.223 trail boss loads

[baugh55grfmj]

Well I recently tried 4.5 gr of Trail Boss under a 55 gr fmj.  At about 75 yds it was about 8 inches low and 5-6 in to the left.  Very nice groupings though, Id say about inch groupings.  Anyways, can I push the powder volume up to the base of the bullet like you can in larger rifle cases?  Or will it make too much pressure?  Hodgdon shows 4 grs as a max load but I know with Trail boss usually you can fill er up.

[Ammosmith]

Do not exceed the listed maximum. A bottled neck case behaves very different than a straight walled case of a larger bore diameter.

[baugh55grfmj]

Well I only ask because I read in hand loader magazine that the max charge of Trail Boss in bottle necked cases are to the base of the bullet.  I have tried that with .308 and .270 and achieved good accuracy with no pressure issues.  So it should act the same way in .223 regardless of the caliber right?

[wallenba]

Here is IMR's formula from their website on how to do it.  http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

I recently loaded some .223 with TrailBoss using this method. It came out as 6.7 grains of Trailboss which was 75% of max volume, Bullet is a 52 gr. Hornady BTHP match, coal is 2.248. I have not fired them yet, but all the pistol cartridges I've loaded with TB using this method were safe and pleasant to shoot. My .223 rifle is a T/C Contender with an MGM barrel, so it is fairly stout and I have no reservations about shooting them. Contact IMR by e-mail if your are still unsure.

Dutch

[Mohunter]

I was looking on Hodgdons data last nite and saw quite a few different caliber loads with Trail Boss. Evidently Hodgdon has done some testing recently?
You might look there? http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

[baugh55grfmj]

yeah they even have loads for clays and tite group powders.  It gives me something else to tinker with.

[wallenba]

I fired those.223's with TrailBoss this morning. I could not make it out to the rifle range due to time constraints, so it was only 25 yards at my local indoor. They were very pleasant to shoot, low smoke, very low recoil and report. Just the plinker I was looking for. Groups were less than 3/4 inch, and I believe they could be much better. My rifle butt was unsupported due to the narrow bench that was meant for pistol shooting.