Not every tree makes good cellulose. Not every kind of celulose makes good nitrocelluose.
But there is plenty of nitrocellulose out there--and the worlds militaries are thankfull they can get so much of it right now.
Let's go back 60 years and think about how many rifle powders were available? Maybe 15 different powders? Today there probably 60 powders (granted, they're not all readily available at any given moment currently). Where did the big majority of this increase in a variety of powders come from? Foreign manufacturers. Who have always been the this source. Big Game has never been made in North Anerica for example, along with 20-30 other rifle powders that have always been made overseas.
The militaries of the world have always been the primary buyers of smokless powder and other propellants.
Sporting ammunition has always been a distant second.
Active (that's a key word) handloaders represent a tiny, TINY fraction of the propellants used in the world.
Most of the advanced countries have some version of our War Production Act, but in this case ammo and component manufacturers are more than happy to fulfill multi million dollar contracts with militaries the world over, and it doesn't really matter if the powder manufacturer is located here in the USA or Bumfook, Egypt.
Everybody loves capitalism in theory--until it doesn't go our way.
Conspiracy theories. It explains everything these days. Sigh......
Last edited by alpinecrick; 03/31/24.
