Hodgdon: The Inside Story

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daboyleroy

daboyleroy

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B07933FC-4E86-49F3-87EA-A21A51E13020.jpeg From The Ashes

“Ron Reiber, product manager for Hodgdon Powder Co., attributes the company’s success to making powders with properties that no others have. One of the first outside-the-box powders it offered was pyrotechnic deflagrating explosive, or Pyrodex. Co-invented by Dan Pawlak and Michael Levenson, Hodgdon representatives met with Pawlak in 1975 and signed an exclusive distributorship of Pyrodex. Why? Blackpowder, the go-to powder for muzzleloading hunters and re-enactors of the day, was (and still is) highly dangerous to manufacture, store and transport. A direct, volume-for-volume replacement, Pyrodex burned cleaner, ignited easily, offered improved shot-to-shot consistency, and could be more safely produced, kept, and transported. Since it wasn’t classified as an explosive (as is blackpowder), it could be sold in discount stores and gun shops alike—as is the case today. It was a no-brainer move. With much fanfare, Hodgdon introduced the shooting world to Pyrodex in May 1976. Demand for Pyrodex was prodigious; in fact, the company sold 250,000 lbs. the first year—limited only by what Pawlak could deliver.

Article at:https://www.americanrifleman.org/ar...wsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=0918


Uncle Sam is neither thrifty nor cautious with taxpayer money.”.........

“Nonetheless, don’t get the impression that blackpowder is dead—it’s not. In fact, after much internal debate, Goex was acquired by Hodgdon in 2009. It’s the only manufacturer of blackpowder in the Americas, as well as the only supplier to the U.S. military. Besides sportsmen, shooters and re-enactors, Goex is heavily used in Hollywood moviemaking and television shows. Some well-known productions that employed Goex for special effects include: “Rambo”; “The Patriot”; “The Last Samurai”; “Pearl Harbor”; and “MythBusters,” among many others.”
 
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have used Pyrodex for many years and have 5 pounds on hand now and never had any problem with it. But I mostly shoot real BP. I did buy some Alliant MZ and liked it quite a bit also. But Goex is still my go to powder.

That was a great story. Thanks for posting it.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Pyrodex is fine in cap and ball weapons, but forget about it in flintlocks unless you prime with black powder and use a duplex main load. The biggest problem with Pyrodex is its corrosive nature, much worse than black powder. Clean your guns very soon after shooting or expect severe rusting and pitting.
 
Actually Pyrodex IS a form of black powder. The very first mixtures, we're talking middle ages and the first cannon, didn't have much sulfur, and it was mixed in loose form, not consolidated and made into granules. Ignition was difficult. Some smart fellow figured out to add sulfur which dropped the ignition temp, and then they figured out how to make it into a single substance, granulated. (So if it was once tough to ignite, and in some cases was noted to burn [rocket motors for fireworks] then de-engineering it might solve a problem. ) Whereas black powder has more than 10% sulfur, Pyrodex has 8%, and then they split the Potassium Nitrate in half, and use Potassium Perchlorate, so that the stuff burns when not compressed, and thus avoids the "explosive" designation so less of a problem transporting it on the highway, and less of a problem storing it for sale at a retailer. ;)

LD
 
I would say what the American Rifleman put in print, was something you could call an "Origin Story", this is a means of boosting brand awareness:

13 Actionable Tactics for Boosting New Product Awareness

https://marketinginsidergroup.com/c...nable-tactics-boosting-new-product-awareness/

4. Tell the Origin Story

Storytelling is another big part of what makes ecommerce brands successful today. Again, online consumers today don’t just want to buy products—they want to be part of a community and an experience. Storytelling is an easy way to connect with customers on a more human level, and it’s a great way to differentiate from competitors.

To build awareness around your new product, take the time to develop the origin story of your new product. Help people understand why you decided to design and make this new product, what it means to you, who it can serve, etc. Help people get as excited as you are about your new product by showing them how much thought you’ve put into it.


7 Companies That are Killing It with Brand-Driven Storytelling

https://sujanpatel.com/marketing/7-companies-killing-brand-driven-storytelling/

In business, the rules don’t really change. Telling your story is a critical part of building your brand. It helps to shape how people view you and enables consumers to begin forging a connection with you and your company. Do it right, and you’ll put building blocks in place that allow you to develop a thriving brand with an equally thriving future, one that people buy from simply because they love what you do, what you stand for, and the stories you share.

In fact, science has finally confirmed what we’ve long known to be true: we’re hardwired for stories. They lead to better understanding, trust, comprehension, receptivity, and more. We teach important ideas to our children via fables and fairy tales. We share episodes from the lives of important religious and historical figures via dialogues and stories. We connect, engage, and are moved…to tears, to laughter, to anger, to sympathy, to action.


So, what the American Rifleman put in print, was an origin story that is actually part of a brand awareness campaign. It's advertising, nothing more, nothing less.


However, I like history, a very old Hodgdon ad I scanned:

SwtQH6S.jpg


Mind you, multiply the numbers by ten, to approximate the devaluation our of currency, to put the prices in terms of today's money. A dime in 1948 would buy what a dollar will today.


Hornady was also selling surplus powders, and anything else


d9Ti8Dt.jpg
 
RON in PA said:
Pyrodex is fine in cap and ball weapons, but forget about it in flintlocks unless you prime with black powder and use a duplex main load. The biggest problem with Pyrodex is its corrosive nature, much worse than black powder. Clean your guns very soon after shooting or expect severe rusting and pitting.
Click to expand...

My father gave me several jars of Pyrodex (P and RS). It works fine but what I found was that the fouling on my revolvers has a sort of sticky quality to it that I really dislike. That’s certainly one thing I hold against it.

Another is that the performance seems to vary. Most chronographed results I’ve seen put it in the weak catagory that many subs and black powders are in. As I am a hunter and require my handguns to be useful as such I need a certain level of performance. To be fair I’ve also seen a couple of results showing it in the same catagory as the few energetic powders on the market.

And finally there is the much higher corrosive level of Pyrodex. I found out the hard way just how bad it can be. Having read of a few CASS shooters claim to wait days or longer before cleaning up I decided to postpone the clean up of my rifle as I had spent over 8 hrs at the range with my rifle and two revolvers and was late getting home. It was such a mess and took hours before I got a cleanish patch. And then for a couple of years I could check a patch a few days later and get an orangish patch. Thankfully my patches come clean these days.

But the corrosive nature should be a moot point in that you shouldn’t be waiting to clean anyway. However I was told by a fellow that soaking the fouling with Ballistol (any oil) will saturate it so as to keep moisture off of the metal allowing you time to do it later if need be. I tested this on my two revolvers leaving them in my hot and humid Texas garage for a couple of days and found that it worked nicely.
 
Easy to ignite is not a Pyrodex quality. :rolleyes: I burn it, though, as it's available and smells like the real stuff. I've modified my long guns with adapters which use small rifle primers in one, a 209 primer for the other. The 209 will even ignite BH209 in my Hawken. :D I got a lot of duds and hangfires with pyrodex before this modification.
 
Pyrodex is a great powder, especially if you can not get BP easily or can not afford to order it in bulk. I love the Knight red hot #11 nipple, it is probably the best nipple to use with all of the sub black powders. Almost flawless ignition in my sidelocks when set up with this nipple and Pyrodex. Even T7 ignites a lot better.

An easier sub to ignite with #11 would American Pioner or Alliant Black MZ.
 
"Pyrodex burned cleaner, ignited easily, offered improved shot-to-shot consistency..."

I would say that all of these characteristics are contingent upon " certain factors" including which granulation of Pyrodex, what type of ignition and what kind of
black powder or other propellant that it's being compared against.

Pyrodex very well may meet all of the claims depending on highly variable factors.
Not all black powder is as good as another, fouling can depend on humidity, consistency can depending on loading technique, type of caps and action, how often the barrel is swabbed, ad infinitum with all of the possible variables.

The statement is very plausible yet very doubtful at the same time because not all guns and situations are the same.
They omitted making any claim about whether Pyrodex can generate additional velocity over "black powder".

I truly believe that the invention of Pyrodex and other substitute powders have greatly contributed to promote the 2nd Amendment and the shooting sports.
James Madison and the rest of our founding fathers would be proud.
 
I've burnt a lot of it myself, mostly in pistols. Haven't had any real complaints about it. Jury is still out with Black mz. Haven't shot enough of it to call it good bad or indifferent.
 
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