started in 1995
Radford, Virginia
- 1995 Hercules, Inc. sold to Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK)
- Alliant Powder has its roots in Alliant Techsystems
Alliant Powder
P.O. Box 6
Radford, VA 24141
(866) 286-7436
AlliantPowder.com
About Alliant Powders
Alliant Powder is one of the oldest and best-known makers of smokeless gunpowder for handloaders in the United States. The brand dates to 1995, but its lineage reaches back to Laflin & Rand, a powder maker whose history the company traces to 1872, and to Hercules Powder Company, which was created as an independent company in 1912 when a federal court ordered the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly. Hercules became one of the major U.S. producers of military smokeless powder and carried on the classic Laflin & Rand canister powders.
In 1995, Hercules sold its aerospace unit, including all of its remaining gunpowder lines, to Alliant Techsystems (ATK), and the powders took the Alliant name. Production remains in Radford, Virginia. Reloaders know the line for Bullseye, introduced in 1898 and possibly the oldest smokeless formulation still made in the country, along with Unique (1900), Red Dot (1932) and newer powders such as AR-Comp for semi-automatic rifles. After years as part of the Vista Outdoor sporting products business, Alliant became part of The Kinetic Group, which was sold to Czechoslovak Group (CSG) in 2024 and sits alongside Federal, Remington, CCI and Speer.
Key Facts
- 1872: Laflin & Rand, the start of Alliant’s lineage
- 1898: Bullseye smokeless powder introduced by Laflin & Rand
- 1912: Hercules Powder Company formed from the DuPont breakup
- 1932: Red Dot flake powder introduced
- 1995: Hercules sells its aerospace and gunpowder business to Alliant Techsystems
- 2024: The Kinetic Group, including Alliant Powder, sold to CSG
Learn More
- Alliant Powder official website
Sources
- Alliant Powder: About Us
- Wikipedia: Hercules Inc.
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