Hercules Herco

[psteinmayer]

I was cleaning some stuff out of my dad's gun locker today, and found an almost full can of Hercules Herco, which he used to use loading his skeet shells. The can is in excellent condition: Cardboard can with a tin top and bottom, no signs of corrosion or discoloration, and no funky smells (dad always stored his powders properly).

Does anyone know what the suitability of Herco is for pistol ammo reloads? My Hornady manual lists Herco for .45 ACP with 185 and 230 gr bullets. If it's ok, I'll use it up... but I want to make sure it's a safe powder for my .45.

Thanks in advance!
Paul

[Hefights]

It will work ok similar in some respects to Unique. It is safe if you follow proper protocal, you may end up liking it. Not necessarily cleanest burning, but who cares.

[Tuna]

You can use it from the .32 S&W long up to the .45 acp. Not always the best velocity but should be consistent.

[psteinmayer]

Awesome... Thanks all!

[madsenshooter]

Uhh, it'd also make a dandy powder for 2000fps loads with those 150gr cast bullets I sent you, about 17gr.

[psteinmayer]

Hmmmm Interesting. Thanks Bob

[madsenshooter]

Sure Paul, otherwise there's some limited pistol data on the Alliant website.

[Parashooter]

Uhh, it'd also make a dandy powder for 2000fps loads with those 150gr cast bullets I sent you, about 17gr.

Hope you're not talking about .45 ACP here; that would be a bit of an overload (like 155,000 psi) - not to mention it wouldn't all fit in the stubby case.

[psteinmayer]

Naw, Bob was talking about using it with the cast bullets he sent me to use in my Krag sporter... which I am switching to cast for competitions. I think the load for .45 ACP lists 5.6 gr of Herco for a 230 grain bullet.