Another use for Herco (44 Special )

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I've been consolidating 240 grain
cast bullet containers for my 44's
and since that happened I've got
over 130 pounds of them.

I wanted to get a 44 Special load
for plinking and in digging around
found on the 1987 Hercules list a
load for 8 Grains of Herco that they
list as running under under 850fps.

I'm on the order list at Starline for
the 44 Special brass and when it
shows up, it shows up. In the mean
time I loaded some in 44 Magnum
brass and it hits the paper plate at
50 yards.

I was concerned that it might not
fill the cases enough but with the
240s seated there is about 1/4"
air gap between the powder and
bullet. If I double charge the
case it is very apparent.

Watching reloads was reinforced
on Thursday when my friend whom
I was casting with got a text. One
of his friends blew up a new model
29 with his reloads. I still haven't
found what that load was but offered
him $200.00 for the parts kit. I
would have given him more but it
doesn't come with a rear sight.


I'm not using the Dillon for this. My
RCBS Junior and the Uniflow powder
measure work fine and I can do the
look in each case in the load blocks
to ensure all the powder levels are
the same.

SO 8 grains of Herco is another use
for this powder for a 246gr lead
44 Special load.

http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Freebies/RM/Alliant/Hercules_1987.pdf
 

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Herco was on of the top revolver powders used in the old days and
is found in the early Lymam loading books for many calibers and.....

it is one powder that matched factory spec loads without high pressures.

A great "Sleeper" powder.
 
Herco has been a very useful powder for most handgun cartridges for a long time, but it doesn't seem to be nearly as popular these days as it once. I'm not sure why this is so.

It's very close to but slightly slower than Unique in burn rate and can be used in most of the same applications as Unique, though data is not interchangeable. I'm pretty sure many of those who have taken up handloading in recent times, the last twenty years or so, probably haven't even heard of Herco powder, let alone used it.
 
That picture made me suck in a little bit of my underwear.

WILDPIG
 
You might try looking for that rear sight............

in that guys friend's, forhead ?? !!

Mercy......
that is one ugly picture of a once good looking weapon.
 
My older Lyman manual from the 60's doesn't list Herco loads for the 44spcl. Neither does my later Lyman CAst Bullet Manual.
Both show it in the 44Magnum sections of each.

I used to use it for shotgun reloading for a very short time in the 60's.
The powder was usually used for heavier shotshell payloads. At least not any sort of reduced loads.
I did somehow manage to do something in my Herco paper case reloads in a 16ga one time and it blew open the action on a SxS Savage/Fox Model BE.

I still can't figure how I managed to overload it since I was using one of the bash-it together Lee-Loaders at the time and using the instructions and scoop provided which listed Herco.
Anyway,,that convinced me to quit using Herco at a young age even though it was probably my fault (somehow).

Events like that have a way of leaving a lasting impression.
 
You might try looking for that rear sight............

in that guys friend's, forhead ?? !!

Mercy......
that is one ugly picture of a once good looking weapon.

Supposedly he wasn't hurt.
My friend and him shoot trap
on Sunday afternoon in league
shooting. I'll ask my friend on
Monday and see if more info
comes up.
 
Blown up gun

A local shooter with lots of handloading experience blew up a new 627 many years ago with an overcharge of TiteGroup. I don't think to this day he believes he over filled the case. Ask if your friend was using TiteGroup????
 
Watching reloads was reinforced
on Thursday when my friend whom
I was casting with got a text. One
of his friends blew up a new model
29 with his reloads. I still haven't
found what that load was but offered
him $200.00 for the parts kit. I
would have given him more but it
Oh, ouch! That's more blown up than I've seen a revolver for quite a while, makes Elmer's mistakes look mild! Shame to see it like that.
While I'm sure the remaining parts have some value, the gun looks new enough that they are mostly MIM cast parts and lost of folks pay good money to have those replaced considering them less desirable and trustworthy. The stocks have some value, but once again they often get replaced by older items. No idea if the Barrel survived without damage, so there might not be a lot of value there.
 
Serger mentioned Herco. It's a great powder in 9mm. I loaded some recently with RMR's 124 gr FMJ. I was delighted with the accuracy. IMNHO, Herco's popularity suffers from it's odd name. Who wants to buy something called Herk-Oh? Doesn't have the glamor of Unique or Bullseye. Numbered powders have a kind of "scientific" appeal. Hodgdon's Lil' Gun is another weirdly named powder. Who want's to shoot something with a name that sounds like "baby talk?" I've heard folks call it Little Gun to avoid sounding infantile. But then, Little Gun doesn't appeal to the bigger is better mindset. Again, I think this is about marketing and perception. These powders can be excellent performers yet not be appealing because of their names.
 
When I was a 'one powder' reloader, Herco was it. 44 S&W Special, 44 Rem Mag, 45 ACP ... Great stuff. I have some now, and I always will.
 
Serger mentioned Herco. It's a great powder in 9mm. I loaded some recently with RMR's 124 gr FMJ. I was delighted with the accuracy. IMNHO, Herco's popularity suffers from it's odd name. Who wants to buy something called Herk-Oh? Doesn't have the glamor of Unique or Bullseye. Numbered powders have a kind of "scientific" appeal. Hodgdon's Lil' Gun is another weirdly named powder. Who want's to shoot something with a name that sounds like "baby talk?" I've heard folks call it Little Gun to avoid sounding infantile. But then, Little Gun doesn't appeal to the bigger is better mindset. Again, I think this is about marketing and perception. These powders can be excellent performers yet not be appealing because of their names.

I think "Herco" is an appropriate name for a powder marketed by "Hercules" as it was for many years until Alliant took it over.
 
I believe that for some time Alliant has been trying to eliminate the use of "Combo" powders and has designated a few of the old favorites as shotgun powders. They resist giving out handgun data with green and red dot, Herco and a couple of others. The powders still work as they always have.
 
Although I have never used Herco...it "should" be a good powder choice for the .44 Special...It appears to have a burning rate between Unique and PowerPistol....I have used both those powders in a varety of handguns and have always had good results...
 
I use a lot of Herco in 44 special and 44 magnum and works very well. It really works well in 45 Colt.
 
A year or two ago I bought 3 8 lb kegs of Herco. ...30 bucks each. Sold one to a friend from Md when he visited us here in Wy. I gave him some load data and he came back out afain 7 months later with a "few" hundred rounds of different ammo. He really liked the powder and had some great shooting ammo. One I was fond of was 10.5 gr in a 44 mag with 240 gr SWC...not wimpy but not too heavy. He prevailed upon me to let him have another. He told me a month ago on the phone he is almost out. He said he had also loaded it in 9mm Luger and 9mm Makarov and said it shot ok in it too. I created a monster when I taught him to reload
 
Back in the 70's & 80's I used a lot of Herco to get a 124 gr bullet to do it's paces in my old 9mm Radom pistol,
for a factory Dup. loading, that would out shoot my full power Unique powder loads in the accuracy department.

800-x was another sleeper that I used a lot of but I am out of both, at this time
but they did work for me in the 9mm and 38 special loads, back then up
to about seven years ago.
 
I believe that for some time Alliant has been trying to eliminate the use of "Combo" powders and has designated a few of the old favorites as shotgun powders. They resist giving out handgun data with green and red dot, Herco and a couple of others. The powders still work as they always have.

Hercules has always called most of their faster powders "shotgun" Its been that way almost since day one. Same with DuPont/IMR. If you loaded for your handguns back in the fifties and sixties most of your powders were called Shotgun Powders. Hey trap and skeet shooters were a major market and used much more powder. Imagine handgun shooters burning 1000 to 1500 grains a day, even the old IPSC matches.
 
Hercules has always called most of their faster powders "shotgun" Its been that way almost since day one. Same with DuPont/IMR. If you loaded for your handguns back in the fifties and sixties most of your powders were called Shotgun Powders. Hey trap and skeet shooters were a major market and used much more powder. Imagine handgun shooters burning 1000 to 1500 grains a day, even the old IPSC matches.

In the old days when a case of shells held 500 rounds....
it could take from 9,000 up to 11,000 grains of powder for that case of shells........
depnding on the payload and Dram, per box.
 
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