Trail Boss Powder Returns Soon, Hopefully

[Rube Burrows]

I was told last year that 2024 should see the return of Trail Boss powder. I messaged them again yesterday and they responded that they are in fact still making Trail Boss. 

 

 

Edited February 1 by Rube Burrows

[Dilli GaHoot Galoot]

Glad I managed to trade by 2 bottles when I did! 

[Cypress Sun]

 

No offense...but...ya'll need to find another powder to replace TB with instead of waiting for the magical unicorn to reappear.

 

I don't believe that anyone will see TB for quite some time.

[Savvy Jack]

Two Weeks

[Rube Burrows]

53 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

No offense...but...ya'll need to find another powder to replace TB with instead of waiting for the magical unicorn to reappear.

 

I don't believe that anyone will see TB for quite some time.

I have several powders that I use in place of TB. That said, I still like TB a lot for several calibers and look forward to it being back on the shelf. 

[Dantankerous]

1 hour ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

No offense...but...ya'll need to find another powder to replace TB with instead of waiting for the magical unicorn to reappear.

 

I don't believe that anyone will see TB for quite some time.

 

I tried. Went to Unique and now its rare... so I went to APP. That's more better funner anyway. 

[watab kid]

i would be happy if that is the case , im in need - ill watch and see 

[Rube Burrows]

14 hours ago, Dantankerous said:

 

I tried. Went to Unique and now its rare... so I went to APP. That's more better funner anyway. 

I have Unique but usually use that for my upper end loads in 45 colt. 

 

I did start using Bullseye, Red Dot and some others though with good results. 

[Cypress Sun]

15 minutes ago, Rube Burrows said:

I have Unique but usually use that for my upper end loads in 45 colt. 

 

I did start using Bullseye, Red Dot and some others though with good results. 

 

Also try American Select. It has a similar burn rate to Bullseye and Red Dot but is a 'fluffier' powder for better case fill/ignition. Don't know about .45 Colt applications but for .38 spl, it works great.

[Rube Burrows]

4 hours ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

Also try American Select. It has a similar burn rate to Bullseye and Red Dot but is a 'fluffier' powder for better case fill/ignition. Don't know about .45 Colt applications but for .38 spl, it works great.

Thanks. I'll check it out. 

[Texas Jack Black]

4 hours ago, Rube Burrows said:

I have Unique but usually use that for my upper end loads in 45 colt. 

 

I did start using Bullseye, Red Dot and some others though with good results. 

 Upper end loads? what gun are you using. Also Unique is not a powder that will give upper end loads.

Best Wishes

[Texas Jack Black]

 I listened to the response from Hodgdon .Yes ,Trail Boss is still being made and the Military is using it. He also says they Hope to get it on the shelves soon.

 

 I  think he is blowing smoke

[ORNERY OAF]

47 minutes ago, Texas Jack Black said:

 I listened to the response from Hodgdon .Yes ,Trail Boss is still being made and the Military is using it. He also says they Hope to get it on the shelves soon.

 

 I  think he is blowing smoke

Military using trail boss....hmmm

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

No, I too don''t believe military has use for Trail Boss OR the same family of formulations of flake canister powders we all are missing.  

 

And if Trail Boss EVER shows up again, I will be very surprised.  It is technically difficult to make it so fluffy, which makes it hard to manufacture (2 plants burned down in 10 years), and expensive.  But it is not worth the $250 a bottle that the 300 Blackout shooters are driving the price to.

 

You are getting second hand info here, not first hand directly from Hodgdon management. 

 

Instead of spending time asking for it for the next few years and wishing it were around, find a powder that IS being made and grab it before pricing increases.  It has already been missing in action for the last couple of years.

 

good luck, GJ

Edited February 3 by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

1 hour ago, ORNERY OAF said:

Military using trail boss....hmmm

Sure, it makes sense.  Hodgdon has no loading data for those huge artillery shells, so they use Hodgdon's generic Trailboss instructions and fill to 80% of a full case. 

[Texas Jack Black]

18 minutes ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

Sure, it makes sense.  Hodgdon has no loading data for those huge artillery shells, so they use Hodgdon's generic Trailboss instructions and fill to 80% of a full case. 

 Jockaroo said he read it in SSAA .  I fill my artillery shells to the top  weld the tip on and sell them to   NK

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

2 hours ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

No, I too don''t believe military has use for Trail Boss OR the same family of formulations of flake canister powders we all are missing.  

 

And if Trail Boss EVER shows up again, I will be very surprised.  It is technically difficult to make it so fluffy, which makes it hard to manufacture (2 plants burned down in 10 years), and expensive.  But it is not worth the $250 a bottle that the 300 Blackout shooters are driving the price to.

 

You are getting second hand info here, not first hand directly from Hodgdon management. 

 

Instead of spending time asking for it for the next few years and wishing it were around, find a powder that IS being made and grab it before pricing increases.

 

good luck, GJ

sending you a pm

have a question

Regards

Gateway Kid

[watab kid]

7 hours ago, Texas Jack Black said:

 I listened to the response from Hodgdon .Yes ,Trail Boss is still being made and the Military is using it. He also says they Hope to get it on the shelves soon.

 

 I  think he is blowing smoke

so , is it the military use that is preventing it from getting to our shelves ? 

[Texas Jack Black]

8 hours ago, watab kid said:

so , is it the military use that is preventing it from getting to our shelves ? 

 I read that an article in SSAA made that claim. A fellow SASS member from Australia  said he read the article.

 Now I also read that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole.

 

Best Wishes

Edited February 3 by Texas Jack Black

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

I figure , I got enough to do what I want , 

IF not , I will just go to another powder , that is available 

I loaded Green Dot for several years , the group I was shooting with , never knew I reloaded , until I changed to TB 

 

CB 

[Texas Jack Black]

 Before TB was introduced we all did fine in SASS  . Almost any powder can be made to work. 

At SASS distances you could use a gun with no rifling.

I watched a shooter shoot 3 stages before he realized he had his buddies 38/40 loads in his 44/40 and yes he had a clean match.

  

Best Wishes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 3 by Texas Jack Black

[Rube Burrows]

On 2/2/2024 at 1:00 PM, Texas Jack Black said:

 Upper end loads? what gun are you using. Also Unique is not a powder that will give upper end loads.

Best Wishes

I just meant upper compared to the low powered cowboy loads I use the trail boss for. 

With Unique I have been using for my Blackhawk 45s in the 9-10g range and the 44 specials in the 7.5g range. 

[Rube Burrows]

On 2/2/2024 at 2:58 PM, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

No, I too don''t believe military has use for Trail Boss OR the same family of formulations of flake canister powders we all are missing.  

 

And if Trail Boss EVER shows up again, I will be very surprised.  It is technically difficult to make it so fluffy, which makes it hard to manufacture (2 plants burned down in 10 years), and expensive.  But it is not worth the $250 a bottle that the 300 Blackout shooters are driving the price to.

 

You are getting second hand info here, not first hand directly from Hodgdon management. 

 

Instead of spending time asking for it for the next few years and wishing it were around, find a powder that IS being made and grab it before pricing increases.  It has already been missing in action for the last couple of years.

 

good luck, GJ

Fair enough. What some of you fail to see is that while some of us would like to see it back on the shelf, its not like we are at a stand still and have no other powders to use. It's not the end of the world either way. Just a wishful thought. 

[Rube Burrows]

On 2/3/2024 at 6:54 AM, Texas Jack Black said:

 Before TB was introduced we all did fine in SASS  . Almost any powder can be made to work. 

At SASS distances you could use a gun with no rifling.

I watched a shooter shoot 3 stages before he realized he had his buddies 38/40 loads in his 44/40 and yes he had a clean match.

  

Best Wishes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 2/3/2024 at 6:54 AM, Texas Jack Black said:

 Before TB was introduced we all did fine in SASS  . Almost any powder can be made to work. 

At SASS distances you could use a gun with no rifling.

I watched a shooter shoot 3 stages before he realized he had his buddies 38/40 loads in his 44/40 and yes he had a clean match.

  

Best Wishes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we will all be just fine. That is not the question or issue. Some of us like the powder and not just for SASS. It would be nice to see it back again but if it don't come back there are plenty of other powders that do the same thing. Good to have options thought, right? 

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

13 minutes ago, Rube Burrows said:

What some of you fail to see is that ... some of us would like to see it back on the shelf

 No, I understand that very clearly.   Not running down your past use of TB; you now also have to know that I have never wanted to use it and never will, afaik.  So, moving on is the only real alternative anyone has right now.   Maybe it gets fixed in the future, I'll bet it does not, for years if ever.  GJ

 

[Rube Burrows]

4 minutes ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said:

 No, I understand that very clearly.   Not running down your past use of TB; you now also have to know that I have never wanted to use it and never will, afaik.  So, moving on is the only real alternative anyone has right now.   Maybe it gets fixed in the future, I'll bet it does not, for years if ever.  GJ

 

Can't argue with that. I am just about out but have already been conserving it for certain loadings (not SASS related) and have already replaced it with other powders in my high volume shooting calibers. 

[sarcasmn]

I am actually using Trail Boss in my 45-70 deer loads.  Factory loads are running at a shoulder punishing 2100fps.  I find that funny as the original black powder loads at around 1300fps were taking down buffalo.  
 

I have found that in the Georgia woods these “buffalo” rounds take down deer just as well as a 30-30 or 308 with less meat damage.  
 

I have switched to Cleanshot for my SASS loads and am saving my Trail Boss for the 45-70. 
 

I forgot to mention. I was gifted a really nice Marlin 1895 Cowboy and even with the longer barrel it’s a pleasure to take into the woods

Edited February 4 by sarcasmn
Add

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

I really like the stuff and have been using it in my large calibers since I discovered it in 2010. I’m still dipping from the stock I bought in 2020 before things went nuts. In a year or two  I’ll run out and move on to Unique*, which I stocked up on at the same time as hedge against TB’s then-rumored disappearance. 
 

When someone on this forum says they’ve actually bought some from new production, I’ll believe it’s being made again. Until then, its pending availability in my mind is just gossip. We’ve heard it before. 
 

*Thank you Lumpy Gritz and Driftwood Johnson for making me aware of Unique as a great old-school go-to powder. 
 

Edited February 5 by Abilene Slim SASS 81783

[bgavin]

I was first in line when a local seller on CalGuns posted a sealed 5# jug at the pre-hoarding price.  $40 per pound IIRC.  Enough for the rest of my shooting days.  Been over a year since 4x bypass, so looking forward to shooting again.

[Rube Burrows]

On 2/4/2024 at 9:29 AM, sarcasmn said:

I am actually using Trail Boss in my 45-70 deer loads.  Factory loads are running at a shoulder punishing 2100fps.  I find that funny as the original black powder loads at around 1300fps were taking down buffalo.  
 

I have found that in the Georgia woods these “buffalo” rounds take down deer just as well as a 30-30 or 308 with less meat damage.  
 

I have switched to Cleanshot for my SASS loads and am saving my Trail Boss for the 45-70. 
 

I forgot to mention. I was gifted a really nice Marlin 1895 Cowboy and even with the longer barrel it’s a pleasure to take into the woods

I use Trail Boss in my 45-70 1886 rifle as well. 

[Rube Burrows]

14 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

I really like the stuff and have been using it in my large calibers since I discovered it in 2010. I’m still dipping from the stock I bought in 2020 before things went nuts. In a year or two  I’ll run out and move on to Unique*, which I stocked up on at the same time as hedge against TB’s then-rumored disappearance. 
 

When someone on this forum says they’ve actually bought some from new production, I’ll believe it’s being made again. Until then, its pending availability in my mind is just gossip. We’ve heard it before. 
 

*Thank you Lumpy Gritz and Driftwood Johnson for making me aware of Unique as a great old-school go-to powder. 
 

Unique is a great powder also. 

[Texas Jack Black]

 As I always say Unique is Unique.. I used it in my Colts when I used to do a bit of Black Bear hunting .Always performed well. It is still my go to powder.

Best wishes

[Buckshot Bear]

Where supposedly is this Trail Boss being manufactured?

 

 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

31 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Where supposedly is this Trail Boss being manufactured?

 

 

Shangri-La

[bgavin]

Many of the Hodgdon powders are made by ADI, including Trail Boss.

ADI AS25BP if my source is correct.

It is my limited understanding this powder is suspended for the foreseeable future, as ADI wants to concentrate more on rifle powders.
I assume the profit margin for TB is very small and not worth the bother.