Hodgdon is getting on my last nerve

[Onstep]

I just checked our local Scheels, they have 8 pounders of H4350 in stock and 1# of H1000 in stock. Called them to verify and they just received a big powder shipment in. All kinds of powder available right now!

That's crazy I'm in the Sandy UT store every couple weeks and haven't seen anything like that.

 

[johnnyk]

Yeah no need to worry, it will show up eventually. I was thinking about this the other day. I have more than enough powder(s) to make any of my rifles go bang. The "insensitive" powders worked great decades before the extreme line from Hodgdon hit the streets. It's like shotgun shells; guys act like the only thing that will kill critters these days is the 3.5" magnum shells. Animals are not immune to 2.75" shells!
Big game hunting season is over, I'm not competitive and I'm not a sniper so why don't I just use the other components I have on hand.

 

[FEENIX]

Yeah no need to worry, it will show up eventually. I was thinking about this the other day. I have more than enough powder(s) to make any of my rifles go bang. The "insensitive" powders worked great decades before the extreme line from Hodgdon hit the streets. It's like shotgun shells; guys act like the only thing that will kill critters these days is the 3.5" magnum shells. Animals are not immune to 2.75" shells!
Big game hunting season is over, I'm not competitive and I'm not a sniper so why don't I just use the other components I have on hand.

I too have enough powder for sustainment. Sadly, sometimes we tend to complain about things that we do not have instead of appreciating what we already have.

 

[aushunter1]

These powders are produced in Australia, considering the hundreds (or more) homes that were lost and tens of thousands of acres burned, the manufacturing staffing has had to be affected.

True but I dont think the later part of your statement would have anything to do with production imo!

Military production/contracts would come 1st then civilian.

I recall a time about 10 years ago when we couldn't even get the stuff we make on our own doorstep.

In that case apart from needing to meet OS needs it was more a local transport supply issue where the contracted company went belly up & there was no one short term licenced to transport/distribute large quantities of powder.

Took a while for the issue to be resolved.

While I dont condone people buying up all the available powder(we have limits we can buy here anyway) it pays to be trying to source your next batch while you still have a couple of 1lb canisters in the cupboard

 

[wbm]

Why is it that a company who makes gunpowder, and has been doing so forever, can't keep up with demand?

Guess it has been posted but Hodgdon does not make gunpowder. Instead of complaining here why not give Hodgdon a call?

Pretend you are the owner of Hodgdon and your sales are so good that you have a difficult time keeping up with demand. Would that cause you to be "on your last nerve?" I thought not.

 

[Backcountry sports]

I'm going to vent. I'm probably gonna get kicked off the forum, but I think I'm speaking for most of us when I ask if the people running Hodgdon have their heads up their --- or something. Retumbo, H4350, H1000, Varget, are all STAPLES of the Hodgdon brand, and it's like trying to find pixie dust. Do they want to lose customers? Why is it that a company who makes gunpowder, and has been doing so forever, can't keep up with demand? Are they not investing enough of their profits into the company and their equipment? You would think that the demand for their products would be incentive for them to make more of it.
Am I missing something here? For all of the powder companies out there, now is a great time for them to get their engineers and marketing teams in order and produce powders that are temp stable with comparable burn rates. When I find something that will replace my Hodgdon powders, I'm jumping ship. Their management appears to be about as in touch with their customers as Remington's marketing.

You would think there Democrats trying to get in the back door I need powder also

 

[440coronet]

 

[D Scott]

Hogden serves the military and ammo manufacturers, hand loaders dont figure into their thinking, hopefully a new US company will replace them

 

[Will Gray]

Buy what you need by the JUG when it is available. It keeps!!!

 

[sunsetpalms]

I'm going to vent. I'm probably gonna get kicked off the forum, but I think I'm speaking for most of us when I ask if the people running Hodgdon have their heads up their --- or something. Retumbo, H4350, H1000, Varget, are all STAPLES of the Hodgdon brand, and it's like trying to find pixie dust. Do they want to lose customers? Why is it that a company who makes gunpowder, and has been doing so forever, can't keep up with demand? Are they not investing enough of their profits into the company and their equipment? You would think that the demand for their products would be incentive for them to make more of it.
Am I missing something here? For all of the powder companies out there, now is a great time for them to get their engineers and marketing teams in order and produce powders that are temp stable with comparable burn rates. When I find something that will replace my Hodgdon powders, I'm jumping ship. Their management appears to be about as in touch with their customers as Remington's marketing.

I get the demand thing... But "FOLLOW THE MONEY"

 

[INVICTUS]

Yeah, I was looking for (of course) Varget last weekend and couldn't find it. I'm down to 1-1/4 pound. Same deal with RL-15 where I shop.

I've got about 10 pounds of Varget.
Maybe it's my fault nobody can find this stuff

 

[jrock]

My frustrations with the scarcity became real last fall when I was working out the final kinks in my hunting load and getting long rage DOPE and realized I only had enough Retumbo left for 7 rounds for hunting season. Fortunately, I only needed one but still, not a good place to be going into the season.
I've had to move onto other powders as I want to shoot, not sit on my hands and wait for powder to become available. The worst is making the routine calls to all the local stores and getting laughed at when I ask for the unicorn powders. Life is too short

 

[Okanogan]

I make a list of what I expect to need in the future, and then give Powder Valley a call and put it on back order. I usually order at least a 8 lb jug of what ever I am ordering. I get what I want at a reasonable price without getting price gouged. Following this preplanned approach has left me well stocked with H1000, Varget, Rotumbo, H4350, H4831SC and RL26. I have tried the local gun store routine where I live but their wait times can be over a year so adapted my approach.

This is an election year so I expect things to get worse even though Hodgdon says they are trying to increase production. The political party that hates the incumbent is fielding numerous candidates that are tripping all over themselves with antigun rhetoric that is far stronger than anything we heard in the 2016 election during the last big rush on supplies.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

You would think that the demand for their products would be incentive for them to make more of it.
Am I missing something here?

There isn't a single company in the world, past present or future, that can scale supply to meet demand the way you seem to think they should be able to. Its not a simple function of turn the machines up to 11 and make more product, they need raw materials (these raw materials by the way, arent just used to make gun powder so they are competing with other industries and changing prices to get what they need), they need more people to set up/run/clean/re-cycle the machines, warehouse space, shipping infrastructure, etc etc etc... those things require massive capital outlays that wont necessarily pay off in the long run once supply stabilizes. Never mind the whole aspect of their industry being extremely highly regulated which adds a significant time factor to all the steps required to scale up output.

The whole "bUt ThEy ARe lOsINg cUStOmeRs!" thing always confuses me. Yes, they may lose YOU as a customer, but No, they arent losing customers on an aggregate level, they are literally selling 100% of everything they can make right now, so the fact that you might switch to Alliant or someone else doesn't really bother them because there's hundreds of more people who will take your place in line waiting. There's no loyalty in the equation here... product out = dollars in. Its the same thing that always gets me when people complain about firearms companies with high demand product wont offer layaway , financing, discounts, T&E examples, etc etc etc... why would they? All of those things create risk or eat into margin on something that they could literally sell every single unit at MSRP or even marked up if they wanted to. Economics doesnt care about your feelings. It's not just firearms... go to a Ford dealership and try and buy a new Raptor, or a GT, or go to Chevy and try and buy a C8. Sure... sign a purchase order for full marked up price and take your spot in line with the thousands of other people. You storm out of the dealership angry and 5 other people walk in behind you who want the same thing.

Think about it, I know everyone on this forum likes to believe that cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor, the PRC twins, the move to large overbore magnums for ELR hunting etc are just passing fads, but they have brought new shooters into the sport in droves. This means more demand for factory ammo, and more demand for handloading components. To my original point, they are scaling supply, but if demand is growing at 10x what they can reasonably scale up supply, its going to be stocked out.

It's not exactly impossible, I was able to buy 8lbs of H1000 a few months ago, and it stayed in stock for almost a week after I placed my order, there's product out there if you are patient and willing to look for it.

So yeah... you are missing quite a lot, and showing a fair amount of ignorance in the process.