Author Topic: Looking for Swiss black powder in SW Washington (Read 807 times)

leverfan · « **on:** June 28, 2005, 10:47:08 AM »

All the stores carry around my town is Goex, but I'd like to try Swiss. Does anyone know of a source between Vancouver and Olympia?

Thanks.

Rum River · « **Reply #1 on:** June 29, 2005, 01:59:45 AM »

I ordered mine in through Powder Inc. (www.powderinc.com) The only thing is that you have to order a case lot.

You can mix various granulations and brands to make up a case. One of my shooting partners and I split a 25 pound case and came out OK on the end cost.

Powder Inc. was good to deal with too. A quick turnaround on the transaction and good customer service to boot.

leverfan · « **Reply #2 on:** June 29, 2005, 08:50:31 AM »

Rum River-

Yep, I've got a Powder Inc. order form and release form printed out, sitting next to my computer. I'll be going through them if I can't find a store that carries it. I was thinking of showing it to one of the local gun store owners. His distributor only sells in 25 pound lots, all from the same manufacturer. 25 pounds also happens to be the legal limit that the store can keep in its black powder magazine, so he can't mix and match, and he can't order anything new until he sells everything he has in stock. I noticed Powder Inc. lets you mix and match, so maybe I can get my favorite store to do the bulk orders. If not, another member here, Wilbe Lead, might be willing to come in with me on a powder order.

TFHARPER · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2005, 07:09:06 AM »

Talk to J.R. at the Maine Powder house

www.mainepowderhouse.com

He will take care of you.

johns · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2005, 01:10:43 PM »

I just ordered 10 pounds of swiss 1-1/2 from powders inc. and they probably won't ship for a few days, if you are interested in splitting a case let me know. I'm in Moses Lake.

leverfan · « **Reply #5 on:** July 26, 2005, 01:57:41 PM »

johns-

Thanks for the offer, but my old Jeep only gets about 20 mpg, and I'm all the way over in Longview. My brother in law and I are throwing in together on black powder orders over here.

leverfan · « **Reply #6 on:** August 25, 2005, 11:19:38 AM »

For others wanting an answer to this question, the closest retail source of Swiss that J.R. at the Maine Powder House knew of is in Poulsbo, Washington. I may make some more calls to try to find a closer source. Driving to Poulsbo and back would cost me over $40 in gas alone, so ordering seems to be the way to go.

bikered · « **Reply #7 on:** August 29, 2005, 04:20:07 PM »

leverfan,
Where can I get GOEX in SW Washington? I live in Vancouver and the only place I knew of, which carried GOEX was the Camas Sportshop (which closed a couple of years ago). I now do mail-order, but if I could drive to a local (?) shop, I'd be glad to. Thanks.

leverfan · « **Reply #8 on:** August 29, 2005, 07:44:23 PM »

There are two places in Longview that have the permits to sell black powder. The Gun Shop, 1023 15th Ave., 360-636-1230, is where I get mine. It's cheap, which is good, because I'm going through a lot of it. This is an old fashioned mom & pop gun shop, and they're good people.

You can also get Goex at Bob's, 1111 Hudson St., 360-425-3870. This is a pretty nice general sporting goods store, and they have a separate building with toys and housewares to keep the rest of the family busy while you ogle guns, canoes, camping gear, etc.

Ray Newman · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2005, 03:08:44 PM »

Leverfan: on & off, Im in the Longview/Vancouver area. When you say that GOEX It's cheap. How much are we talking bout per pound?

leverfan · « **Reply #10 on:** August 31, 2005, 10:07:16 AM »

Ray- The Gun Shop charges $12.99/pound for Goex (I know because I just bought a pound this morning). Bob's charges $13.99/pound.

If I order from Powder Inc. in 5 or 10 pound lots, the shipping and hazmat fee bring the actual delivered price of Goex to over $17/pound. Yikes! That $10/pound list price on Powder Inc. suddenly doesn't look like much of a bargain once shipping is included. If I team up with some buddies and buy a 25 or 50 pound lot of Goex from Powder Inc., it's still over $10 per pound after paying shipping, and I have to lay out a big chunk of cash up front.

Swiss works out to an actual cost of $23.50/pound if you order from Powder Inc., but since I've got no other way to get it, I'll pay that.

Ray Newman · « **Reply #11 on:** August 31, 2005, 05:40:55 PM »

I get my powder in 25# lots from Powder Inc.

The last shipment I recd was in 3/2005 & w/ shipping & HAZMAT, price per pound was US$10.40, or US$260.00.

IMHOP, the best part bout having a case is youre not @ the mercy of the dealers stock & youre dealing w/ one lot.

If you can, I think the purchase of a case is the way to go & if you can split the cost even better.

leverfan · « **Reply #12 on:** August 31, 2005, 09:05:24 PM »

Lot to lot variation doesn't matter too much when it comes to my uses for Goex. CAS doesn't demand high levels of accuracy, so I even use bullets that I would toss back in the pot if I were casting for anything else besides shooting at 16" targets up close. A single match does burn over 6000 grains of fffg and fg, so if I had a place to safely store a large amount of black powder, I might order in large amounts. However, it's much safer stored at my dealer's than in the wooden powder chest in my house.

Back to school shopping for my kids makes me appreciate buying powder one or two pounds at a time. It's sort of like an affordable installment plan that allows me to painlessly feed my habit.

My Sharps '74 is another matter. It can't shoot up to its potential without proper care and feeding, hence my interest in Swiss. If I win the lotto, or get the chance to sue a rich guy for hurting my feelings, I'll probably order Swiss in 50 pound lots and shoot it in all my guns. :-D

Ray Newman · « **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2005, 11:17:46 AM »

leverfan: you talk "feedingt he habit"--I get just about 66 rounds to the pound when I load for my .45- 27/8" (.AKA 45-110) Borchardt & 'bout 85 or so when I load my Sharps .45- 2.4" (AKA .45-90).

The big chambers do have a good-sized appetite.....