IIRC, there is still a large amount of the very first lot on Bullseye in existence. It's actually stored in water and every once in a while they take some, dry it and use it to test/compare with a current lot to insure it holds to the same standard. :shock: IIRC, they also do that with Unique. I know they've made a change in Unique to supposedlu make it cleaner burning so I don't know how or if it changes the results but I think it's kind of cool that two of the very earliest smokeless powder are not only still being made but immensely popular.
From Wikipedia:
When the American Smokeless Powder Company plant was destroyed by an explosion in 1898, Laflin & Rand took over the company and rebuilt the plant in Haskell, New Jersey (named for Laflin & Rand president Jonathan Haskell.) The Haskell plant became Laflin & Rand's primary smokeless powder factory producing not only military W.A. powder, but sporting powders including Bullseye pistol powder (introduced in 1898 using small, irregular particles removed by screening runs of larger grained powders), Lightning powder for lever-action sporting rifles (introduced in 1899), and shotgun powders Infallible and Unique (introduced in 1900).[1]
Note the first year of use, 1898 with Unique following in the year 1900. Not bad for a 121 year old powder.
Paul B.