Identify this powder?

[Texas by God]

I pulled down some 32-40 Remington-UMC ammunition that I think is 1930s vintage.
I had expected to find extruded powder similar to 4198 or 3031 but instead found little donuts.
Each cartridge had 24 grs of powder.
I was wondering what our resident historians can tell us about this powder.


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[Recycled bullet]

Trail Boss??

[stubshaft]

That's what I was thinking but I don't think Trailboss was available for the 32-40.

[Nobade]

One of the bulk smokeless powders they used to make that Trailboss is a copy of. Somebody here will know the name.

[jrmartin1964]

The powder in question appears to be Hercules "Lightning". For many years the published 'standard' load for the .32-40, with a 165-grain jacketed bullet, was 24.0 grains. Hercules discontinued manufacture of "Lightning" in 1958.

Phil Sharpe, in his "Complete Guide to Handloading" gave this description of "Lightning" :
"Black perforated discs, diameter 0.08-inch, thickness 0.02-inch. Originally a Laflin & Rand development, Lightning went to DuPont when that firm absorbed the L. & R. outfit in 1902, and changed hands again in 1914 when assigned by Court order to the newly formed Hercules Powder Company. Lightning has been widely criticized by reloaders because of its erosive qualities, but it is an excellent powder from an accuracy standpoint, and much of the criticism of it is unfounded, particularly when it is used with non-corrosive primers. This is a large-grain powder. The grains warp more or less in drying, and while they are of the perforated “tube” variety, the relation of length to diameter makes them appear to be more like washers than tubes. It is an extremely flexible powder designed for the various hunting cartridges such as .30-30, .303. etc., and is somewhat quicker-burning than either W.A. or HiVel, but slower than Sharpshooter. It is one which burns well under 20,000 pounds and up through the line to 50,000 pounds in cartridges which will handle this pressure. It is an excellent mid-range powder and can be used with plain-base and gas-checks in addition to the standard metal-jacketed types. It is extremely accurate, requires a low weight of charge to develop velocities, and should be weighed rather than measured because of the shape of grains. It can, of course, be metered out in modern powder measures with reasonable success if no attempt is made to load maximum charges."

Jim

[Texas by God]

Thank you Mr Martin!
I am planning on trying some just for the halibut in the 30-30 using 170 gr bullets.
I thought that it might LOOK like TB based on descriptions- I’ve never bought Trail Boss.


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[Nobade]

That's the stuff! Glad somebody has a good memory.

[Texas by God]

In the Now I Know department,
My 40 yard groups were the worst I’ve shot with the C309170F bullet in any rifle.
A fifteen shot “gathering” spread out ten inches or so.
And smoky. No pressure signs with 23 grains of Lightning which convinced me to shoot them up.
A 3 shot group at 100 yards with the same bullet over AA2015 restored my outlook.
I made sure to clean the old powder voodoo from my Mauser


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