I finally found a 8# keg of Bullseye locally. I had been struggling with my 38 special loads (lots of squibs) and 9mm loads (not enough oomph) recently with Universal powder. I was also having a lot of unburnt powder left behind as well. 4.2 grains of Bullseye under a 125gr plated FP in 38 Special or 124gr plated RN or FP in 9mm worked beautifully! No unburnt powder left behind and both shot and cycled everything, no squibs!

4.7 Bullseye cycles all of my 1911's and works well in my 1917, too. Really liking Bullseye now!

I even found a pound of HP 38, Longshot, and Accurate 2,5 and 7. Should keep me busy for a while!

Well, before the great powder shortage, Universal was my go to powder for 9mm and .38.

Bullseye and Titegroup will do a good job of ensuring cycling even a lower power levels.

Glad you found the powder you like. It's getting better out there, but you still have to keep your eyes open and be ready to pounce when the right powder comes along at the right price.

I actually picked up a pound of Unique in town the other day !!
There were 8 lb jugs of powders but I passed on them since I am pretty well off, right now.
Did pick up 1k of cci500 primers, even though they were nine dollars more than the Unique powder.

Things are looking up right now in my area.

Good luck to all.

Yeah, store had 10 1# jugs of Unique (I got 2), tones of titegroup in 1# containers, and 8# of Titegroup, Bullseye and Varget. Nice to see powders being available, so I have been saving up so I can jump on them when I see them Bought 5# of various (Longshot, HP38, Acc #2, 5 and 7) at Cabelas that same week, plus the 2# of Unique and 8# of Bullseye, on top of what I have at home already. Primers, all set on those

I was never so happy to dump out my last few pounds of bullseye into the yard a couple years ago. Unique only for me.

To each their own. But, I gotta tell you, I've not heard that one before.

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Reg. Magnum wants/Rossi wallet

I wouldn't feel that disadvantaged if the only handgun powder available was Bullseye. You can make useful loads for every caliber with it - not necessarily full power magnum loads, but useful for most purposes. I reload everything from .32 ACP to .45 Colt and .44 Magnum with it, and you cannot beat its economy and versatility.

What was the advantage to doing that rather than giving it to someone who would be most grateful to accept it?

Yeah, I only had 1# of Bullseye before, so I didn't want to use much until I got more #'s in. I originally tried 3.6 and 4 gr of Bullseye in 38 special and it shot well, but was waiting until I got more. I was able to find lots of Universal, so I started load developement with that, but in 9mm and 38, I get a TON of unburnt powder. We have a tarp out to collect brass and were amazed at the amount of unburnt powder on the tarp that had come out of the cases after firing! I was trying to make nice plinking rounds for myself and my parents that will still cycle and work well in our variety of guns. Bullseye and Titegroup seem to do that pretty well.

I know where there are several 8# jugs of Unique that I have wanted to buy, but haven't. Got a fresh 1 pounder of Bullseye and Unique though, so I am blessed.

Leon

O.P.:
All you need now is a quart of Hoppe's to go with your 8 lbs of bullseye...

I've been finishing up some old cans I had laying around from past projects and games, but my supply of Bullseye and Unique are both still pretty good. When I fire up my Star™ progressive press, the former will probably start to disappear pretty quickly. The good news here in Central VA is that Bullseye and HP-38 have been reasonably easy to find, even if a little higher in price. OTOH, the cost and availability of Unique has been daunting until just recently when it has been showing up in better amounts at the distributor.

Now to find some shotgun primers for my wax bullet loads.

Froggie

Many, many years ago I used Bullseye for my 38 spl. target loads and my IPSC 45 loads. Then I got into trying the 'latest & greatest' powder for IPSC loads fad. Some good ,, some not so good.

A couple years ago, during the great component shortage, I picked up a 8 pound jug of Bullseye. The load I'm using in my 9mm,, fills the case about 40% ,, meters great,, and will load about 16,000 rounds. What's not to like ?

( I prefer a powder charge that fills the case 40% to 50% . Just easier for me to see and double check during the reloading operation. )

I just found a 1# container and went back to experimenting with Bullseye for my .45 loads. I am currently running 5 gr. under a 200 gr. plated FP Berry's. Great success through my 3" kimber, 4.25" Ed Brown, and 4" XDM.

If you drop down to 4.5gr,the brass will drop at your feet

It's nice to finally hear of a bounty of powders and primers after the lack thereof for so long. Because of the "last" Great Component Shortage, I have been preparing for the "next" Great Component Shortage by carefully analyzing my shooting desires for the foreseeable future. Finally got the opportunity to pick up an 8lber of BE-86 this past weekend. I just wish there were a little more money available in the 'Destitute Shooter's Fund'!!

Good luck as you prepare for the future.

PS. I like Bullseye, too. Some of the oldies are still some of the besties!

Good job! Now go make 13,000 round of 9mm

I call it Universally Unsuited. It burns okay at standard .44 Magnum velocities, but anything less (low-pressure .44, .45 ACP, .38 Special) and it simply leaves too much unburned powder. If I reloaded 9mm, I might have a different opinion, since 9mm runs at nearly the same pressures as .44 Magnum.

Bullseye's my go-to powder for .38 and .45. It apparently will work for 180- and 240-grain .44, but I don't want to ask it to push the 240s as that seems outside its comfort zone. I'll probably use it for the lighter loads when my Universal is gone, but I've been very happy with Unique for the 240-grain.

WST's a superb powder for light .38 Spl. Very fine, easy-metering, no bad habits. I've been meaning to try it in .45 ACP.

700-X was a little bit of a wash. I couldn't get it to function properly with 185 hollow-base plated .45s. But it also doesn't appear to do anything that Bullseye or WST don't do better, and it has an incredibly nasty tendency to bridge. I'll give it a crack at more conventional .45s, but probably won't buy more when it's gone.

No one I know wanted it either.

Picked an 8# jug Bullseye myself a couple weeks ago. I should be set for a while.

Universal is excellent for .45 230 gr FMJ. 6.2 gr is very clean, almost no smoke or unburned kernels.

I also got a 1# can of BE86 for .45 hardball. Research indicates that it should also be excellent.

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Common sense isn't so common.

Yeah, I was shocked to see handgun powders and in 8# jugs at the stores! They have been out for many months, so I was buying up all the handgun powder I saw when I have the $$ to lately. So I was left with 1# or so of several different powders and trying to develop loads for those powders to see what I liked and what functioned all of our guns. The testing for 3 calibers and numerous guns would kill most of that pound I was using, and then I had to start over with the next pound of powder. I found a good bit of Universal, so I was using that for a while, but didn't like it.

Does Unique burn more completely than Universal? I had a TON of unburnt powder with Universal and was worried Unique would do the same since it is a very similar shape/size.

I have a jug of Universal, but have yet to use it. I use Unique and Bullseye for almost every caliber, no unburned propellant problems with either. Actually, Bullseye and Unique are exactly the same material, except for the granule dimensions.

I have used quite a bit of Bullseye over the years, mostly because of
it's versatility. From light .38 spl plinking loads, mid range .357 and
.44 mag loads to light 12 ga 1 oz Trap loads. It's fine grained and
meters consistently. It does however leave leave a fair amount of
residue on guns. It is very predictable and is useful in low pressure
loads, mid range and top end loads at magnum pressure levels with
no bad habits. It can be used in just about any handgun ctg. It's
somewhat dirty but it's attributes outweigh the drawbacks.

Please Stop Now.

Having "lots of squibs" in 38 SPL is not the fault of the powder. Your 9mm not having enough power factor is also not the fault of the powder. Switching to Alliant BE is not going to correct this problem. Find out what you are doing wrong before disaster strikes.

I don't use Universal and cannot think of a good reason to start but you should not be having any squibs or under powder problems with this powder for these applications. Call Hodgdon and see what they say.

Perhaps you don't really mean that you are having squibs but just don't like Universal. If that is the case ok but squib means one thing, poor performance is another thing all together. BE doesn't function in every application perfectly ether.

He has enough Bullseye for 13,000 rounds or so. Better make that a gallon of No. 9.
;>D

Nope, had lots of squibs and several bullets stuck in the barrel following both Hodgdon manuals and website for both lead and FMJ loads and still had squib in 38 special. In 9mm and 38 special, I was having a TON of unburnt powder left over in the cases that was found on the tarp the catch the brass. It may be that the powder got wet at some point and didn't fully dry out or something? No matter how hot I loaded stuff, according to the manuals, I was still getting lots of unburnt powder in other calibers, too.

Bullseye seems to burn cleaner and more completely, even at lower pressure rounds, which is what I was looking for for 38 special loads for the parents.

Bullseye is easy to ignite and tends to burn completely even at low
pressure levels. There was an article in my old NRA Handloading Guide
about a guy who was looking for a light load in 38 spl to be fired in his
garage I think. He used a S&W mod 36 to see just how low he could
go with 148 gr WC loads without getting squibs. He ended up with a
load of .75 grs of Bullseye under a 148 gr WC with no problems. The
velocity was around 150 fps as I recall. It might be possible to
duplicate this result with other powders but not with very many I
would think.

I saw some a few days ago. 8 lbs for $200 and change. They probably sold it for that price without any trouble. I could barely believe it but I saw it with my own eyes.

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That's just somebody talkin.

I saw that article many years ago and I had to try it too. I don't remember the velocity...but that was the first loads that momma shot in a 36 I gave her. I had a 36 3 inch gun also. 3/4 grain was not quite enough in it. Reliably anyway. I used 148 Hollow base WCs. After a short time she got used to the little 36 and I loaded it with good SD ammo..or what passed for it in the early 70s. Momma carries a little Kahr or an old M-19 now... or something even larger.

Think I should add that it was a fun load to shoot..And report also that though the velocity was really low... I sure wouldn't want to get hit with one of those bullets... and I went to a full gr in the 3 inch gun..it was definitely snappier than the 3/4 gr. The first 3/4 gr load that stuck in the bbl of the 3 inch 36. I removed it with my fingers sticking out the end of the bbl. So after the first 100 or so I went to the 1 gr load in both guns

200 for an 8 lb jug is too much in my opinion. I just picked up a few 8 lb jugs of BE Unique Red Dot 4198 296 and some others. None will sell for anywhere near that price. 8lb Unique has been really hard to get... at least for me

Must have been a funny sight;bullet partly out of the barrel.I ought to try that .75gr BE load.I bet I can reuse the bullet over and over while keeping the cost of the targets way down!

Went out component buying today.

Bought 8# Clays and Federal Match LP Primers

In my area an 8# keg of Bullseye goes for $172.18
8lbs of Red Dot = $176.38
8lbs of Clays = $165.98
4lbs of W231 =$94.48

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NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUN

TazTJ:
I had a lot of trouble with .38 loads using Winchester primers. I tried another box of them and have had no trouble since. I posted something about this so the details are here. It seemed to be that lot of 1000 primers I bought. It was fun unloading 300 rounds, not. They worked fine in 9mm so I am blaming that batch of primers.

Why in the world would you do that? Bullseye is worth over $20 per pound. You could have sold it or given it to someone. I can't imagine it is doing your yard much good.

YEP, if you want to shoot minor loads, Universal is the wrong powder choice. I haven't used BE for 35yr, don't miss it. Lots of good fast powder around that burn cleaner. I even prefer RedDot to BE, but my choice for minor loads is WST or Ramshot Comp, even Clays.
FWIW, uberfast powders like BE, Clays, TG, even WST, NOT versatile at all. That is the realm of the medium burners like Unqiue, WSF, BE86, etc. Fast powders are at their best for minor loads, not full power service ammo or midrange magnums.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Bullseye has been my powder of choice for years for .38 Spl., 9mm, and .45acp. Love it.

Just finishing up another big run of 9mm 125 LRN over 4.3 grs. Bullseye. I get 1121fps avg. over the chrono with these, which is a perfect analog for most SD ammo out there like HST and GD, which are full-power service loads. Same recoil, same POI.

Here's what those service loads look like for comparison, all +Ps:

1. Fed. HST 124 +P...1236 fps

2. Rem. GS 124 +P...1126 fps

3. Speer GD 124 +P 1157 fps

And I don't see much unburned powder.

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73