Trail Boss Replacement: Hodgdon Titegroup for Subsonic Loads

Trail Boss was an excellent powder for subsonic rifle handloads, but it’s become very difficult to obtain. Hodgdon responded to that by publishing a number of different subsonic rifle loads, with much more readily available powders. We chose to use Titegroup to load a pair of popular cartridges: .308 Winchester and .45-70. In this video we go over the loads, the results, and have some fun putting them to the test. Check it out!

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New Subsonic Loads from Hodgdon

Many of my favorite loads have featured Trail Boss over the years. Now that it’s unobtanium, I have had to explore new options. I have tested Titegroup in a number of different handgun cartridges with very good results.

I was impressed with the variety of cartridges shown on Hodgdon’s Online Reloading Data. It’s also included in their print manual. Cartridges from 223 through the mighty 458 Winchester Magnum are covered. I’d personally like to try their data for 223, 30-30 Winchester, 308 Winchester, 30-06, 360 Buckhammer, and 45-70. Of course making subsonic loads for the 38/357 or the 44magnum is ridiculously easy.

For this article the 308 Winchester and 45-70 were chosen. I’d been impressed with the performance of Hodgdon’s Titegroup powder in big-bore revolver loads and wanted to see how well it did in rifle cases. This brings us to an important cautionary note:

The large rifle cases can easily hold double, triple or even more of these small charges of powder. Please don’t do that! Results could be disastrous and even dangerous.

I’ve loaded rifle cases with pistol powders in the past. When I do so I charge each case and keep them all on the loading block, then carefully inspect them to be sure that each case contains only a single powder charge. Then, after checking, I seat a bullet in each case.

For the 308, I used Federal cases, Titegroup, Winchester Large Rifle primers and 168 grain HPBT match bullets from Midsouth Shooters Supply.

For the 45-70, I used standard 2.1” Hornady cases, Titegroup, Winchester Larte Rifle primers and 410 grain Hornady SubX bullets which are designed to be used on game at speeds from 900 – 1600 fps impact velocity. We’ve used those bullets at both supersonic and subsonic speeds in the past.

Loading for each cartridge was straightforward with no surprises. The RCBS Summit press easily handled resizing and bullet seating. For the 308 Winchester I used a standard set of RCBS full length dies. All priming was done with the RCBS Universal Hand Priming Tool which Kyle Shields presented not long ago. I’ve been using my own with complete satisfaction:

TESTED: RCBS Universal Hand Priming Tool – Ultimate Reloader

In the case of the 45-70 I used my Hornady die set which also had to slightly flare the case mouth and then I added a factory crimp after the bullet had been seated.

I chuckled when I started shooting the subsonic 308 and 45-70 ammunition. There was very little recoil and almost no muzzle blast. Each was fun and accurate. We only shot at 50 yards on paper while gathering the chronograph data. The 308 recorded speeds faster than predicted by Hodgdon’s data and in retrospect I’d probably back that powder charge down a little to get it under 1100 fps. The 45-70 velocity was almost identical to Hodgdon’s published data. ES and SD figures were good.

I think Tyler got some while photographing the bench at UR.

When shooting the 308 I made a mistake and shifted my point of aim in order to get some shots closer to the center of the bullseye, otherwise they’d have likely all been clustered in a tight group just to the right of the bullseye. Either way, this is impressive for a thin contour sporter barrel! Yes, it’s only 50 yards.

Gavin recently threaded the muzzle of this Tikka hunting rifle in 308 Winchester and put it in an Ultradyne UD 5 chassis. This UD 5 wasn’t really adjusted for me, but that could be remedied in just a few minutes. It still felt good in hand, despite the cold temps. Tikka rifles are high quality and this one has been quite accurate for us with a variety of ammunition. The trigger, at about ¾ pound pull is extremely nice to use. I was already familiar with the remarkably bright Athlon Ares BTR GEN2 4.5-27x50mm scope. For a fellow who does most of my hunting and shooting with fixed 6x scopes, the 4.5-27x power range is amazing!

Tikka T3x Chassis Upgrade: Ultradyne UD5 & Bix’n Andy Dakota Trigger – Ultimate Reloader

Ultradyne Tikka T3x Laser+Cerakote Makeover Miami Vice Style! – Ultimate Reloader

TESTED: Athlon Ares BTR GEN2 4.5-27x50mm Riflescope – Ultimate Reloader

I’m quite familiar with the big bore 45-70 Henry X Model rifle. It’s sturdy, safe, rugged and accurate. Henry threads the muzzle and I used it suppressed this time. I mounted my favorite scope for a lever action, the wonderful little 2.5x Leupold. That scope weighs less than 8 ounces and has a whopping 4.9” of eye relief making it ideal for hunting at modest ranges. I mounted the scope on a Weaver 63B scope base with quick detach Leupold rings.

High Power Versatility: .45-70 Henry X Model – Ultimate Reloader

Hornady 410 Grain Sub-X .45-70 Hunting Rounds – Ultimate Reloader

Economical .45-70 Loads with Berry’s 350 Grain Bullets! – Ultimate Reloader

Shooting Impressions

The temperature was hovering around 18 degrees on a sunny day with a 6”-8” covering of soft fluffy snow on the ground at the Ultimate Reloader Industrial Yard. I was about to shoot from prone or sitting in the snow when Tyler reminded me that we had the Berry’s Pro Marksman portable Shooting Bench available to use! Thank you Berry’s – you kept me out of the snow for this shooting session!

Portable & Durable: The ProMarksman Bench & Rest from Berry’s – Ultimate Reloader

After the seated shooting using the Berry’s Pro Marksman, I got off the bench and did some offhand shooting at modest range on steel targets at 30, 40 and 50 yards.Contrary to what the internet often suggests, game is not normally taken at 900 yards… Each rifle was great at those modest ranges. Being able to crank the Athlon scope down to 4.5x made the 308 very nice at those ranges and the Henry X Model 45-70 with the 2.5x Leupold was perfect for quick shots at those ranges. Even at subsonic velocity, the big 410 grain Hornady obviously packed a punch hitting those steel gongs. Even at reduced speeds, that’s a lot of bullet!

Many thanks to Hodgdon for developing and publishing subsonic data in the absence of Trail Boss! Our chosen alternative, Titegroup, produced excellent results in two very different cartridges. We saw good accuracy, and the tight SD & ES figures were impressive.

If high velocity isn’t needed, shooting subsonic and suppressed is excellent. Give it a try!

Please be careful about accidentally double charging your rifle cases. Double check so you don’t double charge.