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02-23-2018, 02:24 AM
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When were Hodgdon primers in stores?
Mostly because it was convenient and they give away coffee I stopped for a stroll through a local gun store. Among the pre-owned reloading stuff were two old unopened cartons of 1,000 Hodgdon primers. Even though I started reloading in 1973 and not much later was buying old men's stuff at gun shows I do not recall ever seeing Hodgdon primers. They are in red and yellow boxes marked "Made by RIKKIHAPPO OY Finland." Handling them I could not help but pity the poor little dejected primers that had to watch from a shelf while reloaders warmed zillions of other primer's hearts through to the core. I figured it's about time they got their turn so here they are in front of the computer. How long have these eager little guys been waiting for their turn?
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02-23-2018, 03:28 AM
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Sorry, I didn't know Hodgdon sold primers with their name on the box.
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02-23-2018, 05:53 AM
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I don't know either. I started reloading in 1975 using surplus H4831. The LGS had a BARREL of WW 2 surplus powder and sold 1# in paper bags weighed on a postal scale. Federal, Remington, and Winchester primers were on the shelf.
Long's Sport Shop in Eau Claire, WI has been out of business since 1990's because owners retired.
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Last edited by Engineer1911; 02-23-2018 at 09:30 PM.
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02-23-2018, 05:58 AM
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I started handloading in 67 I never ran across those, I would like to see a photo of them,,,,,,,,,,
Last edited by olskool; 02-23-2018 at 06:00 AM.
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02-23-2018, 08:49 AM
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I got some primers from them back in the early to mid 60s. Came to me REA in a wooden crate. Still have the crate under a loading bench. You could get them in a buy with 25,50 and 100 pound kegs of powder. Being from the Eastern Shore of Maryland you could not find much metallic reloading supplies. It was shotgun country. They were ok primers. I wore out 2 100 pound kegs of rifle powder. I even have the original invoice somewhere I think. Can't remember the price of the primers...but I do have the data sheets and powder/primer prices. I'll look that up tomorrow. Powder(4831)was 70 dollars for a hundred pound keg. Still have a little of that ol WW II surplus powder
I even have ten pounds of old surplus HS-10 handgun powder...with the data sheet
Last edited by Skeet 028; 02-23-2018 at 08:53 AM.
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02-23-2018, 08:55 AM
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02-23-2018, 09:04 AM
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How about contacting the company directly?
Contact Us – Hodgdon
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02-23-2018, 10:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k22fan
Mostly because it was convenient and they give away coffee I stopped for a stroll through a local gun store. Among the pre-owned reloading stuff were two old unopened cartons of 1,000 Hodgdon primers. Even though I started reloading in 1973 and not much later was buying old men's stuff at gun shows I do not recall ever seeing Hodgdon primers. They are in red and yellow boxes marked "Made by RIKKIHAPPO OY Finland." Handling them I could not help but pity the poor little dejected primers that had to watch from a shelf while reloaders warmed zillions of other primer's hearts through to the core. I figured it's about time they got their turn so here they are in front of the computer. How long have these eager little guys been waiting for their turn?
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Pictures???
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02-23-2018, 12:48 PM
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I would imagine, just like everything else, Hodgdon sold, they sourced them out.
Their packaging looks like Alcan, but could be anyone.
My money would be that they are third party. As in, Win, CCI, Alcan, Rem etc.
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02-23-2018, 12:57 PM
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NEVER SAW THEM EITHER.
It would not surprise me if Hogden did make primers & sold them with another mfgr's name on the box. My big concern would be how they have been stored for ??? years. I would not pay a premium for them, if at all, when other new ones are available.
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02-23-2018, 01:00 PM
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Oh they came from Finland..That was for sure. And they worked fine. Like Herter's or Alcan they did not make the primers..they bought them and sold them in their store and out of their catalog for powdersMany people don't realize that Alcan primers were made by Fiocchi(220 Max fires were what we call Fiocchi 616s today)And when S&W bought out Alcan they continued to sell the Alcan primers.. S&W ammo was headstamped S&W-F right at first...And most everyone realizes Herter's made almost nothing themselves. From What I was told when Hodgdon closed their store they quit importing primers. I was also under the impression that Speer sold the same primers at one time. Same time frame of course
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02-23-2018, 03:49 PM
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Hodgdon primers are listed in the 1972 edition of the Handloader's Digest. That's just the earliest edition I have. I don't remember using them. I also used Herter's primers back around that time. Some said made in USA, some said Japan. Alcan primers were also common at that time.
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02-23-2018, 04:09 PM
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Never heard of them.
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02-23-2018, 04:42 PM
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Much of Herter's reloading components were made in Sweden and Finland. Powders were Swedish I think. Going out to the garage and will check. I still have both Herter's and Alcan stuff. S&W primers ammo and brass too. S&W loading data is out there somewhere. .
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02-23-2018, 08:16 PM
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Although Herter's brass was made in Sweden, I don't think it was made by Norma. I once bought some Herter 6.5x55 (headstamped Herter) and they had a very short life before they developed cracks. I think Norma brass would have lasted a lot longer. I never bought any more brass from Herter. I still have a few sets of Herter dies and a few other odds and ends of Herter reloading equipment. I could never hang onto a copy of Herter's catalog. Someone always stole it.
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02-23-2018, 10:12 PM
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I happened to be a receiving dealer for Herter's and I had their catalogs till they went out of business in the 1980's time frame. I still have their last abbreviated catalog. They owed me some money at the end and I took it out in items at 20% of catalog prices or less. Still have some of the items. Some of the brass they had was Norma. I just sold 2 boxes of 7mm Mauser brass a couple of weeks ago in the original shiny silver Herters box that were marked Norma. BTW I looked at the Hodgdon primer box out in the garage. The box is marked Hodgdon Powder Co and a count of the primers(50,000) and the box is also marked Vitavouri ...I also have another wooden box/crate that is marked essentially the same but contained 30,000 209 primers....also Vitavouri manufacture.
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02-23-2018, 10:13 PM
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Hodgdon manual in 1970 lists Hodgdon primers.
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02-23-2018, 10:48 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DumpStick
Hodgdon manual in 1970 lists Hodgdon primers.
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Made in Finland, listed in # 21 (1970) and #22 ('74), not shown in #23 ('77).
I don't ever recall seeing any in the Rocky Mountain West.
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02-24-2018, 06:13 AM
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Apparently the only reason I did not see Hodgdon primers back in the day was shipping costs. I'm in Western Washington and CCI primers were being made just over the border in Lewiston Idaho. Every store that sold anything for reloading sold CCI Primers. Usually they were 99 cents for a hundred standard primes and $1.09 for magnums but Pay-N-Pack Drug Stores often had them on sale for 69 cents and 79 cents. In addition to CCI Sportswest had Winchester primers.
The oldest primers I used up were rounded or dome shaped Remingtons that I bought at a gun show. Rather than being packed in plastic trays they were in wood trays. They worked as good as new ones. Despite my "new" Hodgdon primers probably being older than those Remingtons were when I used them I expect my Hodgdons also will work fine.
In case anyone is curious I paid half the store's shelf price for standard Federal primers.
To all who contributed to this thread, thank-you.
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02-24-2018, 12:34 PM
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"The oldest primers I used up were rounded or dome shaped Remingtons that I bought at a gun show. Rather than being packed in plastic trays they were in wood trays. "
When I first started handloading in the mid-1960s, the rounded dome primers were fairly common, and in fact my first Lyman press came with a set of four primer seating punches, two Large and two Small, one each rounded and flat. I used a lot of Federal LR and LP primers back in those days, they came in generic white packaging, no graphic designs then. Also wood trays.
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