Okay, I get to eat a little crow today. I looked over the 1895 report from Ordnance which says they are looking at various powders and are willing to accept lots of powder making 38,000 normal and 45,000 when hot. SAAMI's 40,000 for the .30 Krag is, then, reasonable. Regardless, my rolling block won't see over 33,000; there is no back-up locking lug on this rifle.

For what it's worth, Ordnance reports they used only Peyton powder through June of '95, but they had on order Leonard and DuPont powders. Tests were showing the NG content of Leonard was eroding barrels; Peyton was mostly NC and causing no problems. That Peyton was a slow powder is indicated by the complaints of unburned residue filling the locking lug's recess and causing jams.

A question: How "dirty" is 4350 when used in a .30-40-220? My .30-37-180 loads of 4895 are fairly clean.

Interesting was the note they were preparing to test 120 gn .22 caliber ammunition.

The report for Frankford through mid-1898 says they are still using as much Peyton as any other powder for the Krag. DuPont contracts are equally large, and WA from L&R is also being loaded but not in the quantities of Peyton and DuPont. Mean pressures with the latest lots of Peyton are 35,000 and 38,000 maximum. Various tests indicate it is of different composition than earlier lots. They report the granules are soft enough to crush with your fingernails.

The DuPont powder being employed makes higher pressures for 2000 fps, with means near 38,000. (More crow for me.) WA was more like 36,000.

The Wikipedia says the CPW plant was destroyed in an explosion in 1898, so this was likely the last year Frankford will include a report on Peyton. Given the previous erosion reports on the DuPont powder, I suspect 1899 was the year WA became the predominant powder in the .30 Krag, but I don't have the report for that year.