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Transplanted from old YW site:
gschwertley
saddle soap
Posts: 2085
(11/25/06 2:31 am)
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Trail Boss powder - not so new?
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IMR/Hodgdon introduced Trail Boss powder not too long back. Trail Boss is a very bulky powder that is supposed to take up excess space in some of the old calibers that originally were loaded with black powder. These calibers have been revived somewhat with CAS. Trail Boss is somewhat like a tiny doughnut.
I've been cleaning house around here, and ran across some very old and cruddy looking .32-20 cartridges. These I would never shoot in any revolver that I have any respect for, so I decided to pull the bullets for possible re-use, junk the brass and dispose of the powder. When I pulled the bullets, I was surprised to see that the propellant used in these shells that are about 80 years old is -- doughnut shaped and about the size of modern Trail Boss. So, I guess way back when, the idea of excess case capacity was appreciated and a solution had been found.
"Sehr schwer, mein Herr"
txpete
Texas Two Wheeler
Posts: 1346
(11/25/06 7:41 am)
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Re: Trail Boss powder - not so new?
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I bought a jug of it earlier this year and tried it in some 45 colt loads.it does fill up the case pretty good and burns clean.
over at the cast bullet site they are trying out some loads for bottle neck rounds with cast bullets.
pete
Ross95966
Fact Finder
Posts: 103
(11/26/06 12:21 am)
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Re: Trail Boss powder - not so new?
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gschwertley,
What were the charges in those cases? Both Sharpshooter and Lightning were loaded in .32WCF.
As you know, the doughnut powders are made just like the stick powders, only cut short. Short-cut stick powder is not a very new idea, really.
I would wager those powders were still good if kept in reasonable storage. If they had mercuric primers though, the brass is toast.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross
gschwertley
saddle soap
Posts: 2086
(11/26/06 1:33 am)
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Re: Trail Boss powder - not so new?
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The charges in those old .32-20 (.32 WCF) were 9.25 grains with a 115 gr. metal clad bullet. Phil Sharpe lists a 115 gr. lead bullet load of 9.0 gr. of Sharpshooter zipping along at 954 fps. Maybe the stuff I have here is Sharpshooter. I did not throw it away; it looks good, so I might keep it to re-use. The cases went into the brass box. By coincidence, I took scrap brass to the recyclers today (as I have done since age and got 55 cents the pound for it.
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