Goex plant back in operation

[Bottom Dealin Mike]

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I got an email from Chris Hodgdon today saying the Goex plant is back in operation.

Here's the text of the press release Chris sent out:

"Doyline Louisiana, Goex® Powder is reborn. After experiencing a production interruption on June 7 2011 Goex is now back in full manufacturing mode. The company successfully completed multiple projects for a safer and improved process facility.

“Eight months of sweat, blood, and tears from the staff at Goex. Today’s start-up was only possible due to the combined dedication of the entire crew who worked in 114 degree days last summer and cold rain forest level downpours this winter. You can be proud of the Goex team. I sure am” said Goex COO Tim Vaitekunas.

Goex is immediately gearing its production to partially satisfy their new 5-year U.S. Military contract and will soon supply the demand of the sporting market of muzzleloading shooters and hunters everywhere.

To find out more about Goex’s The Tradition Continues superior made in the USA black powder products see goexpowder.com or call 913-362-9455."

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[Blackpowder Burn]

It's great to hear they're back up and running.  I can't wait to get some of their "Express" replacement.  As you can tell, our club believes in spending our money on American products where possible.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

They'll work on that 5 year Military Contract and our "sporting needs" AFTER the price hike, of course.

[Cuts Crooked]

They'll work on that 5 year Military Contract and our "sporting needs" AFTER the price hike, of course.

Well that's kinda a given, just llike the price hikes affecting the cost of the dead cows and pigs that I like to grill , the barley pop I love ta drink, the fuel for my motorhuckle, 'n lectricity that runs this here *)(^&%^ puter. Seems like the onliest thing that ain't been "hiked" is my wages!

[Fairshake]

Hodgdon has raised the price of the Goex products since they purchased the company. They have done so about every few months and not once a year as is the custom.
As far as waiting on the new Express powder, I would not bet no money on it. When Hodgdon discontinued the sporting powders of Cowboy, Goex Cartridge, and Goex Express they released a statement that the new powder would be ready in the spring, it never came about. Now they have given another watch for date.
Oh by the way they also fired a huge amount of the labor force who had years of experience in making powders. You can't hire day labors for this type of work.
They fired an entire night shift of men and left only one employee with less than 5 years and made him the shift manager.
The last batch of 2F off the line was tested out at a very low burn rate.
I hope they do indeed make Goex the kind of company that we may be proud of but so far it looks bad from where I'm standing.

[Cuts Crooked]

Hodgdon has raised the price of the Goex products since they purchased the company. They have done so about every few months and not once a year as is the custom.

That just puts them on a better level than most these days. I've watched the price of food and fuel jump on a near daily basis at times recently.

[Blackpowder Burn]

Everyone is real quick to bash Goex and complain about performance and prices.  I've gotten nothing but good products and customer service from them.  How about we try supporting American business for a change?  I truly don't understand why everyone is so quick to find fault with them, and to praise foreign products.  And then we complain about the unemployment rate here and how hard good jobs are to find.

I make a conscientious effort to purchase American products whenever possible.  I've found them to be exemplary.  If I have to pay a few dollars extra for them, it's a good trade.

Colt, USFA, C Sharps, Shiloh Sharps, Marlin, Ruger, Winchester, Goex.  They're darn sure good enough for me!

Just the view from my saddle.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I buy ONLY Goex.  Always have.  I will continue to do so.  

But ... and this is important, before I QUIT buying their product, I want to find out more.  What we have seen here is admittedly just from one source and there may be good reasons for some of the company's actions.  But if what FS has has pointed out is true, it doesn't look very good from MY saddle.

I'm not ready to give up on 'em yet, pard!  But I DO want to know more.  I too, have had NOTHING but good dealings with Hodgdon and they may have actually rescued GOEX from a hole they had gotten themselves in, and perhaps these radical firings and such HAD to be done.  It could be the only way to keep it afloat!  Goex hasn't been the same since DuPont sold them.  (And maybe that's good - I don't know.)

[Blackpowder Burn]

I agree with you completely Steel Horse.  There are some US companies I won't do business with any more - like GE.  But until we hear both sides of the story and see how they perform in the market going forward we don't know enough to make a decision.  I'm just trying to say that they're the last US BP manufacturer, and we should do everything reasonable to support them - not start running them down before all the facts are in.

[Cliff Fendley]

I recently bought Goex because they are US made regardless of reports of it being dirty compared to other powders, etc, etc.

I don't know the story here but I do know several folks that have retired from GE and know the personal story of International Harvester employees and other US companies over the past few decades. After witnessing some of that from the sidelines I would be the last one to bash a US company that is competing in a world market.

I can't count the IH guys that would have loved to had their job back with those concessions after it was all said and done and they got out in the real world trying to make a buck.

Got two friends that were at GE until recent years, they are realizing now how good they had it and are almost to the point of admitting it 

It never pays to bite the hand that feeds you. Companies are in business to make money, that's what their investors demand, if you want part of the companies profits then invest in the company.

Plus the Goes still has the nice metal cans instead of the cheap plastic ones. Wonder how long that will last.

[Pony Racer]

To be fair to Goex, at least when buying in bulk, their prices have actually come down and are close to matching Scheutzen.

Now the Guy I buy powder from in Winchester buys powder in huge lots (mentioned he ordered 80,000 lbs of the DB stuff when they restarted their business to me - which is why his price had stayed at 10.00 a can) - so maybe his price is radically different from what others are seeing.

What had bothered me about Goex a few years back was that Scheutzen, again my buying experience in VA, was over 100.00 less a case than Goex.  Scheutzen is made in Germany - so the the high cost of labor and all of those issues that US Companies face theyface too. On top of that they have to pay taxes and fees so Scheutzen can bring in their powder to the United States.

I had a very hard time with a US Company charging so much more for the same kind of product.  I felt bad enough about not supporting a US Company that i wrote them a letter about it - explaining to them why I was not supporting them.  Just over a year ago, I saw that their price point had changed and now, again where I buy in VA, Goex is only 10-15.00 more per case than Scheutzen.

I have no idea if my letter made a difference or not, but it seems to me that most likely other folks probably did something similar  and maybe just maybe GOEX heard it loudly enough that they shifted their price point.

The next time I buy powder I may look at them again pending prices.  I have thought about at least testing them out again.  Thats what I did when I saw the deal on Diamond Back (DB)...I still bought mycase and a half of Scheutzen and tried two cans of DB.  Which led to me shooting mostly DB now due to great price.

V/r

PR

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I recently bought Goex because they are US made regardless of reports of it being dirty compared to other powders, etc, etc.

I don't know the story here but I do know several folks that have retired from GE and know the personal story of International Harvester employees and other US companies over the past few decades. After witnessing some of that from the sidelines I would be the last one to bash a US company that is competing in a world market.

I can't count the IH guys that would have loved to had their job back with those concessions after it was all said and done and they got out in the real world trying to make a buck.

Got two friends that were at GE until recent years, they are realizing now how good they had it and are almost to the point of admitting it 

It never pays to bite the hand that feeds you. Companies are in business to make money, that's what their investors demand, if you want part of the companies profits then invest in the company.

Plus the Goes still has the nice metal cans instead of the cheap plastic ones. Wonder how long that will last.

Good point(s), Cliff. 

In the world of commerce, I'm sure it's amazingly hard for an American business, with our traditions of benefits & pay structures, to realistically compete in a world where so-so countries, that have NO qualms about paying wages a babysitter of the 1960s wouldn't work for.  It has become so expensive here in America to do business abroad that I'm not sure if we can ever recover without some serious changes.  These changes would have to be done on a Governmental level, and I simply don't trust our current form of Government to be able to do "the right thing."  Too many "special interests," and plain old crookedness abound.  It's really quite depressing and I certainly don't have ALL the answers.

I hear very learned and experienced folks going on about  Swiss powders and Scheutzen and even a certain year of Kik powder and how much cleaner they are than Goex.  I have seen their posts here and I don't doubt them one bit!  I greatly respect them and value their insight, knowledge, & experience.  But where do they find the suppliers that will let them buy from  specific years of production, as in Kik's case?  I have seen places that sell Scheutzen powder and if I live long enough to use all the Goex I have on hand, I certainly will give it a try, but I'm pretty sure that economics is going to make me continue to use el cheapo powder for the foreseeable future.  The company that repackages Scheutzen powder and sells it as their own may be the next powder I try, but I still have over 20 pounds of BP and Pyrodex to go 'thru first.  (around 16-17 lbs. Goex, 4 or so of Pyrodex)   Add 3 containers of Trip 7 that I scored at an end-of-the-year price of $10 ea. from Wally World.  I've been "saving" it ostensibly for hunting, but my one and only hunting trip to date was 3 years ago, yielded nothing and my health has deteriorated to where I doubt I'll go again.  I'll probably "waste" it shooting steel bad guys & buffalo at upcoming NCOWS matches or maybe a SASS match.

What's a feller to do?

 

[Cuts Crooked]

Ok guys, last warning, Slamming a company is poor form, and claiming insider knowlege that one cannot share is not good either. Let's keep it nice, or don't post it.

Those of you who have been here a while know my methods, I rarely warn and often simply make whole threads go away, don't tempt me.

[Dick Dastardly]

Happy to have Goex back on line.  We need the diversity and the competition.  Good on you Goex!

DD-MDA

[dogngun]

I used GOEX ten years ago which is the last time I shot BP...Just started to get back to it, and found that 2 1 pound cans of Goex set me bak over $70 at Cabelas here in Eastern PA. Well over $30 a pound, plus taxes.

I recall it used to be less than half that last time I used it.


mark

[Pony Racer]

Pard if you go to online resources you can cut that price down substancially even with shipping - if you end up paying shipping costs at all.

I was able to find the BP supplier to the NSSA outside of Winchester, VA and Order/Buy in bulk and schedule pick-ups so that I pay no shipping or hazmat fees.

I work with other pards and pardettes to split up 1-2 cases at a time and find BP once done that way to not be cost prohibitive at all regardless of brand bought (although I have never bought SWISS - since i am not doing BP competitions other than SASS shooting).

PR

[Bottom Dealin Mike]

I agree, buying in bulk is the way to go, either cases of one-pound cans or big canisters. I never buy B-P by the pound.

[john boy]

But where do they find the suppliers that will let them buy from  specific years of production, as in Kik's case?

If one comes upon a certain lot of powder that they feel is better than the others, all one has to do is ask the supplier if they have any of that lot still available

Goex CTG , lot 2004, is one of my reliable powders.  When Hodgdon announced no more CTG in 2011, asked the supplier if there was any of the 2004 lot left in the powder magazine.  Well, there used to be but not anymore!

[wildman1]

I hear ya on that John Boy. I'm down ta my last 2 lbs of Dupont 02-66. Hopefully I'll be able ta get some more in a couple of weeks.  WM

[Fairshake]

I have purchased American products every chance I've had since I left home and started living on my own.
I also don't care for people who put down on someone who does purchase a product made in another country for economic reasons.
There are few of us who really know the persons we talk to and about online.
I live in Louisiana and have posted about Goex, a powder I have purchased since it was available.
My very close friend is the Distributor for the southern area of Louisiana and I could at one time purchase it for a better price than any other powder. My wife and I were doing great with our home design drafting business. We drew blueprints for home construction.
In 2007 the bomb fell on the home construction business and our economy took a nose dive which has never recovered.
We lost our business after 25 years and I was hit with all types of very serious health problems.
I have diabetes, a paralyzed diaphragm which leaves me breathing on my left lung only and because of several automobile accidents while serving my country as a police officer I have four destroyed vertebrae in my lower back. This caused me so much pain that I was house bound for over a year. I was given a implanted infusion pump that puts Morphine into my spine 24-7 just so I could leave my home and start shooting again. I had tears when I shot my first SASS match.
I and my wife live on $1054.00 a month.
So if I buy KIK or Diamondback for $10 a pound it is because of my need to if I want to continue shooting the black powder that I've shot and believed in since 1970. If that powder works as well or better than Goex then so much the better.
I joined the US Army in 1965 which was not a popular thing to do as we were butt deep into Vietnam. I asked for infantry duty because of my family traditions during past wars.
When I came home I worked at several jobs before doing what I had always wanted to do, I became a police officer. I continued my service to my country and it's people.
If I'm not being a American because I now buy a different powder then don't bash me. I have served my country and paid a heavy price. If that American company cares about it's life long user's then ask them to lower the price where all Americans may purchase it.
If you feel I'm anti American company, then come walk a mile in my shoes.
Goex has made and will continue to make millions in profit from it's military contracts but still it continues to raise it's prices.
I posted this so that some of you will have a better take on where I stand with this debate about Goex.
   

[Rye Miles]

I'd love to buy Goex and I buy American whenever I can but if I buy a case of KIK it's like getting 2 lbs for free!!! I'm not rich and this allows me at least 2 extra shoots. I gotta save $$$ where I can to keep shooting the powder I love! Maybe Goex would lower their prices if we stopped buying it.  ??

Rye

[Drydock]

Some are quick to blame the producer, but my local retailer has it for $15 a pound, new production.  I think some of you are being gouged at the local level.  Goex has always worked fine for me.  It likes a little compression and a hotter primer.

[Cliff Fendley]

Does current production still have the metal cans? Goex is about 1.50 a pound higher than KIK but the fact that it comes in a somewhat period looking metal can is worth a little something to me along with it being American made.

[Pony Racer]

The hard thing for me with prices is that I am very familiar with inport/export taxes and hazmat fees etc etc... and that 1.00 0r 1.50 a can difference is actually more significant than it appears

When you consider the price you are paying for Swiss, Scheutzen, KIK, & Diamond Back - you are helping those companies pay/defray the costs and fees that GOEX does not have to deal with at all.

So actually that 1.50 difference a can, is really not a 1 can for 1 can difference...i do wonder how much cheaper the foreign brands would be if we were not covering some portion of shipping/inport/export and hazmat in the final price we pay locally

That being said - in VA the price of Goex is matching the price of Scheutzen unless you buy in bulk and save 10.00 a case or .40 cents a can...

Shoot which ever one you like - just make it Boom, Fire and Stank:)!!  Just keep that heathen smokeyless stuff for them modern guns...

PR

[Drydock]

Yep, still in the metal cans.