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Old 07-15-2014, 06:30 PM
3five7 3five7 is offline
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Default Power Pistol and BE-86

Power Pistol has been a favorite powder of mine for several years It meters good, burns clean and in 38 Special, 9mm, and 45 ACPit will usually make +P velocities with out reaching +P pressures. It is also very good for 357 Magnum mid range loads. My favorite load for 357 Magnum is 6.8 grs Power Pistol under 158 gr SNS coated LSWC. This load Chrongraphs at 1002 FPS (10 shot average) from my 686 with a 4 inch Barrel using 357 Mag cases. I recently lucked into some Allilant BE-86, so I decided to compare it to Power Pistol with my favorite load. I adjusted my measure to throw 6.8 grs Of Power Pistol,then kept the same adjustment for BE-86. It threw 6.6 grs of BE-86. 6.6 grs of BE-86 chronographed at 1015.5 FPS (10 shot average) from the same 686, using the same 158 gr SNS Coated LSWC. From this limited testing it appears to me that BE-86 is a close kissing cousin of Power Pistol. I am hopeing that it does as well in the other calibers. By the way it also burns clean and measures great and is supposed to be flash suppressed.
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Old 07-16-2014, 01:43 AM
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Looking at my load data, I look at BE 86 as a cleaner burning unique.
If Unique, and BE 86 are on the same load, their loads are very close.
I have 20lbs of it, so I better like it..
Finally found some Bullseye, and Unique today, so I will be able to compare all 4 of them. Unique, BE86, PP, BE
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Old 07-16-2014, 01:50 AM
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Default BE-86

Thanks for the info & comparison. Did you notice if BE86 had less flash in the loads you tried?
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Old 07-16-2014, 02:31 AM
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I could not really tell about flash, I was shooting under a bright Nevada sky. Some people complain about the flash of Power Pistol, it never bothered me because I usually shoot under the same bright Nevada sky.

In Alliants newest load manual they list thier powders by burn rate, they list BE-86 between Unique (on the fast side) and Power Pistol (on the slow side)
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Old 07-16-2014, 02:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bwxmas View Post
Looking at my load data, I look at BE 86 as a cleaner burning unique.
If Unique, and BE 86 are on the same load, their loads are very close.
I have 20lbs of it, so I better like it..
Finally found some Bullseye, and Unique today, so I will be able to compare all 4 of them. Unique, BE86, PP, BE
That wii be interesting but if it were me I wouldn't waste the Bullseye since it's much faster than the other 3 powders.

When Power Pistol was being used in the industry before it was released to the public it had a BE-84 designation. While PP is close in performance to BE-86 they are not the same. It's probably closer to Unique than PP but again, I doubt they are the same.
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Last edited by ArchAngelCD; 07-16-2014 at 12:45 PM. Reason: To add BE-84, thank you Rule3...
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Old 07-16-2014, 09:30 AM
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Power Pistol was Bullesye 84 and was used for factory loads.

Just because 2 different powders weigh out about the same, in no way makes them similar in performance, burn rate pressure etc. Follow the manual load rate.
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Old 07-16-2014, 10:13 AM
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Thanks for the test information....
always nice to know how powders stack up against one another.

I will add that little bit of information to my log books.
Thanks.
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Old 07-16-2014, 12:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
Power Pistol was Bullesye 84 and was used for factory loads.

Just because 2 different powders weigh out about the same, in no way makes them similar in performance, burn rate pressure etc. Follow the manual load rate.
Thank you, my memory seems to be hiding from me lately! lol
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Old 07-16-2014, 02:11 PM
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Thank you, my memory seems to be hiding from me lately! lol
The only problem is when you find it you will not remember
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Old 07-16-2014, 02:27 PM
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BE 86 is basically called clean unique. From what I have shot, the charges are pretty close. You can make up your own minds as far as what to use for charge weights.Its right in the alliant manual for everyone to see.

I shot about 70 shots, and noticed no flash. Not near as much as the cfe pistol. I am selling all my cfe, and will be using the be86 for a while.

Last edited by bwxmas; 07-16-2014 at 02:35 PM.
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  #11  
Old 07-16-2014, 03:09 PM
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How is BE 86 for cast bullets?
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  #12  
Old 07-16-2014, 04:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bwxmas View Post
BE 86 is basically called clean unique. From what I have shot, the charges are pretty close. You can make up your own minds as far as what to use for charge weights.Its right in the alliant manual for everyone to see.

I shot about 70 shots, and noticed no flash. Not near as much as the cfe pistol. I am selling all my cfe, and will be using the be86 for a while.
That makes no sense. Unique is claimed by the company to be new and cleaner burning. So now there are 2 clean Uniques??

The Alliant manual list the powders of fast to slower as

Unique
BE-86 and then
Power Pistol

How this fit into a burn rate chart of all other powder remains to be seen.

The data is not even supposed to be out yet and it's not on the online access, the manual pdf needs to be downloaded.

There is a whole recent thread on this powder. Just more marketing Hype.

NEW Alliant BE-86 powder
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Old 07-16-2014, 05:22 PM
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Got plenty of Unique. Recently picked up 3 pounds of Power Pistol. I wanted to try PP as it achieves higher velocity with equal or less pressure. As far as BE 86 I'm not going to bother, as stated, it seems redundant being so close to Unique. Now if I ran out of Unique and it was not to be found, then it might be another story.
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Old 07-16-2014, 05:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
That makes no sense. Unique is claimed by the company to be new and cleaner burning. So now there are 2 clean Uniques??

The Alliant manual list the powders of fast to slower as

Unique
BE-86 and then
Power Pistol

How this fit into a burn rate chart of all other powder remains to be seen.

The data is not even supposed to be out yet and it's not on the online access, the manual pdf needs to be downloaded.

There is a whole recent thread on this powder. Just more marketing Hype.

NEW Alliant BE-86 powder
UPDATE: - Alliant has added BE86 data to their online Reloader's guide - here is an example (for an 158 gr Cast RNFP in 38 Special)

Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide

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Old 07-16-2014, 06:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoadEmUp View Post
UPDATE: - Alliant has added BE86 data to their online Reloader's guide - here is an example (for an 158 gr Cast RNFP in 38 Special)

Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide
I said that above

"The data is not even supposed to be out yet and it's not on the online access, the manual pdf needs to be downloaded."
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Old 07-16-2014, 06:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
I said that above

"The data is not even supposed to be out yet and it's not on the online access, the manual pdf needs to be downloaded."

Where do you think I got my load data above??
You reckon I just made it up, or do you think I looked at the data first, but I really appreciate you telling me to make sure I look it up in the manual, when you did not even know it existed.
JB
I was shooting 200 grain cast..It works great
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Old 07-16-2014, 06:49 PM
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One of the options for the Reladers Guide is to view the PDF rather than download it. You can browse through the PDF on line and find the caliber you want and just print that page. It does have a full listing for BE-86 in a lot of different calibers.
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Old 07-16-2014, 07:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rule3 View Post
I said that above

"The data is not even supposed to be out yet and it's not on the online access, the manual pdf needs to be downloaded."
Seems to be some confusion with unclear terms.

BE-86 data is now available in the online access. The PDF manual does not need to be downloaded or viewed in your browser (unless of course you want to).

Follow the link I provided, click on "Enter the Guide" and you will be taken to the online access information for a 158 grain cast RNFP 38 Special load.

Or, you can of course enter the guide and search for other calibers/bullet weights.

Enjoy.

Last edited by LoadEmUp; 07-17-2014 at 06:58 AM.
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Old 07-16-2014, 07:29 PM
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I just picked up some Power Pistol, and loaded a few test rounds for my 9mm and .38 spl. I'll let you know how it goes.
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Old 07-16-2014, 07:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bwxmas View Post
Where do you think I got my load data above??
You reckon I just made it up, or do you think I looked at the data first, but I really appreciate you telling me to make sure I look it up in the manual, when you did not even know it existed.
JB
I was shooting 200 grain cast..It works great
Oh? Really? I and others are well aware of the Alliant Manual. Were did you obtain "Clean Unique" is what I was refering too.
You are a little late to the party, see this thread below
.
Had you read this maybe you would get your facts straight and change your reply

Per Alliant the data was not supposed to be out yet so it's not on the website. It is in the online manual which can be downloaded or opened.

NEW Alliant BE-86 powder
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Old 07-16-2014, 08:18 PM
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To anyone else interested. This powder shows loads from 32-45, and above. I stopped at the 45 colt.
It has loads for light, heavy, and plus P, I think it will be a powder that will be as universal as Unique, which is saying something.
This is a picture of the very first load of BE86 out of my Valor. I shot 16 into this target. I only got a pic of the first 8@25ft, It was with hornady 200grn swc. 230's are up next.
Not interested in e wars, just giving my opinion.

[IMG][/IMG]

Last edited by bwxmas; 07-16-2014 at 08:20 PM.
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  #22  
Old 07-17-2014, 12:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3five7 View Post
I recently lucked into some Allilant BE-86, so I decided to compare it to Power Pistol with my favorite load.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwxmas View Post
This is a picture of the very first load of BE86 out of my Valor.
How's the texture of BE86. One of Unique's attributes is poor/inconsistent metering due to the course flakes. Is BE86 more like Power Pistol in texture, which meters good? Maybe that'll be it's claim to fame to replacing (?) Unique.

bwxmas: That's a nice group you shot.
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Old 07-17-2014, 12:25 PM
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The texture of BE-86 is more like Power Pistol than Unique and It meters very consistantly.
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Old 07-17-2014, 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by ArchAngelCD View Post
Thank you, my memory seems to be hiding from me lately! lol


My wife and I are having the same problem now and then........
Maybe more for me since today I turn 70.

Nice group by the way !!!
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Old 07-17-2014, 04:17 PM
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I have had 0 problems metering..It has been consistent for all shots.
I think Alliant is going to push this powder as they next wonder powder. For me it is a great all around powder.
I have bullseye, and unique, but I will use the 86 up first, but I have no problem using any of the three for my use.
I have a lot of this powder, and was going to let my buddy sell some at the local gunshow this week, changed my mind, and kept it, and decided to let most of the cfe go. It too is super accurate, but I disliked the flash.
I am not an Alliant salesman, but BE 86 seems to be everything that it is billed.
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