Crazy pricing on powder

[Mobuck]

At one time, I was buying powder in fairly large quantities. The seller would pay HazMat on 32# case lots. The UPS truck would have to carry an armed guard at today's prices.

 

[jack black]

Finding Trail Boss is like finding baby Unicorns. Price is bound to be what someone will pay. I would not. But...there may be people out there who specifically need Trail Boss for a load. There are also probably people paying big bucks for Clays when they can find it too. I liked loading Trail Boss when I did load it. But...I have learned that I can load other powders for what I do. Gun shows are what they are. People trying to make a buck. I also would want a high price if I had to cart that stuff around all the time and set it up every weekend and try to sell it.

Trail Boss is done, gone, ended Move on . We all did very well before TB it was always over priced and over rated.
IMHO

 

[Blackhawk Convertable]

The ONLY thing that Trail Boss did well was fill the case. Other powders did everything else better.

 

[Pál_K]

Can't imagine even paying $47 for Unique much less (or more?) $70. ...

Although I have a nice variety of powders with different burning rates, Unicor^H^H^H^H^H^H Unique is the one I have yet to find.

I have a nice book called Propellant Profiles - a history and description of all the smokeless powders, complete with photos of the old and new containers and the powder itself, plus reloading information. I believe Unique is one if the oldest powders, if not the oldest.

 

[HumphreyDaBear]

Bought some Lil Gun for $30.00/lb. Higher than in the past, but I’ve seen worse.

 

[HumphreyDaBear]

Although I have a nice variety of powders with different burning rates, Unicor^H^H^H^H^H^H Unique is the one I have yet to find.

I have a nice book called Propellant Profiles - a history and description of all the smokeless powders, complete with photos of the old and new containers and the powder itself, plus reloading information. I believe Unique is one if the oldest powders, if not the oldest.

Looking for you up here. If a miracle happens, I’ll get it and let you know.

 

[Fujicon]

Yet more evidence that gun shows have become a big waste of time and money. Avoid them now, have for years.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Although I have a nice variety of powders with different burning rates, Unicor^H^H^H^H^H^H Unique is the one I have yet to find.

I have a nice book called Propellant Profiles - a history and description of all the smokeless powders, complete with photos of the old and new containers and the powder itself, plus reloading information. I believe Unique is one if the oldest powders, if not the oldest.

Unique does everything but nothing the best. I probably have 3-4 pounds and never paid more than $25 per but it's been a while since I needed to buy any powder.

Some online retailer put my 5.56mmX45mm powder of choice (or at least one of them) H335 on big sale (during covid for that matter) and I bought a few with no hazmat at $30 per pound plus tax- only reason I bought it. Last primers I bought were in 2024 but I only got them because they were $54 per 1K after tax shipped. Before that I got 5K shipped for less than $150 (pre-covid).

To stay ahead you have to stretch sometimes.

 

[Pál_K]

What I have is marked in green, what I want is marked in red. Unique falls between W231 and AA#5 and would fill a nice slot.

Both Unique and 2400 are historically interesting. Strange that in 35+ years I've used neither.

 

[RoninPA]

Seems that some of the problem is there is (from what I heard) one place that makes nitrocellulose in the US and it goes for making ammo for the US military. Most powder manufacturers have to get it from China, Russia, or Balkan countries. But I have also heard that there are some companies looking very hard into producing nitrocellulose here in the US to help keep up with the demand for ammo for us civilians. Hope this is true.

 

[contender]

At the gun show last weekend,, I saw a few dealers with powders & primers. I bought a bunch of primers,, at what I'd consider "current somewhat stabilized" pricing. But I also found a dealer with an assortment of different primers,, obviously from a former loader who had used some of them. A few of the bricks were missing packs,, and some of the packs had primers missing. BUT,, the guy was reasonable,, and I got a bunch of Remington, CCI, and Federal primers,,a total of over 1700 of them for $80.
There was a guy that had several cans of TrailBoss. I saw it and his $125 a can pricing. Since I own more of it than I'll ever use up,, I just smiled.
Another dealer had several cans of various powders,, and they were also of various vintages. They ranged from $40 to $60 a pound. He had a fairly new can of 2400 that I could have purchased for $45. Since I'm no longer in "need",, I passed on it.

I realize that inflation has hit everything,, so I've adjusted my acceptable levels of what I'd pay for a component if I need it.

Remember,, a gun is just a paperweight if you don't have ammo.

 

[GasGuzzler]

You'd have to pay me $125 to take a can of Trail Boss.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Both Unique and 2400 are historically interesting. Strange that in 35+ years I've used neither.

A bazillion years ago when I stared reloading those two, along with Bullseye, were powders every shop carried at affordable -- for me -- prices.