Hercules 2400 and Alliant 2400

S Mac

S Mac

Sept. 10, 2021 Steve left us. You are missed.
Since I started casting and reading about shooting cast I've seen that 2400 is a favored powder for many applications. I wanted to try it for some time but never found any to purchase until recently. My local LGS, a friend of mine gave me most of a pound, Hercules in the old poptop can. I like it. I also bought a new bottle, which I haven't opened yet. Now I know to work up my load whenever you start with a new lot# of powder but I wondered if someone knows if Alliant is still using the same formula as the Hercules.
 
It should be close, but could vary by 10%. I found the "Made in Sweden" Rl 7 about that much different than "Made in USA" RL 7 despite both being Alliant.
 
I have most of a pound of Hercules 2400, plus a couple of pounds of Alliant, but haven't done a side-by-side comparison. I've read that the Alliant is just a shade faster.
 
The new alliant version is a bit hotter from what I have found...but nothing that would cause problems ( same as red dot)
 
S Mac, PM me your email, and I will send you the text of the an article I had written about 7-8 years ago on types of 2400. It is only the text, but I can try and add the data table. The publisher did the final mark-up and composed the article, so I don't have a copy. Ric
 
Thanks Ric. It is a pleasure to be able to associate with this group of folk here, knowledgeable and willing to share.
 
Over the last 40 years and many eight pound kegs of 2400, I have found little need to adjust my favorite loads. Most all, of the older loading manuals, called for Magnum Primers with 2400 and I still don't hesitate to use them or even make the suggested downloading adjustments. YMMV
 
Alliant 2400 is definitely faster than the Hercules 2400. I found out the hard when I blew a primer in a 41 Magnum load when I started using Alliant and used the same charge I had used with Hercules which was about a grain below max. Use only Alliant data with Alliant 2400.
 
A lot of the powders by the same number/name of the past have changed. Some of the older
ones were dirtier (like Unique), and some of the burning rates are somewhat different as pointed
out with Alliant 2400. It is good to have old data for reference, and it is even better to have
new data for reference. You can't go far wrong by checking both.

Paul
 
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