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Herco was my go to powder for years back in the '70s and '80s for all kinds of lead game loads in the 12 and 20 gauge, before I primarily loaded mostly all heavy Magnum 12 gauge loads with Blue dot.
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
If anyone cares…..

This deal fell through for me. Someone else snatched up the Herco powder before I did.

Not too horribly disappointing because I have a mostly full 8lb keg of Longshot.

Well, it turned out for the better. Today I
scored an 8lb keg of 20/28, my all time favorite for the two gauges!!:cool:

Even though it was a lot more than the price listed on the jug :cry: I’m still one happy camper.

Image
 
Herco is one of my favorites. It’s quite versatile with applications in 12,20 and 28 ga reloads. It’s been around forever
 
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A little Herco story from the past. I first started shooting pistols in the early 70's with cast bullets. I had a Ruger .357 and the Lyman "Keith" 170gr cast bullets. The Lyman manual at the time listed 10grs of Herco under that bullet as max and at that time I always started at max. I shot literally thousands of that load through the Ruger, roughly 1200fps and accurate. Tried 6 in a friends S&W model 19 and had to pound the cases out individually, should have been a clue. Cases came right out of the Ruger. The next Lyman manual came out with a max load of 7 grs under that bullet! I must have been running proof loads!
 
I started loading 20 ga. in the late 70's and until I could no longer get Remington RXP-20 wads, 16.5 gr. Herco in , of course, compression formed hulls. Perfect 7/8 oz. load. Alliant says you can still do the same load with a Claybuster 1078-20 wad, (in AA HS hulls) but I have issues with stack height.
 
50 years ago, Herco was my powder of choice for 1 1/4 oz payloads in 12 gauge. That pretty much came to a halt when the steel shot rules came in. Combined with changes in duck and goose flyways where I hunted, I quit hunting them.

But at the time, still had a new, unopened can of Herco......stayed with me for 3 or 4 moves over all those years. Was looking at that a year or so back wondering what I should do with it. In addition to other handgun rounds, turns out that can also be used in 9mm. Not first choice, or even in top 20, but can be used just the same. Not that far off from Unique actually.

 
On April 28, 2020 Alliant issued a press release announcing that they had reformulated Herco to be much cleaner burning and meter better, while retaining the same ballistic performance on a grain for grain basis. Here's the press release:

RADFORD, Virginia –– Alliant Powder, a leading manufacturer of smokeless powder, has enhanced its legendary Herco propellant, giving shooters improved performance with no changes to reloading data. Shipments of improved Herco have started being delivered to dealers.

For years, reloaders have relied on the performance of Alliant Powder Herco to craft precise, heavy shotshell and handgun loads. Now the proven propellant is even better, offering cleaner burning and improved flow characteristics. Better, those changes do not change reloading data. Enhanced Herco offers Alliant Powder’s legendary lot-to-lot consistency and is proudly made in America.

Features:
  • Cleaner burning
  • Improved flow
  • Perfect for 28-gauge straight hulls
  • Ideal burn speed for light field steel loads
  • Excellent lot-to-lot consistency
  • Made in the U.S.A.
 
50 years ago, Herco was my powder of choice for 1 1/4 oz payloads in 12 gauge. That pretty much came to a halt when the steel shot rules came in. Combined with changes in duck and goose flyways where I hunted, I quit hunting them.

But at the time, still had a new, unopened can of Herco......stayed with me for 3 or 4 moves over all those years. Was looking at that a year or so back wondering what I should do with it. In addition to other handgun rounds, turns out that can also be used in 9mm. Not first choice, or even in top 20, but can be used just the same. Not that far off from Unique actually.

Herco was the only powder I would use also for 12ga 1 1/4 oz lead duck loads back in the 70s. I still have some that will get used up in my 20ga.
 
When Alliant said at its reformulation introduction that Herco was "Perfect for 28-gauge straight hulls", that was because getting it to properly fit into taper wall (and taper wall simulating) hulls can be a challenge. The 2020 revised Herco is a lot fluffier than antiquated VMD's (as per LEE's listed VMD's) indicate.

LEE states that Herco's VMD = 0.1122
But it's likely closer to VMD = 0.1260-0.1280(ish) these days

That would make it at least about 12%-13% fluffier than LEE indicates, and make it challenging in 28 Gauge taper wall hulls with some highly popular wads. Even in the nominally straight wall 28 Gauge AA-HS hull it can be a challenge when combined with the CB5034 wad, but it works nicely in this hull when combined with the Federal 28S1 wad.
 
I like pro reach for 1 1/4 ounce long range knock out loads, but honestly, Longshot works about as well
 
I found a decent stash of Unique and Herco (more than two 8 pounders of each) at an estate sale and use the Herco for 7/8 ounce 20 gauge and the Unique for 3l4 ounce 20 gauge. I grew up with Hercules powders so I am quite pleased to use the bulkier powders that shotshell components and presses were properly designed for.

It’s a big plus when my shooting buddy and I each shoot either four rounds of skeet or 100+hundreds rounds of sporting on average two days a week. No cards, or weird tactics to get a proper crimp. Just crank out a hundred shells in 20-25 minutes or less, depending on stopping to replenish the components.
 
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