Hercules Inc.

WWII poster from Hercules

Some of the more recent gunpowders marketed to reloaders include the brand names "Bullseye", "2400", "Reloder", "Unique", and "Red Dot".[21] These gunpowders are still being manufactured by Alliant Techsystems Inc. in Radford, Virginia.

• EC (Explosives Company)[21] shotgun powder was the first smokeless powder manufactured in the United States. Production began in 1890, and was discontinued in 1931.[22]
• WA .30 caliber powder was named W for United States Army Lieutenant Whistler and A for American Smokeless Powder Company factory superintendent Aspinwall. This tubular powder was used for military loading of the .30 U.S. Army (the M1892 Springfield and the M1893 Gatling) from 1894 until the military specification was changed to single-base nitrocellulose powder in 1908. Grains of 2 mm (0.08 inch) diameter were 1 mm long. Hercules continued producing the powder for other users until 1930.[22]
• Sharpshooter was a flake powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1897 to replace black powder for loading the .45-70. Black flakes containing 15 to 18 percent nitroglycerin[23] were approximately 2 mm in diameter. Production was discontinued after World War II.[22]
• Bullseye was introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1898. Large surface area per unit weight enables rapid combustion in short-barreled handguns. Laflin & Rand began production using small, irregular particles removed by screening runs of larger grained powders. Improved manufacturing processes offered other reclamation options for reduced quantities of rejected material. Hercules manufactured Bullseye as thin, round flakes.[22] It is believed to be the oldest smokeless powder formulation still being manufactured in the United States.[24] It is designed for handguns and can also be used in 12-gauge shotgun target loads[25]
• Lightning was introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1899 for lever action sporting rifles like the .30-30 Winchester and .303 Savage. Production of 2 mm diameter flakes was discontinued after World War II. Tubular Lightning # 2 was manufactured from 1903 to 1929.[22]
• Infallible was a flake shotgun powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1900. Initial production had an orange color, but graphite coating gave later production a black color. Production was discontinued after World War II.[22]
• Unique is a gray flake powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1900.[22] Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter.[24] It is designed for shotguns and can be used in handguns.[25]
• Bear was a tubular powder introduced by Laflin & Rand in 1908 for small capacity rifle cartridges like the .351 and .401 Winchester Self-Loading and the .32-20 and .25-20 Winchester. Production was discontinued after World War II.[22]
• Military Rifle (MR) # 19 was a tubular powder containing 20 percent nitroglycerin[23] introduced by DuPont in 1908 and was renamed HiVel (# 1) when manufactured by Hercules. It was modified as HiVel # 2 in 1915.[22] Production was discontinued in 1964.[21] A smaller grained version was produced as HiVel # 3 from 1926 to 1941.[22]

• Hercules # 308 was Hercules production of single-base tubular Pyro DG (Diphenylamine Graphited) powder for loading military .30-06 Springfield ammunition through World War I. Production began in 1915 and continued through the 1920s.[22]
• Hercules # 300 was a black, tubular single-base rifle powder produced from 1916 to 1932.[22]
• Pyro was produced from 1922 to 1928 as lightly graphited yellow flakes for loading the .45 ACP.[22]
• Hercules # 2400 is a coated flake powder containing 20 percent nitroglycerin[23] introduced in 1932.[22] Individual dark gray flakes are approximately 1 mm (0.04 inch) in diameter and 0.3 mm thick.[24] It is designed for small capacity center-fire rifle cartridges and can be used in magnum handgun and .410 bore shotgun loads.[25]
• Red Dot is a flake powder introduced in 1932.[22] Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter and some are dyed red to aid identification.[24] It is designed for light and standard loads for 12, 16, and 20 gauge shotguns and can be used in handguns.[25]
• HiVel # 6 was produced from 1933 to 1941 for loading the .30-06 Springfield.[22]
• Herco is a flake powder introduced in the 1930s. Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter.[24] It is designed for heavy loads for 10, 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge shotguns and can be used for heavy handgun loads.[25]
• Green Dot is a flake powder introduced in 1965.[21] Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter and some are dyed green to aid identification.[24] It is designed for medium and standard loads for 12, 16, and 20 gauge shotguns and can be used in handguns.[25]
• Reloder 7 was the most popular of three cylindrical rifle powders introduced in 1965 to replace HiVel # 2. Each powder was blended from four different formulations dyed different colors. Production of the other two longer-grained powders, Reloder 11 and Reloder 21, was discontinued in 1972.[21]
• Blue Dot is a flake powder introduced in 1972. Individual flakes are approximately 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in diameter and some are dyed blue to aid identification.[24] It is designed for magnum loads for 10, 12, 16, 20 and 28 gauge shotguns and can be used for magnum handgun loads.[25]

In the 1920s, Hercules entered the pine resin products business, a development which followed upon the faster clearing of forests for lumber and farmland , especially in the southeast U.S., around the time of the First World War. The clearings had left many stumps which had to be removed, often with dynamite supplied by Hercules and others. Hercules itself was a consumer of wood pulp, a key ingredient in their dynamite. The increasing surplus of wood pulp led the company to the idea of producing other things from it, namely, the various chemicals that were present in pine resin. They set up production sites such as the one in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Brunswick, Georgia for this express purpose, and added to their raw supply by offering to take or buy tree stumps from farmers.

Beginning in 1959, Hercules, Inc., began to diversify into the production of large solid-propellant rocket motors, and it soon became a primary producer of these, especially for the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army – and to a lesser degree for the civilian National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In 1961, the company hired contractors C.H. Leavell & Company, Morrison-Knudsen, and Alaskan Plumbing and Heating Company to expand the existing Bacchus Works site. The contractors added "Air Force Plant 81" adding 97 buildings, including a 97,000 square foot administration building.[26] One of its major solid-fuel rocket products was the third-stage engine for the three -stage solid-fueled Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the U.S. Air Force, of which 1,000 were made and deployed at Air Force Bases in several northern states during the 1960s. In addition, all of the missiles of the Minuteman I series were removed from service and replaced with the Minuteman II and Minuteman III series of more-advanced ICBMs. Hence, the Minuteman ICBM program was a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc.

Hercules, Inc., also produced the solid-fueled rocket motors for the two-stage Polaris missile system of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) for the U.S. Navy in its 41 for Freedom series of 41 George Washington class ballistic missile submarines. These nuclear submarines carried 16 Polaris missiles apiece for a grand total of 656 missiles. In addition, the Polaris series consisted of the successively-improved Polaris A-1, Polaris A-2, and Polaris A-3 missiles. The early Polaris submarines that had been armed with the Polaris A-1 were upgraded to the Polaris A-2; and then all that had been armed with the Polaris A-2 were upgraded to the Polaris A-3.

For some of the early Polaris submarines, the Polaris A-3 was the end of their upgrades, but a large number of them (about 31) were further rearmed with the more-advanced and longer-ranged two-stage Poseidon C-3 missile. Hence, the Polaris missile submarine program was also a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc.

During the 1960s, Hercules, Inc., also made solid-fuel rocket motors for hundreds of the U.S. Army's Honest John missile, a mobile tactical missile for carrying tactical nuclear weapons for U.S. Army divisions. The Honest John missile was mostly deployed with the U.S. Seventh Army in West Germany as part of the American commitment to NATO to defend Western Europe against aggression from the Warsaw Pact, using nuclear weapons on Eastern Europe, if necessary. None of the Honest John, Minuteman, Polaris, or Poseidon has ever been used in combat, and the threat of nuclear war has been sufficient to deter aggression and make it unnecessary to use nuclear weapons for defense.

During the 1970s and 80s, the Honest John missile was removed from deployment, scrapped, and replaced by the more-advanced Lance missile by the U.S. Army in Europe. Of all of the missiles mentioned above, only a reduced number of the Minuteman missiles remain in service at Air Force Bases in the United States, with all of the others having been removed from deployment and scrapped, along with all of the Polaris and Poseidon submarines.

For space exploration and satellite launches by the U.S. Air Force and NASA, Hercules, Inc., developed and manufactured the two large, strap-on solid-fueled Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) booster rockets for the otherwise liquid-fueled Titan IVB rockets. These strap-on rockets replaced the UA120 series of boosters used on the Titan IVB's predecessors, the Titan IIIC, Titan IIIE and Titan IVA.

After the end of production and firing of NASA's huge Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, the Titan IV was the largest and heaviest unmanned rocket available anywhere in the world, and especially in the Titan IV-Centaur version. The Titan IV-Centaur was used for special launches of heavy space probes into the Solar System, such as the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn which was launched in 1997. The Titan IV is no longer manufactured, and the last one of these was fired during a launch in October 2005.[27] In 1995 the aerospace division of Hercules, including its solid motor line, was acquired by the American defense contractor ATK.

Aqualon produces products for physical property modification of aqueous systems which are sold into a wide variety of industries including personal care, food additives, and construction.

Paper Technologies produces specialty chemicals to the pulp and paper industry. These products include functional, process, and water treatment chemicals for a wide variety of pulp and paper applications.

Functional chemicals can be divided in three main groups. Wet strength resins, Rosin sizes and AKD -sizes. Significant persons developing functional chemicals in Hercules could be mentioned: Dr. Keim on his efforts developing PAE wet strength resin, Mr Kai Kiviö on his efforts on developing cationic rosin size. Basis of AKD -technology Hercules acquired more or less voluntary from German BASF after the Second World War.

Ventures produces specialty chemicals for a variety of markets, including adhesives and sealants, paints, inks, coatings, lubricants, rubber, plastics, and building and construction.

Hercules Incorporated, in collaboration with Professor Kaichang Li of Oregon State University and Columbia Forest Products, received a 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for the Greener Synthetic Pathways category in developing and commercializing a formaldehyde-free adhesive made from soy flour and Hercules' unique polymer chemistries.