interesting Trail Boss occurrence

[El Chivo]

I was loading 30-30 today, trying to use up the Trail Boss I still have. My load fills the case about 2/3 full.

I weigh each round by hand and pour into the case with a funnel. I was going along ok and then in one row, round #4 overflowed. I was a little puzzled, because I am pretty good about moving the funnel along. If I forget and leave the funnel on the same cartridge it's a double charge, which would cause the overflow. One thing I noticed was there was very little overflowing - a double charge would have dumped quite a bit of Trail Boss all over the place. But I figured I had just forgotten to move the funnel along. I dumped the full case and re-weighed a new charge.

Then when I was checking the filled cases, I noticed something in that same row. Round #1 was about a half charge, Round #2 was nearly full (but not overflowing) and Round #3 was another half charge.

This was puzzling because I couldn't see how I could load a half charge. If I forget to load one, it's empty. If I load one twice, it's overflowing. I couldn't see how I could have made this type of mistake.

But with further reflection, I think I get it. I've noticed clumping problems with Trail Boss. I've noticed this when dumping it back into the bottle. I have to shake the funnel a little to get it to flow. Anyway, what must have happened is, Round #1 experienced a clump, leaving some in the funnel. So Round #1 was a half charge. When I dumped Round #2 into the funnel, that plus the clump went in there, making it nearly full. The same thing happened with Round #3, a clump stayed in the funnel. Then when I poured for Round #4, the clump plus the charge overflowed the case.

I will certainly be more vigilant with my funnel in the future, although I'm sure this will be my last can of Trail Boss (unless I decide I miss smelling sulfur and ammonia in the same whiff). But for those of you loading with Trial Boss and automatic dispensers, something to watch for.

[J Miller]

El Chivo,

Were you using a plastic funnel? If so they can develop static electricity and powder will stick to the funnels. I've had this happen with both funnels and the plastic hopper on my powder measure.

A couple things to do about it is:
Wash them in dish washing soap and let them dry.
Wipe them with the used dryer sheets.

I've done both and it worked.

Joe

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have loaded a lot of Trail Boss and have had no such problems BUT I have read it will bridge in some powder measures.
I use a Redding #3 measure and it works fine. If you have a drop tube or funnel with a small hole you may have trouble.

[CEMENTHEAD]

I've experienced some bridging in the powder measure. I've since adjusted by tapping the handle 3x when using Trail Boss. Problem solved.

Thanks, Tom

[Ben_Rumson]

When I used to load like that I always checked the powder levels in the cases in the block...looking down into them with a pen light making sure they all had the same levels of powder before moving alonf to bullet seating...

[El Chivo]

Ben, yes, that's how I saw the problem.

JM, it's an aluminum funnel, it has a brass collar.

[KCSO]

Bottom line, shine a light down and look into every case, any case that doesn't look the same as it's neighbors gets re measured or weighed.

[adirondakjack]

When I use TB in a measure and go to put it back in the bottle, it will sometimes bridge even the neck of the Lee measure. It is not a static issue as the measure is well coated with graphite and several years old. TB is very light, and since it is shaped like tires, it stacks willy nilly, never quite the same.

But not trusting measures our funnels implicitly, Iong ago developed a habit of tapping a funnel before taking it out of the case neck, then turning an empty funnel upside down and tapping it on the bench after use. Once in a blue moon I get a couple of flakes of powder on the bench. If a clump fell out I would immediately see it.

Appropos your issue, I was running a few trials with a new pistol bullet and TB the other day. In a hurry (first issue), I used my Lee Perfect and directly dispensed the powder into the cases, then seated the bullets and marked the cases so as not to mix up the small batches. At the range I had a "pfft" round (near squib), and a couple rounds later a "hot" one that left the primer nicely flat on what should have been a middling load..... I suspect the same issue. Some of the powder hung in the "horn" of the Lee Perfect, then gave the next round a "hot shot". Gotta be careful with large "grain" bulky, very light powders.

[MistWolf]

When using a funnel, try pouring the powder slowly in a steady stream at it's side so the grains swirl down and through without clumping. It helps the powder settle in the case more uniformly

[DPris]

As KC said, that's been my practice for many years.
I use an old Rock Chucker & I lay out five loading blocks on the bench. I check each brass case visually just before the bullet seating stage to make sure I haven't double-charged, or grossly undercharged. Just run an eyeball down each row in the blocks & make sure they all look the same level inside.
Won't tell me if a charge is off by a few tenths of a grain through the measure, but I CAN tell if something's grossly wrong. It's caught a rare "oops" here & there in the past.
Denis

[Buck Elliott]

TrailBoss is an excuse for me to use my 10-yr-old RCBS measure, so it won't feel too left out. It seems to meter well and flow surely through that measure. Have had no trouble, after loading several thousand rounds of .45 Colt with TB. I have a habit of knocking the handle - twice -- at the top and at the bottom of the stroke, something I started more than 50 years ago. I've never had a bridging issue with any powder, in any of my measures. Besides the RCBS, I have 5 dedicated Lyman 55s on line.

[DPris]

I'm a longtime double-knocker, too.
Denis

[FF1063]

I've been dispensing TB by measure directly into cases (.38 spl and 30-30) with good results at first. I do inspect charges before I seat a bullet. The last couple weeks I've noticed power spikes and valleys with my S&W model 10 firing TB loads.
Took 3leggedturtle's chrono to the range today and my light lead load was all over the place, from 460 fps to 760 fps. I think the summer humidity is playing havoc with my powder. I don't think I can use it anymore without weighing each charge.
I'll keep an eye on the funnel when I do. I will still use it for lead 30-30 loads, but they will go into a loading block for direct comparison.