8# of Bullseye happiness!

[TazTJ]

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.

 

[DWalt]

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.

 

[alwslate]

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.

 

[Thomas15]

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.

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.

 

[ameridaddy]

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

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

 

[TazTJ]

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.

 

[alwslate]

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.

 

[LostintheOzone]

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.

 

[Skeet 028]

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 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

 

[Skeet 028]

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

 

[Qc Pistolero]

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

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!

 

[StakeOut]

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

 

[subvet69]

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.

 

[andyo5]

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.

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.

 

[fredj338]

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.

 

[moxie]

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.