Hodgdon Powder Company - Background

Background

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. 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. 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.

United States powder manufacturers had discontinued production of sporting ammunition during World War II; and after the war attempted to exercise greater product safety control by emphasizing sales of loaded ammunition rather than resuming production of handloading components. A common approach to product safety involved offering ammunition safe for use in the oldest or weakest firearm chambered for that cartridge. Owners of stronger firearms found and experimented with Hodgdon's previously unknown powders to achieve ballistics superior to available factory ammunition for older cartridges like the 7.92x57mm Mauser. Long-range shooters found 4831 was superior to previously available powders for high-capacity bottle-necked cases.