21 May 2010, 07:24
TripletDadJust found out Hodgdon's pdf on trailboss is incorrect.
I'll give them a call tomorrow. It can't be used in EVERY round.
Just tried their formula with an M1 carbine. By my measurements, 4 grains of trailboss is about the most you can get in a case without compression. Instead of a 70% min load, I used 75% or 3 grains with an Hornady 110gr FMJ.
I even called them yesterday and asked if they thought that would be enough gas to get the bullet out of the barrel. They said probably, but they doubted it would work the action.
So tonight, I pulled the trigger, didn't hear much, the case ejected but the bolt didn't strip another round. The bullet lodged in the barrel under the front sight. It wasn't very hard to get out. Ran a clean patch down the barrel afterward, all the powder had burned.
Maybe I'll try some bluedot.

Why not load it to 95% and see how it does?
I doubt you would have any problems and you wont run into any pressure issues.
I worked up a load that pushes a 220 gr bullet to 1000 fps out of a 30-06. The pressure is so low that the case is not even pushed back against the bolt face(as evidenced by the primer sitting proud after firing).
Trail Boss is pretty fun to work with.
It has opened up a whole world of possibilities for me.