Any chance we'll see powder from Goex in 2023 ?

[longcruise]

.......so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to complain about??

Complaints were not solicited.

 

[Piquant]

Watch Estes/Goex get up and running and a Louisiana Typhoon /Flood / Hurricane put it to them ,because I don’t think this was the best state to put a high explosive plant. What say ye…

Me thinks cause The supply of black willow trees is endless and nearby.

 

[Greg_E]

What does the US military use black powder for? All the big navel guns on modern chordite powder now, aren't they?
The problem I have is that no one near me carries black powder because it is classed as an explosive I can only get 777 and Pyro near me.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

I don't know all uses but primers for Artillery have it. I've also been told ejection mechanisms in aircraft use them. It serves as a booster charge in some munitions and salute rounds for ceremonial Artillery use it.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

Mark have you ever shot any Old Eynsford by Goex? I have Schutzen at home and Ive been shooting Swiss for a long time. Swiss was the best powder in BPCR when I shot that years ago. But the Old E is great and cleans up nicely for me. Its also very close to Swiss in velocity.

I've never shot any ole E....
I do have a friend that likes it though,......
I shot Goex the 1st year I started until I discovered Schuetzen & Swiss.
I put the last 4 pounds of Goex I have in the back of the safe & quit using it after
finding out Swiss shoots better & Schuetzen is about the same as Goex except for gun cleaning.
It took almost 30 minutes to clean guns using Goex. Stuff is nasty.
I only spend 7-9 minutes cleaning my guns using Swiss or Schuetzen.
Since I've never tried old E...I'm not sure how the clean up would work out with it.

 

[SDSmlf]

I've never shot any ole E....
I do have a friend that likes it though,......
I shot Goex the 1st year I started until I discovered Schuetzen & Swiss.
I put the last 4 pounds of Goex I have in the back of the safe & quit using it after
finding out Swiss shoots better & Schuetzen is about the same as Goex except for gun cleaning.
It took almost 30 minutes to clean guns using Goex. Stuff is nasty.
I only spend 7-9 minutes cleaning my guns using Swiss or Schuetzen.
Since I've never tried old E...I'm not sure how the clean up would work out with it.

Expect the Goex fans will jump all over you for your observation, although my experience has been similar to yours. I have just avoided mentioning, American made or less expensive, just wasn’t worth using it to me compared to Swiss for the reasons you mention, plus lack of consistency or accuracy. Not interested in arguing with folks who claim it works fine for them because they can hit a five gallon bucket three out of five times at a hundred yards all day, and they kill their deer every year….

 

[dave951]

What does the US military use black powder for? All the big navel guns on modern chordite powder now, aren't they?
The problem I have is that no one near me carries black powder because it is classed as an explosive I can only get 777 and Pyro near me.

You'd be amazed at how much they use and it isn't for "guns". It's used in all manner of munitions, rocket components, artillery primers, ejection seat ignitors and that just scratches the surface. Make no mistake here, the civilian market is nowhere near as large as Uncle Sam and he has a bottomless wallet

 

[dave951]

I've never shot any ole E....
I do have a friend that likes it though,......
I shot Goex the 1st year I started until I discovered Schuetzen & Swiss.
I put the last 4 pounds of Goex I have in the back of the safe & quit using it after
finding out Swiss shoots better & Schuetzen is about the same as Goex except for gun cleaning.
It took almost 30 minutes to clean guns using Goex. Stuff is nasty.
I only spend 7-9 minutes cleaning my guns using Swiss or Schuetzen.
Since I've never tried old E...I'm not sure how the clean up would work out with it.

I used to shoot Ole E and it's quite similar to Swiss. Price was comparable and the main reason I used it was there was a distributor not 20 miles from my house. That distributor was bought out by a larger outfit and they dropped anything black powder from their lines. So I switched to Swiss and have no issues with it. Couple that with the lack of support for youth shooting sports by Goex, unless Estes changes the policy, I won't use Goex again.

 

[RobertsGunsmithing]

Watch Estes/Goex get up and running and a Louisiana Typhoon /Flood / Hurricane put it to them ,because I don’t think this was the best state to put a high explosive plant. What say ye…

I hear folks say, My Pappy's Pappy's Pappy built the farm and we ainta leavin'! But, I would have moved at the first gust of wind. It just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Songwriter]

Watch Estes/Goex get up and running and a Louisiana Typhoon /Flood / Hurricane put it to them ,because I don’t think this was the best state to put a high explosive plant. What say ye…

Minden in up in NW Louisiana pretty far inland, about like Dallas. Tornadoes and rain maybe, but its not coastal.

 

[Greg_E]

You'd be amazed at how much they use and it isn't for "guns". It's used in all manner of munitions, rocket components, artillery primers, ejection seat ignitors and that just scratches the surface. Make no mistake here, the civilian market is nowhere near as large as Uncle Sam and he has a bottomless wallet

With that much use, why did Goex go under? Seems like it should have been a money printing machine like many other government contracts.

 

[user 31257]

With that much use, why did Goex go under? Seems like it should have been a money printing machine like many other government contracts.

It didn’t go under exactly, Hodgdon decided to sell it.

 

[Greg_E]

It didn’t go under exactly, Hodgdon decided to sell it.

You don't sell a profit making arm of your business unless the sale is worth more than the consistent profits.

Is Estes the same company that produces model rocket engines?

 

[TDM]

Exactly @QuinnTheEskimo

 

[TDM]

You don't sell a profit making arm of your business unless the sale is worth more than the consistent profits.

Is Estes the same company that produces model rocket engines?

Yes, Estes makes the model rocket engines.

Supposedly the Goex plant had a couple of fires that caused damage during the year before the shutdown. Hodgdon probably wanted to concentrate on their BP substitutes. As far as the Government contracts, sometimes companies make bad business decisions.

 

[Greg_E]

Ok, so Estes is already making something very similar to black powder, they are just casting it into rocket motors. Might be a good fit to have granulated powder from the same raw material.

 

[dave951]

You don't sell a profit making arm of your business unless the sale is worth more than the consistent profits.

Is Estes the same company that produces model rocket engines?

If you research the history of the brand, you'll find there have been a string of accidents and several have had fatalities. Each time, they just cleaned up and repaired the antiquated equipment and started back into operation. At some point, the costs of insurance and operations will make it not profitable regardless of Uncle Sugar. Couple that with Hogdon making Pdex as well and Hogdon didn't want the headache. So, with that in mind, and Uncle's contracts, somebody was going to purchase the brand and resume operations. How it's being done is in the details but let's hope they take measures to prevent future accidents, worker injuries and fatalities. If you think it just "comes with the territory" in powder manufacture, Scheutzen, Wano, et al don't seem to have this issue.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

With that much use, why did Goex go under? Seems like it should have been a money printing machine like many other government contracts.

The folks at Hodgdon are in business to make money and likely no longer saw operating GOEX as a good business move for them.

 

[longcruise]

Also, Estes seems to have had the sense to work out some serious financial arrangements with Uncle.

You can be sure that there has been much work, renovation and safety improvements being done over the past year and I'm pretty sure that the more time, effort and money that goes into it the better will be the results for the ML community.

Estes seems to be run by some smart people.

 

[SPQR70AD]

If you research the history of the brand, you'll find there have been a string of accidents and several have had fatalities. Each time, they just cleaned up and repaired the antiquated equipment and started back into operation. At some point, the costs of insurance and operations will make it not profitable regardless of Uncle Sugar. Couple that with Hogdon making Pdex as well and Hogdon didn't want the headache. So, with that in mind, and Uncle's contracts, somebody was going to purchase the brand and resume operations. How it's being done is in the details but let's hope they take measures to prevent future accidents, worker injuries and fatalities. If you think it just "comes with the territory" in powder manufacture, Scheutzen, Wano, et al don't seem to have this issue.

the guy that invented pyrodex died in the factory when it blew up