Anybody use Trail Boss for 38 S&W?

[weekender823]

The title of the thread says it all. I like to plink with old wheelguns and I reload now with Bullseye. Trail Boss looks like a great low pressure powder for old guns, but I can't find any published loads for 38 S&W or 32 S&W. I've been loading my own handgun loads for about a year, based on reference books and what I have learned here. I have never developed my own load and am not comfortable doing so.

Has anybody done this?

Thanks,

Greg

 

[barbarian]

I just shot my first reloads with Trail Boss. It doesn't meter as good as some powders but acceptably well for its intended purpose. It burns clean and burns completely with a Winchester small pistol primer. With 158 grain LSWC I'm getting 667 FPS with 3.5 grains. Nice thing is that a double charge should fill the case.

Good Luck and be safe.

Barbarian

 

[Landric]

I'm loading Trail Boss with a 100 grain RNFP in .32 S&W Long. I'm quite happy with it, and I imagine it would work equally well in .38 S&W, though not having a .38 S&W chambered gun, I haven't tried it.

 

[FROGO207]

In the past I have gone to the Manufacturers website and emailed them the question asked here. Never once has there been a problem getting what I required from them. They seem to have a lot of unpublished data available for the asking. I am currently using trailboss in a 45 long colt and find it satisfactory as well as quite clean burning.

 

[lgbloader]

I use it for my 38 Spcl Lrnfp plinkers and 30-30 win LFP rounds.

Very fun to plink with and no pain.

LGB

 

[weekender823]

Just to close the thread - in case anyone is interested...

I called IMR today, and got to a person promptly. Because of the age of most of the guns that fire these cartridges, and the low interest, they have done no development work and offered no suggestions. I find that unfortunate since my Colt Police Positive in .38 S&W is solid as a rock and great fun to shoot.

At any rate, I'm sticking with carefully measured Bullseye. I've been reloading for about a year, and get most of my info from books, Graf's in St. Charles, and THR. I'm just not comfortable develping my own loads.

Thanks to all who replied,

Greg

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Greg,
I'm sure you could extrapolate a starting load for the .38 S&W from other data. You're right, it is unfortunate IMR did do any development work for the .32 S&W and .38 S&W. I was under the impression that's what that powder was developed for, the old calibers. (although it was really developed to take up the space in the old Black Powder cases) I'm about to load some .45 Colt rounds using Trail Boss for the first time.

 

[Walkalong]

I suspect you can not get enough Trail Boss in the case to be a problem. Start low and work up, let us know.

 

[NavyEngineer]

Does anyone have any recent experience with this? I just picked up an old lend-lease Victory model S&W chambered in .38 Smith and Wesson, and have found very limited load data. Additionally, the very small max loads have posed a challenge for my reloading setup (I usually use the Lee auto disk measure to charge my cases, and the smallest aperture (0.30cc) is above maximum using Accurate #5, for example). I have been using Trail boss with cast bullets in 44 Magnum and 45 Colt, and thought it would work well with 158 gr bullets in 38S&W as well. I couldn't get an e-mail to go through to IMR, but called, and spoke with "Mike". He told me that they hadn't done any development work on the cartridge, but that it would be safe as long as I didn't compress the powder. He recommended leaving approximately 30 percent of the case capacity below where the bullet is seated as a starting load, but said I wouldn't be able to reach excessive pressures unless I compressed the powder. Has anyone tried Trail Boss recently? If not, I'll start low and post my results.

 

[Walkalong]

I'll load up a couple of sample loads with Trail Boss in the .38 S&W this weekend and see what they do from my Victory Model. I am pleased with preliminary results with Trail Boss in 32-20.

 

[NavyEngineer]

I took my old Victory to the range and fired it for the first time tonight. First I shot some 146gr lead Remington factory bullets, then fired my handloads with 158gr lead semi-wadcutters and 1.9 grains of Trail Boss. The factory loads hit about 5 inches low at 25 feet. My handloads hit to point of aim and all extracted easily. I don't have a chronometer, but felt recoil was comparable (pretty low). The Trail Boss did burn A LOT cleaner than the factory loads. I'm happy with the results so far.

 

[Walkalong]

I wish I had some 158Gr lead .38 bullets. All I have is 125 at the moment.

 

[NavyEngineer]

My 158gr bullets were sitting on the shelf for a few years while I was stationed in CA - they are made by Oregon Trail and have the price sticker of $17.50 for 500 on them! Wish I could still buy bullets that cheaply. They are sized to .358, and I have not slugged the bore of my Victory, but they seem to shoot very accurately at close range.

 

[Walkalong]

Your bore is in the .362 range IIRC (probably don't). Anyway, it's not .357.

You need very soft .358 bullets to have a chance of not leading. Some bullet makers sell a bullet specifically for the .38 S&W. That is the best bet, although I used wax gas checks way back when with hard cast .358 lead, and it eliminated leading entirely. It would actually clean lead out of a leaded bore. Wax gas checks are a PIA though.

Link too Cast Boolits

 

[Oyeboten]

Possibly...in .38 S&W Chambered Revolvers, a Hollow Base Bullet would be best, especially when of .357, and, undersized to the .360+ Bore.


An S&W M&P 'Victory' Model is probably no different in strength and in what it can abide pressure-wise, than the S&W M&P in .38 Special.


Old 'Break Tops', when of the Black Powder era, probably will have the best, safest performance/Ballistics, with period-correct Bullets, and, 3f BP.

From what I have gathered...'Trail Boss' - when in suggested loadings - seems to generate less FPS, and less Pressure, than standard Black Powder loadings.