Bottom line
The Large Rifle band starts at N150 and H414/760 on the merged chart and runs to 20N29: the 6.5 Creedmoor, .270, .30-06, magnum and .50 powders. It is the most expensive band — Graf's median $54.99 a pound against $49 for the whole catalog — and it did not move: not a single price change at any of the four retailers between 14 and 27 September, and Graf's median is exactly where it was in August.
Availability is a tale of two plants. Vihtavuori had 23 of 24 listings in stock on 27 September; N150, N160, N165, N170, N555, N560, N565, N568, N570, 24N41 and 20N29 were in stock every day we sampled, and the 8 lb jugs of N150, N160 and N165 at $44.62 a pound were the cheapest extruded slow-rifle powder in the country. Hodgdon's Australian Extreme line — H4350, H4831SC, H1000, Retumbo, H50BMG — was there every day too, at $50–54 in the jug, and so were the St. Marks ball grades Superformance and US 869 at $41–42.
The other plants were not. Every IMR in the band but one — 4350, 4831, 7828 SSC, and the Endurons 4451, 7977, 8133 — was out at all three retailers on all fourteen days; the one was a single one-pound can of 4955 at Lohman, in stock every day and, at $70.95, priced like the last one. One of 34 IMR listings. Every Alliant Reloder except 26 — 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25, 33, 50 — likewise, plus Power Pro 4000-MR. So were plain H4831, H414 and Hybrid 100V, Ramshot Magnum, and all four Normas. One powder came back: Accurate High Country, the new one, appeared at Graf's in 1 lb on 26 September.
Cheapest in stock
Shelf price per pound, cheapest in-stock listing on 27 September at Hodgdon direct, Graf & Sons and Lohman Arms. The Vihtavuori and Ramshot jugs at the top are the story; the Extreme powders below them are the benchmark most people actually load.
- Ramshot Hunter
- Accurate MAGPRO
- Ramshot LRT
- Accurate 2700
- Vihtavuori 20N29
- Hodgdon Superformance
- Hodgdon US 869
- Winchester 760
- Vihtavuori N150
- Vihtavuori N160
- Vihtavuori N165
- Vihtavuori 24N41
| Powder | Cheapest $/lb | Size | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramshot Hunter | $36.12 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Accurate MAGPRO | $38.12 | 8 lb | Lohman |
| Ramshot LRT | $39.99 | 1 lb | Graf's |
| Accurate 2700 | $39.99 | 1 lb | Lohman (8 lb: $43.25, Graf's) |
| Vihtavuori 20N29 | $40.00 | 1 lb | Graf's (8 lb: $44.62) |
| Hodgdon Superformance | $41.25 | 8 lb | Lohman |
| Hodgdon US 869 | $41.83 | 8 lb | Lohman |
| Winchester 760 | $43.75 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Vihtavuori N150 · N160 · N165 · 24N41 | $44.62 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Winchester StaBALL 6.5 | $47.19 | 8 lb | Lohman |
| Accurate 4350 | $47.50 | 8 lb | Lohman |
| Hodgdon H4350 | $50.35 | 8 lb | Lohman |
| Hodgdon H4831SC | $52.25 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Hodgdon Retumbo | $52.25 | 8 lb | Graf's (1 lb: $49.95, Lohman) |
| Hodgdon H1000 | $52.50 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Hodgdon H50BMG | $53.12 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Vihtavuori N555 · N560 · N570 | $54.37 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Shooters World Long Rifle · SW4350 | $58.50 | 8 lb | Graf's |
| Alliant Reloder 26 | $65.99 | 1 lb | Graf's |
Twenty-three powders in this band were listed all month and in stock on no day at all. Fifteen of them are extruded at Valleyfield or Radford.
Hunter at $36.12 is the cheapest slow-rifle jug in our data at a mainline retailer — a Belgian ball powder in the 4350 neighbourhood, in stock at Graf's all month, at $14 a pound less than H4350. It is not a substitute for anything; it is a powder with its own published data for the .270, .30-06 and the short magnums, and at that price it deserves a look from anyone who has been paying Extreme prices out of habit. The $44.62 Vihtavuori jugs are the same argument for the extruded-powder loader.
Availability by maker
Share of each maker's Large Rifle-band listings in stock on 27 September at the three retailers. Alliant's one is Reloder 26; IMR's one is the Lohman can of 4955.
- ●N150 — in stock every day
- ●Long Rifle — in stock every day
- ○Power Pro 4000-MR — never in stock
- ○H414 — never in stock
- ●760 — in stock every day
- ●2700 — in stock every day
- ○URP — never in stock
- ●N550 — in stock every day
- ○4350 — never in stock
- ○Enduron 4451 — never in stock
- ○Reloder 16 — never in stock
- ●H4350 — in stock every day
- ○Reloder 17 — never in stock
- ●4350 — in stock every day
- ●SW4350 — in stock every day
- ○204 — never in stock
- ○Hybrid 100V — never in stock
- ●StaBALL 6.5 — in stock every day
- ●Superformance — in stock every day
- ○Reloder 19 — never in stock
- ○4831 — never in stock
- ●Hunter — in stock every day
- ●N160 — in stock every day
- ●N555 — in stock every day
- ○H4831 — never in stock
- ●H4831SC — in stock every day
- ●N560 — in stock every day
- ●Enduron 4955 — in stock every day
- ○MRP — never in stock
- ○Reloder 22 — never in stock
- ○Reloder 23 — never in stock
- ●N165 — in stock every day
- ○7828 SSC — never in stock
- ○Reloder 25 — never in stock
- ◐High Country — in stock 2 of 14 days
- ●N565 — in stock every day
- ●N170 — in stock every day
- ●MAGPRO — in stock every day
- ○Enduron 7977 — never in stock
- ●Reloder 26 — in stock every day
- ●H1000 — in stock every day
- ●Grand — in stock every day
- ○Magnum — never in stock
- ○217 — never in stock
- ●Retumbo — in stock every day
- ●StaBALL HD — in stock every day
- ○Enduron 8133 — never in stock
- ●N568 — in stock every day
- ●LRT — in stock every day
- ●N570 — in stock every day
- ○Reloder 33 — never in stock
- ●24N41 — in stock every day
- ●H50BMG — in stock every day
- ●US 869 — in stock every day
- ○Reloder 50 — never in stock
- ●20N29 — in stock every day
| Maker | Listings | In stock | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shooters World | 4 | 4 | 100% |
| Vihtavuori | 24 | 23 | 96% |
| Winchester | 16 | 13 | 81% |
| Accurate | 14 | 10 | 71% |
| Hodgdon | 56 | 37 | 66% |
| Ramshot | 13 | 4 | 31% |
| Alliant | 38 | 1 | 3% |
| IMR | 34 | 1 | 3% |
| Norma | 4 | 0 | 0% |
Hodgdon's 66% here is two lines averaged: the Extreme powders and the ball grades near 100%, and H414, Hybrid 100V and plain H4831 at zero. The general report has the plant-by-plant map; this band is where it shows most starkly, because slow rifle powder is almost all extruded and extruded is what Valleyfield and Radford are not shipping.
Prices and the bulk discount
No price moves. The median 8 lb saving is 11.7%, and the inversions are all here too: Reloder 50 at Graf's (jug 17% dearer per pound than the can), 20N29 at Graf's (−12%), Retumbo at Lohman (−9%). The deep discounts are all Lohman's: 4955 (50%, on a jug that is not in stock), Hunter (33%, jug out at Lohman — Graf's is the one in stock), Reloder 23 (27%) and Reloder 50 (25%), neither in stock. Buy 20N29 and Retumbo by the can unless the jug price changes.
Late in the window
Bruno's 26 September sale
Twenty-eight listings from this band carried Bruno's sale tag on 26–27 September, 24 shown in stock by Bruno's own flag (not yet used in the figures above): 2700 8 lb at $32.27 a pound, MAGPRO 8 lb at $32.37, 760 and US 869 1 lb at $36.99, High Country 8 lb at $37.50, N160 8 lb at $40.50, Grand and StaBALL HD 8 lb at $42.47, and Shooters World Long Rifle and SW4350 1 lb at $34–35 under a “super sale” tag. One retailer's clearance, not a market price.
What to do with this
- 6.5 Creedmoor / .308 heavies on H4350, N150/N160 or StaBALL 6.5: buy on schedule; all in stock every day, no price change. StaBALL 6.5 is $47.19 at Lohman, $50 at Graf's.
- Magnums on H1000, Retumbo, N565/N570 or Reloder 26: same, at $52–66. Retumbo and 20N29 by the can, not the jug.
- On IMR 4350/4831/7828, the Endurons, or Reloder 16/17/19/22/23/25/33: these are the powders the market is not delivering. The cross-reference puts H4350, N160, Hunter, StaBALL 6.5 and the Accurate/Shooters World 4350s in the neighbourhood; choose one with published data for your cartridge and bullet, and work up from the maker's start load.
- Paying Extreme prices for a .270 or .30-06 hunting load: look at Hunter at $36.12 and the $44.62 Vihtavuori jugs — both with their own data, both in stock all month.
- Set a watch on any of the 23 missing powders and we email you the morning it returns.
