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As of this morning, Powder Valley has AA#5 in stock....both 1# and 8#
Accurate #5 powder availability.....
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Thanks for the heads up. Well I think that other member was right (in a different thread) when he said powdervalley isn't posting powder updates on facebook anymore. They seemed to be good about it earlier this year but they seemed to have stopped.
I've never tried AA5 but with 5 pounds of Power Pistol, I don't think I need anymore medium burning powders...
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Your decision, of course, but AA#5 is so much better suited to 45acp than PP. Big difference. I think PP is great for 9mm, but would choose #5 over PP for 45acp.
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Yeah I don't shoot 45 so that's why I mentioned PP. I use PP for 7.62x25 tokarev and lighter 357 and 44 mag loads. Although I've got some light 357 loads with Bullseye that shoot well but PP fills the cases a little better.
I use N320 and TG for 9mm though.
But I'll have to let my fellow 45 shooters that PV has AA5 in stock. I think they've been using Bullseye and 231/HP-38 for their 45 loads. I don't think they've tried AA5.
AA#5 still available at PV.
A year and a half ago I made the comment on this and several other forums that the big loser in the powder availability debacle would be Western. And a lot of knowledgeable posters told me that I was crazy. My main observation was that (during 2014) while most pistol powders were hard to find, with the exception of Hodgdon Clays, they were there if you looked hard enough. Further, Accurate 2, 5 & 7 and the zip line were totally absent and Western refused to give the handloader any hope of relief.
So, here we are in late August 2015, almost 3 years into this mess and some AA#5 finally makes it to market. At powder valley inc you can buy darn little pistol powder except AA#5 and a few Ramshot offerings (also a Western powder) and some VV which was generally always available due to the high cost.
What I said was basically any newcommer to pistol handloading would learn to live without accurate powders and only a percentage of old timers would return if accurate didn't address the situation and do some damage control.
Where are all those starved for AA#5? Three years is a long time to be without. Why are we not snapping this stuff up like a fire sale? The price is good, is it not?
If they (PV) put up literally 10 tons of Hodgdon Clays it would sell out in minutes.
I'm the nut around here but obviously most pistol loaders have enough of brand X to last a while and have learned that accurate isn't the only powder out there that works and also western cannot be depended on.
But to be fair, the canister powder industry in general can only be described as dysfunctional. Some suppliers are more dysfunctional than others but they are all in the same basic mind frame.
A year and a half ago I made the comment on this and several other forums that the big loser in the powder availability debacle would be Western. And a lot of knowledgeable posters told me that I was crazy. My main observation was that (during 2014) while most pistol powders were hard to find, with the exception of Hodgdon Clays, they were there if you looked hard enough. Further, Accurate 2, 5 & 7 and the zip line were totally absent and Western refused to give the handloader any hope of relief.
So, here we are in late August 2015, almost 3 years into this mess and some AA#5 finally makes it to market. At powder valley inc you can buy darn little pistol powder except AA#5 and a few Ramshot offerings (also a Western powder) and some VV which was generally always available due to the high cost.
What I said was basically any newcommer to pistol handloading would learn to live without accurate powders and only a percentage of old timers would return if accurate didn't address the situation and do some damage control.
Where are all those starved for AA#5? Three years is a long time to be without. Why are we not snapping this stuff up like a fire sale? The price is good, is it not?
If they (PV) put up literally 10 tons of Hodgdon Clays it would sell out in minutes.
I'm the nut around here but obviously most pistol loaders have enough of brand X to last a while and have learned that accurate isn't the only powder out there that works and also western cannot be depended on.
But to be fair, the canister powder industry in general can only be described as dysfunctional. Some suppliers are more dysfunctional than others but they are all in the same basic mind frame.
Actually, here in Indiana AA No.5 has been showing up sporadically maybe but better than 231 and some others. Clays has been nonexistent due to fire at ADI in Australia awhile back and just came back on line at the first of the year only to be announced recently that it is being discontinued. I saw this coming with Western when they moved Accurate and then Ramshot to St. Marks/General Dynamics and foresaw them being low man on the totem pole delivery wise. And the higher prices that Western charges for their powders for whatever reason has pushed them more towards the margin with a lot of folks out here. AA powders out here haven't been really popular since the 80's to early 90's when they were cheap which quite honestly was their big calling card. BTW, Western can't do anything to "give the handloader any hope of relief" in your words if they can't get the powder from St. Marks/GD which seems to be the case.
Paxson, you are correct that GD St. Marks is making Westerns ball powders. You are incorrect in stating that Western is the low man on GD's totem pole. Western, by their own admission, places the handloader at the bottom of the totem pole. Western has bigger fish to fry than you and me.
If you disagree with me then explain how Hodgdon, which caters mainly to the canister buyer, which happens to be a small part of the smokeless powder market, can get shipments from GD but Western, with all it's commercial accounts, cannot?
Handloaders can accept that a fire has kept Clays off the shelves but many have problems being told by Western that they are the reason Accurate powders are unavailable. This especally when no one had seen Accurate powders on any shelf for years.
Another day has passed and PV still has plenty of AA#5 available. Where are all the handloaders who spent the last 3 years moaning over the unavailability of this stuff? Answer: They have moved on. And that was the whole point I was trying to make.
Well, the obvious answer unless GD is a totally incompetent corporate entity is that the types of powders that GD manufactures such as are sold to Hodgdon represent a larger business and corresponding income for GD overall than the powders GD manufactures for Western. GD also sells a lot of powder direct to ammunition companies and to the government and if they own the proprietary formula for the powder they can sell it to anybody and so GD is going to push the powders they own over a proprietary powder they just make for another company (I assume Western owns the formulas for the powder lines they sell). Maybe Western's footprint in the powder business isn't as large as you think.
I would guess the majority are still waiting for it to show up at their LGS or the gun show as the average hand loader does not, whether by choice, necessity (as in they only go thru maybe a couple of lbs. of a certain powder in a year) or economic circumstances, buy large bulk amounts of powder which is the way you have to buy if you have it shipped and want to get it at a reasonable price. Even 8 lbs. of powder is a huge buy for most folks and if they are still going to end up paying $30 OR MORE per lb. after shipping they might as well just buy a lb. or two when they find it from the gouger at the gun show or the local shop.
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AA#5 powder
At one time, I used AA#5 for 9mm in competition. When it was no longer available, I called the Western Powder company and got nowhere......I switched to Hodgdon Tite Group.
I did purchase 4lbs. of AA#5, and I will conduct some load testing to see if it shoots as accurately in my guns as it once did.
I am sure Western Powder has lost market share, since other reloaders may have switched to other brands and may be satisfied with what they now use.
At one time, I used AA#5 for 9mm in competition. When it was no longer available, I called the Western Powder company and got nowhere......I switched to Hodgdon Tite Group.
I did purchase 4lbs. of AA#5, and I will conduct some load testing to see if it shoots as accurately in my guns as it once did.
I am sure Western Powder has lost market share, since other reloaders may have switched to other brands and may be satisfied with what they now use.
and yet you will find people still grumbling they cant find it. I firmly believe there are a significant number of shooters who only buy powder at their local store vs online. Encouraging to see powder sit for more than a few short minutes as it was a short time ago. Many thanks to those who choose not to purchase bulk online.
Being new to reloading hand gun (I loaded shot shells for 40 years) I have never used accurate #5. A couple years ago when I started reloading 357 sig/9mm/40 SW and now 45 acp, I had to really scramble to get powder.
CFE Pistol and BE-86 was what I stock piled, I have some accurate #7 I like but for the type shooting I do I don't think it's any better than CFE or BE-86.
I got several powders now and the only few I would buy now if and when they become AVAILBLE would be Clays and unique.
Best/picker
CFE Pistol and BE-86 was what I stock piled, I have some accurate #7 I like but for the type shooting I do I don't think it's any better than CFE or BE-86.
I got several powders now and the only few I would buy now if and when they become AVAILBLE would be Clays and unique.
Best/picker
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AA#5 powder at Powder Valley....
Powder Valley has not carried AA#5 for quite some time. It is difficult to determine how much powder was ordered from their distributor, so perhaps Powder Valley got a very large order, and the product is selling very well.....
we have no idea what quantity of AA#5 powder they received....:scratch:
Powder Valley has not carried AA#5 for quite some time. It is difficult to determine how much powder was ordered from their distributor, so perhaps Powder Valley got a very large order, and the product is selling very well.....
we have no idea what quantity of AA#5 powder they received....:scratch:
We really don't need a day-by-day accounting.
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