45 Colt & Trail Boss ( Big Grin )

Yes, well said. Trail Boss and .45 Colt go together like peanut butter and jelly. All I shoot in my 5.5" bbl New Vaquero are 250 gr cast flat point's and 5.8 gr TB which is good for 720 fps at the muzzle. Easy, all-day shooting, and a good break from my streaks of magnum-itis.

I use Trail Boss often for paper punching in my 44's (Russian, Special, WCF) with medium recommended loads and it works quite well. The only time I've used it in 45 Colt was last year in one box of 200g rnfp and my only range note was "very accurate". I'll give it a try later when the weather cooperates and use heavier bullets and see what happens. Also just recently acquired two 38-40's and loaded a couple of boxes with Trail Boss and 180g rnfps but have not yet been to the range with them. Range report awaiting spring

(Nice shooting there LaneP!)

It's a really awesome powder and in some calibers it's not much slower than other powders so it's got potential use for hunting and even self defense for some who own handguns in larger calibers, but can't take much recoil due to disabling conditions.

I use it in all calibers I reload that have a rim.

It's a great powder. I have about 10lbs of it. Use it for 357 and 45colt revolvers and carbines. Going to try it out in 45acp this winter.

I tried it out in .45 acp, it works and gives great accuracy, but is only for lead. And it does not have the versatility of 231 bullseye or unique.

I like trailboss in large cases with lead bullets at target velocities, what it was made for.

Master Blaster said:

I tried it out in .45 acp, it works and gives great accuracy, but is only for lead. And it does not have the versatility of 231 bullseye or unique.

I like trailboss in large cases with lead bullets at target velocities, what it was made for.

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Yep, will be trying it in my S&W 625 with 230gr coated LRN.

I have a few pounds of Trail Boss on the shelf. I'll give it a try and see how accuracy compares to my usual Unique and a 250 gr. lead bullet. And a softer recoil from a New Vaquero in 45 Colt would help with smaller or young shooters. They like the cowboy looks of the Vaquero but aren't always comfortable with the recoil of my Unique hand loads.

Jeff

When I first reloaded for 45 Colt I started with Universal. Then, after seeing all the chatter about Trail Boss, decided to give it a try. All I use now ! 6gr. pushing a 200gr RNFP does it for me. Last week @ outdoor range saw 1 9/16" group @ 50 feet.
Only problem I see is that the lower pressure causes very sooty cases. I guess the brass isn't sealing to the chamber walls. But Hey, that's why I bought a tumbler !!!

Forgot to say......Happy New Year !!!......Hopefully the ammo & component supply will stabilize........

I despise the way it smells! It smells like a burning outhouse...
I prefer Hodgdons Clays.
Or the 7lbs of Green Dot I was given several years ago...

Trail Boss and a home cast Keith style 270 SWC gives me great accuracy and no leading in two Vaqueros, a Blackhawk and a Super Blackhawk. I have not tried it in the Rossi yet, but need to.

It’s all I shoot in the conversion cylinders of my cap and ball revolvers in 45C. Well that and the black.

Wish there had been Trailboss years ago, when loading for 5.5 lb Ruger #3 in .45-70; tried to load it down so it didn't kick my brains out; used kapok and such to fill that case.
Had the same problem when first loading .45 Colt using Unique; 80'sec difference, depending where the powder was in that cavernous case.
Now using Trailboss to feed some revos (700'sec) and carbines (825'sec); great stuff, and meters like water.
Moon

Trail boss is excellent. Sooty cases and all. I like to load 9 grains under a 250 gr rnfp in 454 casull cases- shoots really well and is very mild and still about 1000 fps, that's fairly powerful all things considered.
It's a fantastic powder in 45-70, I can shoot it until I run out of ammo and with a 405 gr rnfp it has some power, but it's low recoil.

Trailboss is a fast burning powder and does develop peak pressures similar to other powders.

halfmoonclip said:

meters like water

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Meters like water at the north pole for me.
What powder drop are you using?

Obturation, have the Dillon 550 auto powder drop, with the newer mechanical return.
It has always settled right down for me; checked my data, and I've a note that says "always use the large charge bar"; sounds like the smaller bar didn't work as well.
What are you using?
Moon

halfmoonclip said:

Obturation, have the Dillon 550 auto powder drop, with the newer mechanical return.
It has always settled right down for me; checked my data, and I've a note that says "always use the large charge bar"; sounds like the smaller bar didn't work as well.
What are you using?
Moon

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I use a lee perfect powder measure for 2400 & h110 and a Lyman brass Smith for everything else. Neither have worked well for trail boss , minor issues with unique too but does work. I've tried a few times to get both fanagled into working but I see variation up to .4 gr , which isn't the end of the world but I prefer to be closer than that. The issue I believe is the flat shape allows the granules to set up like a house of cards sometimes and a stack of coins other times. I've kind of given up using a powder dispenser but I was considering an rcbs chargemaster but haven't decided yet.
Can the dillon 550 unit be used independently?

I use the Lee Perfect Powder Measure as well and as much as I like Trail Boss it is a pain in the butt to get it to meter well.

What I found works best is when cycling the meter up and down to be sure I get a distinct "click" each time top and bottom. Not a hard whack, but to be sure I hear it both ways. This has given me the most concistent throw each time. Of course, you have to do that when you are adjusting the meter as well or it won't be right.

I like the powder, but it makes Unique look easy to throw.

I just loaded some 45 Colt with Unique today using the Lee PPM. Definitely had up to .4 gn variations.

ontarget said:

Definitely had up to .4 gn variations.

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Same variation I get.
I'm going to try another measure because I burn a lot of trailboss. Dipping isn't the end of the world but it takes some extra attention, I do throw my dipped charges on a scale and trickle up.

With Unique my Lee PPM seems to actually climb in weight gradually so I recheck about every 10th round. I will throw and weigh 3-4 charges and adjust the measure accordingly.
The only powders I've tried for my revolvers is Unique and Bullseye. For my rifles every charge gets weighed and trickled up to perfect.

I have yet to try Trail Boss. I will have to get some and try it loading .45 Colt.

One trick I used to do with my Lee powder measure was each time I cycled the lever up or down I would “thump” it with a flick of my middle finger. I had to put a bandaid over my finger nail because after a while thumping the handle would hurt, but I got consistent loads with Unique that way. Bring the lever up hard, thump it. Bring the lever down hard, thump it.
Sounds silly but it worked.

Use use an RCBS powder measure now. No thumping needed.

I use a T7 press mounted RCBS Little Dandy for Unique and Trail Boss. Occasionally on both powders I can feel the rotor cut the flakes on a drop. I’m not loading max charges so I’m willing to tolerate some minor deviation in drop weights as mentioned in posts above this one.

The rotor on the Little Dandy is static in the sense that the cavity drilled into it can only hold x amount of any powder you’re using. You select the appropriate rotor from a chart for what charge weight you want in a certain powder.

Once I confirm the weight initially there isn’t any way mechanically for the measure to drift. Still, I’m in the habit of confirming every 10th to 20th drop on a scale.

In this system Trail Boss and Unique meter well for my applications.

You guys need to be consistent with your throws on the Lee PPM and use the proper method. I found that it's most accurate when I throw the charge, but I hold the case underneath until the upswing is complete, charge next case and repeat.

I'll get a deviation of +/- .1 grain and I doubt I'll find another measure that can be more accurate for even triple the price.

That said I haven't tried the Lee Auto Disk measure with TB and when I used it for AA#9 I found that measure to be dead nuts on the throws over 15 straight charges albeit with noticeable leaking. That's a fine powder tho, so maybe Trail Boss wouldn't leak at all? I'll have to find out.

Trail Boss is the berries for all day fun shooting lead bullet target loads in both .45 Colt and .44 Magnum. I use a Lee Dipper to charge the cases. Two (2) gently rounded 7CC Dipper Loads (going from memory - I will check my notes tomorrow night) gives me a very consistent 6.1-6.2 Grains of Trail Boss. Works great for 200 Grain Lead bullets in the .45 Colt SAA Cowboy guns, 1858 Remington Conversion Cylinder, and either a Taurus Judge or a S&W Governor, as well as for 240 Grain Lead bullets in .44 Magnum Super Blackhawk and Taurus 44. It is so bulky a double charge is nearly impossible to miss. Feels great to shoot and even makes a bit of smoke. I just spend a little extra time cleaning the sooty cases and pretty much ignore the odor. Trail Boss does NOT play well with Copper bullets - it was clearly designed for Lead only.