St Marks 226

[Boz330]

Anybody know anything about this powder?" I picked an 8 pounder several years back and it lists loads for 9MM, 40S&W, and 45 ACP. Only one bullet weight each load. It appears to be similar to HS-6 and the weight listed is close velocity wise for same bullet weight & powder weight in the 9MM.
Just wondering if there might be other uses. With powder being hard to come by not to mention expensive this stuff could go a long way.

Bob

[HP9MM]

St. Marks Powder's production facility is about 25 miles south of Tallahassee, FL. It produces ball powders. A number of Hodgon powders are produced there per the powders' Safety Data Sheets. St. Marks is a division of General Dynamics which has another powder production facility in Canada. Never heard of it marketing powders under the St. Mark's name. You could give them a call and see if it is their powder. They are located near St. Marks, FL.

[Boz330]

Finding info on this powder is akin to finding Rocking Horse manure. There is info on the bottle for one load each for 9MM, 40S&W, and 45 ACP. I can work cautiously to find other loads but was hoping there was some info out there that would speed up the process.

Bob

[Coopaloop86]

A number of canister powders have been produced there over the years. Do you have a picture of the bottle? It is most likely an old Winchester canister lot.

[Boz330]

The jug is pretty generic, I have some IMR that is in the same kind of jug and maybe some others. It is an 8 pounder.

Bob

[Coopaloop86]

I've worked there for many years and St. Marks has never sold canister powder direct to consumers. It goes in bulk to the likes of Winchester, Hodgdon, etc. However, 226 is a speed that we commonly make, I cant tell exactly what it equates to off the top of my head but I believe you're pretty close with HS6

[Boz330]

I've worked there for many years and St. Marks has never sold canister powder direct to consumers. It goes in bulk to the likes of Winchester, Hodgdon, etc. However, 226 is a speed that we commonly make, I cant tell exactly what it equates to off the top of my head but I believe you're pretty close with HS6

I don't remember exactly where I got it, maybe Midsouth. It was a good deal at the time and I always believe in being prepared so I bought it. It has sat on the shelf till a couple days ago since I don't go through pistol powder like I use to. Picked up an 8 pounder of Promo back in 12 when everything went crazy after Newtown and loading info for that was easy to come by and goes a long way. I'm not getting any younger so thought I should start using some of it. They only had info for 3 calibers on it and those are the 3 I reload the least for now days.
The jug is actually marked St Marks 226. The only thing I remember about the price was that it was really really cheap, even for surplus powder.

Bob

[dbosman]

Pat's Reloading sold some of this some years back, but load data was "forthcoming".
Eight pounds is well worth the load work effort.

[swheeler]

I would contact Jeff Bartlet or Pat Mc Donald and ask if they ever sold SMP226 powder, these guys are the gurus of non-cannister powders, and being such they can give you an idea of burn speed, especially if you have a lot number. I have had Jeff Bartlet tell me the burn speed of WC852 by lot number while he was driving the combine, I had one jug of slow WC852 that was H450 speed and another lot of WC852 that was H380 speed, he knew off the top of his head. We know that SMP 226 is not a cannister grade powder(simple because that powder smp 226 isn't a number found on the shelves of your LGS) it would have been sold to a type 6 FFL/ ammunition manufacturer like these contractors are. This is why "CANNISTER GRADE" powders were made available to reloaders. The two different jugs of WC852 had a very different burn speed, the slow lot in 270 with 150 bullet 57.5 grs was max and the faster lot in same loading 50.0 grs was max. and believe it or not another lot of WC852 was actually faster yet, those darned bulk/ non cannister powders.

[fotog54]

If possible, please put a small spoonful on white paper and take and post a picture. I’d like to see what it looks like.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Boz330]

If possible, please put a small spoonful on white paper and take and post a picture. I’d like to see what it looks like.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just looking at it, it appears to look like several powders. It looks a lot like HS-6 and the load data on the jug is close for the 3 loads listed to HS-6. If I get a chance I'll do that though.

Bob

[Marauder1]

Just looking at it, it appears to look like several powders. It looks a lot like HS-6 and the load data on the jug is close for the 3 loads listed to HS-6. If I get a chance I'll do that though.

Bob

This chart gives great info on the General Dynamic powders such as St Marks.

http://www.theballisticassistant.com...21-Viewing.pdf

https://www.theballisticassistant.co...rn-rate-chart/

[Messy bear]

Interesting chart there Mar. A few placings that seem out of line but the cross reference is neat. I had seen one before somewhere. The industry numbers are what the smart guys refer too when talking powders. Thanks