I have not seen original C&H #6 that I know was definitively C&H, so I can't comment on appearances, but performance wise, Swiss 1.5fg is generally deemed closest to the haloed C&H. Swiss, however, is not shiny in the same way that my unknown vintage powder is shiny. I see I have several more of those cartridges so I could pull another for comparison with yours, but as you said, shiny like cracked obsidian. Strange stuff. Swiss is shiny from being tumbled with graphite.
OE is dusty stuff and suffers for consistency and is difficult to make precision loads with.
I'd be interested in how thick any lube/wax cookie was in your cartridge. Do you think it was straight beeswax?
Is the shank of the bullet parallel sided or slightly tapered? I'm wagering it may well be the latter, but its a guess. How much paper was sticking out of the case and how deeply was the bullet seated?
Brent, all excellent questions. Given the popularity of C&H #6 in express rifles, it is not a big leap to say these powders, in these popular rounds like Eley and Kynoch, is probably #6. I wouldn't know #6 if it fell on my head, but I felt pretty sure I was looking at it when I saw it the other night. From the old descriptions of it.
The shank of the bullet is straight/ parallel, not tapered.
The 0.85" thick grease wad appeared to be millboard soaked in some kind of grease or oil, either of which would have deteriorated by now. It is not beeswax or some other oil-tallow-wax combination. I was hoping to see the fabled "greased cloth" myself.
About 1/4" of paper patch was sticking out of the case. All of these paper patches are tattered. This one reminded me of a mummy being pulled out of a sarcophagus, with tatters hanging off.
The 228.8-grain bullet is exactly 0.9" long.
The bullet was seated deeply, almost to the place where the ogive begins to turn. A good half inch was in the case, probably a hair more. That surprised me.
OAL was all over the place with these rounds, and one can believe the bullets moved. They are not crimped in place. Average OAL seems to be [EDIT] 3.7" (my cartridges) to 3.8" (Ken's cartridges), which is what Ken found with his antique 450/400 3-1/4" cartridges (sorry if I stole your thunder here, Ken, I just have not heard from you for a while and can't tell if you are away on vacation). I think Ken also has these same Eley paper patched cartridges.
Back to the surface shine on the powders. I now know more about black powders than I did a week ago, as a result of looking at this old stuff. It really grabbed my imagination; it is in great condition, actually like new, and it will surely function properly if touched off. That old surface shine must be from being polished, and not coated with graphite. The Olde Eynsford looks close to this Eley/#6 powder, but it lacks much of a surface shine, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know.
I have been using Swiss FFG in a lot of my express rifles lately, and it works well, and sometimes it almost seems a little too hot, too fast. With harder lead alloy, it works great.
Anyhow, I hope this answers your questions. Dave Weber, proprietor of this fine website, says he might update its software to include an easier way to post photos. If that happens, I will be able to post pictures of this process, although by then we will also be into hunting season and my mind will be far far away from computers.
You know, for all the "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" warnings I got last week, it is surprising that no one has asked how I opened up the cartridge.
