Trail Boss powder shortage

Gun show in Princeton Illinois last weekend, there was probably around seven vendors that sold reloading supplies. All of them had Trail Boss. Shortage might be a regional thing?
 
A local supplier here in the valley has had it off and on for the last couple of months. I picked up some for some 45-70 I'm going to be working on soon. I thought it was gone, but I looked and it was there when I showed up. Doesn't seem to last long though. But he did restock in a few weeks.
 
Found, and purchased, the only can of Trail Boss at the Bristol Bass Pro. It was price at $20.99. Also got the only can of HP38 @ $28.99. Plus: first time I have seen CCI Mini Mag in over two years anywhere in my area. There seemed to be a sufficient supply. I bought six packs and there was more remaining. Also some Remington on the shelf plus CCI Standard Velocity and Shorts. I shopped the Cabella's just over the VA/TN border - no product of any kind. A side note. Cabella's seems to be VERY proud of their fire arms. They had two M1A's at $2,995 a piece. The Cabella's just over the GA border about 200 miles south had the same firearm for half that price!
 
FrankenMauser said:
Per pound, Trail Boss is roughly the same price - often more. Remember, Trail Boss is a very bulky powder. The "one pound" canisters only contain 9 ounces, and the "8 pound" jugs only contain 5 lbs. ...because they can't fit any more than that in the containers.
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Faulty math, my friend. ;)

$13/9oz is $1.44444/oz or $23.11/lb, roughly the same as other powders (Typical range is ~$18-$27) (The 5lb can of TB comes out to $20.20/lb)

BUT considering that a charge of TB is roughly 1/3 that of other powders... the per shot cost is roughly 1/3 most powders.

Of course, the velocity is barely 1/3 too... so.... :D (Nah... more like 1/2 really)
 
Faulty math, my friend.

$13/9oz is $1.44444/oz or $23.11/lb, roughly the same as other powders (...)
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I was referring to the price versus Tin Star.

The recent brick-and-mortar prices I've seen for the 9 ounce canister of Trail Boss range from $18 to $25. That's roughly $2.39 / ounce.

Tin Star, in comparison, works out to $2.19 / oz. (Using your $35 / lb quote. I have never seen it in person.)

Close enough. ...And, at least where I shop, that does make TB more expensive than Tin Star.

(I know TB is cheaper when ordered online, but then you're dealing with Hazmat fees and shipping. And since one guy might order two pounds of powder while another guy orders 24 lbs, there's no good point of reference for real world unit cost at your door step.)


And, yes, volumetrically, the price of TB is a much better deal. But you were making an ad-hoc comparison that used package weight, so I stuck with it.
 
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Just to check if my LGS still have Trail Boss and there are 6 sitting on shelves. Took another 2 home, now I better like it enough to use all the powder! They sell it for $18.99/9 oz, maybe that is why not moving much, other powders are not cheap either, $28-32 per pound.
 
I don't get it. It goes twice as far but you're buying half as much? Isn't that a wash?

Trail Boss has been available off and on around here. Mostly off, But I see it now and then, maybe three or four times the past year.

Last time I saw it I bought a can. It seemed like it would be ideal for what I was looking for, a reduced load in a large volume case. The .41 Magnum.

After working with it and some other powders, I came up with two loads that met my requirements for a 215 gr cast SWC...

6.0 gr of Trail Boss (max is 6.5 gr)
6.5 gr of Universal (the minimum load)

Trail Boss was $13.95 for 9 oz ($24.80 / pound)
Universal was $18.95 / pound
(real prices paid in the last year from a local source)

Don't look half price to me. I did not chrono them but they should be ballistically similar from what the stated data said. The Trail Boss filled the case, the Universal did not even come close to filling the case.

I still prefer the Trail Boss. I just loaded 300 rounds with it.
 
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