Author Topic: goex (Read 3813 times)

yip · « **on:** July 22, 2023, 07:16:56 PM »

whats the word on Goex powder, is it back in production?

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #1 on:** July 23, 2023, 04:58:28 PM »

Yes, but the delivery date to distributors is still up in the air, later this year perhaps.

hudson · « **Reply #2 on:** July 23, 2023, 09:09:14 PM »

It has been reported Friendship is supposed to have some for the fall shoot.

yip · « **Reply #3 on:** July 24, 2023, 04:08:58 PM »

YEA!!!!!

Bob Roller · « **Reply #4 on:** July 24, 2023, 10:35:27 PM »

Are there no alternatives?There is a reason GOEX quit to begin with,maybe poor sales and hard competition from Europe?
Bob Roller

MuskratMike · « **Reply #5 on:** July 25, 2023, 12:17:55 AM »

The reason Hogdon quit making GOEX is they are not a huge corporation. Of all the powders they make Goex made them the least profit every year and the equipment was getting old and tired. One had to go and Goex was it. Looking forward to their return.

danny · « **Reply #6 on:** July 25, 2023, 12:48:15 AM »

A good friend of mine is a manager at Hodgdon. He told me GOEX never made them any money. When I told him I wanted to buy black powder a few weeks ago, he suggested Swiss. Told me its very consistent with plenty of energy.

Eric Krewson · « **Reply #7 on:** July 25, 2023, 12:52:59 AM »

They blew up their B/P plants several times, the last time they chose not to rebuild, this is what I heard.

AZshot · « **Reply #8 on:** July 25, 2023, 01:49:20 AM »

What's interesting is DuPont made black powder for most of the 1800s, then stopped in the early 1970s.

DuPont stopped the "last American BP company" back in 72:

"An old‐fashioned plant producing an old‐fashioned product, the Belin Works of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. now produces exclusively for the Federal Government. It is not only the last du Pont black powder plant, it is the last black powder plant of any company in the United States, according to Paul G. Dalman, plant manager here."
(New York Times, October 7, 1972)
Most companies that make BP have experienced explosions, going back hundreds of years. DuPont started making BP in America in 1802, and experienced a Great Explosion in 1818. At one of their mills, Between 1802 and 1921 there were 288 explosions leading to the deaths of 228 people.
https://www.hagley.org/research/digital-exhibits/company-chronology-1801-1834
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleutherian_Mills

More interesting history below. But the point is if DuPont had trouble with safely making powder for 200 years, and GOEX had trouble, it stands to reason that....
https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2021/07/du-pont/

alacran · « **Reply #9 on:** July 26, 2023, 04:13:15 PM »

228 deaths in 129 years seems pretty safe to me. In 2021 there were 986 deaths in the construction industry alone. Heck there were 263 deaths in the retail trade that same year.
Dupont sold the BP plants and their IMR production for financial reasons not for safety concerns.
I shot some Dupont 3f dated 1963 on Monday . Great powder.

Hungry Horse · « **Reply #10 on:** July 28, 2023, 08:34:31 PM »

The Confederate powder works in Augusta was the most advanced in America, and the second most advanced in the world. At the end of the war Du Ponte was offered the modern facilities, but turned it down preferring their antiquated, small, plant. They never made a cleaner burning, more powerful, product.
In my opinion Du Ponte made second rate powder throughout their production.

Hungry Horse

alacran · « **Reply #11 on:** July 29, 2023, 02:50:48 PM »

Dupont sold its BP operations in 1972 to Gearhart- Owens who named the powder Goex. Unfortunately, Mad Monk is no longer able to provide insight as to whether Goex changed the Dupont production process in any significant manner.
But my experience has been that Dupont powder and Goex powder appear to be the same. I have not noticed any difference when shooting them.
There was no way that Dupont was going to buy the Confederate plant. But they did buy out other plants and also started manufacturing powder in Washington state.

Bob Roller · « **Reply #12 on:** August 03, 2023, 01:10:15 AM »

Green River Rifle Co, set up a powder mill and produced some and it blew up with at least one fatality.I bought King;s,DuPont and Curtis&Harvey which was a very good powder from Scotland (I think).I do hope GOEX can made profitable and can actually deliver a good product.King's Mills was in Ohio and in 1954 E.M.Farris and I stopped there and although they were out of business they were selling 6.25 pound steel drums ad 25 pound steel drums of the sporting gun powders they still had in stock and we loaded Mr.Farris;s car with them,back seat and trunk of a 1949 Pontiac and went on to Friendship.Even though black powder shooting in several venues has grown it is apparently now down to MAYBE ONE suppler that has no firm delivery schedule and the Swiss who are a long way from the USA.Mix in the gougers and then?

??who knows.
Bob Roller

AsMs · « **Reply #13 on:** August 06, 2023, 05:06:20 AM »

Yesterday I bought the last container of 2F Goex the Fort Chambers shop had. I was in shock when they told me they still had Goex in stock. Hopefully the new stuff is out this fall. If I have to switch powder I will, but was hoping my supply lasts.

AsMs

Jim S · « **Reply #14 on:** August 06, 2023, 04:25:44 PM »

I know traditional muzzle loader shooters hate the thought of it, but I think the substitute stuff - Pyrodex or whatever - is going to be the only choice in the future.

Bob Roller · « **Reply #15 on:** August 06, 2023, 05:56:50 PM »

If the Swiss pull the plug you may be right.IF the substitute powders become the only thing then stainless steel barrels will be needed.
I shot muzzle loaders for years,ball and bullet with preference for the bullet guns and BPCR was a lot of fun because of the Hooten Old Town Shoots at Ralph Marcum's in McKee Ky.but that is all now history.Market support is the only hope for any marginal makers of any item we can think of be it black powder or caps.Substitute powders will make the flint lock again an obsolete thing unless it can be reformulated to accommodate a spark instead of a jet of fire thru a tube.Accumulate a "stash" and then buy as needed for shooting IF it's available to buy.
Bob Roller

alacran · « **Reply #16 on:** August 07, 2023, 03:35:49 PM »

I don't advise or recommend any one to make black powder. However having friends who have made some experimental batches, and having shot some , I believe that is BP becomes unavailable commercially, there will be plenty of folks who will make their own.

Bob Roller · « **Reply #17 on:** August 07, 2023, 04:05:24 PM »

Quote from: alacran on August 07, 2023, 03:35:49 PM

I don't advise or recommend any one to make black powder. However having friends who have made some experimental batches, and having shot some , I believe that is BP becomes unavailable commercially, there will be plenty of folks who will make their own.

Yes and folks with horrible powder burns from a flash if they're not careful.I got my original book by Captain Phil Sharpe called "The Complete Guide to Hand Loading" published in 1935 and it has a section on powder mills and blow ups and bad burns and now I can't
think of a faster way to get my home owners insurance cancelled than by making home brewed explosives.Captain Sharpe also mentioned that that after the mill blew up WITH a fatality there were people standing in line to get a job after it was rebuilt.Black powder is a mechanical mixture and smokeless and semi smokeless is a chemical brew and all of these must be controlled by people who are not doing kitchen sink experiments.
Bob Roller

smylee grouch · « **Reply #18 on:** August 07, 2023, 04:43:40 PM »

I'm thinking there will always be a market and demand for real black powder but if it ever stops being made it will be because of regulations not demand.

Robin Henderson · « **Reply #19 on:** August 07, 2023, 05:00:54 PM »

Just for informational purposes..... I recently picked up an antique Dupont 2fg black powder can from an online estate auction near me. The can had powder in it and after I was able to gently break the cap free to examine the powder I discovered 6 1/2 ounces of decent looking stuff. The date on the label was July, 1924. I know there's no way to know if it's actually dupont or not but knowing it was from a collector leads me to think it is. I had some Goex 2fg so wanting to give it the eyeball test so I poured a little out and examined side by side. The Goex has a more uniform grain size while the Dupont appears to be a little finer. I think the pic shows this well enough.

I'm thinking about a range test when I get a little time which will include a chrono.

smylee grouch · « **Reply #20 on:** August 07, 2023, 06:32:01 PM »

Robin, what a great test that would be- equal every thing else in the load except the old and newer powder. I will be looking forward to the chrono results. Thanks for posting.

wolf · « **Reply #21 on:** August 21, 2023, 03:53:20 PM »

oh, it is times like this i am glad to be a hoarder

axelp · « **Reply #22 on:** August 21, 2023, 06:32:40 PM »

When I was a kid, I had a neighbor buddy that got a chemistry set for Christmas and one of the experiments in the kit was making black powder. He made some and he tested it out behind his home with positive results. Funny thing about that gent-- he grew up to end up serving in the US military as an part of a team that disposed of "ordinance..." Blowing things up was his calling I guess.

TDM · « **Reply #23 on:** August 22, 2023, 07:41:50 AM »

Wouldn’t hold my breath waiting on Goex. But making your own with prudence is always an option. Luckily Swiss is still quite available.

hudson · « **Reply #24 on:** August 22, 2023, 03:44:47 PM »

I just left Friendship there is no Goex and no information on whether they will have some as mentioned earlier.

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Author Topic: goex (Read 3813 times)