Be Unique And Hit The Bullseye With 2400!

We are indeed fortunate today to not only have so many powders to choose from, but also have them easily accessible. We’ve always had lots of powders, but finding them was certainly not easy in the late 1950s. There were, however three standout powders which were seemingly always available and easy to find, Bullseye, Unique and #2400, all available from Hercules.

Bullseye goes all the way back to 1898 when it was developed by Laflin & Rand. In 1902 it was switched to the DuPont label and then in 1913 Hercules took over some of the DuPont powders, including Bullseye. Of course, today all former Hercules powders are produced under the Alliant label. Bullseye is double-based, with 40-percent nitroglycerin content. It takes up so little powder space care must be used to prevent double-charging the cartridge case. A loading block allowing you to look into each case before seating a bullet is good insurance, as well as a powder sensor on the loading press.

From day one Bullseye has been the powder for target shooters, at least when target shooting was king. Everyone who paid any attention at all knew the standard loads for target shooters were 2.7 grains of Bullseye under a 148-gr. wadcutter in the .38 Special, and 3.5 grains with a 200-gr. bullet in the .45 ACP. With charges such as these, 1 pound of powder resulted in just under 2,600 .38 Special rounds and 2,000 .45 ACP rounds. With 4.5 grains under a 246-gr. roundnose bullet, the standard factory .44 Special load can be duplicated. And 5.0 grains with a 250-gr. bullet in either the .44 Magnum or .45 Colt makes for an accurate and pleasant shooting midrange load.
By John Taffin

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