It is my understanding that the US Armed Forces are the PRIMARY and largest customer of the US black powder production of GOEX. The BP formula used (which is the same you can buy for sporting arms) is used in artillery, naval shells, and bombs, to initiate the primary explosive. It is manufactured to a specific MILSPEC for its "rate of burn" which is extremely consistent. The precise term used to describe that "flame propagation or flame speed" property it is used for escapes me. I saw a statistic recently that the US military uses an ungodly amount of the BP in munitions making - in the hundreds of tons. Mind you, the BP is NOT the primary explosive, it assists with the detonation of the primary explosive.
Loss of the GOEX plant was not going to happen and I'll bet Estes had some military backing or other such assistance with that purchase - fortunately for us. Smile the next time you light off your 1861 Springfield rifle knowing you are firing it with MILSPEC black powder - if using GOEX powder.
With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.
