Who remembers Alcan?

Probably dates me some, but I used their powders and shotgun supplies for years. Some of the powders were also excellent for pistol loads.
Seems like they disappeared in the 80s somewhere, I don't remember for sure.
Reason I thought about the company is yesterday I was digging through stuff looking for some old reloading data and found an Alcan catalog I still had from 1967. :)

I seem to remember using AL-8 for something. Long time ago.

I remember it but never purchased any of the propellant myself. My grandfather used to use it for his 12 GA and 16 GA reloading IIRC but can't remember what exactly he used although I can recall some canisters sitting on the shelf. I mostly remember the paper sacks of surplus rifle propellant with the purchase price and what firearm it was used for (30-30, 45-70, etc), penciled on the bag. Those were the days.:D

Remember them?

I still have part of a paper bag of their shotgun powder.
Don't remember right off hand which one.

rc

Heh heh, figured you would.
I don't have any Alcan stuff left.
I remember giving a buddy several kegs of AL-7 I think it was because he was still actively loading for trap and I wasn't.

The word way back then was S&W bought Alcan for it's Lawman brand of ammo.I still have a can of AL 5 labeled S&W Alcan.Don't know for sure what happened to them but the ammo line didn't sell well and I believe took Alcan under with it.

I have a can (box) of AL8 and AL5. Used it in pistol reloading. I always liked it.

I got partial cans of AL-5 and AL-7.

I used a lot of Alcan shotshell stuff when I first started loading shells for hunting ducks. Their excellent "flite-max" wads could be used for everything from 1 oz. to 1.5 ounce payloads simply by regulating the depth inside the wad by using different thickness 20 ga. fiber wads. Their "max-fire" primers were the hottest primers ever made. They had to be, the alcan powders were old school cut flake powders, they were difficult to get lit!

The Alcan company was bought out by smith & wesson in the early eighties. Most of the components were discontinued, the powder was difficult to make and expensive. The wads were out-dated, especially since Remington and Winchester were marketing one piece plastic wads that were better and easier to use.

I heard that Fiocchi took over the primer plant and that the 616 fiocchi primer is every bit as hot as the max-fire. I still have a few of the flite-max wads, and some of their fiber cushion wads, and some of the air-wedge over powder wads.

I do. I still have a partial can of AL-7 and a few 16 ga. fiber wads for paper shells.

BACK in the early '70's I bought 300,000 ALCAN large pistol primers for $600.00. I sold 250,000 of 'em for five bucks a thousand keeping 50,000 against further need. In a year or so I'd shot up all 50M in 45ACP, 45COLT, and the 44MAG if memory serves. Should have kept 'em all !!!

Glad there's a few of us old farts here who remember these things. :D

They were the neatest looking cans, i have quite a bit of different ones left.

DM

Local hardware store where I grew up carried Alcan. Store went the way of Alcan...but it was replaced with a Lowe's (no reloading supplies, though).

I used a lot of Alcan until it went away. Was good stuff.

I loaded Alcan#8 in my 357 and 44 mags. Got great performance with it. Got it from an older gun shot owner.

I have 3 little 8oz cans of AL120. I also have 3 kids and thought to give each one a can. But I probably should use up the powder in them first.

We liked AL-7 in the .357 Mag and .38 special. Unfortunately it was discontinued just when my buddy and I started to handload in earnest...

The colorful Alcan cans are now collectors' items. Wish I had saved more of them.

Probably dates me some, but I used their powders and shotgun supplies for years. Some of the powders were also excellent for pistol loads.
Seems like they disappeared in the 80s somewhere, I don't remember for sure.
Reason I thought about the company is yesterday I was digging through stuff looking for some old reloading data and found an Alcan catalog I still had from 1967. :)
any data for that alcan5 for 158g lswc 38 and or 357???

I was lucky enough to purchase my fathers BABY, his 586 he ported barrel and has liquid mercury as comp in lug under barrel. shoots smooth as a 22 My question is I also picked up some alcan5 powder he was fond of. I have some 158g LSWC I would like to load, However there is absolutely no hard data that I can find. I reload .38,.357,12 gauge PLEASE any help will be greatly appreciated THANKYOU

I used Alcan back in the 60's for shotgun powder... May even still have one of the old cans around some where.

I'm still shooting AL-5 in my .38's and AL-8 in my .44 mag. hunting loads. Bought kegs of it in 1973 when a large hardware store in a city close by sold out. My buddy and I bought pickup loads of reloading components.

Alcan 5 or 7 was the first powder i ever used in a 20 ga lee loader whackamole old school type. we used the then new Rem plastic hulls sealed em with an over shot card and a little glycerin, killed lots of squirells, rabbits doves and snipe and a few ducks with them when i was a teenager in the mid 60's.

we used the glycerin because when we fold crimped the reloads they would pucker and the shot would spill out into your shell bag or pocket.(Having the Mecs i have now was a distant dream).

I have a few of those old 20 ga relaods that I keep to remember my uncle who taught me to shoot, reload and hunt!!

Bull

I was living in Morgan City in the 60s when I first started using Alcan supplies.

Wow, I haven't thought about Alcan in years. I used it to reload 16ga with my Lee hand loader and later to reload 41 mag for my S&W 57. Still have the Winchester mdl.12/16ga. shotgun but sold the S&W 57 years ago. Wish I hadn't done that. That's another thing that is great about this forum. It wakes the sleeping nearly dead memory cells and brings back a flood of memories. Thanks for this one.

I still have cases of Alcan fiber wads...

Snuff....Bangor punta was the mega group that controlled s&w, Harley, skampercampers, Alan, and a whole pile of other stuff. It was in the 70's, actually. I still have a lot of s&w ammo made by Alcan. Used to pay 56 cents per hundred for the primers for our gun shop. Shot shells were great for first shot, horrible to reload. I have horror stories about having to buy amounts of s&w "related" stuff to get our smiths at dealer cost.

How about these:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7440/8718716399_c62b71339a.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67652701@N03/8718716399/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/67652701@N03/8718716399/) by jr_roosa (http://www.flickr.com/people/67652701@N03/), on Flickr

When my dad gave me all his leftover reloading gear, there were 2000 Alcan small pistol primers. I'm down to my last 100.

They look silly next to the monster boxes of modern primers, don't they?

-J.

jason2011419
You would be better starting you're own post. Most of the people here can't get past reading the title & don't even see all there dust showing this had been reopened for some reason.

Yep, sure do, used Alcan 7 (I think) for my Lee Loader reloading the 12 guage in High School and College. Worked well for trap, birds and ducks.

Yep, I have some 20 hulls that I still load and shoot. I don't know if I will ever be able to wear them out.

Quoted fro post above:

"I still have cases of Alcan fiber wads..."

Those were the beautiful days, I loaded thousands of them too and would happily do it again. Thank you for reminding me, and all of us. And especially today's generation who will never know the pleasure of stacking fiber wads and nitro cards together and loading those delicious smelling paper cases.

Most of the people here can't get past reading the title & don't even see all there dust showing this had been reopened for some reason.

Guilty. Sorry for participating in thread necromancy.

It is funny how all you have to do is mention some bygone brand and we all sit back in our rocking chairs and talk about the good old days when everything cost a nickel.

-J.

I have several pounds of AL-8 in a jug that I bought at a gun store in Owensboro. I suspect it came from Bartlett's. It's some odd stuff--when I shoot it only about half the grains actually burn. I think it's slowly losing all of its oomph.

I seem to remember using AL-8 for something. Long time ago.
I use to reload magnum 12ga. with AL-8. I still have a some in a can.