What are your opinions on Hodgdon Trail boss powder?

Yeah, I have burned though more than a few cans of it. It's fun. Great with cast bullets. I do not have much experience with jacketed bullets though. 6-15gr in my 45-70 is 700-1200 fps.

Instructions as I have read them: Fill a case up to the base of a bullet. Weigh that. Start at 75% of that weight and work up. Do not compress it or it acts strangely.
 
I use it for 30-30 and .303.

My 10yo son has his grandad's 1894 saddle ring carbine. It's a great way for him to be able to shoot it. Good for plinking at 50 yards or so.

It's kinda dirty though.
 
TB is great for light loads. I use it in various loads for .270, 44 mag, and 450 Marlin. A great powder at what it does, super safe to use for light loads since it is intentionally high volume and I've found it reasonably accurate in each case.
 
I've used it for 7mmRM, 19gr and 139 interlock. No recoil, around 1400fps. Very accurate at 50 yards did a cloverleaf, but around 3" low on a 150 yard zero.
Headshot a marmot with it at 30yards and it just did a passthru, didn't explode.

Tried in 7m-08, 16gr 139 interlock. 2" low at 50yds on a 100y zero. Again no recoil, so gentle i pulled the bolt to be sure it cleared the barrel.

Used in .223, bolt action was again no recoil. Wouldn't cycle in the AR. Can't remember load.

Used in .38 and .357. With 158gr LCSW. Great for plinking, like shooting a .22.

If you're looking for easy shooting/plinking rounds then go for it. However for practical shooting and practice for hunting unfortunately I think you'd be better served with full or near full power loads. Some cheap softpoints and 4895 and go to town on your shoulder.
 
Just a rough starting point, but Quickload says 15gr behind a 150gr fmj is 1500 psi at about 23k psi and 75% case fill.

Granted this is a software program that is guessing a bunch of the variables. You have to do what you feel is comfortable.
 
unstableryan said:
Instructions as I have read them: Fill a case up to the base of a bullet. Weigh that. Start at 75% of that weight and work up. Do not compress it or it acts strangely.
Click to expand...

unstableryan said:
Just a rough starting point, but Quickload says 15gr behind a 150gr fmj is 1500 psi at about 23k psi and 75% case fill.

Granted this is a software program that is guessing a bunch of the variables. You have to do what you feel is comfortable.
Click to expand...

See: https: //imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/trail-boss-reduced-loads-r_p.pdf

"If you don't see Trail Boss data for your favorite cartridge we have a formula for developing loads for all cartridges and it's simple to
follow. This formula may be used in both rifle and pistol applications:

1) Find where the base of the bullet to be loaded is located in the case and make a mark on the outside of the case at
this location. Then fill the case to that mark with Trail Boss, pour into the scale pan and weigh. This is your
maximum load. Pressures will be below the maximum allowed for this cartridge and perfectly safe to use!

2)Take 70% of this powder charge weight (multiply the maximum load from step 1 by .7), and that is your starting
load.

3)Start with this beginning load and work up to your maximum charge, all the while searching for the most accurate
reduced load. Once found, the fun begins!"

The linked PDF also includes an exact example for 30-06.
 
I use in 308/708/6.5cm/223 - works great! I do as above - fill case to just below neck. Most rounds are 1100-1300 fps. Joy to shoot!
 
In my 06 I’ve used it with 110 & 150 gr bullets. It hits poa at 50 yards, then drops steeply contrasted with full house loads. It is all they say it is.
I loaded it for fun but won’t buy more because for me it was just out of curiosity but I have no practical use for it.

If it’s what you’re looking for the it’s perfect.

If you also have a 308, it’ll do exactly the same thing but with less powder.
 
I've been working up a gopher load with Trail Boss and cast bullets for my 300 WBY. I've settled on 11.4 grains with a 200 gr bullet. At 11.4 gr (about 40% case capacity; I want it to be subsonic), I can get well over 300 rounds out of one can of Trail Boss. That's way cheaper than any other powder I shoot.

This my 50 yard target shot yesterday from a mediocre rest.

11.4.jpg
 
Like others, I have used it in rifles and handguns. My 7mm Weatherby Magnum is great to plink at 50, 100 yards with Trailboss (jacketed bullets from 140gr to 175gr). Also use in my 303 Ross rifle.

I really like it for my S&W Model 1905 38 Special Revolver, and my Colt New Service revolvers in 45 Colt. Great for low pressure low recoil rounds.

I bought 4 bottles of it a couple of years ago and will definitely buy more when I run out.
 
Rynnik said:
See: https: //imrpowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/trail-boss-reduced-loads-r_p.pdf

"If you don't see Trail Boss data for your favorite cartridge we have a formula for developing loads for all cartridges and it's simple to
follow. This formula may be used in both rifle and pistol applications:

1) Find where the base of the bullet to be loaded is located in the case and make a mark on the outside of the case at
this location. Then fill the case to that mark with Trail Boss, pour into the scale pan and weigh. This is your
maximum load. Pressures will be below the maximum allowed for this cartridge and perfectly safe to use!

2)Take 70% of this powder charge weight (multiply the maximum load from step 1 by .7), and that is your starting
load.

3)Start with this beginning load and work up to your maximum charge, all the while searching for the most accurate
reduced load. Once found, the fun begins!"

The linked PDF also includes an exact example for 30-06.
Click to expand...
I recently picked up a container of Trail Boss more out of curiosity than anything else. Says 9 ounces on the label so I was a little surprised when I removed the lid to find the container filled right to the top. Fluffy stuff for sure and looks completely different from all the other powders I've used. Hodgdon has published data for the .308 Win so I loaded some rounds starting with 10 grains and topping out at 14 grains. Three shot groups at 75 yards.

The 10 and 11 grain loads were so-so. Two rounds almost touching with one round opening up the group. The 12 and 13 grain loads the groups tighten right up, the three rounds almost touching. The 14 grain load was like the lighter loads, two rounds almost touching and one flyer. Recoil? What recoil, lol.

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.
 
No experience with rifles. But I have used it in my 44 and 41 revolvers. It fills the case nice. A bit dirty all have gone bang.
I find the similar Tin star is a bit cleaner.
 
We use it for 223, 6.5x55 and 7.5x55 all loaded to the recommended maximum charges according to the directions. We don't use it very much but every now and then we load up a few just for the fun of it and it is fun I highly recommend trying TB if you haven't. Especially after firing regular loads the trail boss loads are incredibly light recoiling literally like a 22lr or even a pellet gun. Using light and heavy for caliber projectiles at 110 yards so far every projectile stabilizes and groups fairly well and punches a nice round hole even though there is a lot of bullet drop at that distance. We haven't tried TB for 22-250 or 243 but I'm sure it would probably work just as well. Using a light 4 gr load of TB for 223 with a 24 inch barrel a 55gr projectile at 110 yards hits the paper literally sideways nearly every time producing a tear instead of a hole completely spent.
 
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