Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading

Guns Unlimited got a powder order in yesterday

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AAllen:
We received a shipment of IMR & Hodgdon powder yesterday. The following popular powders are now back in stock:
1 pound containers:
... IMR 4350 Varget IMR 4198
Benchmark IMR 4831

4 lb container - Hodgdon Clays
8 lb container - Hodgdon Clays and Varget

This may be the last shipment of Clays powder we received this year due to a fire at the manufacturing plant.

GreyGeek:

--- Quote from: AAllen on June 19, 2013, 08:51:42 AM ---This may be the last shipment of Clays powder we received this year due to a fire at the manufacturing plant.
--- End quote ---

That's an Internet Myth that has been going around for almost 5 years.  It first started in 2009.   

--- Quote ---Subject: clays powder plant explosion
From: Oregunner
Email:
Date: Thu, May 30, 2013 - 12:39 PM ET
Website Address:
This is an internet rumor that got started, that I wasn't able to verify anywhere. You think that some news organization would have some kind of information on this, if it actually happened. It's amazing what people believe just from word of mouth. I heard it was an explosion set off by the government to destroy Obama's true birth certificate. Mark
PS. I just got off the phone with Mike at Hodgdon Powder, phone #913-362-9455, and he confirmed that there has been NO fires and that they running at full capacity. Mark

--- End quote ---
There was a tire salvage business in Hodgdon, Maine, that burned down  in December of last year.
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/12/28/news/aroostook/hodgdon-business-destroyed-by-fire-nearby-home-saved/

Here is some other interesting bits of info about Hodgdon:

--- Quote ---Hogdon has gotten the distributorships for IMR and Winchester powders in the USA. IMR is made by Expro in Canada, Winchester by St Marks Powder in Florida. Both FACTORIES are subsidiaries of General Dynamics. They make the powder and send it by the barrel to Hodgdon for packaging and sale.

Hodgdon Spherical powders are made in the St Marks plant. Several of them are the same as Winchester powders, just under different labels. HP38 and Win. 231 are the same stuff. Other Sphericals are made to Hodgdon specs; new Bl-C2 is made to replicate the surplus powder that was one of Hogdgon's first products. Others are grades of powder that Winchester does not sell any more. You can still get HS6 but not Win. 540, for example.

Hodgdon extruded and flake powders are imported from ADI in Australia. There are a lot of weasel words in the equivalence list that wxl mentions but Varget is AR2208 within usual manufacturing tolerances.
Hogdon did have to get ADI to ship them a slightly slower variant of AR2206, listed as AR2206H, to sell as H4895. Hodgdon started out selling surplus DuPont IMR 4895 and when their supplies ran out, went to ICI in Great Britain for an equivalent to keep the product in their lineup. They later changed suppliers to ADI.

Hodgdon does make Pyrodex, though; and maybe 777.

--- End quote ---


Here is what Chris at Hodgdon said in 2009:

--- Quote ---
Chris Hodgdon
Hodgdon-The Gun Powder People
Phone: 913-362-9455 ext 120
Fax: 913-362-1307
Email: chris@hodgdon.com


Why is there a powder shortage and when will it end?

June 9, 2009

For Immediate Release

The answer is really quite simple. In November 2008 a liberal government was elected by the majority of voting Americans. Beginning the next day some of our fellow shooters began to purchase and stock-pile powder, primers, bullets, brass, ammo and guns. Soon word spread person to person and with the ease of communication through the internet enough shooters ran to join in that an unprecedented demand has occurred.

Literally within weeks - before the end of November, the distribution pipeline was empty and demand far outstripped supply. The manufacturers of our industry, including Hodgdon® Powder Company, ordered new supplies trying to meet customer needs. We have been working at maximum capacity since that time.

There is no more capacity to make powder. We are currently making all burn speeds of Hodgdon®, IMR® and Winchester® powders. We are shipping these powders as soon as they are made and packaged. We are shipping every day.

Some will ask why we do not build more plants. The answer is simple, time. There is no time to build the plant before the unprecedented demand for powder slows down.

I have received calls from shooters who have heard all kinds of rumors why powder is so hard to find. These rumors are not true; there is no vast government conspiracy, the military is not buying up all of the powder and other components, we are not withholding powder from the market, no ships carrying powder are being held hostage by pirates, there is no magic chemical we are being forced to include in the powder which would shorten the shelf life.

When will the demand end and powder become available again? Who knows? Your guess is as good as ours. We have not found it possible to determine the end of this buying and hoarding as purchasing is being driven by emotion. The best advice is just be patient. As soon as the market relaxes the supply chain will fill back in and your favorite powder will come to your local store.

--- End quote ---

Well, FIVE years later and the market has gotten worse, not better.   I don't think  it will relax any time while Obama is in office.  IF this country goes stark raving insane and elects Hillary Clinton as the next president the shortages will last till 2024.  :(   IMO, now is the new normal.  I'm seeing Natchez and other retailers beginning to raise their prices to match those on the auction sites, or at least come close.

AAllen:

--- Quote from: GreyGeek on June 19, 2013, 11:07:07 AM ---That's an Internet Myth that has been going around for almost 5 years.  It first started in 2009.   There was a tire salvage business in Hodgdon, Maine, that burned down  in December of last year.

--- End quote ---

It has shown up again because an employee of Hodgdon apparently has been telling dealers/distributes that there has been a fire.  Hodgdon only manufactures their black powder substitutes, the rest of their powders they import and relabel.  Clays is made in Australia and there is some question if there has been a problem in the "Fluffing Room" (where the powder is dried) and that there may have been a possible fire.  ADI (the manufacturer in Australia) has a note out about shipping issues causing delays in getting their powders out. 

Since a lot of the shotgun powders are also used by handgunners because of the fast burn rates I can see this being a simple supply vs. demand problem, complicated by a shipping issue.  But the rumor was started by a Hodgdon employee, and Chris Hodgdon's reply to questions has been less than enlightening.

GreyGeek:
Here is a recent post on shotgunworld.com

--- Quote ---Oregunner
Date: Thu, May 30, 2013 - 12:39 PM ET

This is an internet rumor that got started, that I wasn't able to verify anywhere. You think that some news organization would have some kind of information on this, if it actually happened. It's amazing what people believe just from word of mouth. I heard it was an explosion set off by the government to destroy Obama's true birth certificate. Mark

PS. I just got off the phone with Mike at Hodgdon Powder, phone #913-362-9455, and he confirmed that there has been NO fires and that they running at full capacity. Mark

--- End quote ---

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