This is not a fun time to be a reloader.
I need fast-burning propellants for pistols and shotguns, but I can't find them.
After years of scarcity, rifle powders are finally plentiful again, but not fast-burning propellants for pistols or shotguns. In vain, I've scoured central Arkansas for a mere pound of Blue Dot, Green Dot, Universal, Hodgdon Clays, Unique, Winchester Super Field, Winchester Super Target, Accurate No. 5 and No. 7. Thank goodness I still have small amounts of these in storage because nobody has them to sell.
The only places I've found them are on the Internet, where sellers are asking premium prices. However, you also have to pay a stiff hazmat fee to ship them, so you really need to order at least 10 pounds to soften the blow of the surcharge. Nobody seems to be buying under these exorbitant conditions, so buyers are waiting for the pendulum to swing their way again.
And swing it will, if we're to trust history.
The past couple of years, fast burning powders such were plentiful, but you could scarcely find medium to slow burning powders used for centerfire rifles. I recall my frustration at ordering IMR 4831 and IMR 4895 and IMR 4350. When they arrived, I got only one pound of each and was told I was lucky to get that.
A friend who represents a number of prominent sporting and shooting brands said pistol and shotgun powders are scarce because manufacturers are slow to react to market pulses. To compensate for the high demand in rifle powders, manufacturers ramped up production of rifle powders to the point that supply is practically glutted.
However, there are only so many hours in a production schedule, and only so much space on production lines. Increasing the supply of one product required scaling down production of other product lines. Satisfying the demand for rifle propellants required gutting the supply of other types of other propellants.
Manufacturers will correct the shortfall, my friend said, but that will probably be at the expense of rifle propellants. And so the cycle will renew.
Other reloading components, brass, primers and bullets, are plentiful. Even the run on .224-cal. bullets has finally abated.
The shortage of pistol/shotgun powders vexes me because I intended to spend the next few months developing loads for a series of articles dedicated to 40 S & W and 45 ACP. Until the powder situation stabilizes, I'll have to rely on factory loads, which is fine because most recreational shooters use factory ammo.
The good news is that there is an entire universe of new factory self-defense loads. We'll test some of the best, including Remington's Golden Saber. That's what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission's wildlife officers use.
Santa finally brought me a chronograph this year, so I'll be able to include real speeds with my data. In the past, I've relied on velocities published in reloading manuals.
Those unfamiliar with reloading might wonder why propellants are different, and why the differences are important. According to the Sierra Rifle & Handgun Reloading Data Edition V, there are 129 commercial propellants available to reloaders. Each burns at a unique rate. Fast-burning burning propellants are suited for pistols and shotguns, while intermediate to slow-burning powders are appropriate for rifles. It's important to pay close attention to the burn rates of powders listed for certain loads in reloading manuals. Getting careless or overly experimental can be fatal.
A friend introduced me to a new shotgun game the other day. Instead of shooting clay targets, he and his buddies shoot at golf balls in flight. The "trapper" stands next to the shooter with a bucket of balls and a pitching wedge.
"It was a lot harder than I thought it would be," my friend said. "We only hit three or four balls."
There's a lot of trigonometry in that calculation. The ball leaves the kill zone pretty fast. It also arcs sharply from the minute it leaves the ground, and it's small enough to fly through even a dense pattern unscathed.
"We thought we might hit it with a pellet or two, enough to alter its flight a little, but nuh-uh," my friend said.
I have a load that'll whack golf balls. A Remington Premier hull packed with 23.5 grains of Universal with a Remington Figure-8 wad and a Federal 209A primer. I'll prove it when I find a pound of Universal.
Sports on 03/22/2015