GOEX Powder in Danger of Being Shutdown

[Longshot231]

I found this on a muzzleloading forum. Because some of us think that there is nothing wrong with a bullet being rammed down the muzzle, I thought that I would share this here.

Please go to the link, read the information and sign the petition.

This campaign needs you now

Save GOEX

chng.it

Who will now make your BP?

given the imminent closure of GOEX.

www.muzzleloadingforum.com

 

[BLEE]

Well, that sucks for black powder uses, as well as jobs in my area. I'm 20 odd miles from that plant. They've had many accidents and had to cleanup millions of pounds of explosives and propellants over the years. I'd imagine that's a tough business.

 

[Longshot231]

I was buying whatever black powder that was the cheapest. Some muzzleloaders will say that there is a difference between different brands.

However, I've been shooting black powder guns for over 45 years and have never noticed any difference.

Regardless of that, today was the first time that I learned that GOEX is the only manufacturer of black powder in this country.

 

[missed]

Some of the cannon guys around here would be mad about that shutdown.

Is it market conditions causing a shutdown ? Lack of demand? Or materials and some EPA issues?

 

[Longshot231]

Is it market conditions causing a shutdown ? Lack of demand? Or materials and some EPA issues?

I don't know. If Hogdon does shutdown the black powder business let's hope someone will buy it.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

Well companies are typically not in the business of closing the doors to a business that is a viable and profitable entity.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[Blue Sky Country]

What the fuck man... Demand is at an all time high for everything BP shooting and they suddenly pull a stop on the only domestic US producer for BP propellant...

Does anybody with insider info on the shooting supply trade know what is really going on? Are the smokeless shortages so bad that the company is diverting all available assets into cranking out smokeless?

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I don't know. If Hogdon does shutdown the black powder business let's hope someone will buy it.

I am certain Track of the Wolf, Dixie Gun Works, or even a smaller company like Jefferson Arsenal (who makes all kinds of preformed and range-ready paper cartridges for Sharps, Maynard carbines and brass and accessories for Smith and Spencer carbines) can operate the basic mechanisms to keep the F-4Fg grades of powder flowing, even at reduced production rates.

 

[Longshot231]

I am certain Track of the Wolf, Dixie Gun Works, or even a smaller company like Jefferson Arsenal (who makes all kinds of preformed and range-ready paper cartridges for Sharps, Maynard carbines and brass and accessories for Smith and Spencer carbines) can operate the basic mechanisms to keep the F-4Fg grades of powder flowing, even at reduced production rates.

I hope that you are correct.

 

[slowworm]

People need to figure out that signing a petition is not the answer. Buying enough black powder at a unit price high enough so that Hodgdon sees it as a viable product line is the answer.

Clearly Hodgdon can't run the plant with sufficient margins to make it worthwhile. They figure raising the price sufficiently will kill the market.

Well, that sucks for black powder uses, as well as jobs in my area. I'm 20 odd miles from that plant. They've had many accidents and had to cleanup millions of pounds of explosives and propellants over the years. I'd imagine that's a tough business.

Well, that says it all really. I imagine liability insurance is through the roof. The term "Powder Keg" is literally the case here.

You really want black powder? Create a petition asking Hodgdon to state what a pound of powder would cost at a margin to keep the plant open and how much they would need to sell at that price. Then put your money down upfront.

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I hope that you are correct.

Fingers definitely crossed here, man... Literally EVERYTHING black powder has been flying off the shelves. The ammo shortage has ignited a spark of realization in many folks that if the SHTF were to really break out, supply of modern ammo will be one of the first things to go, sans resupply from dead enemy combatants in a "Homefront" situation. That is why an awful lot of people, many of them new gun owners, had been picking up a Colt 1860/1851 or a Remington 1858 along with their modern gun purchases. Not because they plan to be reenactors, skirmishers, or black powder hunters, but as a survival asset for an uncertain future. And folks like me who had spent the last 3 years preaching the gospel of the Straight-Wall Revolver Cartridge with the same fervor as the circuit ministers of the Second Great Awakening across the South in the early 1800s certainly has not helped the already fragile supply of real black powder either.

Excellent big game results have been procured using full cases of FFFg out of .454 Casull and .460 S&W with cast soft lead or antimony-lead as long as you clean that hawg-leg soon after shooting. BP fouling cleans up readily with just water and an old rag, unlike subs like Pyrodex. I hope to stay away from that stuff as long as I can weasel a supply of BP from somewhere...

 

[stefan73]

I just picked up my cannon yesterday. Light blank charges are about 3-4 ounces but I can run upwards of a pound a shot for blanks. For live fire I am going to run about 4-5 ounces. It will go quick.

 

[Longshot231]

Fingers definitely crossed here, man... Literally EVERYTHING black powder has been flying off the shelves. The ammo shortage has ignited a spark of realization in many folks that if the SHTF were to really break out, supply of modern ammo will be one of the first things to go, sans resupply from dead enemy combatants in a "Homefront" situation. That is why an awful lot of people, many of them new gun owners, had been picking up a Colt 1860/1851 or a Remington 1858 along with their modern gun purchases. Not because they plan to be reenactors, skirmishers, or black powder hunters, but as a survival asset for an uncertain future. And folks like me who had spent the last 3 years preaching the gospel of the Straight-Wall Revolver Cartridge with the same fervor as the circuit ministers of the Second Great Awakening across the South in the early 1800s certainly has not helped the already fragile supply of real black powder either.

Excellent big game results have been procured using full cases of FFFg out of .454 Casull and .460 S&W with cast soft lead or antimony-lead as long as you clean that hawg-leg soon after shooting. BP fouling cleans up readily with just water and an old rag, unlike subs like Pyrodex. I hope to stay away from that stuff as long as I can weasel a supply of BP from somewhere...

I have got BP revolvers and flintlock firearms that are more reliable that some modern cartridge guns that I’ve owned in the past.

The dumbest question I hear on occasion is; “Can that thing kill a person?”

Heck there are still people that run around in the jungle, naked, that kill their enemies with blowguns, spears as well as bows & arrows.

What puzzles me is when all the military combatants are naked (without uniforms) how do they determine who is the enemy?

 

[Blue Sky Country]

I have got BP revolvers and flintlock firearms that are more reliable that some modern cartridge guns that I’ve owned in the past.

The dumbest question I hear on occasion is; “Can that thing kill a person?”

Heck there are still people that run around in the jungle, naked, that kill their enemies with blowguns, spears as well as bows & arrows.

What puzzles me is when all the military combatants are naked (without uniforms) how do they determine who is the enemy?

Tim Wells (TimWellsBowhunter on YouTube) can probably take down a moose or elk with a sharpened dartboard dart propelled by a slingbow made from a hair scrunchie... I would actually be surprised if he does not do something like that one of these days.

The .36 caliber Colt 1851 Navy had been the "farmer's best friend" for the entire duration of it's production as well as for many years afterward going right into the 20th century. It had been used for extremely humane free-range slaughtering of all manner of livestock and big game that had been brought down with a rifle but needed a 'lights out' shot, as well as efficiently dispatching all manner of predators and pests that a farm is likely to encounter on a regular basis. Texas ranchers who routinely processed rogue herds of wild cattle that had strayed across the Mexican border into their ranches used the Navy to quickly send the livestock right from the field to the icebox railcars on their way to Chicago and elsewhere without going through the abattoir, to the barely concealed dismay and objection of the abattoir operators. They are absolutely hands down one of the most stately and dependable guns that I own. I have done far more repairs, tune-ups, and modifications with the 1851 than with any other pistol as a gunsmith. The 1851 platform is literally a rough draft that can continuously be improved and made to function better using various ways.

ETA:

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What puzzles me is when all the military combatants are naked (without uniforms) how do they determine who is the enemy?
----------

Subtle differences in regional language, or dialects if they speak the same language, I assume. That is how many civil wars had gone down in China over the centuries, when news moved slowly and an imperial court may have collapsed but imperial armies abroad have not gotten the message yet, or they knew, but chose to go for a last ditch attempt to save the imperial lineage, usually led by generals who possessed fanatical devotion to the court from having boinked one of the imperial princesses at one time. When units have wore the same types of armor and even fielded the same banners and heraldry, somebody pretending to be a scout or even a civilian would ask the suspected enemy unit's commander a random question. They were more interested in the dialect that the target used to answer the question. If the dialect is identified as belonging to the enemy's home region in question, the pickets hidden all along the route would spring an ambush.

 

[NoDopes]

I wonder if the lefts war on guns has led to EPA causing some of these problems. They are attacking from every angle. Suing manufacturers, limiting imports, regulations, taxes, bans.

 

[Longshot231]

Tim Wells (TimWellsBowhunter on YouTube) can probably take down a moose or elk with a sharpened dartboard dart propelled by a slingbow made from a hair scrunchie... I would actually be surprised if he does not do something like that one of these days.

The .36 caliber Colt 1851 Navy had been the "farmer's best friend" for the entire duration of it's production as well as for many years afterward going right into the 20th century. It had been used for extremely humane free-range slaughtering of all manner of livestock and big game that had been brought down with a rifle but needed a 'lights out' shot, as well as efficiently dispatching all manner of predators and pests that a farm is likely to encounter on a regular basis. Texas ranchers who routinely processed rogue herds of wild cattle that had strayed across the Mexican border into their ranches used the Navy to quickly send the livestock right from the field to the icebox railcars on their way to Chicago and elsewhere without going through the abattoir, to the barely concealed dismay and objection of the abattoir operators. They are absolutely hands down one of the most stately and dependable guns that I own. I have done far more repairs, tune-ups, and modifications with the 1851 than with any other pistol as a gunsmith. The 1851 platform is literally a rough draft that can continuously be improved and made to function better using various ways.

ETA:

----------
What puzzles me is when all the military combatants are naked (without uniforms) how do they determine who is the enemy?
----------

Subtle differences in regional language, or dialects if they speak the same language, I assume. That is how many civil wars had gone down in China over the centuries, when news moved slowly and an imperial court may have collapsed but imperial armies abroad have not gotten the message yet, or they knew, but chose to go for a last ditch attempt to save the imperial lineage, usually led by generals who possessed fanatical devotion to the court from having boinked one of the imperial princesses at one time. When units have wore the same types of armor and even fielded the same banners and heraldry, somebody pretending to be a scout or even a civilian would ask the suspected enemy unit's commander a random question. They were more interested in the dialect that the target used to answer the question. If the dialect is identified as belonging to the enemy's home region in question, the pickets hidden all along the route would spring an ambush.

Wild Bill Hickock used an 1851 Navy to terminate Davis Tutt and get his watch back.

Many dueling participants, if they were alive today, could attest to the effectiveness of smoothbore flintlock pistols.

It's too bad that dueling isn't legal today. It would solve a lot of disagreements and curb the desire of many people to shoot their mouths off. (Sorry but I could not resist the play on words.)

 

[kindabitey]

There was a fire at the plant in June of this year. I'm sure that has a lot to do with the decision to close the doors.