Trail Boss Reduced Loads

UncleDoc

New member
A friend who just started reloading asked about reduced loads for his son's 7mm-08. I called Sierra and the gentleman directed me to the IMR site and a .pdf file relating to reduced pistol and rifle loads using Trail Boss. Seems that you can load your rifle/pistol case full of Trail Boss (minus bullet seating depth) and weigh the load. That is the maximum for that cartridge, take 70% of that and have your minimum load, 70% full. Even with the case full you still will not exceed safe pressures. Bullet weight or size does not matter. If it fits that caliber the procedure works for that bullet. Pretty neat stuff for very reduced velocity and recoil loads. Link is given below...

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

One thing to remember...Trail Boss does not come in 1# containers, they weigh 9 oz.
 
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Depends how low you want to go. With most common rifle loads you can go low enough with H-4895 & Hodgdon's "60% rule". If you need to go lower, yes trail boss & others are work a look.
 
Good point about the H4895 (not IMR4895). I covered that with the Sierra folks and they agree with the 60% formula. We also had the discussion about bearing area for different bullets, case filler, projectile weights and so forth. After exploring the H4895 the technician pointed me in the direction of the Trail Boss and I wanted to share that with everyone. It's information that I think a lot of reloaders are not aware of.
 
Does not require filler. Data is published by IMR, not taken off a post on this forum. In this old engineer's opinion it is the right powder for the job. Minimum recoil, minimum report, minimum velocity, minimum intimidation, and safe.
 
The best way to buy Trail Boss is a 5#. Definitely the cheapest way. But the container is pretty big!!
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Tom.
 
Lyman's manual has AA5744 data available for the 7mm/08 with lead bullets and the powder is designated by AA as powder for reduced loads.
Trail Boss looks interesting as well so I may have to give it a try.
 
The trail boss looks lighter than the 5744. Looks like about where it runs
out of speed the 5744 picks up the ball and takes it to the H4895 levels.
They got all the bases covered. AA will email you loads for the 5744 for
any gun you want to shoot it in. They got back to me the same day for
my kids loads.
 
I played with some Trail Boss back a couple months for a buddies small framed son, in .243 Win. It is a very neat powder & yes no fillers or large void in cases. TO THOSE WHO DON"T KNOW. It comes in a 1# container but only weighs 9oz. That's as much as they can stuff in the 1 pound container (& it comes SLAP full). That is how "fluff" the powder is. It's like built in filler. I talked to a Hogdon tech & he said you can't exceed safe pressure in ANY centerfire with the Trail Boss.

We found a great load for it with an 80gr Blitz (soft bullet to still open at LOW velocity). The trail boss is a great option for kids or extremly recoil sensitive people.

I found it to be much cleaner than AA5744. Recoil & report was soft as well. We saw velocities from 1575-2100 fps, all groups were very reasonable with some good ones when we got near a full case.

Heck I even shot a few loads of it through a 223. Completly full the 223Rem case holds less than 15gr's. I didn't chrono, but with 12gr & a 52gr bullet it sounded like a hot 22mag...
 
I love the Blitz Kings in .223 and have shot a number of them at "dogs" with great success. Never tried the Trail Boss before now but doing the research and asking the right questions landed me talking to some folks that know a lot more about this stuff than I do. I've been doing this stuff for a long time and I am still learning. What other hobby that your wife approves of can you do that with?
 
I just recently tried working up a load using trail boss for my 270 winchester and 90gr sierra varminter bullets. I found best accuracy at about 90% of maximum capacity. Accuracy was terrible as I approached maximum capacity. I probably could have been more accurate with a sling shot at 100 yards.
I did manage to shoot a 1/2" 3 shot group at 100 yards, but have yet to go back to the range to test that load/seating depth for consistency.
 
I use TB in my Remington model 7 CDL 17 Fireball . It basically makes my 17FB a reloadable 17 HMR but with better ballistics and accuracy. And, with bulk 17 caliber bullets and brass that will last forever shooting Trailboss, it's actually cheaper than buying rimfire ammo.

--Duck911
 
Thanks for posting this. I was just about to start loading for a buddy that has a small boy starting to deer hunt with a 7mm08 in a Stevens 200. He can handle full loads in my Model 7, but that Stevens is pretty light. I may have to work some of these up for him.
 
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