Hodgdon closing GOEX plant

Well that sucks. No way they didn’t have enough demand lately….

Captain*kirk said:

The Lake Minden, LA plant has been closed since June due to the plant explosion. Let's hope somebody buys it and resumes production.

Click to expand...

I hadn't heard about that incident. I found this in a quick search:

https://www.ksla.com/2021/06/18/exp...-powder-facility-camp-minden/?outputType=apps

The video on the page reports that there have been at least seven incidents at the GOEX plant since it moved to Camp Minden in 1997. Yikes!

so is this going to affect the fake powders too, or just black powder Goex ?

I couldnt find Goex anyway, all i ever find are swiss powders.. i just hope this doesnt raise the prices.

How kind of them to close in December.. I dunno what it is, but all my damn life places close on you in December during christmas and the holidays.. seriously. Ibet those employees just love that

If I had to bet, I'd bet on the operation being sold. The American military uses a significant amount of black powder, for a wide range of purposes (not least in the parachutes of ejection seats). There's a market.

Gearhart and Owens bought the plant after DuPont rebuilt only to satisfy their last government contract, else it would have been closed then. Seems likely Hodgdon will sell it to somebody brave enough to keep it running.

Still nothing on the Hodgdon or Goex websites, or the Hodgdon Facebook page.

Here is a PDF regarding an older explosion occurrence at the plant in 2011. Most of you may already know this. Just thought it was interesting.

It's official now, crap.

https://goexpowder.com/company/news-media/

Dave Markowitz said:

It's official now, crap.

https://goexpowder.com/company/news-media/

Click to expand...

ARGH!!!

There may be other influences. Like OSHA, EPA, etc. Thats why the last American lead smelter shut down, massively expensive EPA mandates. Its now recycled lead or a few imports. There is a LOT of lead recovered from auto batteries. IIRC the core on the last one I bought was $18?

I remember batteries selling for $18. No core. Dump it in the alley. Some scrapper might want it.

The black powder market has significantly changed since I bought one. I didn't get much choice back then and had to walk 15 miles to barter pelts for it at the trade store. They even make pellet powder in the bore size now, I hear. Amazing. One for squirrel, two for deer, three for elk. Amazing.

Pyrodex is a Hodgdon product too.. Swiss appears to be in operation. A while back an editor at Guns Magazine altered an article to read that "Goex is the YY! OOOONNNLLYYY!!!! BLack powder maker inexistence. It was my article and they apparently let their Grey Imminence loose on it when he was having a Presidential Moment.

Found this posted on another forum. Possible buy from Schuetzen powders.

NOW THERE'S A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

Boy sad to see an iconic brand go away. I have enough for my flintlock to last some time. So i'll have time for others to get their products to my LGS. Im not sure if my flint lock will work with the substitutes.

I doubt the "Goex" brand will go away.
The brand at least is likely to be sold.
Look how many time the Remington name has been passed around.
There are at least two different companies using the big green brand today

I seriously doubt it's going away. You think we use lots of powder, but in the grand scheme of things, the US military uses far more than we do.

I do find it interesting that they've had a number of oopsies at their plant over the past 10 years. None at Schuetzen. Wonder why? Anyway, the only Goex product I care for is Old Eynsford. If that goes away, I have no issues switching to Swiss.

Goex was the direct descendent of Dupont and small samples of the old stiff seem, to perform just like Goex. Explosions at black power plants have happened regularly over the last century +. nineteenth century dupont scattered their operations among a number of small buildings. That way, when one blew up, their loss only added up to a relatively small inventory and a few employees.
pawlek (sic), the inventor of pyrodex, got blown up when his plant exploded.

I think those "oopsies" reflect an old plant run the old way. I would bet that this current Covid economy makes it less than fun to rebuild and start back up - and I'd have even a more secure bet in puttin' money on their insurance being sky-high. Might also be having problems finding folks that want to work in a plant that blows up with some regularity.

Isnt th3 plant run by robots ? No one was injured they said it was all automated

candymancan said:

Isnt th3 plant run by robots ? No one was injured they said it was all automated

Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the Goex plant, but I work with automation for a living and classified (hazardous) locations regularly. Folks keep some pretty nasty stuff pretty safe these days between automating and strict adherence to functional safety standards.
Injuries and accidents that were once commonplace are rare these days.

ThomasT said:

Found this posted on another forum. Possible buy from Schuetzen powders.

View attachment 1028245

Click to expand...

We regret the closure of our biggest competitor and resolve to fully supply their niche as soon as possible.

It looks like shooting BP will become a distinctly European enterprise again. Hopefully they modify the weak Goex formula to be more suitable for small arms.