HERCO...?

N

NINEX19

New member
I managed to have been given a sealed pound of Herco made sometime in the 80's, I think.

Is this powder still in production? I can not seem to find much of any load data. I found one .357 load that I was going to try out. I was hoping to find more .357 loads and perhaps .38 Special loads, but can't track them down. Maybe it is not a .38 Special powder.

Can anyone steer me in the direction of where to find some load data for this or insight on how it should be loaded? Thanks.
 
9,

My Old, Old Lyman 44th (1967) lists loads for the 357M using Herco for all the lead cast bullets ranging in wt from 121 to 195 grains.

It does not list Herco with any 357M jacketed bullets.
Nor does it list Herco for the 38Spl.
 
Thank you.
The current Alliant website does not list any loads for anything that I currently load for. I will be pouring over the archived data at castpics and see if it was ever used for .357 Mag or .38 Spl. Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree though. I do know that Alliant did have published data for Red Dot for many different calibers that they no longer list so their might be something for me to use in an older manual.
 
I emailed Alliant and they sent me the same data as in the old pamphlets; but, you must ask for it. The data has always been valid. Every year Alliant lists fewer old powder loads and adds data for new powders (which are very good!).
But, Herco, and Green Dot, and Blue Dot can still be used for many shot shell and metallic cartridges.
 
Yes, Herco is still in production. Primarily a shotgun propellant; but it has a small but loyal fan base in the pistol cartridge world. Falling between Unique and Blue Dot in burn rate, it can deliver excellent performance in the right application.

I think I've used the entire spectrum of Alliant (then Hercules) powders back in my teeth-cutting days. But for whatever reason, Herco didn't stay in my repertoire. If memory serves, it's pretty energetic stuff - makes bullets go fast.
 
If memory serves, it's pretty energetic stuff - makes bullets go fast.
Click to expand...

I've similar memories. When I was a young guy (1970's) the old guys I shot with liked it to make some real fast movers for their .357 magnums. Self defense and hunting rounds.

I didn't even know they still made it.
 
I use a lot of Herco in .357 cast loads and it is terrific for that purpose in my opinion. My favorite is about 7.5-7.7 grains under a Missouri Bullet 140-grain TCFP. Accurate, economical, and it is no slouch at about 1100 FPS from a 4" barrel.

I have heard and do not doubt, that those older Lyman manuals showing Herco in .357 are MUCH too hot- please be advised. Herco's formulation and/or method of manufacture may have changed, resulting in a faster powder...

That said, I think Herco is an oft-overlooked and underutilized powder in this day and age. I'm thankful I recently scored a bunch of it as my stockpile was getting on the low side.
 
I used Herco in 45 Colt with cast bullets, the loads were accurate and gave me the velocity I was looking for.

The 45 Colt loads with Herco is in my top five 45 Colt hunting loads.
 
but it has a small but loyal fan base in the pistol cartridge world.
Click to expand...
I am one of those. 44 special and magnum and 45 LC with lead bullets. You need to stay above the 75% of the load variation or it gets dirty. In the 44 special with good lead bullets like Penn bullets it’s very accurate in mid length barrels. The 45 seems to be a little easier to load to get good accuracy in ether a S&W 25 or a Ruger SA.
For 38 SP the #10Speer (1980)loading manual shows
158 GR lead Semi Wad-cutter Min: 4.1 Max: 5.1
They also show jacked +P with Herco of Min: 5.1 (855 fps) Max: 6.0 (947 fps) with a 158 Jacket soft point
357Mag
125 GR jacketed Min11.6 Max12.6 @1510 FPS.
158 Gr jacketed Min: 8.3 Max: 8.8 @1170 FPS
They don’t show any 357 mag loads for lead.
I have no experience with loading 38/357 mag with Herco since the person that taught me to reload said to use other powders for smaller calibers. Most of the thousands of 44 special I shoot every year is loaded with Herco and I find it easy to meter out. I would not use it for magnum loads. For target it works well in the 44 mag but was not at magnum pressures.
This is an old Speer reloading manual and I have found that a lot of newer books have lower max charge weights now.
 
I have made up some 38 special at min charge of 5.5g with 125g JFP speer bullets. This is based on Alliant data from one of their older publications. Rereading through some post, I am thinking this might not be the best load, but I will test in the few days. Thanks guys this is a big help
 
FYI, I just ran the 5.5 Herco/Speer 125 combination for .38 Special via QuickLOAD® and it indicates around 785 FPS through a 4" barrel. I thought the load would be notably zippier than that along with higher pressures (it shows 10444 PSI)... learn something new every day...

Of course, QL is just an informational guide and must be considered such.
 
I just test shot the 5.5g of Hero in the 38 SPL on 125g Speer fmj . I did not chronograph it, but it felt like more than 785. It was actually a pretty stout load for 38 SPL. Not +p, but not weak either.

I will load up more going to 6.5 since a newer Alliant manual list that as "the" load.

How does Alliant load read? They don't have a min/max, they just have one load. I suppose I should read the entire PDF and I am sure it would explain.
 
Not the entire pdf

Just the top of each page where it says "Max Chg".
Or page 8:
"The powder charge weights listed in our data
tables are maximum. For rifle and pistol loads,
the maximum powder charge should be reduced
by 10% to establish a minimum or starting
powder charge."
 
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