisters.

Not the best price, but beggars can't be choosers.

 

[ageingstudent]

Finally found some online at Reloading Unlimited and bought five 9oz. canisters.

Not the best price, but beggars can't be choosers.

I finally saw more than one pound yesterday at sportsman's warehouse by where I live. Maybe Hodgdon is catching up with demand finally.

 

[Member 5605]

Looking at 5lbs at the rifle range. $20/lb

 

[xlsbob]

<broken link removed> These guys had 9oz and 5lb containers when I ordered my 2400 this morning

 

[AMProducts]

TBH, I hate trailboss with a burning passion. If you are looking for a recommendation for another powder, let me know

 

[The Courier]

Check out Powder Valley, I haven't seen 5lber's but individual jars seem common enough. I'm having a similar problem with Bulleye. And I check their site daily what gives Alliant?

 

[AMProducts]

Check out Powder Valley, I haven't seen 5lber's but individual jars seem common enough. I'm having a similar problem with Bulleye. And I check their site daily what gives Alliant?

There's some other powder, RV85, RB85 something like that, it's the same thing as bullseye, but flash suppressed.

 

[The Courier]

There's some other powder, RV85, RB85 something like that, it's the same thing as bullseye, but flash suppressed.

Thanks AM, I will look into it.

 

[The Heretic]

TBH, I hate trailboss with a burning passion. If you are looking for a recommendation for another powder, let me know

I have a bunch of TB now, but I would be interested in hearing why you hate it so much and what you think is better?

 

[AMProducts]

It's bulky and expensive and has really lack luster performance. A lot of people use it for cowboy cartridges, however clays, titegroup, and HP38 are better powders that are 1/10 as bulky, meter better, and have more consistent performance than TB.

That said, what cartridge(s) are you loading, and I can make some serious suggestions.

 

[The Heretic]

I want bulky.

I load light slow loads and that is pretty much all I reload - a light load for taking small game - I have some 110 grain GC FP hard cast lead loads for .308 win that are subsonic. I used to use bullseye with dacron on top and it worked okay. I want to try out some other light loads for both magnum handgun (.357, .44, .45) and rifle (5.56, 7.62x39, .30-30, .308, .30-06 and so on).

I don't load hunting or self-defense rounds - I buy those.

 

[AMProducts]

I want bulky.

I load light slow loads and that is pretty much all I reload - a light load for taking small game - I have some 110 grain GC FP hard cast lead loads for .308 win that are subsonic. I used to use bullseye with dacron on top and it worked okay. I want to try out some other light loads for both magnum handgun (.357, .44, .45) and rifle (5.56, 7.62x39, .30-30, .308, .30-06 and so on).

I don't load hunting or self-defense rounds - I buy those.

For your subsonic .308, Hodgdon lists both titegroup and clays loads for 168gr, In my gross estimation you could probably drop it down to about 4-5gr (start high, work lower, check for bore obstruction). I had a similar load years ago, 9gr of blue-dot with a 30 carbine bullet. it would shoot ragged 1-hole groups at 50 yards, no idea why.

For .357, 44, and .45 if you're staying light, titegroup is a great powder for that, I would normally recommend clays, however that one does not perform as well in the .44, but it's a great powder for .45 colt and ACP, however it's not as good in .357, hence my recommendation for titegroup. Another one that comes close in terms of that versatility is HP-38, which is kinda the opposite, does well in 38/357, but starts to get kinda marginal in the .45 colt.

I don't know how you're getting any amount of trailboss through a .22-cal neck and into a 5.56 case. However again, hodgdon lists a subsonic load for 5.56 using titegroup (and HP-38 IIRC). In my experience subsonic .223 is pretty much a waste of time, go find a drop-in .22LR kit.

For the other calibers, I won't say you have me stumped, but I question the use of trailboss for those. In 7.62x39, .30-30, .30-06 and .308, IMR3031 can handle everything from match loads down to some pretty mild handloads. it's often used as a light-load powder as a replacement for black powder in some of the older large-volume cases like .348 winchester or 11mm mauser.

The real prob with 7.62x39 is that it's pretty much a .357-max. You want a fast rifle powder (IMR4198) or a slow pistol powder (2400) it's a really tough call to get performance in this caliber from a powder that will serve all the others. However, again, if you're going with light pistol powder, you could probably just borrow the load from one of the others without any serious reprecussions.

 

[The Heretic]

Northwest Armory had some Trail Boss on their shelf today

 

[Mikej]

Northwest Armory had some Trail Boss on their shelf today

Powder Valley has it currently.

 

[osprey]

I am loading 44 mag subsonic with heavy 300 gr bullets. Besides not being able to fit enough of those little cherios in the case to reach my goal of 1050 fps, the sd is high and therefore the accuracy is nothing to write home about with TB. I am having the best luck with 2400 and universal. Both cluster those big old chunks of lead tight at 50yds. Gonna have a shoot off between the two powders this weekend to crown a winner. I kind of hope it is 2400 as I would only have to stock one powder for all my 44 mag needs. I am sure TB is fine for some applications but I can do without it.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I am loading 44 mag subsonic with heavy 300 gr bullets. Besides not being able to fit enough of those little cherios in the case to reach my goal of 1050 fps, the sd is high and therefore the accuracy is nothing to write home about with TB. I am having the best luck with 2400 and universal. Both cluster those big old chunks of lead tight at 50yds. Gonna have a shoot off between the two powders this weekend to crown a winner. I kind of hope it is 2400 as I would only have to stock one powder for all my 44 mag needs. I am sure TB is fine for some applications but I can do without it.

Try some Red Dot.

 

[Twodogs]

I'm running W-231 with a 320 gr bullet out of my .44 mag for a sub load.

 

[The Heretic]

I've run fast pistol powders with dacron filler and that has worked well, but I want other options too - especially for rifle cartridges.

 

[PaulB47]

I kind of hope it is 2400

I know that some slow powders (e.g. H110) should NOT be taken below minimums specified in the manuals. I'd feel a little nervous about 2400 because it is kinda slow too, I think. Universal is a fast powder, right? Might be safer. I really like Titegroup for reduced loads, as it seems to be very insensitive to powder position in the case.