Ever hear of this powder

[Maj.Bull S. Hitter]

Have a partial can of Austin Powder company Black Powder.Don't remember how I got it.Has the letter A on upper left of label and says Austin Rifle, Curtis and Harvey.Was going to try it the other day ,but I can't get the can open.It is old and I got some how from someone.

[hellgate]

I used Curtis & Harvey back in the early 1990s and found it burned cleaner than Goex but was under powered compared to Goex. I also have an empty can with the Austin powder label but don't remember that it was C&H powder. It's good stuff as long as you keep it dry and can get the lid off.

Shoot it up.

[john boy]

Major, here's some info on Austin Powder Company ... http://www.austinpowder.com/about/index.html
And would think, that Austin was selling Curtis's & Harvey powder that was made in Ardeer, Scotland up until about 1969 when they were bought out by Noble Industries.  C&H was some of the finest gunpowder known to BP shooters.  If, I owned your can - save it.  It is highly collectible and C&H powder brings a premium price to collectors, plus it is no more.

As an aside ... I was very lucky to 'stumble' onto a powder purchase called Meteor, vintage 1971 in FFg and FFFg.  It was made by Nobel Industries at the Ardeer, Scotland plant - labeled Canadian Industries Limited (CIL)  and distributed by DuPont salesmen after DuPont was cited by the our Federal govt for gunpowder restraint of trade.  I am 99% sure that this Meteor powder was the same BP formula and process as Curtis's & Harvey.  It is excellent powder

[Maj.Bull S. Hitter]

Thanks for the response guys.I sure wish the can was in better shape.I think the rust is holding it all together.HaHa
It feels like maybe 1/3 of a can.

[RattlesnakeJack]

I'll be showing my age somewhat with this post ...... and how long I've been shooting BP.   

Went to the basement and dug out two old powder cans from some years ago ......   Note that the Curtis's and Harvey's label actually indicates that this particular powder was manufactured in Germany,  although the Meteor was made in Great Britain.

When I was first initiated into the ways of the Holy Black (at least 45 years ago) Curtis's and Harvey's was all that was available up here in Canada.  I well remember the old C&H cans with a metal screwcap, which was when the powder was being made in Scotland.  Unfortunately, I couldn't locate one of those - the later can pictured has a plastic flip-top cap, so the can is one of the last C&H batches I would have got.  The Meteor can has a very similar flip-top plastic cap - Meteor powder came along for us somewhat later than C&H.   

And back then, when US-made powder was available to us up here north of the Medicine Line, it was of course Dupont .... sure wish I still had some of those cans!  (For you 'young whippersnappers', GOEX didn't come along until Dupont sold their black powder operation to Gearhart-Owens in 1975.)

[john boy]

Jack, for the C&H and the Meteor - can you read the lot numbers on the cans?  Would be appreciative to know them.

[RattlesnakeJack]

Jack, for the C&H and the Meteor - can you read the lot numbers on the cans?  Would be appreciative to know them.

John Boy, the only thing I can see on the C&H can which might be a lot number is the "V 256" lightly stamped in red on the paper label, to the right of the words "Nobel Explosives Company Limited" - it is sort of visible on the scan attached above.

On the Meteor can there is what I assume is a lot number stamped in black on the side of the can, but the first part of it t is blurred or partially obliterated. That first part looks like it may have been at least two characters, and is followed by a dash or hyphen then, quite clearly, "AP1498" followed by a space of about three character-widths, then something else I can't make out.  (It occurs to me that what can be made out might be a date - i.e. April 14, 1998 ....)

[john boy]

Jack, thanks for sharing and never having had any cans of C&H - I would be only guessing the interpretation of the 'V 256'
V - for grade or plant because Imperial Chemicals Industries (ICI) at that time had powder plants in 4 or 5 countries, including Germany
2 - for month
56 - for year

Here is the lot number for my many cans of Meteor, example -  (73 AP 1510 S 2) which is a gummed paper label
73 - for year
AP - for Ardeer, Scotland Plant
15 - for day
10 - for month
S - ?
2 - for FFg.  On my cans of FFFg, the number is a 3

Your 'AP1498' I would believe indicates:
AP - Ardeer, Scotland Plant
14 - for day
9 - for month
8 - for year and believe it would be 1968 because Nobel stopped making black powder around 1975

Kind of interesting how lot/date codes vary between brands and even for the same brand.  Sure not like production dates on firearms!