Chris Hodgdon's Reply To Potatoheads Email About IMR4756

[Potatohead]

Fellas,
Some of you may know this already, through my mentioning it in a thread or two- I emailed Chris Hodgdon, to tell him how much I loved 4756, and tried to talk him into keeping it on the docket, and just charging more for it if it takes more $$$ to make. Of course that's a great strategy from a guy who loves 4756, but for a powder company that's trying to be competitive in the marketplace, ehhh-notsomuch.

I was mainly just grasping at straws, thinking maybe a lot of folks have emailed him about it, and maybe we could sway the vote. (Though I'm pretty sure the vote is over)

Of course I asked him for an inside track on where I could find a stash before it disappears, dreaming he'd open the vault in his office for Potatohead, but no such luck

Anyway, he (or his secretary) mentions a possible replacement in the future. So 7625 and 4756 fans, maybe it aint so bad after all. I'm pretty stoked he would take the time to reply, and told him I would mention as much on the forum Im a member of, (and I did name drop THR)

I pasted his entire reply below.

Andy


Thank you for your interest in Hodgdon/IMR. Appreciate your feedback on these two powders and understand your frustration.



There are a number of reasons why we are discontinuing including a huge increase in cost of materials vs. low sales and old technology. We have heard from others such as yourself about their concern and we are hoping to introduce a possible replacement sometime mid 2015 or early 2016.



I may recommend that you place multiple orders with multiple distributors. Here are three of our best top mail order suppliers: Graf and Sons-Mexico MO 573-581-2266, Powder Valley Services-Winfield KS 620-229-8685 or Crow Shooting Shop-Brooklyn IA 641-522-5821.



Your business is valued. Feel free to contact me back if I can be of further service.



Regards

Chris Hodgdon

 

[Reloadron]

So what's the plan?

If anything good has come out of the recent drought of reloading components it would seem to be that people have been discovering alternatives to many of their tried and true components such as powder, bullets, primers and even brass. Who knows, you may find something that shoots better? While costing more I like powders like VIHTAVUORI 3N37 along the lines of Hi-Skor 800X and your beloved SR 4756.

Even if you get lucky and buy a truckload of the stuff sooner or later it will run out. Therefore I suggest as time and budget allow start looking at alternatives.

Ron

 

[Potatohead]

No wiser words were ever spoken LOL. Seriously i probably wouldnt even like it if it wasnt going away!

Hell, I really hadnt loaded long enough to have a "true" favorite yet anyway..

I hear you though...and I actually have been forced to expand my repertoire...because I dont want this little bottle of 4756 to be gone!

And I do look forward to finding some of the Vhit.

But 800x, ehh...the metering drives me nutz. But I get the point.

 

[LiveLife]

It's good to see president/CEO of company show direct involvement with their customers.

We have gotten feedback from Jay Phillips of Berry's MFG and John Lee of Lee Precision in past THR thread issues and always good to hear things from the "horse's mouth" instead of us speculating.

We used to have Brad from Missouri Bullet Company participate in thread discussions regarding their products before he went national and got super busy. At least we still have Jake from Rocky Mountain Reloading popping in as time allows.

I guess being too busy in manufacturing business is a good thing, right?

 

[Reloadron]

I guess being too busy in manufacturing business is a good thing, right?

Yeah, I figure so. Just think they are busy assuring top product quality. They are also busy addressing our problems which is another good thing. Wouldn't it be nice if our elected officials gave us the same attention to detail and our problems. Dare to dream.

Ron

 

[Rule3]

Brad from MBC still answers e mails. Even though he and his Wife are working harder now in their "retirement" then they ever have!

 

[Jaymo]

I bought the only 2 pounds of 4756 I could find, about 5 hours before I found out it was being discontinued.
I've always liked it for hot (but not stupidly hot) .44 Special loads.
I have about 2.5 pounds now. I bought my first pound in 1993, for $7.00.
The two pounds I got this year were over $20.00 a pound, but I was happy to pay it.
Now, I need to find more Unique, or a good replacement for it.
Can't find Unique, or BE-86.
Not that Unique really does anything much that 4756 won't do, but with 4756 being gone................

My 21 year old can of 4756 still looks/smells brand new. There must be something to this whole idea of storing your smokeless propellant in a climate-controlled building.

CFE Pistol seems to be a good substitute for Unique, performance-wise.
I did score two pounds of CFE Pistol and one pound of CFE 223.

Today, I finally scored two pounds of HP-38. $21.00/pound. WOOHOO!!!!!

 

[Potatohead]

Anxious to see the replacement powder for 4756... For some reason I got the sense that he wasn't totally sure about a replacement.

 

[Reloadron]

Anxious to see the replacement powder for 4756... For some reason I got the sense that he wasn't totally sure about a replacement.

They may or may not come up wit a replacement. Hodgdon are pretty big powder guys and under Hodgdon currently there is CFE Pistol, Clays, HP-38, HS-6, Longshot, Titegroup and Universal all suitable with listed loads for 9mm. Then under the IMR group there are another 3 or 4 powders beyond SR 4756 with many also used for shotgun and other handgun calibers. Hodgdon also handles the Winchester line of powders with 231, auto-comp and WSF in there. All of that leads me to wonder how quick or how hard Hodgdon will look to add a replacement powder. So it's like Chris Hodgdon mentioned:

There are a number of reasons why we are discontinuing including a huge increase in cost of materials vs. low sales and old technology. We have heard from others such as yourself about their concern and we are hoping to introduce a possible replacement sometime mid 2015 or early 2016.

My guess is only time will tell. They are hoping to introduce a replacement doesn't necessarily mean they will introduce a replacement. Keep your options open and fingers crossed.

Ron

 

[Potatohead]

Good points Ron. There's no shot of a replacement

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I read in a thread here another letter to Hodgdon was answered by telling the person Trail Boss was the powder intended to replace SR4759 for reduced rifle loads. I hope not because that is a poor replacement for SR4759!