More stuff going on at Hodgedon

[longcruise]

This from another forum that is more focused on the modern stuff, but I think it's pertinent to us!

Hodgdon's Has shut down all powder Production as of last Thursday


I guess its mainly distribution they have shut down as of last Thursday until Mid January. They have no supplies coming in from Australia.
They don't manufacture much here in the USA.

All the boats are stuck offshore California. So, just like Christmas toys, there will be none until Q1.

They have furloughed all their workers until after the Holidays.

Vihtavuori also has not much supply until Q1. Alliant may pop up with a little bit, here and there.

This is at least what the LGS's are experiencing. Could be some large distributors like Midway, Brownell's, Powder Valley, Natchez, Grafs, could
get a smidgeon of something from a warehouse somewhere......but supplies will not be deep or last long when they go up for sale.

 

[Okie Hog]

The only reference if found was the other gun board. No link there either.

 

[longcruise]

Yup, I didn’t write most of the post above. I only wrote the part above the bold.

 

[52Bore]

I sense a bit of Karma…

 

[longcruise]

Been looking for any kind of confirmation of accuracy or inaccuracy and coming up with nada.

 

[Knifemaker3]

Been getting some back orders in at my shop. Mostly pistol powder and shotgun but better than nothing

 

[Brokenbear]

I think as a LGS retailer in this time period of krazy ..you have to be signed direct with Hodgdon and aggressively placing orders in advance ahead of the curve to keep powder in stock.
Luckily I have such a dealer 20 min away and they seem to do a pretty good job of powder on the shelf ..not always do they have every SKU but usually not long and they will ..
Likely ..the LGS's having trouble getting powder are not direct with Hodgdon and are relying on a distributor for supply
Go on the Hodgdon web site and do a dealer search for who their dealers are and see if your local LGS is listed ..

If you look on a can of Tripple Seven it says made in the USA on the Sante Fe Trail and I bet Pyrodex might also be US made

I cannot imagine Winchester Olin Chemicals not still building powder for factory ammo and the reloading market being handled by Hodgdon thru their distribution and dealer network ..the Winchester Olin plant is on the St Marks river in Florida still building powder
Hodgdon was founded on

The Hodgdon brand of powder started as a packager of surplus powder WWII and also pull down powder of surplus ammo "pull down" powder reclamation

The IMR powders were emulated by the early Hodgdon offerings simply because many were IMR burn rate type powders and likely were in fact IMR war produced powders

Bruce Hodgdon did a great job of scientifically packaging, blending and testing these surplus and pull down powders giving us early reloaders a steady, safe, predictable source of supply of economical powders ..

His sons Bob and JB were able to source new manufacturing for the Hodgdon branded powders as the surplus powder availability began to diminish ..I do not know who or where that may be but some one on the Hodgdon side of the equation is certainly continuing to introduce new and innovative powders under the Hodgdon brand name

As far as the IMR brand goes.. I do not know when Hodgdon was licensed to be the marketing arm of the IMR brand of retail packaged powders whether the production of IMR powder was changed in any way

By the way I am not in any way connected to the folks at Hodgdon ..so if any one has some legitimate corrections on this discussion by all means chime in (I understand this is a re-post and not the OP's thoughts)

I am saying however that I can understand some interruptions to supplies of imported bulk propellants ..and the packaging of such bulk goods ..but I suspect Hodgdon still has business to conduct

Bear

 

[hanshi]

Pyrodex is indeed still made in the US, as far as I know. I recall when Pyrodex was first developed and a factory built to manufacture it. Sadly, the factory exploded killing co-inventor, Dan Pawlak. The other co-inventor, Michael Levenson, wasn't in the explosion as far as I know. One of the first things touted about Pyrodex was its safety compared with black powder. But then a sugar factory exploded a few years ago too.

 

[William Lincoln]

Pyrodex is a great substitute PROVIDING it is within five years or so
of age. My experience is that old Pyrodex is lower powered. However,
the worst substitute for storage and stability is T-7. Open can T-7 is
very iffy here in the South (humidity?) had many squibs over the years.
Fresh stuff is great. Real Black Powder is the gold standard for reliability.
I am now experimenting with Blackhorn in duplex loads: BP/Blackhorn.
No squibs or misfires so far. I think Blackhorn is the best sub. Will try
Blackhorn un-duplex with caps when I can get hot enough caps. Do
not want to convert to 209s. Blackhorn is clean and very hot-but high priced.