Hercules 2400

[Hondo 60]

I'm sad!
I inherited 1/2 a bottle of Hercules 2400 & it's now all gone.

What a GREAT 357 Mag powder.
16.0 grains under a 125 gr bullet was perfect!@
I was getting ~ 1150- 1175 fps & the recoil felt slow & pretty pleasant.

Even my 9 y/o friend enjoyed shooting it.

I'm gonna have to work up another load.
From what I understand the current iteration of 2400 is a bit more energetic.
So I'll have to start low & work up again.

With a GDHP the max is 17.5.
I think I'll start with 14, 14.5, 15 & 15.5
Then see where that leads me.

Any one who's experienced the change from Hercules to Alliant, does that sound like a good plan?
Would you do anything different?

Are there any collectors that would like the old can?

 

[Hanshi]

Can't help you with "new" 2400 and I've about used up all my "old". Your velocities sound on the low side to me. 15 grains gives me 1450fps with a 160 grain gc lead bullet. Get some "new" and work up checking velocities as you go; that will tell you if it's "hotter".

 

[guzzi]

If you like the whack that 2400 gives, you should look into Hodgdon H110.

That H110 makes lead fly.

 

[alsaqr]

Hercules 2400 powder is now Alliant 2400 powder. It is my favorite .22 Hornet, .357 and .44 magnum powder.


http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/handgun.aspx

 

[Magnum Shooter]

I think at even 15.5gr you will be reducing it to much. 17.5gr minus 10% is 15.75 or rounded to 15.8gr as starting load. A 10% reduction is what Alliant recommends. If you start lower you might get a bullet stuck or a lot of unburned powder in the barrel.

 

[Pete D.]

2400

I have used Alliant 2400 extensively in .44 Mag loads and in .410 shot shells. No complaints.
Pete

 

[Magnum Shooter]

Also I always work up handgun loads in .2gr increments not .5gr.

 

[rcmodel]

16.0 grains under a 125 gr bullet was perfect!

If you like it, there is no reason to change it, or start over.

Your load is well below the current MAX load with Alliant 2400 and 125 grain bullets.

Choot'm Lizbet! Choot'm!

rc

 

[Hondo 60]

If you like it, there is no reason to change it, or start over.

Ya, but that was with the OLD Hercules 2400.
I suppose I could just make up some with the NEW 2400 (just not too many)

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Power Pistol will easily match the OP's targeted velocity using about half as powder and be cleaner to boot...just sayin'.

 

[918v]

But then he'll have positioning issues.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

8 to 10 gr in a .357 case will have no positioning issues.

 

[JLDickmon]

Power Pistol will easily match the OP's targeted velocity using about half as powder and be cleaner to boot...just sayin'.

by weight or by volume

 

[Clark]

Someone posted on the internet that they loaded an ancient Hercules 2400 powder and a new Alliant 2400 powder and got the exact same velocity with the same powder charge.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

By weight....10.0 gr of Power Pistol under a 125gr gives me 1400+ fps out a 6 inch.

 

[CraigC]

I'd like to have the old can.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Ya, but that was with the OLD Hercules 2400.
I suppose I could just make up some with the NEW 2400 (just not too many)

No company is going to change their powder produce so much that the older load data becomes invalid without changing the powder name. 2400 was not re-engineered by Alliant. You will get no more variation with the newer 2400 than the old 2400 that you would get from lot variations. Like I said, if it were changes even a little they would change the name for safety especially in this litigious society.

So, like said above, if it ain't broken don't fix it. If you like 2400 don't hesitate to use 2400. Personally I use W296/H110 for full power .357 Magnum loads but that's just my preference.

 

[CraigC]

Everything that I've read from every authority on the subject (Brian Pearce, John Taffin, etc..) warns to reduce loads from the old Hercules to the new Alliant 2400 and work back up to the old velocity. The vaunted Keith load is typically reduced a half grain from Elmer's standard to reach the same velocity.

 

[918v]

8 to 10 gr in a .357 case will have no positioning issues.

Of course it will. That much only takes up 60% of the case capacity.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Everything that I've read from every authority on the subject (Brian Pearce, John Taffin, etc..) warns to reduce loads from the old Hercules to the new Alliant 2400 and work back up to the old velocity. The vaunted Keith load is typically reduced a half grain from Elmer's standard to reach the same velocity.

I agree but then again, you should drop back and rework your loads every time you change powder lots, no?

 

[CraigC]

You're supposed to but I don't. They do say that new 2400 is a tad hotter than the old Hercules. Same with Unique. Personally, I would take it back a grain and work back up to the old velocity.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

You're supposed to but I don't. They do say that new 2400 is a tad hotter than the old Hercules. Same with Unique. Personally, I would take it back a grain and work back up to the old velocity.

I knew they reworked Unique claiming it was to clean it up but it ended up being hotter too. I wasn't aware when they cleaned up 2400 it get a little hotter too. From everything I read it's was no different than any lot-to-lot differences.

Good to know, thanks...

 

[ColtPythonElite]

918,

What issues do you think it will have? The load is not reduced....I have loaded thousands of 10 gr with no issues.

 

[336A]

I'm not sure where Mr. Pearce got his info but EK never used 17.5gr of 2400 as Mr. Pearce wrote about in his aricle on the Ruger Bh .44 SPL. Elmer used 17.0gr of 2400 and even said so himself in this 1969 article he wrote
http://www.elmerkeithshoot.org/GA/1969_01_Elmer_Keith_Favorite_Load.pdf

The only time he reduced the charge was when he switched from balloon head cases to solid head cases.

 

[murf]

yup, to allow for the decrease in case volume.

murf