Old canister of Red Dot

[MOman48]

Would anyone here know about when Hercules quit using these type of 15lb canisters? I bought this at a sale for $11.00 and it had about 13lbs of powder still in it. All the red dots have faded out but it smelled ok. Any ideas of age?152478152479152480

[hd09]

Got some 2400 BE and Unique from 1980 in that type 4lb

[Boolit_Head]

On this link it shows packaging was changed between 1980 and 1990 from Hercules to Alliant and that seems to jive with my memory.

http://www.alliantpowder.com/general/about_us.aspx

[williamwaco]

They used those in the '70s. They last a long time. Don't know when they quit.

[Pee Wee]

I was given a can of old Bullseye from the 80's and had no problem with it, though it had not been opened.

[LeftyDon]

Don't know, I have a metal can of Red Dot that my B-in-L purchased in 1971, has faded red dots and it smells okay too. I'm about to test it in some 12 gauge reloads. OBTW, my local gun shop is asking $31/lb of new RD!!!

[jcren]

Ouch! I just paid 19.99 for a pound of RD today!

[Greg S]

I'd like to guestamate right around 1990 or when Alliant bought Hercules the packaging changed on new product. Remaining stock (fiberboard tube) still remained in the retail chain for some time...mid 90s.

[35remington]

Examine the interior of the cardboard container. Some of what I see looks like water damage.

Sift through the entirety of the container's contents looking for clumping or sticking of the powder to the container. Look at ALL of it, all the way to the bottom, before using. Make sure the power granules are uniform in color throughout.

Red Dot is a tremendously useful and versatile powder and is one of my favorites for pistol, shotgun and reduced rifle loads. Just be sure it's truly in good shape.

[gtgeorge]

I found a guy last year that has a bunch of those still sealed with Bullseye and brought one home. Next time I find my way up there I may see if he wants to let a couple more go.....unfortunate that the lowest I could get him was $120 cash for an 8lb can.

[Bullwolf]

I'd like to guestamate right around 1990 or when Alliant bought Hercules the packaging changed on new product. Remaining stock (fiberboard tube) still remained in the retail chain for some time...mid 90s.

I remember mid 90's picking up some Red Dot during the transition. They were still old Cardboard Hercules containers, but someone had slapped an Alliant sticker over the Hercules logo on the can.

I still have one of the Hercules/Alliant transition 1lb cardboard cans kicking around.
Pic below of it, along with my Lyman 358311 mould.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101643&d=1396841095

I used to cut the bottoms off the 1lb cardboard containers and use them to hold primers, boolits, and other small stuff on the loading bench.

Wasn't too long before plastic Alliant containers started hitting the shelves after all the old stock Hercules containers got used up.

I loaded shotgun a lot back then (when lead shot was much cheaper) and really went through a lot of Red Dot. Would have loved one of the big 15lb canisters. I never seem to find stuff like that at shows or yard sales.


- Bullwolf

[Geezer in NH]

Would anyone here know about when Hercules quit using these type of 15lb canisters? I bought this at a sale for $11.00 and it had about 13lbs of powder still in it. All the red dots have faded out but it smelled ok. Any ideas of age?152478152479152480I remember many from the early 70's, bet it shoots fine.

[TCLouis]

Look on the container, I think you will find a very faded Lot # and date.

Water damage may have wiped it out.

[lightload]

I'm shooting Red Dot from a 12 lb steel drum with good results.

[Garand]

I picked up a container of Red Dot that looked like that about 7 years ago, it had about 4 lbs of powder still in it. I used it for my wife's Cowboy Action loads for over 2 years with no problems.

[Poygan]

I'm still using some red Dot in a metal can that is at least more than 25 years old and it still works fine.

[douglasskid]

I'm still loading from a cardboard "keg" that was given to me in 1979. The original owner thought it was 5-7 years old at that time. I find RD 292 printed on the cardboard. Does that mean anything?

[funnyjim014]

Now that's a deal if the powder is good.

[douglasskid]

Powder is still good. Just finished loading 3,000 - 9mm loads, all with cast, powder coated, green bullets set in shiny nickel cases.

[Lloyd Smale]

unless you plan on shooting it all in the next year id think about repackaging it in air tight cans

[6bg6ga]

unless you plan on shooting it all in the next year id think about repackaging it in air tight cans


I second this

[chasweav]

I bought that same keg in late 60,s or early 70,s. Paid $19 for it and somewhere still have the receipt. Was using it for shotgun. I still have about 3# left and it still shoots..Charlie

[dougader]

I have a pound left of the Hercules Red Dot. It has a sticker price of $13.75, and I recall thinking that was a little more than I was used to paying at the time. Good powder by all accounts.

[LeftyDon]

My old R.D. from about 1970-71 has gone bad. I tried to load some shotgun shells with it recently and got a bunch of bloopers. It doesn't smell bad, but the red dots are faded and the powder itself is 50-50 gray or black. Didn't cost me anything since I got it from my B-inL's estate. I still have 8 pounds of newer R.D., but the old red Hercules metal can lot of R.D. is being spread on the lawn.

[mtgrs737]

I bought a 15 lb. keg of Unique at the big Tulsa gunshow many years ago now. I did bag the powder up in ziplock bags with id lables on and in the bags then put them back in the keg for storage. I use it for handgun loads and still have about 9 pounds left. I wish they still packaged powder in 15 pound kegs. I bought a reloader with the powder tube full of RD, the red dots had faded some but the powder still worked fine. Red Dot is fine powder, I wish that Alliant would concentrate on providing it's reloading customers with reasonable American made powder instead of letting foreign companies take market share and American jobs away from them.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It should be fine if it has been properly stored, and if it hasn't been, there would probably be an unusual acrid smell when you turn over the buried parts of the canful. I would either compare it closely with other Red Dot or start with a few very conservative loads, just in case some intellectual has treated it, like Winnie the Pooh, as a useful jar for keeping things in.

[Rich/WIS]

FWIW have a similar Hercules cardboard keg from Green Dot that dates to the 85-88 time frame.

[Shiloh]

Last questionable powder I uses, gave off a reddish brown vapor when I poured it into a Cool-Whip container. Didn't smell bad and burned fine. I fertilized the lawn with several ponds and burned some up for the neat looking flames.

That was not Red Dot though. If it looks good, it may be okay. I have used up until a few years ago, the Hercules powder with the pop-up plastic spout.

Shiloh

[flint45]

A couple years ago Iwent to a yard sale and bought a can of very old red dot, green dot and 3 cans sr7625 all more then twenty years old they all worked fine.

[BwBrown]

Don't know, I have a metal can of Red Dot that my B-in-L purchased in 1971, has faded red dots and it smells okay too. I'm about to test it in some 12 gauge reloads. OBTW, my local gun shop is asking $31/lb of new RD!!!

Ditto on the Large Can of Red Dot. I use it in so many different calibers and gauges, but sadly, am down to just a couple pounds.
My problem is that I'm running out of the canisters of the several powders I bought back in the 70's and 80's, and the new stuff all has different numbers.
It's like hitting the learning curve all over again - like the ever shrinking type in the phone book, it makes me feel my age.

[tja6435]

I have an 8# keg of Red Dot with a 1968 date on it. Dots are faded some, but it shoots great in some 38 spl I made up. The price tag on it says $6.50.

[Don Fischer]

I've got an 8# can of Red Dot. Just tried to find a date on it, ain't there. Like to OP's the Red Dots are fading but it works fine. In a pink metal can.

[Iowa Fox]

Looking at that keg of Red Dot sure takes my mind back to when I was a younger man. That was a good buy you made.