Trail boss and cast lead bullets

Heym SR20

Well-Known Member
Can you get Trailboss powder in the UK. A cast lead bullet trundling along at 1300fps could be just the job for cheap practice and rabbits - have a few in the pocket, no deer showing but you could take a rabbit or two and would almost silent through a moderator.
 
Trailboss is good because it is fluffy, and fills up the case well, for more consistent ignition and muzzle speeds.
SR 4759 is made for reduced loads in large cases with jacketed bullets, and works well, too.
Red Dot and Bullseye will shoot lead or jacketed bullets fairly well, as will Blue Dot. You have to be really careful not to over charge or double charge.

Old-time hunters who camped out of a week or two at the time in the West, like Elmer Keith and Townsend Whelen, used reduced loads like this for shooting pot meat.

I use some light loads of Red Dot, SR4759, and Trail Boss for practice loads at short range, and to slug a barrel so I can measure the rifle and lands, such as an unknown 8x57 or 8x60, to see if it is .318 or .323. I will capture the un-expanded bullet by shooting into two or there lined up blocks of damp potters clay and cutting in with a wire.

13 grains of Red Dot is MAX for any large rifle case, like an 8x57 or .30-06. 10 grains under a 170-gr 8mm bullet will go almost through 2 feet of clay, and blow a hole 1.5 inches in diameter without expanding. So it will kill small game, and not-so-small game.

Look at the IMR data online, at the SR4759 loads.
http://stevespages.com/pdf/imr_reloading.pdf

Hodgdon
http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Hodgdon%20Basic%20Manual.pdf
 
Trail Boss is available in the UK, yes. I used to use it in .45Colt but there are "recipes" for use in .308 etc. out there.

If you are thinking of using heavy, slow boolits through a mod, check there isn't excessive yaw without mod on first. Otherwise the projectile might clip the mod.

Beware, too, of going too light with your powder charge. Detonation being one problem but also getting bullet jammed in barrel (more likely with jacketed rounds.)

Finally, beware of ricochets! Be very sure of your backstop.
 
Try and get your hands on an old lyman manual , lots of cast bullet data in them but unlikely to have trail boss
 
Trail Boss is available in the UK, yes. I used to use it in .45Colt but there are "recipes" for use in .308 etc. out there.

If you are thinking of using heavy, slow boolits through a mod, check there isn't excessive yaw without mod on first. Otherwise the projectile might clip the mod.

Beware, too, of going too light with your powder charge. Detonation being one problem but also getting bullet jammed in barrel (more likely with jacketed rounds.)

Finally, beware of ricochets! Be very sure of your backstop.


Loads for tb are easy, mark the outside of case where the base of your bullet sits, fill to that point, that's max, reduce from there. Beware of lodged bullets when going very slow. 13gr works nice in my 444 instead of 50+ of h335, Dauntsey Guns has several pots in stock. Be warned, it smells like stale **** when fired, and stains brass if you chamber straight after a shot but don't fire soon.
6gr under a 150gr in .308 is subsonic in my Sako.
4gr is subsonic under a 35gr vmax in my 222


Pete

just to add, DO NOT compress trail boss. Very bad.
 
Trailboss if made for Cowboy Action Shooting with cast bullets.

Depending on your cartridge, I may have some real loads from other shooters, or myself.

Here is the general formula, and a link to a PDF of loads:

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

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!

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

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!
 
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