ICI Nobel Pistol Powder No.2 & No.3

[mrbeech]

One of the guys I know has a couple of old ICI Nobel Pistol Powder No 2 & No 3 (grey tins manufactured in Scotland). He presently does not have any loading data and I was wondering if there is any information available allowing the use of these powders.

I have found some information on the Nobel Sport (Italian) website which refers to SP2 and SP3. I don’t know how relevant this information is to the afore mention powders. Their website suggests that both powders (SP2 & SP3) could be used with few different calibres of which .357 Magnum is mention.

Would anybody have any further information or recommendations which would perhaps allow for the possible use of the ICI Nobel Pistol Powder No.2 & No.3 in .357 Magnum or .38 Special loads?

I saw an earlier post where a Full-bore member has a pdf copy of an old Nobel reloading manual but as I have only recently joined the Full-bore forum I am unable to PM the member to ask for further help, info and assistance.

Many thanks in advance for your replies and advice.
Best regards.

[dromia]

Moved to correct forum.

Future mis-posts will be removed .

Familiarise your self with the forum headers and if in doubt ask.

[Laurie]

There is NO relationship between the old ICI-Nobel products made in Ardeer/Stevenston, Scotland and today's Eurenco Nobel-Sport powders made in France, so forget the latter's manual.

If you Google long enough, you'll find data extracted from the 1970/80s ICI-Nobel manual, and/or somebody who still has a copy will help out on this or another forum. This question arises every now and then as there are a perhaps surprisingly large number of these tins still extant, sealed and with their contents in good condition. These days they're usually the pistol / revolver grades presumably thanks to the pistol ban leaving owners with tins and little use. The tins are metal and had a tight pressed-in sealing cap under the screw-cap so the contents remain in good condition forever if stored in a dry place and reasonable temperatures. Chemical products like paint thinners came in similar tins in those days and a screwdriver, sturdy penknife or other sharp pointed tool was needed to puncture metal sealing cap and leaver it out.

The important thing is to use the words 'ICI-Nobel' in the search and/or 'Nobel Glasgow'. You will find a lot of threads including some from this forum and replies from @dromia.

The 'Nobel Glasgow' manual (that's going way too far - 'guide' is a better description) was a very simple card covered A5 booklet - none of your free loads data back then either! IIRC my copy, bought in 1982, cost me £2. Case, primer, and bullet makes weren't quoted for either rifle or pistol loads - it just listed 158gn lead, 150gn metal-cased or whatever, then the start and max loads. For those unfamiliar with these old powders, they used numerical designations in which low = slow. So Rifle No.0 was the magnum powder and Rifle No.3 the fastest burner for 222 Rem and suchlike. The handgun grades had 'Revolver 1' as the slowest grade IIRC for full-house 357 Magnum loads, then Pistol No.s 2, and 3. Pistol 3 is about equivalent to Bullseye / Red Dot for 38 Spcl target loadings and Pistol 2 was a 9mm Para powder roughly equivalent to Unique. (But don't substitute their data.)

My copy has either been long lost somewhere in the house or thrown out in a bit of paper-clearing, so I can't help you. In fact as I've found two unopened tins of Pistol powders, I could use some data myself to help give it away to some deserving levergun shooter or suchlike.

[mrbeech]

Hi Laurie,
Thanks for the explanation and info. I did see in an earlier post that there is a member who has a copy of loading data for the Nobel powder but I can't PM the individual yet.
Thanks again, much appreciated.
Best regards

[PeterN]

I have a Nobel reloading guide. Details of the powders and 38/357 data attached. I can't find a date on the book but says @ 'NDP295/new edition/14/683' so I presume 683 is June 1983? Use the information at your own risk.

Regards
Peter.

[mrbeech]

Hi Peter,

That is fantastic thank you Sir, your time and help is very much appreciated indeed.

Have a good evening.
Best regards.

[Double Trigger]

I was given 3 sealed tins of Pistol No. 3 and want to reload for the Japanese Type 26 Revolver. A good starting point is a mild load for 38 Spl but I am unable to read the above table submitted by PeterN. Is it possible someone (PeterN?) could email me these pages in readable form? Thanks
Pete.

[dromia]

If you click on the image it enlarges.

If you need more then just "zoom" in on your browser, the text remains readable even when enlarged 300%.

[dodgyrog]

PM sent