Laflin & Rand Powder Company was a gunpowder and early

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powderSmokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to gunpowder ("black powder"). The combustion products are mainly gaseous, compared t ...

manufacturer notable for producing the smokeless powder used by United States Army infantry rifles from 1896 to 1908, which included the period of development of the M1903 Springfield rifle and

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

cartridge.Sharpe, Philip B. ''Complete Guide to Handloading'' 3rd Edition (1953) Funk & Wagnalls pp.136,147-149&175-177

Formation

Matthew Laflin manufactured potassium nitrate for the Massachusetts militia during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, and built a gun

powder mill A powder mill was a mill where gunpowder is made from sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal. Milling steps Crude grinding and mixing operations such as the Frankford Powder-Mill of Philadelphia were a cottage industry until the industrial revolution ...

in Southwick, Massachusetts after the war. After Laflin's death in 1810, his grandchildren expanded the family business with two mills in New York and one in Wisconsin. These mills produced gunpowder for the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

forces through the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Laflin Powder Company was incorporated in 1866 to consolidate operations to compete successfully for the reduced gunpowder demand after the war. Laflin Powder Company further consolidated gunpowder manufacturing around the

Orange Mill Historic District The Orange Mill Historic District is the only historic district in the Town of Newburgh in Orange County, New York. It encompasses the of county-run Algonquin Park and many of the surrounding lands. It is centered along Powder Mill Road just o ...

near

Newburgh, New York Newburgh is a city in the U.S. state of New York, within Orange County. With a population of 28,856 as of the 2020 census, it is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown metropolitan area. Located north of New York City, a ...

by merger with the competing Smith & Rand Powder Company on 24 August 1869 to form the Laflin & Rand Powder Company of New York City, with Albert Rand as president.

History

In 1872 Laflin & Rand formed the United States Gunpowder Trade Association (popularly known as the powder trust) with DuPont,

Hazard Powder Company The Hazard Powder Company is a former American manufacturer of gunpowder and explosives. It was located in Hazardville within the town of Enfield, Connecticut. History The company was founded on the Scantic River in 1835 by Allen Loomis ...

, and three smaller gunpowder manufacturers. DuPont and Laflin & Rand jointly established the Repauno Chemical Company in 1880, the Hercules Powder Company in 1882, and the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895.

Smokeless powder

Smokeless powder became a threat to traditional United States gunpowder markets in 1893. Winchester Repeating Arms Company began loading sporting ammunition with smokeless powder manufactured by the Anglo-American Explosives Company; and the United States Army published smokeless powder specifications for the new

Krag–Jørgensen The Krag–Jørgensen is a repeating bolt-action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Norway, Denmark, and the United States. About 300 we ...

service rifle. Laflin & Rand negotiated a license to produce Alfred Nobel's patented '' Ballistite'' smokeless powder adopted by many European military forces; but the U.S. Army selected ''Ruby'' smokeless powder produced by the newly formed Leonard Smokeless Powder Company. Rather than pay the required royalties to manufacture ''Ballistite'', Laflin & Rand loaned the financially troubled Leonard company $30,000 to reorganize as the American Smokeless Powder Company. U.S. Army Lieutenant Garland Whistler assisted American Smokeless Powder Company factory superintendent Henry Aspinwall in formulating an improved powder. They reduced the

nitroglycerine Nitroglycerin (NG), (alternative spelling of nitroglycerine) also known as trinitroglycerin (TNG), nitro, glyceryl trinitrate (GTN), or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane, is a dense, colorless, oily, explosive liquid most commonly produced by nitrating ...

content from 58% to 30%; and the extruded formulation, named W.A. in recognition of their work, was cut into black perforated discs in diameter and thick. W.A. .30 caliber smokeless powder was the standard for United States military service rifles from 1896 until 1908. 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 Haskell is an unincorporated community located within Wanaque Borough, in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Haskell was formed in 1898 as a company town for a smokeless powder mill of the Laflin & Rand Powder Company. The town ...

(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).

DuPont control

Laflin & Rand and DuPont together commanded over two-thirds of the United States explosives and gunpowder industry by 1900. In October 1902 DuPont purchased Laflin & Rand and operated the company as a subsidiary until Federal antitrust action required divestiture in 1912. On April 1, 1912, there was a large explosion at the New Jersey operated factory. Fifteen tons of black powder ignited, killing two men at the scene and leveling three buildings. Houses all across northern New Jersey shook as the shock wave hit them. When Laflin & Rand was dissolved, the reorganized Hercules Powder Company received Laflin & Rand patents for smokeless powder and continued manufacture at Kenvil, New Jersey under the direction of Haskell ballistics laboratory director Bernhart Troxler. The former Laflin & Rand plant at Haskell operated until dismantled in 1926. Hercules Powder Company continued to produce ''Bullseye'' and ''Unique'' powders at other plants until selling the product line to the Alliant Powder Company. Alliant Powder Company continued manufacturing these smokeless powders into the 21st century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laflin and Rand Powder Company Firearm propellants Ammunition manufacturers Explosives manufacturers Gunpowder mills