Hodgdon
Hodgdon HS-7
A slow spherical powder for heavy shotshell field and waterfowl loads and full-power magnum handgun loads.
A slow spherical powder for heavy shotshell field and waterfowl loads and full-power magnum revolver loads — essentially HS-6 one step slower. Hodgdon has dropped it from the catalogue and the current burn-rate chart, though data is still published. Where a jug turns up it does honest work in heavy 12- and 10-gauge loads and .357/.44 Magnum, but it has no current support and no reason to be sought out. I would not claim close familiarity with how recent lots behaved.
- heavy 12 gauge waterfowl loads
- full-power 357 Magnum
- 44 Remington Magnum
- 10 gauge field loads
Who has Hodgdon HS-7 today
Checked October 10None of the retailers we track list Hodgdon HS-7 right now. See what is in stock.
Discontinued. Canisters still circulate, but the maker no longer produces it — and load data for it may be withdrawn or archived.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Hodgdon |
|---|---|
| Product family | Hodgdon |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Application | shotshell, pistol |
| Grain form | spherical |
| Typical cartridges | 12 gauge, 10 gauge, 357 Magnum, 44 Remington Magnum |
Grain shape
Spherical and degressive, so it meters cleanly through a bushing or measure. Being slower than HS-6 it needs a taller charge column, which means it fills a large revolver case better than the faster ball powders do.
Why geometry decides burn rate more than chemistry does: Shape Is the Product.
Discontinued and off the current chart, but Hodgdon still publishes data for it in the Reloading Data Center, where it now appears on the shotshell side. Spherical, so it meters well.
This powder is obscure enough in the US that its practical character is thinly documented. The note above is deliberately short rather than padded.
Data confidence
We flag entries we could not fully verify rather than presenting them as solid:
- Discontinued — no live manufacturer product page; details drawn from archived or secondary manufacturer material.
Sources
The specifications above come from Hodgdon's own published documentation, linked below. The two “RCM's read” sections are ours, not theirs — our assessment of what this powder is like to load, drawn from its published characteristics and from what handloaders consistently report. No manufacturer endorses them and no source below backs them. If you think we have one wrong, tell us — we would rather fix it.