Using trailboss with 454 casull

jamiejaf

jamiejaf

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I picked up a can of trailboss on the weekend (never used it before and its not in any of my books). I plan on running it in my .454 with a 200 gr .452 SWC. The only thing i could find was the usual product bashing and not to compress the donut shaped powders. I'll start out with 9 grs. It'll be nice to be able to shoot with one hand.
So the question is, has anyone here used this powder in their big wheel guns and have any negative experiences?
thanks.
jamie.
 
I would telephone IMR's hot line, with your bullet weight and type or try www.imrpowder.com
I don't see a load listed in the 2007 Reloaders Guide they sent me when I called for info for my .45-70's etc. but a load is listed on the website.
 
The powder is on the fast side if you are looking for max velocities, but it does very nicely for mid and lower power loads, and is clean burning. I have used it in 44 mag for mid range/reduced loads.
 
jamiejaf said:
I was planning on a reduced load. I'm checking IMR's site now. Thanks for the link.
Click to expand...

You can also use the Colt 45 data as a guide. Because of the longer case and larger volume, the pressure and velocity will be much lower if you are using 454 Casull cases, or just use Colt 45 cases and use that data.
 
"...200 gr .452 SWC..." Cast or jacketed? IMR powder data is found on Hodgdon's site. No 200 grain data for a Casull or Trailboss data for a jacketed bullet on the .45 Colt page though.
9 grains is too much. 9 grains is the max Casull load for a 250 grain cast bullet using Trailboss.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
 
sunray said:
"...200 gr .452 SWC..." Cast or jacketed? IMR powder data is found on Hodgdon's site. No 200 grain data for a Casull or Trailboss data for a jacketed bullet on the .45 Colt page though.
9 grains is too much. 9 grains is the max Casull load for a 250 grain cast bullet using Trailboss.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp
Click to expand...

If you notice, the pressure generated by that 9 grain load is only 19,300 psi. The Casull cartridge has a SAAMI max average pressure of 65,000 psi !!!!! (this is higher than almost all rifle cartridges, including magnums) So that load is really still a wimpy load of Trail Boss, and perfectly safe to use.



General Comment

Also, using a fast powder like Trail Boss won't increase the peak pressure much by substituting a jacketed bullet, as long as the BASE of the bullet isn't seated any shorter (less case volume = higher pressure) so check the length of the bullets, not just OAL. This is because many jacketed bullets are longer for a given weight. Typically the increase in peak pressure of jacketed and cast is on the order of a few thousand PSI, with the same internal case volume, not OAL. If the case volume decreases with the same weight jacketed bullet, then that is another increase in pressure in addition to the change to jacketed.

Also, don't confuse velocity with peak pressure, especially when comparing lead and jacketed bullets. Peak pressure and velocity are only loosely related, and not linear.

Peak pressure will occur around the time the bullet has travelled about 0.2", meaning it hasn't even touched the forcing cone in a revolver.
 
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I don't see any harm in starting with 9 grains for the 200 grain bullet. The pressure will be lower than with a heavier bullet with the same powder charge. I don't think it is possible to make a dangerous overload with Trail Boss provided you don't compress it enough to break the kernels.
 
The 200 grain SWC are cast...and i have hundreds of them. I was going to melt them down and make them heavier, but i don't see the point (the paper will never know the difference). Sandroad's comments in reference to SAAMI pressures are correct according to my info. My goal is to have a 454 round that can be shot with one hand with ease.
I let you know how this works out this weekend. Thanks once again.
jamie.
 
Howdy, just back from the range. The 9 grs of trail boss with the 200 gr swc worked like a charm and was deadly accurate. Not to mention half the price as a standard 454 load and can be easily fired with one hand. I'm going to make it my standard plinking load. I could tell it wasn't a compressed load simply by shaking it, as i could hear the powder inside.
Happy days here.
P3280022.jpg
 
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