New Bullseye?

I thought Accurate Arms #5 was the new Unique. I would vote Accurate Arms #2 as the new Bullseye.

From what I'm told BE-86 and Power Pistol are made in the same way and PP had a BE-xxx designation before it was standardize to a canister powder. There is no new Bullseye, at least yet.

IMR is coming out with a new line a powders which all hint at Alliant names. I believe one is called Target which is supposed to be the new Bullseye. They also have Red, Green, and Blue which you can guess the equivalents of. Unequal is supposed to be Unique.

I had also heard that BE-86 was more or less a slightly different formula of PP with a flash suppressant.

From everything I've seen, BE 86 is similar to Unique and PP but offers a bit more velocity in most common calibers. I haven't had time to get any chamber pressure readings yet so I've only read the load Data that has been sent to me but the results are positive. In .45, .40 and 9mm overall this stuff seems to really shine in velocity. I'm also hearing that it is well flash suppressed in low light which is a definite plus.

Hopefully not another 'new and improved' Madison Avenue scam where basically the same old stuff is sold for more ca$h from the consumer. Whatever happened to 'old and unchanged'?

The last time I went to the store, the "new" Bullseye was Bullseye, so I bought 3 pounds of it.

so is bullseye been discontinued??

midland man said:

so is bullseye been discontinued??

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Nope.

9mmepiphany said:

Newer powders are usually a bit less expensive as they have a simplified manufacturing process. I think I paid $127 for my last 8lb jug of BE-86...and that included all fees, shipping and taxes

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Yea that's not a bad price at all. My local shop sells it around $18 a LB, so after paying hazmat and all that to have it shipped that's a decent price.

In my neck of the woods there is no such animal as powders going down in price, whether newfangled or oldfangled. And it would seem to me since Bullseye has been around since 1903 (I believe) they should have been able to simplify the manufacturing process long ago.

At 5grs a round ,my 6 lbs should last me a long time .

Shootshellz said:

In my neck of the woods there is no such animal as powders going down in price, whether newfangled or oldfangled. And it would seem to me since Bullseye has been around since 1903 (I believe) they should have been able to simplify the manufacturing process long ago.

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They did. That's why it's usually $20 to $25/lb instead of $40. Smokeless powder isn't as simple to make, in a safe manner, as blackpowder. I could whip up some black powder in my shed if I wanted to, but I wouldn't even think about trying it with smokeless powder. They could change the formula to make it easier/cheaper, but then it wouldn't really be Bullseye. The newer powders are supposed to be easier/faster to make and with burn rates similar to some of the old powders. I doubt prices will go down though.

savanahsdad said:

At 5grs a round ,my 6 lbs should last me a long time .

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I get ~1500 rounds out of 1 pound of HP-38/W231 with one of my 9mm target loads which is 4.5gr, so you should see Similar figures per lb. Muliply that by the six lbs you have and yea, you will be good for a little while on that front. Just remember though, too much is never enough!

Shootshellz said:

In my neck of the woods there is no such animal as powders going down in price, whether newfangled or oldfangled. And it would seem to me since Bullseye has been around since 1903 (I believe) they should have been able to simplify the manufacturing process long ago.

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In 1903, the EPA, and most other regulatory departments were not around.

What does the EPA have to do with simplifying production?

So, you guys think we need a new version of Bullseye(R)?
Actually, that's a pretty interesting idea.
What do you guys think, maybe a super clean burning, great charging version of American Select(R), or domestic, cost effective version of N320? It would have to have versatile ballistics like 231, but much cleaner burning. What do you think?
Let me see what I can come up with, but I'm not sure it would really be a replacement for Bullseye, which is a powder that has passed the test of time, and is still one of our best sellers. You can't even imagine how much Bullseye we use to load ammunition at our two facilities.
See me at the SHOT Show next month, and maybe I'll have something for you.
And by the way, thank you for recognizing the excellence of our "modern Unique(R)", BE-86. That stuff really is awesome and versatile.
Shoot well,
Paul

It's nice to see a major player listening to the voices of it's customers. Not only that, they actually talk to them instead of talking down to them. This make me respect Alliant more than I ever did. Great PR!

Shootshellz said:

What does the EPA have to do with simplifying production?

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Nothing to do with simplifying. But added cost to dispose of waste and training and such to stay within the regulations that were not in place at a prior time. Maybe I misunderstood, but I assumed your post was primarily about the cost.

What I'd like to know is, if BE86 is the new Unique, where is the shotgun data?

+1 to Walkalong and larry's posts. For decades, I have used WSF for full power/duplicate factory loads for higher velocities it provided. I am glad Alliant/Vista Outdoor decided to release BE-86 as canister powder as it has produced more accurate loads than my long standing reference 9mm/40S&W loads.

Alliant Reloading said:

So, you guys think we need a new version of Bullseye(R)?

Let me see what I can come up with, but I'm not sure it would really be a replacement for Bullseye

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For me, I do not believe we need a new version of Bullseye which downloads well to produce accurate bullseye match/light target loads.

IMHO, what we do need is a new version of Red Dot/Promo that meters well. I am a fan of Promo which is my current powder of choice for 9mm/45ACP pistol plinking and carbine loads. Promo has produced very acceptable level of accuracy and has actually produced more accurate loads than W231/HP-38 on my pistol caliber carbine threads. I am currently working to build a machine rest for pistol/carbine testing and will resume comparison testing of jacketed/plated bullets using pistols/carbines - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...n-9mm-40s-w-45acp.799231/page-3#post-10245856

Alliant Reloading said:

... maybe a super clean burning, great charging version of American Select(R), or domestic, cost effective version of N320? It would have to have versatile ballistics like 231, but much cleaner burning. What do you think?

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During the "Great component shortage", I tested different powders to use as substitute for popular powders like W231/HP-38 that became unobtainiums and found Alliant's Green Dot to be closest and posted on THR's same/comparable powder thread - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-different-labels.797388/page-4#post-10286533

Paul, if Alliant is able to produce cost effective version of N320 (which is considered by many match shooters as "the" 9mm powder), that would be great. While I like the flexibility of W231/HP-38 to load 9mm/40S&W/45ACP target loads, it is temperature sensitive for meeting power factor and if Alliant is able to produce clean burning version of W231/HP-38/N320 that is less temperature sensitive, you will get interest of many match shooters.

BTW, I use W296/H110 for .300 BLK and many claim Alliant's Power Pro 300 MP is comparable powder. Paul, there's no published 300 MP load data for .300 BLK. Is that something you can work on?

Paul, is BE-86 more akin to Unique? I had read it was similar to Power Pistol with a flash suppressant. Perhaps my info was bad. I just got a pound of BE-86 this past weekend, and I am anxious to try it in my .45 Colt.