Miller, do you have anything tangible on which to base your "suspicions" vs the tests Thomas reported? He refers to them in both his "Gun Book" (p. 235) and in "Shotguns and Cartridges" (pp 154-155). In neither place does he specify the type of powders used, although in the latter he says that they were "carried out by IMI when they were developing their MODERN RANGE of powders and ammunition." (Emphasis mine.) To me, that makes it sound like they're testing new powder vs new powder to see if there's any difference in recoil. Not much point in testing against the old bulk powder loads if those are being dropped.
