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Old 01-22-2011, 04:20 AM
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Alk8944 Alk8944 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oyeboteb View Post
Oh good...


Thanks Alk8944 for verifying the 21.5 Grain Loading.


What do we know of the Smokeless Powders which would have been used in the earliest Smokelss .38 S & W Special Cartridges?

I mean, as far as what Brands or Kinds.

I believe Bullseye, and, Unique, were available then...but, I do not recall right now, what some of the others may have been.
Bullseye yes. Unique, was introduced by Laflin & and in 1900. There is a very interesting book available titled "The History of Laflin & Rand" as I recall. It is a free download, Google the title and you can probably still find it. Here is the link to the book: http://www.laflinandrand.com/page2.html

Please note that former comments, now deleted, about "Infallible" were recalled from an article in one of the major gun magazines now known to be incorrect after referring again to the noted "History".

Suydam continues, ".....probably 3.6 grains of Bullseye."

In the early days of smokeless powder Bullseye was pretty much the "standard" powder for any revolver or pistol cartridge as factory loaded. Basically it was because there was nothing else that did the job any better, and Bullseye did it at a lower cost. Cost control in manufacturing is nothing new.

What I find interesting is that the powder most commonly loaded today in cartridges for semi-automatic pistols, by many major manufacturers, is a non-canister number known in the industry as "Bullseye 84" which is manufactured by Alliant. This has been around for many years and available only to the industry until a few years ago when it was finally released to the public as a canister grade powder for reloaders. It is marketed as "Power Pistol". Don't get confused over this, Bullseye and Bullseye 84 are not the same, and are not interchangeable!

Last edited by Alk8944; 01-23-2011 at 09:08 AM. Reason: "Unique" corrections
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