TonyH Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Take a look at the 6mmBR.com site, Daily Bulletin: it reports that Midway USA have a special offer on Accurate Arms 2230 powder at - wait for it - $12.99 a pound, or eight quid.... BTW my local Westcountry dealers say they can't obtain AA powders because the UK agent can't be bothered to drive his van that far from London. Anyone heard this, or similar? Yours wistfully, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotch_egg Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 The best priced powder I have seen of late was the 8lb jugs of varget from Norman Clarkes which worked out at £26.10 per lb. I believe 8lb jugs are widely available in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londonhunter Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 The best priced powder I have seen of late was the 8lb jugs of varget from Norman Clarkes which worked out at £26.10 per lb. I believe 8lb jugs are widely available in the US. OH TONYH please don't remind us of how much we have to pay . I am reliably informed trade prices from Hannan is 100% mark up ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldie Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Whoever has told you that is on drugs. Hannams dont do Hodgdons anymore, but i can tell you that i make around £8 on a kilo of Vhit, and i have to drive 50 miles round trip to fetch it.There is even less profit on the american powders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 We can all moan about the 'Great rip-off Britain' when it comes to our RFD's but just take a look in some of the other European countries and see what they are charging, I 'shop' quite often in Denmark and with the exception of 7,62x51 milsurp they are often more expensive than in the UK. Given that as a nation we have maybe 130,000 FAC holders and only a modest percentage are reloading to any degree then compare the same for the USofA and it is easy to understand why our prices are going to be higher. Or think of it a different way, how busy are our UK shooting forums in comparison to the American ones? Or how many shooters in the UK actively shoot beyond 300m let alone 1000+ Not a lot. As much as I want to keep my reloading over heads to a minimum I would happily pay a couple of quid per tub extra for my powder if it means my stockist is still around in a couple of years time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxshooter Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Some friends in the US are currently organising a group buy on berger bullets. The price is $35.10 for a box of 210gr VLDs They have offered to ship them to me in the UK if I am interested and having seen the price that Norman Clark is currently advertising I must say I'm tempted. Either that or I'll have to change my choice of bullet to some sort of hornady AMax Its a pity that you cant put powder in your luggage when returning from the USA on holiday. 5kg of vhit would last me a lot longer than 5kg of ammo MArk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Take a look at the 6mmBR.com site, Daily Bulletin: it reports that Midway USA have a special offer on Accurate Arms 2230 powder at - wait for it - $12.99 a pound, or eight quid.... BTW my local Westcountry dealers say they can't obtain AA powders because the UK agent can't be bothered to drive his van that far from London. Anyone heard this, or similar? Yours wistfully, Tony Don't be too hard on the importers - they're two brothers based on the West Yorks / Lancs border, one of whom still has a day job. They import the Accurate powders manufactured in the Czech Republic (not the entire range) driving a modified Transit van from northern England to the factory, filling it up, and coming back via North Sea ferry and Immingham (no explosives allowed in the Chunnel). Mileage in that little round trip? Once back in the UK, they can only reasonably deliver to shops either close enough to their store or those further away who'll take a large order, or maybe where they can get orders from several shops in a region. Bear in mind that UK regulations on carrying explosives are really onerous - yet again, worse than on Continental Europe even - and it's an expensive / difficult business to deliver powders here. As well as the van being fitted out specially in all sorts of ways, our regs say that it must have a fully trained and certified two-man crew on board at all times. Add in that not many British handloaders here know about AA powders and you can see it's likely to stay a small operation. For what it's worth, I've had some good results with AA's Czech made ball powders - 2230, 2460, and 2520. They give good results and very high MVs ...... BUT ..... they are dirty burners and leave an almost impossible to shift hard coating on case necks. The stick powders are cleaner burning and AA-3100 was popular with 6.5-284, 7mm long-range Effers for a while, but use seems to have fallen away now. AA-2015 is a great small grained fast-burner that has uses in all sorts of cartridges and is one of the best of the bunch. Westlander also gets in AA-5744 which is a great reduced load powder, and lead bullet in rifle cartridges number. Westalnder's website is: Westlander Give them a ring to see if they can help with anybody in your area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyH Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 ...........not many British handloaders here know about AA powders and you can see it's likely to stay a small operation. For what it's worth, I've had some good results with AA's Czech made ball powders - 2230, 2460, and 2520. They give good results and very high MVs ...... BUT ..... they are dirty burners and leave an almost impossible to shift hard coating on case necks. The stick powders are cleaner burning and AA-3100 was popular with 6.5-284, 7mm long-range Effers for a while, but use seems to have fallen away now. AA-2015 is a great small grained fast-burner that has uses in all sorts of cartridges and is one of the best of the bunch. Westlander also gets in AA-5744 which is a great reduced load powder, and lead bullet in rifle cartridges number. Westalnder's website is: Westlander Give them a ring to see if they can help with anybody in your area. Laurie, thanks for that interesting information. I appreciate the bureaucratic difficulties for powder importers (it's not just the EU, it's our own over-zealous politicians & bureaucrats who are to blame) but what you describe is a vicious circle: if the AA importers don't get out and make their product more widely known then it will remain a small operation of limited profitability... Dirty burning is bad, especially for those of us who like Vihtavuori powders in part because they're clean. But I heard good reports of AA2520 for 22-250 and was frustrated at my inability to obtain the stuff just to try. AA2230 might be good in 20Tac too, though I already have N130 and Benchmark that work well in that. I'll check the Westlander website. Regards, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Could be wrong, but I think they stock the AA stuff at Bisley(?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I heard good reports of AA2520 for 22-250 I haven't tried it in that cartridge, but would expect your reports to be correct given its burning rate and characteristics. I've found it gives very high MVs and good accuracy in .223R with heavy (75-80gn) bullets. All three AA ball powders should do very well in the .20s. QuickLOAD gives 2520 MVs only just below speed-kings Winchester 748 / H. BL-C(2) (same powder, different packaging) for .204 Ruger. Because of the dirty burning issue, I've avoided 2230, 2460, and 2520 in my still ongoing range tests for the cartridge that will be published shortly in The Sporting Rifle. Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elwood Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Some friends in the US are currently organising a group buy on berger bullets. The price is $35.10 for a box of 210gr VLDs They have offered to ship them to me in the UK if I am interested and having seen the price that Norman Clark is currently advertising I must say I'm tempted. Either that or I'll have to change my choice of bullet to some sort of hornady AMax Its a pity that you cant put powder in your luggage when returning from the USA on holiday. 5kg of vhit would last me a lot longer than 5kg of ammo MArk Add several thousand Berger 7mm 180 gr VLD's if you do Mark. Having spoken to one of the larger distributors recently about the price of the Berger bullets I was informed that it's due to shipping costs, VAT, import license, Sterling against the dollar, which I can believe. I then asked him why Sierra bullets were so much cheaper to buy here in the UK, I have even heard of them being sold for £26 per 100 opposed to the Berger's at £48 per 100, his reply was the Berger is a more expensive bullet to buy in the US! well I'm sorry but that is BS, there is no way the Berger 180 gr VLD is 22p more expensive than the Sierra. I would certainly like someone to say different, but I feel we are being robbed. Bring on the Sierra 180 gr VLD, although I expect they will be priced similar to the Berger. Pay less, buy more, shoot more which means you buy more, including powders, cases and primers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryh Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Gents, Unfortunatly we are a small market and only normally have sole importer for a particular item. I agree with Elwood about some of the BS given re. import costs. If you work it out it comes to just over pound/dollar to import kit 'correctly' which is why I sometimes spit my dummy out at prices being charged here. Simple example: I've recently looked at Sig 522 22lr US over the counter price $360-$400, UK price £725 (FFS!!!). I agree you need to cover running costs and make a profit, but there are limits. Re. bullets & brass, get enough folks together and arrange an export license and shipment. It's not too difficult if you use the right folks. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Pimp Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 If it makes you feel any better - we were loading next to the Finns at the World Benchrest Championships in Sweden a few years ago. The Finns had brought a load of Lapua stuff and Vit powders to sell. The were a bit miffed to discover we in the UK were paying less than they were! I think it's called 'market forces'. The Berger thing is another story - Brian Fox was stripped of his 'distributor' status because he was selling direct to shooters (at a realistic price) rather than to other dealers. Dozens of us e-mailed Berger but they weren't interested. Read more about it on the UK F Class Long Range Forum. Unfortunately, Berger don't understand the shooting 'scene' over here. I mean, with the exception of Norman Clark (official distributor) and Hannam's, does anyone know of a gunshop with a reasonable stock of Bergers? If you want Bergers at reasonable prices - e-mail Berger and tell 'em! The guy who caused the problem was Tom Hine but apparently he's 'gone', so maybe an opportunity for another go. Cheers Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 On the subject of VLD's I recently had an email from Swampy Milholland at JLK, he is starting to look at the necessary licences to export to the UK market. I have a feeling the JLK's are the same J4 jackets as the Berger 180's but I could be very wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown dog Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 If it makes you feel any better - we were loading next to the Finns at the World Benchrest Championships in Sweden a few years ago. The Finns had brought a load of Lapua stuff and Vit powders to sell. The were a bit miffed to discover we in the UK were paying less than they were! I think it's called 'market forces'. By random coincidence yesterday I asked a pal in Finland what the going rate is for 6.5x47 in the land of its birth. 100 cases -right now- = 79.60eur with vat -so about £67 ; and I see people here getting excited at £85/100 and some paying £100/100 Two observations: The Finns you met shop in the wrong place and, £20-£35 more per 100 here for no readily apparent reason -all prices are EU tax paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Pimp Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 £67 per 100 sounds 'reasonable' - hard to estimate the mark-up by the UK importer. I remember paying £66 for 100/220Russian cases in about 1996! Cheers Vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryh Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 Matt, You've forgotten the basic axiom of being a main distributor: 'The only time you screw someone is when you can!' Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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