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November 7, 2015
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Looks like Hodgdon will no longer make Goex black powder.
Goex is not my BP of choice but I hate to see it go.
Mike
You’d think the company would have provided some explanation–poor sales, labor problems, gov’t regulations, etc. My revenge will be never to buy any Hodgdon product.
clarence said
You’d think the company would have provided some explanation–poor sales, labor problems, gov’t regulations, etc. My revenge will be never to buy any Hodgdon product.
I wouldn’t go so far as not to buy any Hodgdon products, as all in all it probably wasn’t their fault. More like bad luck of circumstances. I live two parishes (that is a county for you none Louisiana folks) over from the old Army Ammunition Plant at Camp Minden. The writing on the wall has been there for years, and the reason not much is being said from the company is probably due to a Gag Order or like from the State/Federal government. I’m kinda of surprised the company lasted this long due to several incidents they’ve had to deal with. In 2012 that had a bad explosion at the Camp Minden facility where GoEx Powder and like companies that use the old propellant at the Army Plant and convert it to a viable powder for use in ammunition. I live over 40 Miles from the Camp, and the night of the explosion it shock my house, it lite up the night sky, and sounded like the sound barrier had been broken. Which is not uncommon, as Barksdale Air Base is near by. I don’t recall what the explosion was on the richter scale, but it did register and the plum cloud was picked up by the local weather stations radar.
The local news stated, “On October 15, 2012, an explosion occurred at a munitions storage igloo on Camp Minden. The explosion contained approximately 124,190 pounds of smokeless powder and a box van trailer containing approximately 42,240 pounds of demilitarized M6. The damage destroyed the igloo and trailer, shattered windows of dwellings within a fourmile radius, and derailed 11 rail cars near the storage igloo.”
I believe there was possibly several deaths involved with the incident. A laundry list of people at Explo got federal charges brought on them.
I do believe GoEx Powder may have had some connection with Explo, the company “held responsible” for the incident. Even if they didn’t, I imagine the explosion caused shutdowns, inspections, and overhauls of how things were being handled for GoEx Powder on the site.
The entire site should be a EPA superfund site. It has a lot of environmental issues. There is Pink Water, asbestos, and god knows what else all over the site. They constantly have to deal with fires. But some how and I don’t know why, the state was handed over the entire site from the Federal government.
Here some links talks about the incident in the news. They recently had another explosion just a few weeks back.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-05/documents/9530584.pdf
Sincerely,
Maverick
WACA #8783 - Checkout my Reloading Tool Survey!
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-reloading-tool-survey/
November 7, 2015
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clarence said
You’d think the company would have provided some explanation–poor sales, labor problems, gov’t regulations, etc. My revenge will be never to buy any Hodgdon product.
I am and will continue to be a fan of Hodgdon. They are a long time and generous sponsor of the shooting sports (and some venues) and they make some of my favorite smokeless powders. I don’t know if they make the industrial powders there but I think maybe they do. Hope they can figure out a way to continue safely.
Mike
I live 35 miles east of the old Badger Army Ammunitions Plant in WI. It was used for WW2, Korean War, and Vietnam then put on stand-by status, Olin operated it last. I got a tour of it while on stand-by before being decommissioned, I bid on a project involving repurpose of the sight. I would not want to work there in the day. It looked high risk to me.
Since it was decommissioned in 1997 they broke up the 7500 acres and repurposed it, not an easy task.
An old powder plant is not what a large corporation wants to own. T/R
Doesn’t Hodgdon own the IMR powders too? Even Winchester.
https://ultimatereloader.com/2020/10/01/breaking-hodgdon-powder-company-acquires-multiple-brands/
So, you’re gonna be out of luck if you expect to reload if you stop using a Hodgdon owned powder..
Chuck said
Doesn’t Hodgdon own the IMR powders too? Even Winchester.https://ultimatereloader.com/2020/10/01/breaking-hodgdon-powder-company-acquires-multiple-brands/
So, you’re gonna be out of luck if you expect to reload if you stop using a Hodgdon owned powder..
Characteristic of what’s wrong with American business in general–greedy mega-corps buying up all their competitors, then ditching those that prove to be less profitable than expected. Look at the well-known brands (which many probably thought were independent companies) owned by this single mega-corp, Vista Outdoors:
https://vistaoutdoor.com/brands/
Anybody think this is good for the country? What happened to the laws TR caused to be passed against the formation of anti-competitive trusts?
More concerning to me is the amount of companies making primers or “priming compound”. If I recall we’re down to just four companies. Without primers none of it will work and any substitutions people come up aren’t truly reliable (i.e. match heads).
If I ever win the lottery, I suppose a good start-up investment would be going into the ammunition manufacturing business.
Sincerely,
Maverick
WACA #8783 - Checkout my Reloading Tool Survey!
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-reloading-tool-survey/
Maverick said
More concerning to me is the amount of companies making primers or “priming compound”. If I recall we’re down to just four companies.
Bad situation, for sure. Each ammo maker used to make its own primers. Rem was first to make non-corrosive “Kleenbore” primers, then Peters developed “Rustless,” Winchester “Staynless,” & so on, all independently developed & manufactured.
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