Winchester Powder

[rduckwor]

Where has it gone? I haven't found any for 6 months now.

RMD

 

[LBEE]

If I'm correct Don't believe it's made any more. I reload Handgun with HP-38 which is the same as Winchester Powder for handgun, can't remember win. #.

 

[FROGO207]

As noted above there are several popular types of propellant that are the same as Winchester, just in different brand labeled containers. 231=HP38, 296= H110 and others I do not remember off the top of my head just now. In containers using the Winchester logo, the same product costs more when they are side by side at the store. My theory is due to royalties paid to Winchester. So when packaging a product for sale that is scarce to begin with why pay that royalty when most reloaders know the difference already and buy the lower priced containers. Just makes economic sense to me.

 

[Laphroaig]

Winchester powders are now marketed by Hogden. There is also an identical Hogden version for several powders which tells me they are manufactured at the same facility and just packaged differently. I'm sure someone who knows will chime in with those details.

Laphroaig

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Hp-38 is 231. Not sure on any others.

 

[rduckwor]

HP38=231. Yeah, that's fine except HP38 is just as scarce.

What the hell happened to WST?

That was my go to pistol powder. Is there a Hodgdon equivalent?

RMD

 

[theslasher]

231 and hp 38 have been the same powder for about 8 years now.. Both made by Saint Marks in Florida. And yes it's still being made...

 

[JRH6856]

Recommending a substitute for any scarce powder is difficult. All of the popular powders are scarce and have been for over a year at least. You just have to take what you can get when you can find it.

Check your manuals and make a list of the powders shown for what you want to load. Then hit the stores and if you find something on your list, buy it.

Hodgdon is marketing Hodgdon, Winchester, and IMR powders. While some of the Hodgdon and Winchester powders are identicle even though they have different names, The Hodgdon and IMR powders that have the same numbers are NOT the same.

 

[savanahsdad]

went looking for some Win AutoComp and came home with W231 and they had other win powders , around here IMR is hard to come by , but most win powders are on the shelf

 

[kcofohio]

I have seen Autocomp and Wst around here from time to time.

Haven't seen WSF or W231 for a while. And the same for HP-38.

 

[buck460XVR]

If I'm correct Don't believe it's made any more.

Just bought 4# jugs of W296 and W231 last night. The shop had all kinds of other Winchester branded powder there also.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I have seen Autocomp and Wst around here from time to time.

Haven't seen WSF or W231 for a while. And the same for HP-38.

Autocomp has become my crack in a sense. Really love the stuff. Use it in 9mm and 40 caliber so far and it is clean especially In the 40 caliber load using published data middle load with a nice factory feel and great accuracy (when I have a good day (back) or shoot from the bench.


Not to mention WST which is nice for medium 45 loads and burns real clean. I have loaded some plinking rounds in 9mm and got a mild recoil with medium velocity and real clean burn.

I like WSF and still have a little left but have to load on the upper end before it cleans up. Good velocity and accuracy but I like the Autocomp better for 9mm and especially 40 caliber. Have to load it up to medium loads too but burns much cleaner and almost identical velocities (tad more) in 9mm and 40 caliber.

 

[skimbell]

All of the usual outlets for Winchester powder still list them, but they almost all are OOS. Haven't seen or heard anything about them no longer being made.
I've been looking for WSF for about year. Everybody I've talked to says that they have it ordered but...

 

[kcofohio]

As far as it goes with pistol powders, Accurate #2, 5, & 7 falls in the same boat. I haven't seen these for a while. Though I see #9 and AA 4100 here and there.

 

[rduckwor]

Yes, all the pistol powders seem to be in short supply.

I'm not picky, I will work up loads for whatever I can find, but I was curious about the WIN powders.

St. Marks needs to get on the stick and crank out something useable for pistol.

RMD

 

[rodregier]

HP-38 -> WW-231
H-110 -> WW-296
HS-6 -> WW-540
HS-7 -> WW-571
H-414-> WW-760

It's the same product, just packaged and distributed under two different brands.

There will be a lot-to-lot variance, so start lower and work up.

 

[rduckwor]

Well, I actually had the audacity to email the General Dynamics division that runs the St. Marks plant and pointedly ask where the hell the pistol powder was.

Doubt I will get an answer, but we will see.

RMD

 

[mdm]

I got 8# of W296 from Powder Valley a couple of months ago.

 

[BluewaterLa]

I use w748 and down to the last bit of it
Interesting info here that some powders are the same just in different labels.
Many products are that way and have been for many years.
I like the metering and cost of the 8 pounder I purchased a while back.
Does anyone know the equivalent to 748 as far as spherical and burn rate ?
I'm not against trying new powders, just like to shoot/load in high volume and don't want to buy 20 different one lb bottles for experimenting. I already do enough of that with pistol

 

[JRH6856]

W748 is one powder I have seen a lot of on the shelves around here. In fact, it was the only thing I could find to load 6.8 SPC. Hodgdon BL-C2 is supposed to be close to 748 but I haven't used it.

 

[horseman1]

OK, so they sell the same amount of powder with two different names. That doesn't help. What we need them to do is make twice as much and I don't care which name they use .

 

[Hangingrock]

A wise person urinates when they can not when they must. That analogy applies to purchasing powder and related components for reloading. There were and are those of us that have lived thru various shortages. These shortages have been induced by the Political climate.

Chicken Little-The Sky IS Falling contingent among ourselves. collectively we are partly to blame for the shortages. When the HERD stampedes it stampedes. We have meant the enemy and they are us!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Wow, where to start in this thread because there are so many incorrect posts.

Winchester powders are still being sold and distributed by Hodgdon.
St. Mark's Powders is making both and even though some reloaders want to think W231 and HP-38 have only been the same since 2003, according to Hodgdon and St. Mark's they have always been the same.

Buy the one you find and if both are on the shelf buy the one that costs the least.

Most powders and especially Winchester powders have been very hard to find for the past 2 years and IMO it's not going to get better anytime soon.

Good luck and I hope you find powder when you need it...

Just a note:
W231 = HP-38
W296 = H110
W540 = HS-6
W571 = HS-7 (both discontinued)
W760 = H414
WAP = Silhouette

Rumor has it there are more but those are confirmed with Winchester, Hodgdon and St. Mark's Powders... (phone calls and email)

 

[1SOW]

Clays had a fire.
WST has been almost impossible to find in my area of Texas.
One suggestion if you haven't tried: surprisingly to me, some of these Hogdon and other good pistol powders can OFTEN be found at trap and skeet shotgun ranges that sell powder.
Just saying.

 

[JRH6856]

St. Mark's Powders is making both and even though some reloaders want to think W231 and HP-38 have only been the same since 2003, according to Hodgdon and St. Mark's they have always been the same.

And yet older manuals listed different load data for the two. Speer #10 for 140g JHP shows 8.0-8.5g (1199-1282fps) for 231 and 7.1-7.6 (1131-1220fps)for HP38.