Now No Powder

4

44caliberkid

New member
Thought I had a pound of 4895, but it was something else, so I find myself with no suitable powder for 308/ 30-06 loads, 150gr. FMJ, 2650 - 2700 fps. I went to a big sporting goods store that usually has everything, just picked up a can of H-110 there a few weeks ago, they were sold out of everything except BP substitute. On line reloading suppliers are all out of stock. I could use 4895, RL-15, Tac X, Varget, Win 748, or similar. Anyone know a place with any product? You might want to PM me to avoid a run on the place.
 
I’m in the Dallas area. There are no powders of any size in any retail outlets. There are some powders showing up as consignments at gun shows. Folks offering ammunition and reloading components on consignment are motivated to sell only if they are able to realize long term ROI prices. It’s now a trading/investment commodity. He who has the gold makes the rules. The market of all gun related transactions should be considered a day trading skill. The occasional buyer is gonna find themselves overwhelmed. Folks who had never purchased/owned a gun in the past discovered this during 2020 when they made that first gun purchase. Most of the guns sold were on the used market because folks sold off excess or collectors stuff ONLY because they could make very a high ROI. I am not criticizing or endorsing folks financial motives, just calling it as I see it. It is a free market and SHTF has been discussed for years. I guess some folks just were not listening. This will pass. It will take several years, but it will pass.....Then it will happen again so plan accordingly.

On the opposite side of this evolution there are folks who find themselves with too many guns they overpaid for who are shocked when they cannot get their money back in the future. There are not going to be enough of the next generation/s who give a hoot about old military stuff or those rare boxed over priced Colts folks go crazy for to continue the price spiral. Look at the age of the folks buying and selling those blue boxes. The majority of the next generation will trade inherited collections for a new iGadget.

Sorry to have wandered off in the weeds. No there are no secret powder supplies.
 
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STORM2 said:
I’m in the Dallas area. There are no powders of any size in any retail outlets. There are some powders showing up as consignments at gun shows. Folks offering ammunition and reloading components on consignment are motivated to sell only if they are able to realize long term ROI prices. It’s now a trading/investment commodity. He who has the gold makes the rules. The market of all gun related transactions should be considered a day trading skill. The occasional buyer is gonna find themselves overwhelmed. Folks who had never purchased/owned a gun in the past discovered this during 2020 when they made that first gun purchase. Most of the guns sold were on the used market because folks sold off excess or collectors stuff ONLY because they could make very a high ROI. I am not criticizing or endorsing folks financial motives, just calling it as I see it. It is a free market and SHTF has been discussed for years. I guess some folks just were not listening. This will pass. It will take several years, but it will pass.....Then it will happen again so plan accordingly.

On the opposite side of this evolution there are folks who find themselves with too many guns they overpaid for who are shocked when they cannot get their money back in the future. There are not going to be enough of the next generation/s who give a hoot about old military stuff or those rare boxed over priced Colts folks go crazy for to continue the price spiral. Look at the age of the folks buying and selling those blue boxes. The majority of the next generation will trade inherited collections for a new iGadget.

Sorry to have wandered off in the weeds. No there are no secret powder supplies.
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The OP was asking about powder, not your personal take on the firearms industry . You paint with a broad brush . I can tell you from EXPERIENCE , there are Many many young folks interested in historical firearms , reloading, etc .

To the OP, you are very late to the game . The web based powders sales have dried up, unless you go to places like Gunbroker . Prices are very high there, but they do have powder . Good luck to you.
 
Not late to the game. I haven’t been worried about shortages because I have ammo and components. I have primers, bullets, lead, powder and shot to last my lifetime, that’s why I haven’t been looking. I’ll just wait and spend my time loading 5.56 and handgun cartridges.
 
There IS powder out there, but you have to have the time to birddog it. I just scored a 5 lb bottle of Accurate #2 for $103 and three 1-pounders of Accurate 1680 for $26 each from Powder Valley. But I was able to keep checking their site throughout the day.

I also had "notify me' clicked on Midsouth Shooters and received separate notifications that they had stock of H110, Varget, Win 748, Vih. N110 and Vih N120. I went to get the Win 748 and it was sold out less than 15 minutes after the notice was sent out! These were all at decent prices around $35-40 per pound, so at least Powder Valley and Midsouth Shooters are NOT price gouging. And I will remember that when the crush is over. Bottom line, there is powder if you can afford to just keep checking the Web sites.

Unfortunately the same is not true for primers!@#$
 
OP said he was looking for 4895 AND had no powder for 308 and 30-05 in 150 gr loads at a 2650 to 2700 fps .

I take that as he is out as there are about a dozen powders I can list off the top of my head that will do that. 4064 (two or 3) /Varget/VHT-140/ 2495 (two or 3) /AL15/R-17/Bigame/4350 (3 types I know of) / Norma URP/4451/Superperformance etc.

Some of the 223 powders cross into usable in those ranges. Shrug
 
Thanks RC20. I thought I had a can of 4895, but when I went to get it, it was 4198. There are loads for 308 with 4198, but using 90 gr to 100 grain bullets. I also have some Reloader 17 , but loads for it in 308 use 175 - 180 gr bullets. Does anyone have a 150 gr load with either?
 
According to Sierra v6 data you should be able to get 2600-2800fps in .30/06 150 gr with 50.2-54.0 gr RE17. The max load is 59.6 gr for 3080fps. COL= 3.235”, WLR, 24” bbl.

RE17 should be close to H4350 which is about ideal for mid range .30-06.

Hornady 10 (app) shows RE17 for same load to be min/max 50.9 - 61.1 gr for 2500-3000fps, COL= 3.210”, WLR

The only data I found for .308 is Alliant itself:
Maximum! 50.0 gr RE17, 2763fps, Fed 210, minimum COL=2.80”, 24” bbl. start at 45.0 and work up.


Good luck!
 
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Please note to check the data.

R17: 30-06: Hornady: 150 gr. 50.9 to 61.1 2500 to 3000 FPS

53.5 = 2650 FPS per the book.
 
Josh_Putman said:
Have you tried looking right on Hodgdons website for powder and/or load data?

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Yes, Hodgdons is totally sold out of powder of any kind except black powder substitutes. Yes, I use their load data all the time. But 4198 is the only Hodgdon product I have right now, and it is only for very light Bullets in 308, as stated above. Not useful.
 
In my neck of the woods Varget is fetching $90 a pound. Apparently some folks out there have plenty of cash to burn. A guy I occasionally shoot with, spends $200 for a thousand SPP. He’s a MD so it’s really no big deal to him. Astronomical prices aren’t stopping him from shooting. $90 Varget could very well be a bargain a year from now....who knows.
 
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