Need Powder? Chris Hodgdon Talks About Supply and Demand…
If you’ve tried to buy powder lately, you know that many of the most popular propellants are in short supply. To find out when we can expect powder supplies to catch up with the increased consumer demand, we headed to the Hodgdon Powder Company booth at SHOT Show. There we met up with Chris Hodgdon.
Chris understands that people are frustrated with the current shortages. But Chris assured us that his company is moving aggressively to get more powder on store shelves. Production is being stepped up and Chris said his employees are working “nights and weekends” to increase propellant shipments. But there is no “quick fix”. Chris reports: “We are trying to fill as much of the demand as we can right now, but we have got way more demand than supply obviously right now…”
Try Alternative Powders with Similar Burn Rates
For those customers who can’t find their favorite powder (such as Varget or H4350) right now, Chris suggests trying similar-burn-rate IMR- and Hodgdon-brand powders that are currently available in ample quantities. For example, Chris suggested that Varget users try IMR 4064. This powder offers excellent accuracy and a very similar burn rate. Likewise, if you can’t find H4350 you can try IMR 4350 or H414. Fans of H335 powder will find that Benchmark and CFE 223 are suitable replacement powders.Of course, when changing to a different powder you can’t simply substitute loads. That’s a big no-no. You need to consult a good load manual or find a safe starting load on the Hodgdon Reloading Data Center. But you may find that, with a little load development effort, your “second choice” or “third choice” powder options shoot just as well as a previous favorite. We know guys who switched from Varget to IMR 8208 XBR in the .308 Win and they liked the 8208 XBR so well they never looked back.
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Market speculators and profiteers are creating the shortages. Supply and demand is being controlled be those with deep pockets buying up then selling ever so slowly. If manufacturers would investigate they’d probably find a lot of foreign money may be involved as well as wall street executives. If it were just simple supply and demand the shortages would begin to subside. They aren’t. A lot of people new to the ammunition market are getting very wealthy very quick.
I guess I will have to convert to archery. Been trying to get powder for over 3 months now and I am about to give up. The guy above is spot on. Problem is that it would freak people out to know somebody is tracking their powder purchase. I’m not a hoarder but I just want to send some rounds down range. Speaking of which, local ranges hurting because people don’t want to shoot what little ammo they have. Talked to one poor guy at the store and his ccl expired and he can’t find 9mm fmj to take the qualification class. Would be nice if some of the online retailers could monitor this and limit people to 8#’s per type per month or quarter or something.
I think it’s a master plan to eliminate handloading & get it to where if you want to shoot, you’ll have to buy loaded ammo,
that way the feds can control it when you have to sign for it?
“The only difference between communism & socialism is the firing squad”
what i would like is a honest answer to the powder shortage and a date when powder will be available , i live in central il.
The answer is simple don’t buy reloading powder on ebay or biding website. Suport your local stores and companies that sale reloading supplies and they should limit the amount of powder you can purchase at one time. (Ie one or two 8# containers of Varget per month) Powder manufactures should give priority to those businesses that sell reloading supplies and cater to sportsmen. If individuals are trying buying large quanities of powder repeatedly their requests should be rejected or limited. Well maybe not so simple
Well, since January 2013 we’ve heard all about stepped up production and employees working around the clock but this is two years later and I still can’t find Varget for sale. I’d sure like to see some disclosure on the distributors that are buying it all from Hodgdon.
Eric,
“The answer is simple?”
Please let me know what ebay site you buy reloading powders from. Ebay doesn’t sell anything that goes ‘BOOM!’
Doesn’t sound so simple to me as it does to supposedly ‘common sense’ people. Personally, I don’t want anyone trying to keep track of what I am able to do or buy legally. ie. RELOADING.
Who in your world is it that gets to decide how many rounds any one person gets to have, shoot or reload in any one time frame? Is it a number of rounds? What about loading the 50BMG? It takes almost 6 times the powder to charge the case as it does a .308. Do I get special consideration because they take more powder? If you wake up late and head out to Cabela’s and find there are no more .22’s left, Boo Hoo. If I happen to get to the store before you do, should the LGS not make a sale to me for 6 lbs of Varget powder or 15 boxes of .22’s because you “might” swing by? The LGS I go to is in business to sell guns, ammunition, and reloading supplies. If they have 25 boxes of .22 ammo, and (2)8 LB jugs of powder and I want all of them, they sell them to me. They will sell me all they have and buy more to replace them. That’s what they are in business for. Making money. Not waiting for you to maybe swing by. They don’t really care if you want one box of fifty .22’s and aren’t there. There is no one sitting around to divvy up the supply so you get yours. If I want to reload a thousand rounds a month and go punch holes in targets every day until the sun goes down, that should be no concern of anyone’s. How much powder or how many bullets and of what kind I legally buy or have on hand is also no concern of anyone’s. Stop trying to make more rules for everyone else cause you didn’t get out of the house in time to get yours.
Come on, guys! You think because someone is buying powder on eBay or GunBroker, we have a shortage? It doesn’t matter how many middle men you have taking a piece of profit. We still have a shortage. If a person didn’t buy from eBay, they’d buy from somewhere else.
I don’t know about an overall Varget powder shortage. I know we do still have some Varget around here in Illinois. Not at the big stores recently, but some of the LGS still have it or a few 1 pounders trickle in once in awhile @ $35/lb. as teasers. I got tired of searching for 1 pounders and paying thru the nose for high performance powder.
The internet is indeed a wonderful place. I would suggest spending a little time there. I found several places on the internet recently that have Hodgdon Varget in quantity. Some hold it close to the vest and won’t ship it to you. In-store local purchases only. (I didn’t feel up to driving all the way to Nebraska.) Others treat it as a commodity and want to charge some unreasonable price for it. Thankfully there are some places that the locals don’t expect massive Zombie hoards roaming around in the immediate future and are still conducting business as usual.
Brown just delivered me (2) 8# jugs of Varget to my door step from an LGS in Pa. $164 ea. The LGS here wanted $278 per 8# jug. Plus Tax, of course. Now that’s fairly unreasonable price for ANY reload powder in my book. I saved $200 after the HAZMAT and shipping fee. Go figure. And I didn’t even have to drive around for hours in frustration cursing some prepper for rat holing MY powder and buying up all of MY 22’s.
Don’t know about a Varget powder shortage, but if you are willing to do a little research and pay the shipping costs, it’s out there and readily available.
And in my opinion, Varget is well worth the extra effort to locate.
And to clarify an earlier post…No, I don’t load the 50 BMG with Hodgdon Varget. It was only a reference to varying powder weights. I load the .308 Winchester with 46 grains of Varget behind a 165 grain BTHP. The .50 Cal is loaded with 246 grains of Hodgdon H50BMG behind a moly-coated Hornady 750 grain A-MAX. So I guess I buy a lot of H50BMG in 8# jugs too.
Point of aim. Point of impact. Fun for some. Not for all.
Shoot straight
I think that the first post, stating that market speculators are buying up all the powder. If this were true u would at least be able to find it somewhere. The hoarders and speculators want to sell it to make a profit. If that were the case you would at least be able to find powder. You cant find powder anywhere. So how are the speculators making money?
We ; as shooters , and hunters need to consider that hunting seasons are coming to a close , and maybe ? Just maybe , a lot of powder went in that direction for the last few months .
And the competition season is beginning on the west side of the country , with the “Berger” coming up in a few weeks . Sooooo….Just because you walked into your local supplier and couldn’t walk out with everything “YOU” wanted…well get over it . As another guy said ; the internet is a amazing place . In five minutes , I located nine suppliers for Varget , and A-4350 , so rather than whine about it , get pro-active and look for it .
I don’t have deep pockets , so I am forced to buy 1 lb’ers but I can buy them a couple a month , and I try to get the same lot #’s when possible .
Improvise ! Adapt ! Overcome ! Put on your big-girl panties and stop whining .We’re supposed to be men here . I thought….
I expect there were many like me that when we saw ammo start to dry up we bought lots of power, primers, bullets, cases, bullet molds, lead, etc and stored them against future need.