Who else has read about Alliant suspending shipments of all there powders. I resd it on Ammoland. And Alliant said its because of shortages of raw materials namely Nitrocelluose

Got word of the limited availability about three months ago. Alliant Unique plant in Canada IIRC was transitioning over to fulfill an artillery propellant contract, and the rep advised of the pressure on raw material in their European manufacturing sector. I laid into a big supply of the sole remaining Alliant powder I use despite my Vistaphobia. Relieved I hit it before the price increase.

Despite reading about it online, nothing is noted on the Alliant website. I've not seen any manufacturer confirmation at all.

Alliant is a Vista outdoors company.
That's what gives.

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it just needs more voltage

It was announced on Powder Valley FB page


From PV facebook page - Log into Facebook

FYI – we have just received the following message from Vista Outdoors (the parent company of Alliant Powders):​
​
“Due to the worldwide shortage of nitrocellulose, the Vista Outdoor supply agreement for the sale of Alliant Powder canisters has been suspended for an unknown period. At this time, we have no timeline for the fulfillment and will be canceling outstanding Alliant orders in our system.​
​
Representatives will provide updates and coordinate new orders based on availability.”​


On another forum it was verified by a member who contacted Alliant//


I also find it strange that nothing was said by other companies like Hodgdon??

It's not like Alliant is the only one using nitro??

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Still Running Against the Wind

Exactly....
Hodgdon delivers while nearly every vista company makes excuses

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it just needs more voltage

I read months ago about a worldwide nitrocellulose shortage. Got flamed a little on here for posting such. Now anyone who pays attention to powder prices and now announced shortages or unavailability has seen those chickens come home to roost.
In the words of my long deceased hunting buddy Phil " cheer up it will get worse"

I was looking for Bullseye and called a good size reloading supplier not far from me and they said powder in general is getting hard to get. I’ve also noticed some of the go to places I’ve bought at have only a few canisters on the shelves.

I started searching the internet and found some at Midsouth Shootrrs Supply with no hasmat this weekend and bought what I needed. Fortunately I have a pretty big supply of everything I use now.

I don't think that's entirely the case.
If we look at product availability, Alliant has very few in stock at powder valley.
In contrast the Hodgdon owned brands are mostly in stock. Yeah, hodgdon is coming up a little bit short too, but they are getting products to the shelves.
Vista outdoors doesn't seem to bother... No surprise, they are largely anti gun, and use their ownership as a means of gun control.

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it just needs more voltage

... are MANUFACTURED shortages.

Anything to keep the prices high.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

MSSS has been my goto since Covid. They have inflation prices now, but not gouging.

When the 6:00 News uttered the word "Pandemic" in 2020, I suspected a problem in the offing. MSSS had a sale that day and I bought a supply. A check 3 days later showed everything out of stock. I'm still using their $28 primers and $30 Bullseye because I planned ahead.

Funny thing.....Just a few hours ago I utilized their hazmat free weekend and bought a 10 year supply of powder.

(I guess I didn't need ALL of that SS check for food and gas after all)

I’m confused.

How is it possible that there are powder shortages and record high prices, while at the same time the “blast-o-holics” are blazing through piles of 9mm and 5.56 factory ammo being sold at bargain prices?
Honestly, I see the “AR” and plastic pistol guys at ranges just indiscriminately hosing away, -often just shooting at the earthen berms without even bothering to set up targets(!)-, like the purpose was to simply consume the boxes of bulk pack ammo they just bought at PSA as quickly as possible.
And, there’s nary a peep out of them anymore about “stocking up” or shortages. What gives? How is this possible?

Of course, given the fact that “brick & mortar” sporting goods and firearms retailers (the few that are left) don’t even know what reloading is, might somehow tie into all of this.

Yeah, I’ve been railing against Vista Outdoors here for a few years. But, there’s something else going on.
I don’t even recognize the shooting industry anymore.

As I understand it, Vista stays in business by doing business with governments rather than consumers.
I'm not sure how much of the nitrocellulose they produce, but obviously hodgdon is able to either produce or obtain it.
Then, as you point out, the tacticool commandos seem to rain steel with bulk pack blammo ammo at bargain prices....
Obviously, some segments of the commodity producers sell into commercial industry to produce the blammo ammo.
I've transitioned to 5.56 and 9mm for most of my recreational shooting as these are the cheapest reloadable cartridges we have to shoot at this time.
And yeah ... Despite having a progressive to rain vulgar quantities of 5.56, I can't help but bite on some of those bulk deals

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it just needs more voltage

6string I sure agree that I don't recognize the shooting industry anymore. We could fill a new thread on the shortcomings of the industry for sure.

I think our problems with propellant is outside of Winchester and Hodgdon Pyrodex - isn't everything else manufactured outside of the United States?

Maybe the powder shortages have not caught up with us yet and thus cheap 9 and 5.56 ammo is still available.

Maybe the blasters are rich or simply have more money than brains.

When Covid first hit everything was real cheap but it didn't take more than a few days for the "informed gun owners" to foresee what was about to happen.

Time will tell.

Canister powders for reloaders are different from the bulk powders used in factory ammo. I've said it before, reloaders soak up the excess production capacity for these manufacturers. We are useful idiots when they have excess capacity, and thrown under the bus when they don't. It's not a conspiracy, the civilian market is just not their main customer.

We have an incredible variety of powders today; far more than anyone needs or wants. It's all but impossible to imagine that something obtainable can't take the place of something that's unavailable. Time may be better spent doing load development with something new rather than hopelessly wait for or worry over a powder that can't be had.

Very smart stocking up. Midsouth used to be just up the road from me but moved a few years ago. Good folks though.

If as described previously, there's no maybe about it.

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it just needs more voltage

I haven't seen any 5.56mm at "bargain prices". Pre-pandemic I paid $259 each for my last few cases of 1000 rounds. It's twice that now.

By and large, I agree.
A little bit of sweat equity invested to something that is on the shelf is going to be worth our time. In fact, we may come out ahead for it.
There are a few pockets that don't quite have replacements though. 2400 comes to mind.
while we have others in this burn rate range, none are quite so forgiving.
Blue Dot had become a good friend of mine over the years for heavy shot shell, pistol and even reduced cast lead rifle loads.
I can address most of this with HS6, but no one powder has managed to completely fill it's shoes.

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it just needs more voltage

just looked at PSA .... it's worse than that now

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it just needs more voltage

I think the reason 9mm and 223 is "reasonable" now, is the manufacturers overproduced. I was in Academy several months ago and they were telling me how many pallets of those they had in stock. I wonder if when that supply dwindles, if the increased component cost will drive up those prices again.

Rosewood

PSA has Rem UMC 55 FMJ at just $750 per 1000 ... Winchester counterpart ... $550.
so... yeah, it's already happening, with vista company leading the way.

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it just needs more voltage

That wouldn't be very smart, though, necessarily.

Alliant would make A LOT more money (probably) by selling a high volume of lower priced products, instead of a low volume of higher priced product.

I just saw a bunch of 4 lb'ers of Bullseye and 2400 at my local big box store in Ohio.

STILL NO UNIQUE THOUGH, grrrr.

So they must still be producing some of this stuff.

I have gone in a different direction. Not easy..I look for cans of older powders...discontinued. And I have had really good luck finding them. Reloader 11 and 12 is easily found and usually cheap. I recently bought 3 sealed cans of RL 11 for 10 dollars each. and a couple cans of RL 12 for the same but had to take the RL 21 that was with it(I'll probably not use the RL 21). There is still plenty of loading data for them too. I have also gotten old sealed cans of Unique and 2400 for 15-20 dollars a can. It is surprising how much of the old cans are left...And no...I have not used or tried to use any that was bad. Hercules powders just seem to be long lasting. I still have a pound or so of Hi Vel #2 from a can from 1937. A pretty good 30-30 powder. .And another old powder to look for is Herco.. Not much different than Unique and a very viable replacement for it

Herco is a pretty good substitute for Unique, though load data certainly isn't interchangeable. Many of those who started handloading in recent decades are unfamiliar with Herco, but it's worth trying if you can't find Unique. It's also an Alliant powder, just not a popular one these days.

but they still do ... We are not the customers, GOVERNMENTS are.
Be it the military of multiple nations, or the various federal agencies, these are their customers. Vista is anti gun, and fulfilling the vision of "Only police should have guns"

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it just needs more voltage

good old herco ....
I got acquainted with it loading 12 ga where it worked, but didn't really excel. I think I still have some ... I may have to play with it in a few pistol cartridges where it may find a sweet spot.

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it just needs more voltage

Over on another forum people are crying a river over this. They are so hooked on Alliant powders they don't realize that they can get other brands that will do the same thing.
"Oh my I will have to redo all my "load development"



Alliant doesn't have any magic powders. Yes, I have some BE, 2400 and Unique But also other powders that will work just as well.
Plus, their online data info is terrible compared to Hodgdon.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Alliant data in the free manuals they used to give you were all max loads. You were supposed to start 10% below especially for rifle loads. ...BTW a pretty good mid range or a little above 44 mag load with Herco is 10.5 grains with a standard primer and a 240 gr SWC lead bullet. I loaded a whole bunch when I got an 8 pound Herco for 40 dollars.

You can go to Alliant's webpage and request a free manual to be mailed to your home. I request a new one about every 2 years.

Rosewood

A real handloader looks forward to load development using something different. You never know what's around the corner if you don't experiment...

that's largely how I met the activity since I started.
I don't have many loads derived from the age old Hercules powder bible as a result. and what few remain have some flavor of a backup.
looking at how entrenched the product line is in our culture, it's plain to see how much pain it has inflicted upon many.

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it just needs more voltage

Your right. Fewer handloaders have much interest in load development these days. Powders come and go, but I've yet to find a powder that can't be replaced, though it may take some effort.

Except for Trail Boss.

I’d love to try that in my Uberti with the .45 cylinder before I die…

Attached Images

258186D3-C56B-4FBC-A512-EAA779623601.jpg (82.0 KB, 8 views)

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Richard

It's not been perfect, but I can find most on the shelf.
Trail boss is something I think they rebrand from some obscure manufacturer.
Might even be the Russian stuff a guy gave me a sample of for sub sonic work

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it just needs more voltage

Trail Boss may be part of the situation where Hodgdon has been unable to get any powder out of ADI Australia.
Trail Boss used to be an ADI powder. Dunno if it still is.
The Clays (universal etc.) production line burned down years ago
so Hodgdon moved that production to Canada but supplies were limited and then disappeared.
The ADI powders I am looking for H4198 and H322 are no where to be seen with potential prices that are staggering.
Vihtavouri's prices are lower so that's where I am going (N120).
Since they used to be the most expensive option that also shows how weird things have become.

I agree that there is almost always some way to make what's available work even if it is not optimum.

Here's a cut and paste of the ADI-Hodgdon connection from a much larger spreadsheet (The 444 Master Reloading Table).
The conversion to PDF is not perfect but you will get the idea.
This table is from a few years back.

Attached Files

Hodgdon-ADI connection.pdf (40.8 KB, 19 views)

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NEMO
"Everything 44"

Oh wow, I'd give my left ### for 2400 bout now.

I've used #2400 since the 1960's, but if I absolutely couldn't find any, I'd try Accurate #9. I used it on a very limited basis some years ago with cast bullet .357 loads. Burn rate is pretty close to #2400 and a little load development might be worth the effort.

I second this.
#9 is a little finicky as are most others in this burn rate range.
It's not quite as flexible as 2400, but it is dead on it's heels.
What it gives up in flexibility, it gains in energy. not a bad trade really

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it just needs more voltage

It's always a good idea to listen to that little voice that says to put in a prudent reserve.

I strongly suggest using a "good" magnum primer with AA#9.

Even 2400 benefits from a magnum primer & which primer you use makes a difference, as was tested in my thread here:

WLP - Rem 2½ primers, are they magnum primers? The 44 test

.

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Waiting for the break of day

Just shy of $52.00 for a pound of Unique! Sheesh!

I wonder if this was the intent when it was purchased by a Czech company

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Romans5:8

My LGS proprietor is pretty honest about the supply chain issues. The latest disruptor is China. They are the overwhelmingly dominant supplier of raw nitrocellulose, the precursor to blended and milled gunpowder. The government is scrambling to restore powder supply from somewhere. They will probably be okay as there are idle arsenal facilities all over, but we marginal recreational consumers will be on the outside looking in. China is motivated to keep its fellow communist brothers in arms (Russia) supplied with munitions. Where do we go from here, just as primers start to reappear? I've taken a few baby steps towards black powder and flintlocks in particular. Air rifles are another cheap alternative to maintain trigger time. I have an old S&W CO2 pistol is things get too tough.

We often fail to realize that handloaders are an incredibly small faction of gunpowder users. Our needs and wants are likely insignificant to the producers and distributors of powder and primers. Hard to blame them; they are in business to make a profit and our small purchases don't begin to generate large profits.

Vista outdoors is an anti gun company.
one of the dominant philosophies of the anti gunner is that only the government should have guns.
That's their primary customer ... government contracts.

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it just needs more voltage

That's the problem. Those companies don't want the re-loaders business. The cost of packaging and shipping 1,4 and 8 lbs of powder to 100 distributors isn't generating the same profit as shipping 1000 lbs of powder to a defense contractor.

Anyone shop at Costco? Same deal. They buy hundreds of pallets of coffee beans and move them to the regional stores using their own fleet of trucks. People buy more coffee beans than powder. If coffee was as popular as powder, someone would buy it wholesale, like Cabela's, and you could buy it for 20% over wholesale. Unfortunately that isn't the case and Cabela's has no powder. Neither does anyone else.

Re-loaders are the last folks in line for powder and primers. Might as well get used to it because it only gets worse.

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That's just somebody talkin.

once upon a time my powder cabinet had many different powders. Then a long came yet another shortage, while this did not catch me off guard I got a little nervous when my inventory became low.
so when it came to powders for my pistols I made the decision to find one powder for all calibers, 9mm, 40, and 45. I settled on W231/hp38 for them all.
I may have lost some accuracy, but I now have a life time supply of those 2 powders.
so if other powders start to show up again at a good price I will buy them and sell my W231/hp38 to fund the others.
If you get caught with your pants down during another shortage, it on you!
I believe some of the shortage is do to people like me trying to secure a life time of supplies.
of course it is easier to have a life time supply when you getting up there in years.