Hogdon HP-38 & Win 231 discontinued.... ?

W

WVsig

New member
Read this over on the S&W forum. Sucks if it is true. I have about 12 lbs left but will have to start looking for a replacement.

Found this post on another board and thought I would pass the info along......


Received this email today in response to an inquiry about Win231 Powder.
"Winchester 231 certainly has been hard to get. The plant that makes Winchester powders does not want to make 231 as well as a few other powders. These older technology powders have different chemistry than the new powders and this older chemistry makes it much slower to make powder: basically, you can make about 2.5 times as many pounds of new chemistry powder in the time it takes to make 1 pound of old chemistry powder. During the process of making the old powders, the waste stream created is huge compared to the waste stream of the new chemistry powders. Chemical waste is very expensive to get rid of. So, the plant wants to phase out the old chemistry powders and replace them with new chemistry powders. While they are still making 231, the amount is being reduced and the amount of new powder such as Titegroup and Longshot is being increased.
Now, we are kind of stuck in the middle. The market is demanding 231 but the maker is not wanting to produce the powder. The result is, over time, 231 is going to go away. Shooters should begin using other powders as they can.
Mike Daly
Hodgdon Family of Fine Propellants
Hodgdon Smokeless Powder
IMR Powder Company
Winchester Smokeless Propellants
GOEX Blackpowder"
Click to expand...
 
W231/HP-38 is among the most popular propellants ever. Even if the production cost is higher, I struggle to believe its production would be discontinued. Maybe I'll write Hodgdon to get the scoop - sans hearsay.

If true, it does help me decide what powder to take out of my inventory. Lately, I've been contemplating the reduction of the number of powders I carry in my inventory. Deciding which of the "fast" powders to phase out is the most difficult. Maybe Hodgdon made the choice for me.

I would miss W231/HP-38, but I could do without it. Good clean, consistent, versatile stuff.
 
YOUR answer to this BS is on the high Road straight from me and one of my pals, a HODGDON OWNER with the last name of HODGDON.
I won't waste my time printing it all twice to the second group of knuckleheads.
THINK !!!!!!
And so it goes...
 
In the same vain, most all pistol powder must be discontinued.... still not showing up anywhere in town after a couple of years now!!!! :p . 50BMG powder on the shelf though..... :rolleyes: . The way it is going, all kinds of rumor can/will be started :o .
 
New powders come and go like the changing of the seasons. But the ones that are both versatile and very widely used tend to stick around for the long run. This is a rumor, that while possibly true, is more likely to be false. They can sell all that they make of it and probably are challenged to meet the demand. Hence the scarcity; hence the rumor. I am very skeptical about this one. Still, incredibly, excellent powders are occasionally discontinued, like HS-7, for example.
 
This "knucklehead" finds this news credible, since this is the same company that announced the passing of IMR. The way that acquisitions ultimately turn out is nothing new. The production capacity will ultimately be rebranded for Hodgdon purposes, you watch.
 
Man, I hope it isn't so!

If indeed the industrial waste and time required to make 231 is like that email said, this would be a sad day indeed. I really like 231 for 45 ACP and 38 Special. This would be a sad development. Wonder what I could use to replace it?
 
Wonder what I could use to replace it (W231/HP-38)?
Click to expand...

Well, there's Bullseye - albeit not as clean, and a little faster.

There's Nitro 100 - albiet, quite a bit faster.

There's VV N310 - albiet, quite a bit faster.

There's Red Dot - albiet, not as clean.

There's AA#2, albiet, slightly slower.

Those are the one's I have tried. Then there are others I have not: Titegroup, VV N320, & Ramshot Zip (sorry about the ones I have missed).

But it's probably all moot because this subject is most likely a rumor.
 
St. Marks makes the powder....... Hodgdon's distributes it. St. Marks is also making certain AA powders these days too. Ramshot??? Some of it coming from there too. So unless General Dynamics decided to stop making the powder, it will still be on the menu.

Remember, WAP slightly modified became Silouhette.
 
I also read today that they are going to reduce production only on the powder not stop production. So I guess that means it will be even harder to find than it is now.:eek:
 
When one needs powder, there's not a lot of difference between "discontinued" and "not available". I hope they start up their reduced production soon.
 
There are plenty of good substitutes. I haven't used 231/HP-38 for several years now because I have plenty of other powders that do the same job. I would use it again, though, if I ran low and that's what was available. Out of Red Dot too, but that's OK. Got plenty of Unique, Green Dot, Titegroup, etc. No worries.
 
Have to say that I find this hard to believe.

WW 231 has been at the top of the sales heap for decades and the non-cannister versions may well be the most commercially loaded powder in its class of all time.

This rumor crops up every few years, though.

Back when I was working for American Rifleman there was a rumor flying around the old Compuserv Forums that 231 had been discontinued.

I phoned Winchester's PR guy, told him what I was hearing, and he immediately debunked the rumor.

I told him how relieved I was because of how much I relied on it, and he very nicely sent me a 3 pound can of 231 and a 3 pound can of 297. :)
 
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