Hodgdon is discontinuing PB
 

I've been reading all over the net that Hodgdon will be discontinuing PB, 7625 and 4759 at the end of 2014. Dagnabbit :banghead: !!

I may have to buy up a lifetime supply of PB, wonder what the shelf life is?

Talking with Mark the other day and he said the same thing. I use both PB and 7625. Well If its true I will have to find a suitable replacement.

I'll be on the hunt for 7625. I'm sure they will have some type of replacement powder. I wonder why these would be discontinued?

I'll have two 8 pounders of SR7625 and one if SR4756 in my hands soon . That should keep me going for awhile .

They claimed they didn't sell enough of them to make them profitable any longer .

You left out SR4756 , that ones getting the axe as well .

If you can't make a profit, you can't make the product. PB was a smokeless replacement for black powder anyway. There's little reason to keep it any longer. 4759 was a good cast bullet powder... but 5744 is just as good, maybe even better. For the big BP cartridges, there are better powders out there now... like Trail Boss. I hate to see powders go, too. But these can be replaced with good alternatives.

And... our powder companies stay in business. That's good for everyone.

I think I know where I can get some 7625 and 4756. I will check it out and can bring it to one of the sxs shoots this year----and no hazmat shipping fee!!!

I'm not that familiar with powder properties but couldn't IMR SR7625 & SR4756 be used instead?

those are the ones being discontinued

I've used a veritable pile or SR4759 and XMP5744 in cast bullet rifle loads . Also used SR4756 and SR7625 in cast bullet rifle loads and they all worked equally well .

5744 is alot more position friendly in a cartridge case then Sr4759 however . Although I do have a small supply of them both I use them very little anylonger . My cast bullet rifle shooting is pretty much handled now with H322 , IMR8208 , RL-7 and XMR2015 .

All those 8# jugs of PB and 7625 that I bought years back and have on the shelves... what AM I going to do with them????? I think I'm set for a while. I think I bought over 50# total in my last order....

And what is your Address????:)

That will take care of a lot of icicles Richard.:eek:

thats enough powder to get them icesicals outa the outhouse for sure...charlie

Last night a shooting buddy of mine bought one 5 lb. and one 8 lb. container of PB that we're going to split. Total cost including tax was $293.29 or $22.56/lb. Your purchase of over 50 lbs. has a street value today of somewhere north of $1128 . . . maybe that'll help you decide what to do with it. :eek:

I bought my supply long before all the recent madness started so have far less into it than it costs now. I'll just keep on using it...and smiling....

All I use in 12ga is PB. I was getting it through the Skeet Club in Georgia for $125 /12lb keg. I stocked up and still have plenty for my needs.

I use a lot of IMR "PB" for light through heavy 12 gauge loads, and up to moderate level short 10 gauge. I've never seen it in anything but 14 oz bottles, 4 and 8 pound jugs. A couple of gents have reported 5 and 12 pounders ???

For those looking for PB and not being able to find it, you might consider IMR SR-7625 which according to reports is also being discontinued. It is perhaps more useful than PB (light 12 thru heavier 10 gauge). And imo, reports about it being funky in cold weather are goofy and carried forward by those who have read that somewhere but never tried it themselves. I've tested 7625 extensively in 12 and 10 gauge by leaving loaded shells outside overnight in sub-zero degree temps, carrying them on an unheated golf/shooting cart, and shooting up to 100 rounds on a sporting course with the gun cooing down between stations. My buddies and I shoot on Sundays no matter what the weather, and I've done that many times with 7625 loaded shells with proper Remington, Federal and Claybuster wads and never had a blooper or light sounding report. Same with heavy 12 gauge both 2-3/4 and 3-inch, and short 10's used for hunting in the winter. For whatever this is worth .....

Chromox, 12 lb. containers of PB, as well as other powders available in 12 lb. containers, were discontinued I believe about a decade ago. PB in the 5 lb. size has been a standard offering (at least in my neck of the woods). Have you bought a 4 lb. size of PB in a from-the-factory original container?

Wild Skies, yes I've bought many 4 pound bottles of PB; the only sizes I've seen over the past 7 years since I started shotshell loading were 14 oz, 4 and 8 pounds in plastic containers. Hodgdon bought IMR Powder of Plattsburgh NY in 2003 and they transitioned to plastic (versus metal) containers afterwards but I don't have a date on that. Yours looks like a metal containers and now I'm curious if it's labeled IMR Powder Co in Plattsburgh NY or IMR Powder Co in Shawnee Mission KS. Sorry I don't have a 4 pounder to get a pic right now, all I have is in 8 pound bottles.

For those interested IMR was originally an E I duPont brand which they retained when the government forced it to split off the double-base powder business to the Hercules Powder Co (now Alliant). The IMR line was later sold to the firm in Plattsburgh NY when duPont got out of the gunpowder business. IMR powders were and are single-base nitrocellulose and have no NG added, as in double-base powders.

On the back of the metal can it says:
"MANUFACTURED IN CANADA FOR
IMR POWDER COMPANY
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.12901, U.S.A."

Another 8lb. plastic jug of PB I have says Shawnee Mission, KS on the back.

Now you've got me wondering if the 5 pounder that I've recently bought is NOS powder. :vconfused:

Greg, I wouldn't worry about it as long as the can was properly stored.

A short story to illustrate: About 40 years ago Hodgdon was selling WW2 surplus powder, and a popular one was IMR 4831 that was made for 20 mm cannons. A friend worked at a sporting goods store where it could be bought for $1.00 per pound, weighed out on a baby scale and scooped into brown paper lunch bags that were doubled up (times have changed :rolleyes:). I just had a 300 Win Mag made up and this WW2 surplus IMR 4831 was THE POWDER for it at the time. Little loading data was available and it was called "4350 data powder" because Hodgdon said that recipes for the slightly faster, commercially available IMR 4350 could be used safely. Well the friend and I went in halfies on a 100 pound cardboard drum of the surplus 4831 which brought our cost down to 50 cents/pound. I still have that rifle and about 5 pounds of the 4831 remaining from my 50 pound split. And I use it every year and the loads are as hot as they were 40 years ago. Yep I have a chronograph. That powder is now about 70 years old and when I open the old Red Dot can it's now in, I get that ether/alcohol solvent smell same as I do with modern store bought IMR rifle powder. It always conjures up sweet old memories! :) Frank

I bought my last two kegs about five years ago. I don't know how long the supplier had it in his warehouse.

I used 7625 in a Bismuth load for roosters on Iowa public lands where notox is reqd. The shells lived in the truck from the start of the season - late Oct to last week 10 Jan. It was below zero often and sub freezing most all the time. The load crushed every rooster it hit. Misses were operator error.

funny how that works


i found a local shop with a good supply of the discontinued powders, no 4 pounders, but the price wasn't bad and the small bottles store easier.

Really? From Recob's IMR page:

"Hi-Skor" 700-X Double-base shotgun powder developed for 12-ga. target loads but also has applications in handgun rounds such as the .38 Special, 9mm Luger, and .45 ACP.

Does IMR make 700-X or is it another companies product relabeled?

BP

I was referring here to IMR PB, SR-7625 and SR-4756 the single-base powders that are supposedly being discontinued by Hodgdon/IMR, and the subject of this thread. Yep, the current IMR lineup includes 700-X which is double-base. Also, I presume the other IMR shotgun powders like 800-X etc are double base.

Frank, the powder I've had problems with in the cold weather was 4756. The 7625 worker well.

Talked to a large midwest distributor today. He said powder supply "looks like it's going to be worse than last year." This after having about a dozen 8 lb. jugs of Red Dot two days ago... to having none today. Of course, I missed out on that. I don't know if this is a sign or not. Maybe it's just Bad Luck Week.

I did see an 8 lb. jug of PB on another store shelf today. Nobody seemed to want it...

I had the same problems in my 10 ga. with 4756 in cold weather, now for 1 to 1 1/4 oz lead loads in my 10 ga I use 700-x. works great now in cold temps.

xxx