Hodgdon is getting on my last nerve

[westTXcrd]

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.

It is annoying. If you are a varget fan, I recommend learning about/looking at IMR 4320. Its kind of a forgotten powder. I had my 308 hunting rifle dialed in to same hole at 100 with varget but got a single flier in every 5 shot group. My local reloading guru threw a can of 4320 at me (literally the old metal can that looks like a paint thinner can) and said to swap powders and it would take care of the flier. As drastic of a change as that sounded, i tried it and he was right

 

[Cody Richardson]

I shoot h4831sc and h4350 religiously, about 24 pounds a year in each in 3 different calibers for fclass. I am testing R16 right now at the recommendation of other fclass guys in the same boat with Hodgdon, so far it has been right on par with h4350 and has seemed to be less temp sensitive as well

 

[IDSHOOTER64]

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.

Try and find someone that can order right from a wholesaler, I was able to get 36 pounds of H1000 a couple weeks ago. I have an 8# keg of RL33 on its way and more H1000 should be here next week. The powder is becoming more available but it also helps to know the right people.

 

[azsugarbear]

Well, they lost me. I've been searching for Retumbo & H1000 for about a year now in AZ. Our Sportsman's Warehouse and Cabelas/Bass Pro haven't seen any in the last 12 months. I get the temporary flux of supply and demand, but not being able to get your product to the market in over a year? I've switched over to Alliant. At least I can find some of their powders every now and then. Given the fact that Alliant s now harder to find suggests that more than a few shooters have switched over. The question is: once Hodgdon corrects the problem, will they be able to earn these customers back.

 

[Plowboy85]

I believe I have 10lbs or better of Varget that I have no use for. If someone is interested PM and we will see if we can work something out. I most certainly will not take advantage of the cituation and it will be the normal shelf price.

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'm down to my last 2 lbs Varget and 1 lbs of H- 4350
But I got 7 lbs of IMR 4831 for a 7mag that I burnt the barrel out of
I may go broke but when I can get Varget and 4350 I'm buying in volume

 

[Model12boy]

True or not the big fire that was over in Australia supposedly hit the main build for Hodgens powder an was affected by the fire. I have also heard the military comments are true, they are 1st in line for certain powders as the company gets up an running again. Due to fire destruction

 

[gohring3006]

I always have at least two powders and two bullets per gun to choose from. Right now I have enough powder to burn out the barrels of each rifle I load for. When the shortage happened in 2014-2016 I told myself I'll never be without again. Some of the powders I have as backups might not be what I want, but they will work.
Im always trying to be one step ahead.

 

[Plowboy85]

believe I have 10lbs or better of Varget that I have no use for. If someone is interested PM and we will see if we can work something out. I most certainly will not take advantage of the cituation and it will be the normal shelf price.

I should have stated, I would rather a few people get it than one person take it all so when I see what I have we will go from there.

 

[Stgraves260]

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 buy my Hodgdons powder at Cabelas. There was a gentleman who USED to work there. He was not putting the powder on the shelf. He was holding it. I was going there every day to pick up H4350, 4831 SC, and Retumbo. If I remember right they had 10 lbs of each powder delivered the night before. It didn't show in there innovatory that any had been sold yet. I was first person at the door before they even opened. The person that normally works in the reloading section was not there yet. So there was floor manager that helped me. I told him I have been patient with them for over a year now and I really need some powder. Enough is enough. It took him over an hour to get back with me. I was NOT upset with him. He showed me he was bounded and determined to find out where the powder was at that got delivered the night before. I bout 2 lbs of each powder that day. Thanked the gentleman for all his help. He said the problem is solved with a smile. I never did see the man that usually worked in the reloading section anymore. BUT one day. LoL I ran into him and some of his buddies at the gun range. I better stop there cause it got heated. They got kicked of the gun range. That was one of my experiences with bench rest shooters. But I told myself I will not paint/target all bench rest shooters as these types of people. They are there own individuals. I can now buy my powder at Cabelas. Now if I can just get them to stock Federal primers. LoL!!

 

[Jlusk]

OP,
You might want to review your New York Laws before stating this is a manufacturer's issue. "No New York mercantile can have over 100 lbs of smokeless powder on hand and any store over 10,000 sqft is prohibited from selling smokeless powder." See Section (m) of the attached document. I'm surprised that any store in NY work jump through these hoops to sell smokeless powder. https://labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/wp/cr39.pdf

 

[340PR]

I read the Australia story as well. Sounds somewhat promising if it happens..
You might try RL-16 while your at it. It is a bit faster than H4350, and dirtier, but works well, and seems very temp stable.
I agree with others above; buy all you can when you can, and plan early for the next purchase. I have had issues with other components from time to time, and the buy ahead method keeps my stress level low..
Will be visiting their booth at the upcoming NRA event.

 

[Sam Summey]

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.

My understanding is that Hodgdon doesn't "make" powder. They buy their brand from Australia. Rumor is the powder factory caught on fire and burned. Not the first time Australia has crapped in the reloader's mess kit. 5-7 years ago the source for Hodgdon Universal & Clays dried up, allegedly the governments of Aust and New Zealand reduced the amount of powder that could be shipped on one ship. Most ships leaving Aust go to NZ before heading to the US. The US demand exceeded the supply. No one likes to "develop" a new load for their pet rifle but sometime you have no other choice. IMR, Western/Accurate, Shooters World are alternatives for some powder burning speeds.

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

I was only able to buy RL26 due to an email that it was in stock somewhere. Quite ridiculous! It was a mere matter of minutes from receiving the email to my purchase but in that time I steadily watched the instock number dwindling down.

 

[wildcat westerner]

I'm glad some rep from Hodgdon gave us some simple facts, not assertions. It's true there was a fire in the Australian plant many years ago. Also, that the shipping restrictions from Australia was tightened by the Obama administration every single year. Now it would seem that Australia is making it tougher to ship, and , of course military orders mean tons of powder, not pounds!