Doc Moses Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Need some advice. I shoot 44 specials/mags n pistol and rifle. Using the reduced loads I have a LOT of emptiness n my cases. I am using red dot and am almost out and have a fresh container of blue dot I can move to. Issue is I would love a bulkier powder. I see some trail boss and clays 4sale. Does anyone know if they r bulkier than red or blue dot? Another powder suggestion? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Badly Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Trail boss is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Nah. Whatever anyone else says, skip the Heathen Fad Smokeless stuff. Switch to APP. Fill the case to the bullet base and yer done. It ain't cheap but it does eliminate all that pesky void, there is never a squib, easy to clean up, lots of swell smoke and you use the exact same propellant and load for EVERYTHING!! Oh, did I mention NO Lubes?? I mean, you "can" use lubes. Smokeless Lubes, BP Lubes, Crayon Lubes or just bare bullets. No matter. Load and shoot. No measuring, no weighing, just filler up and shoot. Simple. Easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twelve mile REB Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 11 minutes ago, Mister Badly said: Trail boss is. Trail Boss is the go to powder for a lot of us that wish our cases a little fuller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Never bothered me to have a bunch of empty space when loading Bullseye. I use 3.0 grns in 38 Sp. I put more pepper on my grits! Never a problem with position or temp sensitivity. Bullseye is cheap, versatile, usually available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Law Dog Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Trail Boss will almost fill up a 45 LC case and is great for preventing accidents and in my area (NC) it's pretty easy to find. I've used it and like it fine. Red Dot, Alliant Unique and Tightgroup have almost the same measured load, not exactly, but close. However they all three take up very little space and great care in measuring is important to prevent overcharging a round. A tiny bit makes a lot of difference. The upside to that is more bang for the buck, excuse the pun. You're using less powder per a container which equals more rounds per a container and my experience has shown me that all containers, volume wise of the 4 are close to equal if not weight, price wise. I've experienced good results with all 4, however I'm not a top shooter either. I've read articles that claim the 3 brands other than Trailboss all burn well in light loads where powder is lying on the side of the case in horizontal, pointing at target mode. I was a big fan of Unique for many years. Used many years ago for auto rounds and 38 and 44 rounds. My favorite now is Tightgroup, it seems to measure better and has less blowback dirt from shooting light loads that don't expand the case fully. I used Red Dot when I couldn't find Tightgroup or Unique. It shoots fine but seems to me to leave more blowback residue than the others. Trailboss shoots pretty clean to and in our sport shooting large targets at short distances, I think you'll find loads are not that critical as opposed to high power pistol and rifle shooting. Just be careful with low volume loads, measurement safety is paramount! ps. I don't know a thing about Blue Dot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Moses Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 Thanks. I decided to look at trail boss...of course in the time it took to do this post and read everyone's response they sold out. Oh well, I have plenty of blue dot and red dot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Get some Unique and never look back. You can load every caliber in SASS with it, including SG. I use 6.5 gn Unique in my 44mag cases under a Bear Creek moly coat RNFP. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrel Cody Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 A BIG OL' PLUS ONE to Colorado Coffinmaker; except skip the APP and use real BP, subs smoke too much and no flames. As far as a heathen smokeyless powders go, Alliant Unique is fairly bulky and a great choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Law Dog Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Yea Red Dot will get you covered until you can find some Trail Boss! It's really hard to go wrong with Trail Boss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex M Rugers #6621 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: Get some Unique and never look back. You can load every caliber in SASS with it, including SG. I use 6.5 gn Unique in my 44mag cases under a Bear Creek moly coat RNFP. OLG Dang , I was loading 6.5 in 44 Spec. cases a couple of months ago. Could have been 6.0. That was some waste of precious Unique. At least it was only a couple of hundred.. For Doc Moses , you are on the right track now , Trail Boss for bulk. Rex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 I’m becoming a fan of Unique after years of Trail Boss. TB has been my go-to big caliber smokeless propellant, but it’s getting hard to find. So I found an 8lb jug of it and dove in. TB is bulkier than Unique, and Unique is bulkier than Clays, Win231/HP-38, Bullseye etc. I’m finding it’s a fine all-around smokeless propellant for the several calibers I shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Plus one to OLG. I prefer Unique when not shooting The True Black. But I haven’t seen Unique anywhere since before all this COVID stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Red Dot will work fine for you. Blue Dot is too slow to make good light pistol loads. Trail Boss often is hard to find, since it is not used for much besides some folks loading cowboy ammo. And it's more expensive. Yes, Unique will work, but you use more weight than with faster pistol or shotgun type powders. At least it's not as slow as Blue Dot. good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 And TB is going to get A LOT' harder to find..just sayin' ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 I also just stick to Unique for. 44 and 45 caliber smokeless loads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 12 hours ago, Doc Moses said: Need some advice. I shoot 44 specials/mags n pistol and rifle. Using the reduced loads I have a LOT of emptiness n my cases. I am using red dot and am almost out and have a fresh container of blue dot I can move to. Issue is I would love a bulkier powder. I see some trail boss and clays 4sale. Does anyone know if they r bulkier than red or blue dot? Another powder suggestion? Thanks. Where did you find Clays?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 5 hours ago, Smokin Gator SASS #29736 said: I also just stick to Unique for. 44 and 45 caliber smokeless loads. Unique works just as well in .32 and .38 caliber loads. It's also cheaper than TB is. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Moses Posted September 2, 2021 Author Share Posted September 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, Eyesa Horg said: Where did you find Clays?? Natchez shooters supply brochure in the mail said they had some along with trailboss. When I went to the site trailboss was gone. I didnt check the clays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 In our current times - Any printed supply catalog is a "hope chest" - not an inventory list. Just because they list the powder in their catalog, that never means it is in stock, even in normal times. And now, not even the lists on their web sites are up to date most of the time. Call them or take the time to try to order on-line, that's the real way to get told "No, we're out of stock and don't know when some will arrive." good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 13 hours ago, Doc Moses said: Need some advice. I shoot 44 specials/mags n pistol and rifle. Using the reduced loads I have a LOT of emptiness n my cases. I am using red dot and am almost out and have a fresh container of blue dot I can move to. Issue is I would love a bulkier powder. I see some trail boss and clays 4sale. Does anyone know if they r bulkier than red or blue dot? Another powder suggestion? Thanks. It is extremely difficult to double charge a pistol case when using Trailboss, it almost always overflows and makes a mess. I also see less muzzle flip using Trailboss compared to Titegroup. However until things settle down, you'll probably have to work with the powders you can find. I have Trailboss because I bought two 5 lb jugs well before the ammo/reloading component shortage started Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 I was a little dubious about Abilene Slim's comment that Unique is bulkier than Clays, so... ... I got out several suitable powders I have on hand, a 4.3cc Lee dipper, and weighed 'em all. If charge weights are the same, which isn't going to happen, due to different burn rates, here is the relative "bulkiness". Although American Select is quite a bit faster burning, its volume to weight ratio is the same as Unique, so in practice, Unique is going to fill more of the case because you're going to use more of it. Trail Boss - 19.8 grains Clays - 29.2 grains Red Dot - 29.6 grains Unique - 33.3 grains American Select 33.3 grains WST - 33.8 grains Bullseye - 38.6 grains AA #2 - 42.8 grains W231 - 46.1 grains Titegroup - 50.2 grains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 On 9/1/2021 at 8:20 PM, Colorado Coffinmaker said: Nah. Whatever anyone else says, skip the Heathen Fad Smokeless stuff. Switch to APP. Fill the case to the bullet base and yer done. It ain't cheap but it does eliminate all that pesky void, there is never a squib, easy to clean up, lots of swell smoke and you use the exact same propellant and load for EVERYTHING!! Oh, did I mention NO Lubes?? I mean, you "can" use lubes. Smokeless Lubes, BP Lubes, Crayon Lubes or just bare bullets. No matter. Load and shoot. No measuring, no weighing, just filler up and shoot. Simple. Easy. WHAT HE SAID! The DARK SIDE is the MOST FUN SIDE! Contact me if you want to order some APP! Hugs! Scarlett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 Will APP work in progressive presses? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griff Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 1 hour ago, DeaconKC said: Will APP work in progressive presses? Works fine in my Dillon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboose Posted September 5, 2021 Share Posted September 5, 2021 On 9/1/2021 at 8:15 PM, The Original Lumpy Gritz said: Get some Unique and never look back. You can load every caliber in SASS with it, including SG. I use 6.5 gn Unique in my 44mag cases under a Bear Creek moly coat RNFP. OLG I would love to use Unique in a lot of different loads but where is it available??? I haven’t seen or heard of Unique being available anywhere since the fall of 2020.. Anyone know of any place on line where it can be purchased? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted September 6, 2021 Share Posted September 6, 2021 Deacon Yes. er No. er Depends - - Ya, not the plastic package kind 2f APP will give you fits in a Dillon. 2F APP is a very large, coarse granule. Bridges terrible. Make ya wanna go blow somethin up. 3F APP, on the other hand, runs thru my Dillons (yes, plural) just fine. Occasional bridge bu my powder czech catches that just fine. Go for it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.