Question on .45 Schofield cartridges

[Johnny McCrae]

Was the .45 Schofield cartridge ever manufactured with smokeless powder prior to 1899? I have found documentation for .45 Colt and .44-40 WCF cartridges in smokeless but nothing for .45 Schofield in smokeless.

I shoot .45 Colt, .45 Schofield and .44-40 WCF in both Black Powder and Smokeless.

Just curious.

[Johnson Barr]

Johnny I have a reprint of the 1896 Union Metallic Cartridge Co. catalog that is available from Abby at Cornell Publications.  In the back sections listed as 'Smokeless' the .45 Smith & Wesson center fire cartridge is listed. It is important to remember the early 'smokes-less' cartridges were primarily loaded with DuPont #2 Bulk powder. The 'bulk' designation was an indication that the DuPont #2 was loaded like black powder; by grs. volume not grs. weight. True smokeless didn't appear until after the Cordite powders in the 20th century. If you want to load modern 'smokes-less' powders try Solo 1000 or Trailboss. Both are smokey and just dirty enough to replicate 19th century loads. 

[Johnny McCrae]

Howdy Mark,

Many thanks for your reply. This is exactly the type of information I'm looking for. I'll be ordering the reprint from Cornell Publications.

For my smokeless .45 Schofield cartridges I use Trail Boss. In fact for all of my Cowboy rounds I've been using Trail Boss exclusively. For my black powder cartridges I've been using APP.

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[Johnson Barr]

I'm partial to Colorado's substitute powders myself. I still have several cases of the old Goex Pinnacle that was produced by APP before Pinnacle was discontinued.