Saw some at a local show and got 2 full containers, mainly because everyone talks it up here and I wanted to see what the hype is all about.  Then while telling how it was scarce to someone, I looked it up on gunbroker, and found that it is sometimes selling for $150-200 a container, or 2 bottles were sold for like $275 with local only pickup!  

This seems flat out ridiculous.  So I checked on local boards, where it was being sold at normal prices once in a while, but it is always the first powder sold out of anything someone lists.  So I don’t see ridiculous prices happening, but the demand is there.  

So my question is- is there some use case for this stuff that justifies me keeping it and trying it out, versus just trying to flip it at some of these ridiculous prices?  I see it is great for cast bullets, but I have lots of Unique for some of that stuff.  I don’t care if it is grimy or whatever, I will clean the gun.  

Is there some situation where it makes sense for me to use it, instead of flipping it and turning it into a lot more of some other powder, or bullets, whatever?

I do have .45 Colt, .44 mag, .38/.357, etc.  But I don’t do cowboy shooting, or push any of these calibers hard at all.  Just trying to understand why people are willing to pay so much for this stuff, and if that is a reason I would use it myself or not.  I mean I am perfectly happy tinkering with various loads at $25/container, but I also am more than happy to flip it if someone will pay stupid prices, and turn it into 8lbs of rifle powder if I can do that…

Some people use it for reduced recoil rifle loads. Or cast bullet loads in even safari calibers.

Prior to becoming unobtainable, it was a highly recommended load for subsonic 300blk loads. I am sure it could also be used in other subsonic calibers, although don't quote me on that.

Damn I better go see how many I bought.  Used it for one load and was underwhelmed.   Not bad, just a PITA to measure out.

I'm pissed right about now because a few years ago I bought a "lot" of primers, powder, etc from a dude and it had 3 bottles of TB that I had no use for.  I sold it for market value at the time.  Who knew?????

It’s useful for cowboy action loads, .308 and 5.56 subsonic suppressor / gallery loads, all due to its low bulk density.  This makes it very difficult to create unsafe double or any over charges for most cartridges. A typical 1 lb sized can only holds 9 ounces.

I don't understand why any legitimate reloading enthusiast would want to propagate the 'flipping' and keep the cycle of crazy prices going.   If you're lucky enough to score some either 1) use it, or 2) share it with someone local who can.  Making money off of desperate or uninformed reloaders just doesn't seem right to me.  /soapbox.

Because it's an awesome and incredibly safe powder for cast bullet loads and completely impossible to double charge say, a 38 special case.

As mentioned, Trail Boss is a very good powder for certain applications (subs, cowboy action loads, etc.)

For a while I thought Hodgdon had said it was discontinued.  I've read posts on the internet along the lines of "I heard it from a rep at SHOT show/gun show/etc." that it may come back at some point.  

I've also heard it's more difficult to manufacture than some powders, hence a lower profit item.  

I also think it's made in Australia.

Ultimately, I think it's a combination of it's a very niche powder and difficulties with supply chain/transportation/etc. make it more expensive to produce and import.

And part of it is we are seeing a change in the paradigm of reloading.  Prior to the various panics over the last two decades, a major core of reloaders did it as much for economic reasons as for accuracy.  However, I think that's changed and now you have more and more reloaders who are doing it to obtain specific results (subs being a good example), and these reloaders have disposable money and are willing to spend it.

Finally, there are plenty of reloaders who have given up on the fantasy that prices of components will ever go back to "normal", and they see it as either paying what you need to obtain components or going without components.  

All of this is pushing prices up on all components, but niche options like Trail Boss are going to really go up in price.

ADI (Down under in Australia) revamped a production line that originally made Trail Boss.  And, the new production line is not able to make Trail Boss.  So, evidently ADI is reformulating Trail Boss with no time line as to when the replacement will be available.  A year or so VV discontinued Tin Star.  
Several ADI produced powders are nowhere to be seen. Off the top of my head H322 and the Clays family have not been seen either.  
8208 and H4895 are rare birds.  

This is something I might actually look into- had not known it was used in subs for 5.56 and .308….

Have made some gallery loads in other calibers with Red Dot, but only have a pound or so of it.

Have plenty of .300 BLK powder, so probably not needed for that role for me at the moment.  Thanks for the info!

Yeah that is a concern with .38 and the like...  But I gotta use up the Unique someplace, and I have given up on using it for auto loader calibers, as it is crummy thru my powder measure, and I have more room for leeway on lightweight revolver loads.  (And I have a lot of it to use up).  

Is it any quieter than some of the other common subsonic .300 BLK powders?

Yeah it is weirdly fluffy, opened these cans to ensure they were full and the stuff practically blows away..l

I could tell multiple stories like that, with much more of a financial hit.  Timing is everything.  Lots of stuff I wish I had not sold…

Spare me….  I can assure you I am a legitimate reloading enthusiast….

I didn’t purchase with the intent to flip, just am considering it because prices appear to be ridiculous currently.  Only a fool would just use it up without determining whether it served their needs more to just load stuff with it (when I have never needed it before), or to turn it into something that I know I will use like a lot of rifle powder.  

People willing to pay that much clearly are not “desperate”, nor “uninformed”.  I would venture to say that they are doing fine, want to use what they consider the best for their application, and actually are very informed as to why they should be willing to shell out the extra money.  Nobody is twisting their arms.  They are not going hungry, nor losing their houses….

Hell- I am the one who is uninformed!  That is why I was asking…What makes it so valuable apparently?  I mean it sounds great and all, but why the heck would someone pay those prices to begin with?  Is it really that much better?  Etc.  

I appreciate the folks with info on its uses, some of which I had not considered before.  The social commentary on market forces I think we can all do without though.

My guess is people who pay these extremely high prices have a long history using Trail Boss, and have Trail Boss specific loads that work for them.  If their choice is pay vastly inflated prices or simply have no powder, they are opting for the powder.

An analogy is Blackhorn 209.  I've been using it for years in my muzzleloaders.  Demand has continued to rise year after year, and supply took a hit during COVID.  BH209 is now sold for around $80 to $90 for 8 ounces.  Yep, a 1 pound sized bottle with only 8oz of powder is almost $100.  There is no real alternative for a black powder substitute with the same properties.  I set aside 11 pounds years ago, and I'm down to my last 12ish ounces.  

I have accurate loads worked up using BH209 for my muzzleloaders, and these loads have reliably killed deer year after year.   When I run out of my stash of BH209, I may buy one bottle at a time to keep shooting those loads.   But if I was getting into muzzleloaders today, I'd go with something else.  

I think the guys paying crazy prices for Trail Boss are in a similar situation.  They've used it for years, it works the best for certain applications important to them, there are no real substitutes available and they will pay to keep using it.

In your situation, I'd flip it or turn it into more powder of another type via trade.  If you try it and it's only okay for what you do, then you lost out on what you could have gotten for it.  If you like it, you're going to be faced with either no longer using it or paying ridiculous prices.    

Personally, I don't do load development with powders that are not available or only come around for brief amounts of time at elevated prices.  I have 3/4 pound of H322 in a bottle.  I'm just going to load it in a previously proven .223 load and then I probably won't use that powder again (unless availability changes).

The big advantage of Trail Boss is CONSISTENT VELOCITY.

In my experience, ammo with low FILL-DENSITY has significant inconsistency in velocity.

Well, to be fair, it did sell for about $50 a lb when it was available. It was one of the highest priced powders by weight and sold in 9 oz bottles for around $30.

For $0.17 a round I loaded 30-30 with non-gas checked LFN bullets. Had about 22 rimfire recoil and half the muzzle report of normal loads. It is about the only powder that could do that without risk of double charges or ignition problems. I still have an ammo can of 30-30 and 30-06 reduced loads for plinking and a bottle and 1/2 of it on the shelf.

And yet, subsonic 44 and 45-70 loads are significantly more accurate with unique vs tb, despite unique’s low fill density.

Subsonic 308 is where it shines for me. 190smk’s doing around 1050 and whisper quiet is fun as hell. Grabbed a couple cans at $40 per. Should last quite awhile at 10.5gr per shot.


This is the load I settled on and a 50 yard 3 round group.

I would flip it if I could get those prices for it.  But I have found good reduced loads for all my cartridges using other powders.  Trail boss isn’t worth the hassle for me.

A buddy gave me some 208gr AMAX…might check out the data for them and see if there is any

I was using 8.0gr with a 150gr FP for 308 subs and it was super quiet and minute of coyote at 100yds

Wow, Im sitting on 2-3lbs of Trail Boss. I used it for 300BLK subs, but havent reloaded any since Covid hit.

Guess Ill keep holding on to it for now!

Its bulk isn’t really needed for 300 BO subsonics. I doubt it will cycle an AR but it could be good for manual actions. In manual actions lighter charges of faster pistol powder is quieter but velocity spread can be an issue if you like to lob subs hundreds of yards. Sounds like Trail Boss may help with that. Load data is probably found under 300 Whisper.

One of my go-to powders is Trailboss.
It's a fast, bulky powder. Bullseye is a fast compact powder. On the burn chart, Bullseye is 16, TB is 27.

In large capacity cases like 45LC a 6.5 grain load takes up about a third-ish of the available space. Bullseye's not really position sensitive so this hasn't been a problem for me. In fact, this is my most accurate load under a 250gr LRNFP bullet. Kind of hard to double charge a case with TB, easier with Bullseye.

With TB the load range in 45LC with a 250gr bullet is 4.5-5.5Gr. Not a full case, but no room to slop around like Bullseye, LOL.

It's also a great powder for reduced rifle cartridge loads. There should be a table for calculating those on Hogdon's site.

The ADI powders like TB made in Australia have been harder to get since covid because...reasons. I sure wouldn't pay no 200 bucks or anywhere near that price for nine ounces of TrailBoss. I've found Universal is a good replacement though I'll prolly end up switching back to Winchester 231 or something.

Ditto, my dillon powder measure would drag on the donut shapes.

I would take round balls and load them over TB or Unique in .38-55.  Single shot high wall so no worries about the round ball moving.

It was more accurate than I would have guessed.   I was playing with old timey prone shooting positions.

It appears from different sources that TB is permanently discontinued, and a replacement isn’t expected any time soon.

I use a Hornady case activated powder measure on my XL750 when loading 45 Colt using Trail Boss. It has worked very well for me.

I messed with Trailboss and the 208gr AMAX when I had a 20" Rem 700 AAC-SD bolt gun. Here's some chrono data I got from 3rd groups.

Trailboss 11.0gr Hornady 208gr AMAX Win LR3.063" OAL/ogive: 2.330" Avg: 1043 ES: 17.1 SD: 8.5

Trailboss 10.8gr Hornady 208gr AMAX Win LR3.063" OAL/ogive: 2.330" Avg: 1021 ES: 70.7 SD: 40.4

Trailboss 10.6gr Hornady 208gr AMAX Win LR3.063" OAL/ogive: 2.330" Avg: 1023 ES: 12.3 SD: 7.5

Trailboss 10.4gr Hornady 208gr AMAX Win LR3.063" OAL/ogive: 2.330" Avg: 1012 ES: 30.6 SD: 15.9

Trailboss 10.2gr Hornady 208gr AMAX Win LR3.063" OAL/ogive: 2.330" Avg: 1002 ES: 21.4 SD: 12.2

Trailboss 10.0gr Hornady 208gr AMAX Win LR3.063" OAL/ogive: 2.330" Avg: 991.6 ES: 20.8 SD: 10.9

No idea why I went with the longer OAL, but it was 9yrs ago and I had that action rebarreled years ago, so no more .308 bolt gun to play with.

I recall TB being a good powder for light weight subs in manual action 300BO guns. Something like a 125gr SMK at subsonic velocity was doable, but it would never cycle an AR, and the warning to never compress TB meant you couldn't put a heavy/long bullet in the case and still have room for enough TB to get it fast enough to not stick in the barrel.

I never messed with it, but I remember there being numerous threads about TB in 300BO when the round came out.

Great info, thanks!

Some good thoughts.  I don’t like having orphan stuff either- half a box of bullets, single partial powder bottles, and the like….drives me crazy.  I like to load bigger batches, and to be able to repeat the loading later.

And I will kind of be screwed if I used it up, liked how it worked, then cannot replace it, or have to wait forever for ADI to figure out their problems….

Hmm…

Interesting.  I do have a Ruger 16” bolt gun in .300 BLK that cannot shoot some of the same ammo subsonically that my SBR does, so I need to work up something specific for it anyhow.  (It does shoot another (somewhat slower) load that I have on hand subsonic, so I do have something it can run currently).

Yeah- have plenty of Bullseye and W231/HP38.  Not too worried about a double charge with my progressive.  If it jams up for any reason I fix the issue, dump the powder and charge it again.

Oh- that probably would be a concern with my Hornady powder dispenser.  Hadn’t considered that yet.  It already hates stick and flake powders….or at least is not as consistent as I would like when using them.

Oh- well now maybe I need to see how mine does with it!

Thanks for posting this- looks like at around 10-11, it would yield 350-390 some loads per container.

OK- have read thru all the replies now.  Appreciate all the input.  Still totally undecided at this point, but a lot more educated on TB.  Definitely some stuff I might use it for though!

Been looking for TB for years at any price.  Never found any.  I decided to substitute with Titegroup for .308 subs and I'm going to stay with it.

Interesting- my kid gave me two lbs of Titegroup for Christmas!  (With my family, ammo and reloading stuff are considered great gifts!).

Good to know thanks.

Some Trailboss listed in the EE right now

Hard to believe I dumped some from unknown rifle reloads last year (45-70) that I received