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- Thread starter quicksylver
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quicksylver
Well-Known Member
Don't know if it's usefull..but it is interesting...
Lighting Powder ? 2400 .forgot..
Lighting Powder ? 2400 .forgot..
Canuck Bob
Active Member
Wow this greenhorn sure appreciates it.
Back in the early 1970's, my Dad found an old cardboard box in the rafters of an old abandoned home. In it were some old shells with lead bullets. At the time I didn't know what a .32-40 was or the Ideal 31949 bullet with grooves filled with a black lube, seated in the case. The bullets were lightly seated & I was able to worry one out..tipping the case, I expected to see black powder..but instead whitish-grey round flakes with a hole in the center..like little donuts..I poured the powder back in, re-seated the bullet with my fingers...and forgot about those old cases. Fast forward 30 some years & I have just opened my first bottle of IMR TrailBoss...Those same little donuts! I had to do some looking, but I found those old forgotten .32-40 cases..Yup..same color and shape! I called Hodgdon (they took over IMR) and told the technician my story. I then asked " You guys didn't re-introduce an early bulk smokeless powder like Sharpshooter did you?" There was a very long silence..I thought he had rung off..then he said..".maybe"..but quickly added..."Ours is better!" So there you have it..smokeless powder history has come full circle.
Eutectic
Active Member
22-5-40,
Sadly, I think the long pause you got from the Hodgdon rep was not knowing what you were talking about when you said "Sharpshooter".
Sharpshooter and Trail Boss may have a rather similar shape; but there's a lot of difference. Appearance-wise, a Sharpshooter flake is thicker; it is darker; the perforation is smaller. Density-wise.... Sharpshooter is a lot denser, about like Unique. Trail Boss is single base powder I believe (or NG content is very low) Sharpshooter had at least 20% and I've heard 30% NG. Burning rate... Trail Boss is a lot faster. Sharpshooter is close to 2400. (But acts different.)
So why Sharpshooter then we may ask? Straight walled cases (or early semi-bottleneck) It never acts up here and it's why Laflin & Rand invented it over a century ago! A replacement for black powder in the .45-70 was their thoughts and it's good at it!
My Dad didn't think Hercules offered canister Sharpshooter after the war... But the loading companies bought it by lots from Hercules at least into the 60's.... maybe longer. I've seen it in pulled down factory loads of .45-70, .38-55, .32-40, many of the older WHV (Hi Speed) cartridges like .25-20, .32-20, .38-40, .44-40, .38-55 and maybe others. It worked well for this application. That's why I'd like to see it again. Less dense than original would be great... But that same "donut shaped" flake... That's some of the reason it's good. Deterrent on (or in) everything these days! Shape? Only matters for metering these days!
22-5-40 I wish I knew what powder was in those .32-40's??? Did you get a charge weight?
The Sharpshooter/Trail Boss comparison is around on the internet as well... The next paragraph was copied from the "Yesterday's weapons" forum......
"Ross in California reminded us of the obsolete "Sharpshooter" powder that was similar to Trail Boss in days gone by. I have a small quantity ot Sharpshooter and data for it out of Phil Sharp's old book shows that you have to use nearly 3 times the amount of Sharpshooter as you do Trail Boss."
I've attached a close up photo of Sharpshooter (on top) and Trail Boss (on the bottom) to display the differences between the two.
Pete
