In the opening days of
World War II, a chemist friend of Bruce E. Hodgdon was casually reminiscing about
World War I. He mentioned the quantities of surplus smokeless powder the military had dumped at sea after the war; and speculated how useful that would have been to handloaders struggling through the
Great Depression. He anticipated a similar surplus powder situation might occur after World War II. Hodgdon began investigating availability of surplus powder when the war ended; and sales to handloaders began in 1946. One of the first powders he found was 4895 used for loading
.30-06 Springfield service ammunition. He purchased 25 tons of government surplus 4895 for $2000 and then purchased two
boxcars to store it in preparation for resale at 75 cents per pound. His family initially packaged the powder for resale in the basement of their home.
[2] In 1947, he began acquisition of 80 tons of
spherical powder salvaged from disassembled
.303 British military rifle cartridges manufactured in the United States. By 1949, he was marketing the powder as BL type C. The C was to indicate the powder burned "cooler" than traditional
Improved Military Rifle (IMR) powders.
[3] In 1949, he began acquisition of powder salvaged from disassembled
Oerlikon 20mm cannon cartridges. This powder resembled IMR 4350 in appearance, and with a slower burning rate, was initially marketed as "4350 Data", and later as 4831.
[4]
