M49 38 spl with light Trail Boss loads

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I saw a few light loads of TB powder on the net but it was out of a 6" S&W 686 revolver.

I wanted to see if these light loads would help reduce the recoil
of my lead bullet target loads out of my J frame, snub nose, that is a lot
lighter than the huge 686 6" revolver, that can soak up recoil, with its weight.

I loaded two 158 gr Lswc loads for the heck of it but I was really
interrested in the lighter 148 gr lead target bullets, that I prefer for practice.
The 158 loads were ok and light in recoil but they could not hold a candle to the 148's tested.

I wanted to take my ear protection off to see how much noise the 2.0 gr load made
but there were too many shooters and it did not happen, today.

I was happy with the low recoil of the ligher Trail Boss powder loads with the little 148 gr lead bullets
but the slow fps of the loads, messed up the paper targets, big time,
to where I could not get a good idea of bullet impact and the real accuracy of these loads.

My next target outdoors will have a cardboard backing and I will be able to take my muffs off, to hear the Gnat Phart load with just 2.0 grs of TB powder, from my revolvers.

A fun day at the range, since I also got to test a 115, (2) 124 & (3) 147 load in my C9 3.5" Pistol
for ejection with six minimum loads for accuracy, that work in my 5" with a 13lb spring,
to make sure they worked, befor loading a lot of them.

Now I know what works and what is ok in the POA and accuracy department, for later loading.
Here is a picture of the light Trail Boss loads for a 38 special, in case you might want to test them.

Just work up or down with caution, in "Your" revolvers.
 
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I saw a few light loads of TB powder on the net but it was out of a 6" S&W 686 revolver.

Last year at the big Tulsa gun show I asked every dealer if they had Trail Boss. One guy had a 4 pounder of it, he wanted $575 for it which caused me to no longer want any of that powder. Dealers here have none. It has not been made in years.
 
Holly cow, I did not know that I'm sitting on a "Gold Mine" with two full bottles of Trail boss on my shelf.

I did not hear or know that it was not being made any more.
I know that "Tin Star" was discontinued but never thought that TB would follow in its foot steps?

I hope this is just a "Time" problem and that it gets back on the list as powders, we can use again, when the powder companies get over the "War games" and things.
 
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I have some Trail Boss. I've only tried it in .41 Magnum. I used a .38 Special case for a powder scoop! It was good but it smelled kind of funny. Kind of smelled like a sweet sweaty sock. Universal was more to my liking.
 
Trailboss does have a particular odor when fired.

To quote the RSO at the indoor range:

"I thought the old guy had soiled his adult diaper. Nope, he was shooting reloads with Trail boss."
 
Were some of the rounds tumbling? I know there's a better term, but for the life of me, can't remember what it is! I experienced the same sort of target mutilation just before I quit using HBWC bullets. If so, maybe increasing the load a smidge might help.
 
I have some Trail Boss left. When it runs out, I'll just go back to Bullseye. No big deal for me.

Same here. I have 2-3 pounds left. Bought it to make plinking loads for my 500. Perhaps I need to do some bartering.
 
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This is not bullet tumbling, it's caused by low velocity bullets tearing the paper instead of punching a clean hole. Upping the velocity or using a cardboard backing will solve the problem. I've had the same problem with low velocity .38 S&W loads in an old Safety Hammerless.

Trail Boss is still listed on the Hodgdon web site, but is out of stock. It doesn't appear to be discontinued, but I don't know what its future is.

OP, those look like good groups, but I didn't see the distance listed. I'd be impressed if they were 50 yards!
 
TrailBoss is/was a great powder for a lot of applications. The first time I look my daughter out to shoot a real handgun, .38 Special in a Model 66 loaded with TB made it very comfortable for her. Loading a .45-70 lever gun with TrailBoss is big fun - just remember the drop…


For whatever it's worth, from my least favorite forum:
https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/19099/IMG_6718_jpeg-2950069.JPG
 
I think I saw where Trail Boss is coming back if memory serves it said 2024 so hopefully it will I really like it especially in 45 Colt I never noticed the funky smell but hope it returns as it's a very useful and fun powder to load
 

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