Peter M. Eick
Member
I tried out some Herco reloads with 158 grn MBC LSWC's.
4.5 grns in the 38 special were light loads. In my Diamondback (D-frame colt) the cases (starline) would fall out of the gun without touching the ejector rod indicating a mild load.
5.0 grns in 38 special were mild to mid range 38 specials. In the Diamondback some cases would fall out but the rest had to just lightly touch the ejector rod to get them to come out. No pressure was required so these are probably pretty light also.
5.5 grns in the 38/44 were very mild in the 38/44 Heavy Duty.
6.0 grns in the 38/44 were mild and felt soft compared to real 38/44's. The cases would fall out of my 5" heavy duty just by turning the gun over and touching the ejector rod. I did not chrono them because I guessed they were light but my feeling would be around 850 fps out of a 5".
I am working up to 6.7 grns for the 38/44 which is from Mike Venturino's article on the 38/44 from about 5 years back in handloader. In the 38 Special will experiment with 5 grns and move the load down a few tenths to see if I can find any sweet spots for accuracy. Otherwise 5 grns worked well for me in 38 Special and I might just stay there.
Final summary, Herco is a good powder, it is Unique's cousin and seems very accurate with Lead. It burned clean and I did not notice any unburned flakes or skeletons like you find with Unique.
Oh and remember, this data is not found in most modern loading manuals (or at least I found very little Herco data to go by) so there may be errors. Just because it worked for me does not mean it is safe for you and your guns.
4.5 grns in the 38 special were light loads. In my Diamondback (D-frame colt) the cases (starline) would fall out of the gun without touching the ejector rod indicating a mild load.
5.0 grns in 38 special were mild to mid range 38 specials. In the Diamondback some cases would fall out but the rest had to just lightly touch the ejector rod to get them to come out. No pressure was required so these are probably pretty light also.
5.5 grns in the 38/44 were very mild in the 38/44 Heavy Duty.
6.0 grns in the 38/44 were mild and felt soft compared to real 38/44's. The cases would fall out of my 5" heavy duty just by turning the gun over and touching the ejector rod. I did not chrono them because I guessed they were light but my feeling would be around 850 fps out of a 5".
I am working up to 6.7 grns for the 38/44 which is from Mike Venturino's article on the 38/44 from about 5 years back in handloader. In the 38 Special will experiment with 5 grns and move the load down a few tenths to see if I can find any sweet spots for accuracy. Otherwise 5 grns worked well for me in 38 Special and I might just stay there.
Final summary, Herco is a good powder, it is Unique's cousin and seems very accurate with Lead. It burned clean and I did not notice any unburned flakes or skeletons like you find with Unique.
Oh and remember, this data is not found in most modern loading manuals (or at least I found very little Herco data to go by) so there may be errors. Just because it worked for me does not mean it is safe for you and your guns.
