Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Redundant Powders?

The powders truly redundant are the same ones under different names. Powders very close in burn rate might have a niche that they fill with certain rounds due to volume and caliber.

General Dynamics owns the powder plant in Canada. That’s a stock to own if you want to fund expensive powder purchases.

Yes, and it comes back into Canada from the States with additional costs and exchange rates. I once lived not too far from that plant in Valleyfield, Que., but we couldn't buy directly from the plant. It was transported across the border to Plattsburg, NY, where it was packaged and sent to distributers around the world, including Canada. Made in Canada but we had to buy it as a foreign product. Handloading costs for Canadians is at least 1/3rd more than for US citizens.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Canada Ammo bought direct from that plant in bulk, repackaged it and sold it without that powder ever leaving Canada. They were selling it at 25-30$ per pound at the time, making a nice profit whereas the US packaged/marketed canister grade powder was double the cost to the consumer.
It showed that the price of a pound of powder 5 years ago was mostly distributor markup. I expect it is no different today.

As a kid, we used to go up to Valleyfield for the boat races every summer. (Better leave it at that before I get a ticket from the thread relevance police.)

I realize there's an enormous "economy of scale", but, I'm surprised one can buy a 1# canister of powder in the US for $50-$60 that was made in Aus or Europe and realize that everyone along the way made some $$:

The manufacturer

The overseas shipper

The importer

The Co. that makes the packaging

The shipper in the US that gets raw-product to where it's packaged

The shipper that transports packaged product to ammo manufacturers, distributers, large retailers/distribution centers

Retailers which also means another shipper in the case of internet direct sales.

I don't have a problem with lots of choices at all...but if you look at the list of dozens of shotgun powders, you can't help but wonder if there is a point of it all becoming pointless.
And then take an example of a truly universal, clean burning, uniform powder like DuPont PB, used in every hull, used with every wad, every primer...that never met a pistol or small rifle cartridge it didn't like....and discontinue it? Sheer marketing genius. Same minds that decided 4320 was redundant.

I don't believe you can take the formula for reduced loads with H4895 and apply it to IMR 4895. There are powders that are exactly alike and marketed as different powders from different manufacturers for instance H414 is the same as W760.

I posted this link on the two 4895s earlier in the thread: https://hodgdonpowderco.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/h4895-reduced-rifle-loads-2.pdf

Hodgdon has the marketing rights to a whole passel of product lines now, but many if not most of the powders sold under those names is manufactured overseas or here by totally independent companies. Ownership of the brand names that powders are sold under here doesn’t mean they make it, or control the companies that do.

One example in the U.S. is St. Marks Powder Co, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, which is certainly not owned by teensy-weensy Hodgdon.

If you read the Propellant Profiles articles in Handloader regularly, you’ll find that many powders have long, complicated histories, often with multiple manufacturers over time.

Yes, and I for one am happy about that. I can develope a load from each, and have more loading flexability. What`s wrong with that?

The only issue I see with redundant powders is that I don't have the time or the money to try them all.

Growing up we used it in .22-250, .243, .308 & .30-06 which is about all we shot then.
Old man had bought a big metal drum of it somewhere along the way and decided that’s all we needed.
52.1 with a 150gr in .30-06 is accurate, so was 35gr under a 52gr bullet in .22-250. Have one for .308 that shot crazy accurate in an A-Bolt .308 I had years ago too.

Hodgdon owns and controls General Dynamics ? I don't think so. That is who owns and runs the plants in Canada and Florida . The Australian plant is owned and controlled by a large European manufacturer, whose name I have forgotten.

Perhaps off the subject somewhat, wondering who else may have my delima redundant powders? Checked my powder supply and discovered I have 36 different powder, any where from 1 lb to 10 lbs of each. What’s with that? Some I would bet a good number of u haven’t heard of, anyone remember Hodgdons H205 for instance? A number of those 36 I haven’t tried yet. At 85 I may never get around to. Nice problem to have ain’t it?

There is no such thing as redundancy unless the same powder has multiple labels such as 760 and H 414. Even then for availability purposes, you can buy each and blend to a batch for your own stock.

Other than that, there is always going to be a cartridge and load that likes one powder over another, even though they "seem to me to fit in the same niche of usefulness".