The Deploreable Powder Situation

O

One Lung Wonder

BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Location
Aaaaaadmontin AB
My god - does ANYONE have any W231? I like to burn that in the .45ACP but will consider alternatives as well.

Good grief...the boys at Phoenix had Titegroup for the longest time but I turned my nose up at it preferring W231...and by the time they ran out I had just begun to change my mind. Then One of our fine suppliers said he had some and had probably already sold most of it the same day...but I held off again. I was SURE that somebody would come up with some W231 somewhere...and now I'm desperate. I am down to 1700 rounds and will be dipping into my reserves.

I will take anything HP38, Red Dot or whatever I can lay my greedy hands on...sheesh...this is getting truly ridiculous...
 
Where have you been? This situation has been going on for over a year now.

My fav is W231 to, and I'm down to my last pound.

Have switched to CFE pistol for now as that's all I could find (TSE YYC), and that sold out in less than two days.

Have you tried finding 22 ammo lately? Same situation.

M
 
Last edited:
FYI ..... Rumors in the States are that the US Government is replenishing all of their ammunition that has been used from the recent "wars". Winchester (Olin Manufacturing) is clearly the largest supplier of ball powders to the US Govt. Hopefully, the situation gets better in the near future. Also am looking for some W231 .....
 
FWIW, I used to use 231 and switched to TG because it was cleaner and more accurate.

In 45ACP I found the 200g Lead SWC over 4.3 TG was best load in many different pistols. Same 4.3 was very accurate with 230 g lead RN bullets, too.

But I have one pistol that only shoots well with 5.0 gr of 231. I presume that eventually everyone will be well stocked up with powder and the powders will suddenly be a glut on the market.

I still have lots of my basic powders, except for Universal Clays.
 
Anyone remember the great primer shortage that occurred 2-3 years ago?

Try and find new rifle brass these days. Same issue!

M
 
Only components that are in need of restocking within the next month or so are small and large rifle primers. Got enough powder to last a good while but will stock up when I can.
 
I am seeing .22 here in Edmonton again, bought a couple thousand M22 from Cabelas and then snarfed another thousand Federal bulk stuff from P&D ... so supply is picking up again but is still spotty.

Higgy has 4895, bought 16 lbs. and that should tide me over for a bit.

All I ever shot in my .45's is Red Dot and W231. It was always around so that is what I used. I am done hemming and hawing - next time I see Titegroup I will grab two pounds and to hell with waiting for Winchester to get it's poop in a group...
 
Le Baron got several shipments of powder late last year. W231, TG was among the few they got. Primers seems to be the next concern. I use to get them from Le Baron and Bass Pro (price match policy @ BP). Only CCI primers for now @ LB, none @ BP. No Win primers. Very few, non-popular powder @ BP. Bullets ? Not as bad as there are local manufacturers of lead and abundance of plated/jacketed stuff.
 
Last edited:
Was at P-D IN Edmonton yesterday and they had 3 different brands of .22 and a list of powders maybe 20 kinds, didn't look at what there was cause I have enough of both for the near future
 
Hodgdon is making Winchester powders as of right now.HP38 is W231 is correct,same powders different containers.I put myself on different back-order list to hopefully get served first when the order comes in.Cabela's,SFRC and Grouse River all have me on a list.They told me this is the smart thing to do because powder comes in spurts.From what I've read it's all about hoarding and production variables that are keeping supply a problem.Lots of .22 ammo around here!
 
Yup.

But it is a good idea to differentiate between W231 and HP38 when talking to the clerks at the gun shop. You would be surprised at how many of them think they are two different powders. I got in a fight with one about the issue and gave up when it looked like he was going to turn it into a pissing match. A lot of these clerks are young fellas and ladies with limited experience and I have found that sometimes it is just easier to ask the question rather than confusing them.
 
It all depends on what you want. I'm currently looking for 800X or Blue Dot, and of course it's nowhere. I scored some TiteGroup a while back, and I have some very old AA#2 and #5 kicking around...and half an ancient can of Unique that I'm nervous about using. Is W231 powder still kinda dirty? I used it a long time ago but found it left a lot of residue to clean. Interesting that W231 and HP38 is the same thing...I guess it's not just the newbies that haven't gotten the memo.

I managed to grab some Starline 10mm brass from Budget Shooter Supply just recently and the proprietor tells me he has a bunch left. I see a fair amount of the more commonplace brass around...but darned little of the less usual chamberings that 'nobody wants'. I'm going to tour the shops in Calgary today and see what's out there...I'll report back my findings.

Later: I went to TSE, CSC, Wholesale Sports and ProLine [yesterday]. Unless you're looking for muzzle loader stuff or you're reloading .50BMG, there's damn-all for powder available. On the up side, CSC and Wholesale seem to be pretty well stocked with primers of all sizes, including Large Pistol. I did find lots of loaded ammo however...including Norc 7.62x51 at TSE [15-20 cases at a glance] Norc 5.56 at CSC as well as other brands and 7.62x39 all over the place at what look like decent prices....plenty of surplus ammo. Wholesale had a largish lot of Federal Automatch .22LR boxes of 325 at about 7 cents a round. So there ya go. TSE and CSC has had small lots of various powders arrive in the last few months, but it sold out quickly so watch their websites and FaceBook pages and be ready to jump when it happens again.
 
Last edited:
gnmontey said:
Where have you been? This situation has been going on for over a year now.
Click to expand...

This was my first thought. One Lung Wonder should be pleased that he has stretched his supply of W231 out to last essentially to the end of the shortage. Powder is spotted more and more frequently every week now, I suspect the common powders will be fairly easy to obtain by early summer. With a stash of 1700 still to go, I would say he's sitting pretty. Which is why I don't feel obligated to offer some of the 8lbs keg of W231 I have had sitting in my Edmonton basement for the last year :cool:.
 
LouF said:
I put myself on different back-order list to hopefully get served first when the order comes in...... and Grouse River all have me on a list
Click to expand...

I've been on Grouse River's W231 list for over a year now. Nothing.

M
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom