What are your opinions on Hodgdon Trail boss powder?

[Spawn-Inc]

love it for reduced magnum loads, also works good in my 45-70.

 

[Rynnik]

I do have a couple of questions. Maximum charge for the .308 Win with a 150 grain bullet is 14 grains (published). But when I use formula above, the maximum charge in my cases is 16 grains. Hodgdon staying on the light side of caution? Also no mention of bullet weight in the formula. Can I safely use a heavier .308 diam bullet? When it comes to reloading, I never assume anything.

Don't ever do anything you aren't comfortable with in reloading. It is the only way to roll. Sounds like you got good results with 12-13 grains anyways so no need to vary from that.

That said Hodgdon seems to have designed the powder so that the only limitation is case capacity rather then pressure, you can't fit enough of the fluffy stuff into any casing to give you pressure troubles and that is why they seem to have published the formula they have in their PDF. The difference you have between the .308 example and your measurement is probably due to different seating depths and bullet lengths? You could always double check your measurements but if you can seat it properly with 16 grains of TB I would personally have zero hesitation firing it. I can also tell you I have fired 300/350/405/500gr bullet weights of the same caliber all with the same charge of trailboss with no concerns in the past experimenting with the stuff.

It is a fun powder that adds some versatility and variation to reloads, glad a product like it exists.

 

[slug]

I use it when I can't find data for a cartridge using the powders I have on hand and am impatient.
It works well for light loads and short range sighting in.
However, it is a fast burning powder, and compressing the charge causes pressures to rise rapidly, and dangerously.

 

[kayaker1]

Used it in .308 under 150gr bullet for 1400fps. Sounds like a .22mag. Nice in big revolvers like .44 and .480.

It’s easy to use, just never compress it!