Ornate Shooting Trophy

[J.B. Books]

Dave I think it is proof that non bulk nitro powders were developed and used at a time when composite barrels were the norm and black steel in it's infancy, very late 1890's. If non bulk and bulk shotgun powder were being sold concurrently and they were, then I could see some blowups occuring from using the old tried and true powder dipper with non-bulk powder. Shell development changed again in the early 20's with the advent of the Super-X heavier loadings. So the real crux of the matter is that if your dam or twist Parker is in good sound condition and you load your shells to pressures and velocities for that time period you don't have anything to fear. One could in theory load paper cases using Unique powder with nitro cards and filler wads and have a pretty true to period shell.

Interestingly enough Unique is a double based powder (vs single based like SR7625 and SR4756).

"Unique (introduced 1900, still produced today), initially produced by Laflin & Rand, absorbed by Du Pont in 1902, given to Hercules in the 1914 anti-trust settlement. By Sharpe's words: one of the best of the entire Hercules line for mid-range use in the military rifle family or the so-called Sporting Rifle type such as 30/30, 3855 etc... one of the most useful and flexible powder a reloader can have available. A disc powder (.060" diam x .005" thick). RQ is 300. "

http://www.gmdr.com/lever/pistolpowi.htm

[David Hamilton]

I don't suppose that that trophy could be tracked down? It is quite unique and should be found in some collection. David

[Researcher]

I don't have much in the way of ammunition catalogues for the 1890s, but my 1893 Chas. J. Godfrey catalogue offers UMC shells factory loaded with Schultze, E.C. and a powder refered to as S.S. All were bulk. According to Stadt, Winchester provided smokeless powder shotshells to "selected" shooters in 1893 and began offering them to the general public in 1894. My 1894 Chas. J. Godfrey catalogue agrees, as it offeres both UMC and Winchester nitro powder shells, with the Winchesters offered with Schultze, E.C., S.S. and American Wood. By my 1895 Chas. J. Godfrey catalogue DuPont Bulk has joined the offerings. By my September 1897 Chas. J. Godfrey catalogue, dense smokeless powders, Walsrode and Gold Dust are being offered in UMC "Acme" shells.

My earliest ammo company catalogue is a 1903 UMC, and by that time the dense smokeless powders being offered were Laflin & Rand Infallible, Shotgun Rifleite, Walsrode and Ballistite. In that 1903 catalogue, pink Nitro Club shells were loaded with medium charges of bulk smokeless powder; yellow Nitro Club shells were loaded with medium charges of dense smokeless powders; salmon colored Arrow shells and green Trap shells were loaded with bulk smokeless powders and maroon Arrow shells were loaded with dense smokeless powders. By that catalogue, the maroon UMC Acme shell was being offered as a primed empty for loading with dense smokeless powders, the equivalent of the maroon Arrow loaded shell. The UMC Expert was the primed empty equivalent of the green Trap loaded shell, and the salmon color UMC Magic was the primed empty equivalent of the salmon color Arrow loaded shell. Similarly the pink UMC Challenge and the yellow UMC Monarch were the primed empty equivalents of the loaded Nitro Clubs.