senecahornet
New member
Has anyone any comments on herco loads.
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45colt 7-1/2 barrel - alliant herco powder
- Thread starter senecahornet
- Start date
Should be fine, though I don't personally use Herco, I use Unique. Compared to Unique (in the first old book I picked up) charge weights for Herco run .2-.3gr more than Unique and velocities are 20-30 fps less in the test gun used.
A different gun could very well reverse the numbers.
If I remember right, Herco is a flake powder, so it meters better than IMR stick powders and not quite as smoothly as ball powders.
Use standard primers.
A different gun could very well reverse the numbers.
If I remember right, Herco is a flake powder, so it meters better than IMR stick powders and not quite as smoothly as ball powders.
Use standard primers.
Yeah I use it with 260gr LSWC. It’s similar to Unique in performance and metering. I’d have to look at what charge but I think it’s around 8.5gr that I like best
Another good resource:
http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt45lc.htm
Another good resource:
http://www.sixguns.com/tests/tt45lc.htm
black mamba
New member
My most accurate load in a Ruger BH is 10.7 gr with Federal 150 primer under the Bayou 225 gr TC coated bullet @ 1.66" OAL. Not sure if this is a safe load in a Colt SAA, but no problem in the stronger Ruger. I have found that Herco takes about 8% more powder than Unique to reach a given pressure, but gives a little more velocity for the same pressure.
Book max length for the .45 Colt is 1.600".
Can't imagine a revolver caring about an extra 0.06 though.
225gr data for Herco out of a Colt SAA that I have max is 9.5gr
Ruger or Contender data for that weight is 10.5 - 11.5 max
10.7gr Herco 225gr slug ought to be close to 1100fps from a 7.5" Blackhawk.
Just a little too warm for a Colt SAA or clone.
Can't imagine a revolver caring about an extra 0.06 though.
225gr data for Herco out of a Colt SAA that I have max is 9.5gr
Ruger or Contender data for that weight is 10.5 - 11.5 max
10.7gr Herco 225gr slug ought to be close to 1100fps from a 7.5" Blackhawk.
Just a little too warm for a Colt SAA or clone.
I didn't load Herco in the .45 Colt, but used quite a bit of it in other cartridges. As black mamba indicted, it's just a bit slower than Unique. It worked well for me. I agree with what 44 AMP said about metering. Eventually I went to using ball powder in place of Herco and Unique due to the more precise metering.
In my .45 Colts tests above, I did nothing special to load the cases. Ie. I did not weigh every load. Once I had the weight I wanted, I just cranked the set out with a Hornady powder measure. I thought the results turned out pretty good considering... Ie. satisfied with the metering as this is how I normally would load a box of shells anyway.... Yes, AA#5, True Blue, W231, etc do meter much more precisely, bit Herco wasn't bad at all.
Herco: Flaming Dirt's (Unique) Red Headed cousin. First it likes to be run harder than Unique. Second, with jacketed bullets it takes a little bit more to run bullets a little slower but with lead bullets it tends to go the opposite way. Even in the 90's load books that Herc. supplied they called it heavy hand gun powder but their handgun data seldom showed it.
In .45 Colt and .44 Spl, I find it a bit slower than Unique, about 0.5 grain add'l powder needed for the same velocity. Like Unique, it burns better if pushed a bit...but in my measures (RCBS Uniflow & a cpl of Dillons), it meters better than Unique, just enough that I could notice. Accuracy was virtually identical to my Unique loads. Rod