Nickel City Dude Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I use Alliant Promo in my 44-40 cartridges. It meters fine thru my Dillon 650. I never have a problem with it metering and it is a lot less expensive than TB. I can get about 1321 loads out of 1 pound and since it only comes in 8 pound kegs it lasts me a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 There is a great way to eliminate powder metering problems with Trail Boss. Simply DON'T USE IT. I've heard every excuse to use that product, and all the pros and cons. In this case, the cons win. There are far better powders available for our use, most of which meter very evenly, and cost a whole lot less. It however is your choice on what to use, so do as you will. That's why they make Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream, so you have a choice. RBK The issue is not unique to Trail Boss. It is just that you hear a lot about TB because it is popular. With the shortage of pistol powders, people have rediscovered that shotgun powders are fast enough to be used for pistol loads. Almost all of the disc shaped powders have issues metering through charge bars on progressive presses designed for denser powders. 700X is fluffy like TB and if you search the internet people have similar complaints about inconsistent metering. It is just that 700X is not a popular CAS powder the issues do not come up here very often. I suspect that if you compared the shape of the powder chamber of a progressive press powder measure from 20 years ago to one made today there would be some subtle differences. Also the design of the baffles is different that it was. I sent my Dillon SDB in for a complete rebuild and it came back with a totally different powder measure than the one that was on it when I picked it up at a swap meet. I cannot say for sure that the design is different but I really suspect that it is because I have loaded about 10,000 rounds on it using TB and have not had any significant issues. Personally I like TB. I get very good results in 38 special with it. If is very safe to load with because double charges are impossible unless you are not loading it per the manufacturers data. It is a little more expensive that other powders per round. The biggest issue I see with TB is that a lot of shops sell it way over priced. Properly priced it should be 3 to 5 dollars per container cheaper than other pistol powders. Selling it for the same price per container as say 700X, means that you are getting gouged badly. Yet I have seen it priced this way as often as I see it correctly priced over the past year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haweater Hal SASS# 55287 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 The solution I found to the Trail Boss metering problem was to tape a small fish tank air pump to the powder measure. Run the pump while you load and the vibration keeps the powder flowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idaho Coyote' Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 TB has a lot of volume. I load 45s using the larger bar, works perfect. Always within 1 to 2 tens of a grain. Close enough for that 7 yard shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripsaw Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I've been using 700x for my .38spl cowboy loads. I load on a SDB and have very consistent metering. Or at least consistent enough for my needs. I was using Trail Boss to load some reduced load 30-06 using an RCBS Uniflow powder measure and had issues with the charge not dropping completely. I would up dropping into a pan and weighing each charge to be sure it was at least close to what I wanted. Still got .1 to .2 variation. No problem for this application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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