page_title: Hercules Inc.
section_title: Commercial gunpowders
hierarchical_section_title: Hercules Inc. / Product lines / Commercial gunpowders
context_page_description: Hercules, Inc., was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the Du Pont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit Court in 1911. Hercules Powder Company became Hercules, Inc. in 1966, operating under this name until 2008, when it was merged into Ashland Inc.
  An earlier Hercules Powder Company was formed in 1882 by DuPont and Laflin & Rand Powder Company. This company was dissolved on June 30, 1904.
  Hercules was one of the major producers of smokeless powder for warfare in the United States during the 20th century. At the time of its spin-off, the DuPont Corp. retained the processes and patents for the production of "single-base" nitrocellulose gunpowders, whereas Hercules was given the patents and processes for the production of "double-base" gunpowders that combined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine.
context_section_description: Some of the more recent gunpowders marketed to reloaders include the brand names "Bullseye", "2400", "Reloder", "Unique", and "Red Dot".  These gunpowders are still being manufactured by Alliant Techsystems Inc. in Radford, Virginia.
caption: WWII poster from Hercules
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