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RETRO POWDER ( NOT For SALE )

Have had this for years, not sure where it came from but most likely trade day items or friends.
Check out the loading information for the Unique Powder: most of these cartridges are unknown to " a lot " of us ( including me ).
I think the manufacture date is April of 1936 if code on front means anything.
And then there's the price: $1.25 for 8 oz. I checked Google and that hardware store is still in business.
The BL-C powder must be old as it shows ( LOT # 2 ). Wonder how many boxcars of this Hodgdon bought from the surplus sales?

:)
 

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Thanks for posting those. I think the H4831 I bought back in the late sixties came in that color can. $ .89 is the cheapest I can remember. Right place to get a lot of views.
 
After reviewing the Unique loading data on the can, imagine the uproar in the Reloading section, if someone requested help loading Unique in a 270 win, 30-06, 250 Sav, 7mm Mau etc
All lead bullets in the rifle data. I found it interesting that instead of COL they used actual seating depth into the case
 
Have had this for years, not sure where it came from but most likely trade day items or friends.
Check out the loading information for the Unique Powder: most of these cartridges are unknown to " a lot " of us ( including me ).
I think the manufacture date is April of 1936 if code on front means anything.
And then there's the price: $1.25 for 8 oz. I checked Google and that hardware store is still in business.
The BL-C powder must be old as it shows ( LOT # 2 ). Wonder how many boxcars of this Hodgdon bought from the surplus sales?

:)
i bought 4831 for a buck in 1975 but it was in glass pop bottles. That chart is interesting- it reminds me i can use unique if i run out of the others. :)
 
The BL-C powder must be old as it shows ( LOT # 2 ). Wonder how many boxcars of this Hodgdon bought from the surplus sales?

No, Lot #2 is as per today's version. The original surplus powder came from a huge consignment of .303 Mk7z British ammo that Winchester loaded for a government contract to supply Britain through the Lend-Lease arrangements. The powder came from the large Winchester-Western plant in St. Marks Florida that is still there today having passed through Olin Corporation ownership and is now owned by General Dynamics.

This was late WW2, and the war ended before the ammunition was shipped, so the order was cancelled and stayed in the US. It was eventually demilled and Bruce Hodgdon bought the powder and put it onto the market. There was enough to meet demand for many years and it built up a following. Hodgdon originally sold it as 'Ball Powder' something or other, but Olin which had trademarked the name 'ball powder' formally objected, so Hodgdon renamed it BL-C an abbreviation of Ball Lot C.

When the surplus supply ran out, Hodgdon went to Olin and asked if they could make more of it. The answer was 'yes' and 'no' in that they wouldn't supply a clone, but there was a very similar grade being developed for the newly adopted 7.62mm NATO M180 ball cartridge, WC something or other. The flash suppressant was removed from this product and supplied to Hodgdon who named it BL-C(2), ie Ball Lot C 2nd version to differentiate it from the original, and it has been in production ever since. IIRC, it was the first newly manufactured powder that the Hodgdon Powder Co. commissioned and marketed.
 

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