Factory Smokeless Cartridge History
5-21-2013
John Kort
Factory smokeless powder cartridges for black powder rifles began appearing in the mid 1890’s. The powder used in the .44-40 was DuPont No. 2. It was a "bulk" type smokeless powder patented on August 22, 1893. DuPont's description of"bulk" smokeless powder meant that it was to be loaded in"bulk" measure just like black powder.
In the .44-40, 17 grs. was the charge weight. which completely filled the case below the bullet and replicated the ballistics and pressure of the black powder cartridge. Today,4227 is the ballistic equivalent to DuPont No. 2 in that the same charge weight= pretty identical velocities. The difference is that with 17 grs. of 4227, there is airspace and with DuPont No.2, there is none.
By the early 1900’s,“Sharpshooter” had replaced DuPont No. 2 as the .44-40 factory smokeless propellant. It was a dense type powder in that it occupied much less room in the case than the bulk type. Since there was no airspace, the factories added a case cannelure at the point where thebase of the bullet was positioned to keep it from being pushed further into the case.
The factory charge weight of“Sharpshooter” used in the .44-40 was 15 grs. Today, its ballistic equivalent is 2400.
In 1903 the High Velocity .44-40 cartridge was introduced. It to used "Sharpshooter" powder in larger doses to achieve its 1,570 f.p.s. velocity. They were discontinued by the mid 1940's.
In 1913, DuPont introduced SR80 (Sporting Rifle) . It was a granular type powder, similar in appearance to DuPont No.2 Bulk Smokeless but was a bit faster burning and was not a "bulk" type powder. It's burning rate was in the same range as "Sharpshooter".
“Sharpshooter” and "SR80" fueled millions of .44-40 smokeless factory cartridges up until at least the 1950’s (SR80 was discontinued in 1939) when ball powders began appearing on the scene. Winchester switched to a ball powder similar to the old W630 which also has a similar burning rate to 2400. Remington continued to use “Sharpshooter”.
During all that time,factory ballistics for the standard cartridge remained at 1,300 f.p.s. with a 200 gr. jacketed bullet.
I have had the opportunity to find and shoot cartridges of the period and they equaled and sometimes slightly exceeded the 1,300 f.p.s. cataloged velocity.
By the early 1970’s, factory ballistics had been reduced to 1,190 f.p.s. in the catalogs. The reason? Faster burning powders in smaller 7 to 8 gr doses had replaced the slower burning powders. Thus, to keep the pressureswithin the specified limits for the .44-40, the velocity was reduced.
Unlike the earlier smokeless cartridges that produced catalog ballistics, I found that in testing the current Winchester and Remington JSP cartridges, they fell a bit short of the 1,190 f.p.s.specification ( closer to 1,150 f.p.s. average).
By the 1990’s a new class of.44-40 cartridges were introduced called “Cowboy”. This was due to the interest in Cowboy Action Shooting. Bullets were lead or lead alloy going at around 900-1000 f.p.s.(rifle). Ballistics are 30+% reduced from the original smokeless (and black powder) cartridge and are just fine for recreational shooting. ~w30wcf