Bullseye & Unique

[Troystat]

I emailed the company that makes Bullseye & Unique and asked if these powders are still being made and here was their response.

It is still being made and by no means discontinued.

Currently the bulk of the issue with powder (all powder companies) is the Lack of Nitrocellulose. Nitrocellulose is a key component in double base powders. All our powders are double base. The shortage of Nitrocellulose is caused from supply and demand. There are only two suppliers that manufacture Nitrocellulose. One out of the two currently shut down for the foreseeable future. Causing our current shortage. We only sale to distributors, who then sale to retailers. Distributors can sale any where at any time. They do not share that information with us.

 

[Skeet 028]

Hmmmm From the horses mouth?!

 

[6string]

Nitrocellulose is used for many, many different products. It’s one of the most prevalent materials in manufacturing industry.
Making it is not a terribly complicated process.

The suggestion that there’s “only two suppliers that manufacture nitrocellulose”, and one them is shut down is pure rubbish.

Just more lies from the carpetbaggers of the sporting goods world, “Vista Outdoors”, or their subsidiary “The Kinetic Group”.

 

[fordson]

I’ve read that China is a primary source of NC, and since they are not our friends, has stopped all shipments to the U.S. A global market has many benefits, but depending on such for strategic weapons materials is not one of them………

 

[mtgianni]

I’ve read that China is a primary source of NC, and since they are not our friends, has stopped all shipments to the U.S. A global market has many benefits, but depending on such for strategic weapons materials is not one of them………

China is also one of the major producers of antimony sulphate, a major component of primers. They cut that supply off last year.

 

[Skeet 028]

Think we have a bunch of companies that make NC?? You are dreaming..Think of 3 letters...EPA...hard 'nuff making fertilizers Then think of 4 more letters BATFE...there are other letters too All regulatory

 

[DWalt]

The largest NC manufacturer is the Army’s immense plant at Radford VA. But I believe all of it made there at present is used for making smokeless powder at various locations (including Radford) for military use. I do not think there are any other large scale NC manufacturers remaining in the USA at present. Outside of China and Russia, there is some NC made in Canada, Australia,Thailand, India, Brazil, and Europe. At present I understand nearly all smokeless powder sold on the US civilian market is imported. There is not much detailed information available regarding the current NC and smokeless powder supply situation. It would be nice if someone in the business such as Hodgdon (which obviously knows) would publish a comprehensive report on the US smokeless powder and NC manufacture and market situation, but I do not expect we will ever see anything like that.

I have a great deal of experience in the manufacture of both NC and smokeless powder, but have been out of the business for far too long to know what’s going on now.

 

[glenwolde]

A partial list of the largest manufacturers...

Nitrocellulose Group: A leading manufacturer of industrial nitrocellulose, used in the printing ink and coating industries.

Manuco: A world leader in the supply of energetic nitrocellulose for the defense, security, pyrotechnics, and civil explosives industries.

Aldon Corporation: A distributor of nitrocellulose in paper form, used in educational, laboratory, and industrial applications.

Sichuan Nitrocell Corporation: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in China.

Nobel NC: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in Thailand.

Nitro Química: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in the U.S.

DowDuPont: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in the U.S.

TNC: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in the U.S.

Hubei Xuefei Chemical: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in China.

Hengshui Orient Chemical: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in China.

Nitrex Chemicals: A nitrocellulose manufacturer in India.

Hebei Sanmu Cellulose Co., Ltd. A nitrocellulose manufacturer in China that specializes in high-tech nitrocellulose development and production.

 

[Skeet 028]

How many in the US make NC in quantities for smokeless powder making? Ummm Ummm

 

[glenwolde]

How many in the US make NC in quantities for smokeless powder making? Ummm Ummm

It's hard to tell without paying for the industry report. But in reading the overview It would seem that Asia (India, Thailand, China) as a whole is responsible for almost half the manufacturing.

Given the size of the market and the uses for NC it seems munitions are in the "other" category. Current excess demand seems to be driven mostly by printing inks as that industry transitions to less toxic/VOC products.

To me, when looked at objectively, I think the reduction in exports to the U.S. looks a lot more like just local industrial demand for products other than munitions than it does a conspiracy.

 

[6string]

My Dad worked his entire adult career life for DuPont.
He got his foot in the door at one of their dynamite factories! But, he eventually worked up to executive management for General Products, which at the time, included their sporting goods products and explosives.
For purposes of our discussion on the forum, that translates to Remington Arms and DuPont smokeless powder. When I started into reloading, we used a lot of IMR and SR powders, as they were made by Dupont. I was personally saddened when DuPont sold off the smokeless powder part of the business, not to mention the sale of Remington!
My understanding of the issue of outsourcing the production of nitrocellulose powder to other countries is in no small part due to the fact that it's not all that complicated to manufacture.
It simply became irresistible to move it to emerging nations trying to build their manufacturing base.
Others have suggested that regulatory considerations factored into it.

In any case, the time is ripe these days, for many reasons, to get that reversed!

 

[Greyman50]

Hopefully a “ change in oppressive regulations” will result in more NC production. Now a “ change of mentality” for management of mfg’s is another issue….

 

[smoothshooter]

That company letter is a big Nothing Burger that is problematic for several reasons.
First off, it does not give any specifics as to what countries are involved, or any real details about anything. The whole response is unnecessarily vague and basically tells us nothing we didn‘t already know.
As a side note, the annoying use of the word “sale” when the word “sell” is the appropriate one is curious.

 

[Skeet 028]

China supposedly makes 60-65% of NC made in the world. Even Russia was buying NC from China and China cut their supply back. I like this DOGE thing Trump is proposing...maybe get rid of some of the bureaucracy in these gummit agencies. Personally I buy all the Hercules/Alliant powders I see at reasonable prices. Double based powders don't deteriorate as easily as IMR types...I understand Ball/spherical is even better. I bought a pound each of Unique 2400 $25 each and the fellow gave me 1/2 pound of Red Dot all in the plastic containers so fairly recent. I think I have enough now

 

[Krogen]

That company letter is a big Nothing Burger that is problematic for several reasons.
First off, it does not give any specifics as to what countries are involved, or any real details about anything. The whole response is unnecessarily vague and basically tells us nothing we didn‘t already know.
As a side note, the annoying use of the word “sale” when the word “sell” is the appropriate one is curious.

Something else in the letter doesn't smell quite right. The author chose to highlight that they're impacted by the use of nitrocellulose in double-base powders, and that all of theirs are double-base. The other major category of smokeless powder is single-base. Single-base powders are primarily nitrocellulose. So what point is the author trying to make? The scarcity of nitrocellulose isn't singling them out any more than other manufacturers.

Perhaps I'm just looking at things with a jaundiced eye, but the reply given to OP seems to be from an uninformed source.