New Universal powder?

[7mmb]

I like Universal a lot for mid-range 357 and 45 Colt. I've had very good results in 9mm and 45 Auto too. It burns clean and meters great. It has always been made in Australia by ADI and imported and branded by Hodgdon in the US. A few years back there was a fire at the ADI plant and all of the Clays-series of powders were out of production for a while until the plant was repaired. I managed to pick up eight pounds from Powder Valley after production resumed (2015 date code) and all of the canisters are marked made in Australia.

The other day I was at my Sportsman's Warehouse and they were fully stocked with powder, finally, and they had plenty of Universal on hand. All of the Universal canisters were marked made in Canada. Some of the Hodgdon Extreme Extruded powders that used to be made by ADI in Australia are now marked as made in Canada too, but not all of them. Some are still marked made in Australia. Anybody know what's up with that?

 

[Dog Soldier]

7mmb, It seems the new Sports in Heber City has a better powder selection then the one on 7200 South?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I think Hodgdon made an announcement they were diversifying their suppliers so that they will never be at the mercy of one manufacturer and lose all production of and entire line because of a fire. I don't remember where I read it so don't take it as gospel, my memory could be faulty.

 

[7mmb]

7mmb, It seems the new Sports in Heber City has a better powder selection then the one on 7200 South?

I wouldn't doubt it. There are a lot of scalpers in SLC that buy up all the components and ammo and then resell them on KSL for double and triple the price. I'll go without before I buy from scalpers. They still don't have 22LR on the shelves at Sportsman's or Walmart regularly even though Get Some and Gallenson's do. It was really nice to see that wall of powder finally back up at the 7200 S store.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Wow! I did not know the KSL connection. That explains a lot thanks.

 

[7mmb]

I think Hodgdon made an announcement they were diversifying their suppliers so that they will never be at the mercy of one manufacturer and lose all production of and entire line because of a fire. I don't remember where I read it so don't take it as gospel, my memory could be faulty.

That's a good thing. I never want to be out of Universal. The 4227 out of Canada shoots as well as the stuff out of Australia. I'm sure the Universal will be the same.

 

[rfwobbly]

I like Universal a lot for mid-range 357 and 45 Colt. I've had very good results in 9mm and 45 Auto too. It burns clean and meters great. It has always been made in Australia by ADI and imported and branded by Hodgdon in the US. A few years back there was a fire at the ADI plant and all of the Clays-series of powders were out of production for a while until the plant was repaired. I managed to pick up eight pounds from Powder Valley after production resumed (2015 date code) and all of the canisters are marked made in Australia.

In side-by-side testing of the Australian and Canadian versions of Clays, I found the 2 powders varied by density. So if you are using fixed volume powder measures (Lee, MEC, Ponsness-Warren, etc) you'll have to recalculate your bushing size. Was that the case with Universal ?
.

 

[Tcruse]

The "density" issue has been publicly disclosed by Hodgdon. At the time, of the interview that I heard, it was a known issue and being addressed. The formulas for the Clays powders were transferred to Saint Marks Powder company (General Dynamics - Canada ?). The fire and also an issue with shipping companies put a limit on how much powder on a single ship. Also, they acknowledged that some of the lower volume old powders were being replaced with "similar" powder using cheaper and better manufacturing methods. I suspect that CFE 223, CFE Pistol, CFE Blk and Win572 are examples of the replacements. It was hinted that TightGroup is now manufactured by the newer methods.