1st Time Using Bullseye

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ohman11

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I am working up a load for a .44 mag and I am using a 240g lead bullet. My loading manual says 6 grains of Bullseye, it looks like a tiny amount, is this powder really heavy compared to others? When I say heavy I mean by volume. Also I should use a magnum primer for this, Right?
 
bullseye is a very fast powder, and not really suited to .44 mag, unless you want powder puff loads.

as far as the primer goes, what does your book say?
 
My manual says (Speer 14) You can use either for a .44 mag. I assume it depends on the powder you are using but on this load data, it does not say which to use. They are kind of a light load...894 fps
 
Bullseye is an excellent powder for target loads, and for standard velocity loads in cases like the 32 S&W Long, and 38 Special, and 45ACP. I have fired cases of reloads with Bullseye in 38 Special.

However, even when it comes to big cases like the 44 Spl, 44 Mag, and 45 LC, Bullseye will give you excellent accuracy, but it won't give you top velocity. And I don't recommend a magnum primer with it.

I would recommend, in the 44 Mag, Alliant 2400. I have used that powder for decades, with a 240 L. I have used charges between 17.5 grains, will give just under 1200 fps, to 22.0 grains, which will give under 1400 fps in my pistols. The heavier load is Elmer Keith's classic load in the 44 Mag. It is still one of the best full power loads in a 44 Mag.

I have tried powders such as Unique, AA#9, Blue Dot, and H110. H110 will give the highest velocities, but is not flexible because you can't safely reduce charges. I loaded up 500 rounds with 8.5 grains Unique, that was just at 1000 fps and it was fantastically accurate. But for me, I have found 2400 to be the most satisfactory and most flexible of the powders I have tried in the 44 Mag.
 
i've been loading for 30 years and Bullseye is the only powder I'm afraid of. It is so easy to double load. Please check each of your cases after you dump the powder.
 
2400 is the classic powder for the .44; with Keith using 22 grains over a plainbase bullet. 2400 is supposedly faster than it used to be, so 22 grains might be too hot in most guns now. At any rate, 2400 is perfectly suitable for plainbase bullets.

IMO, H110 is THE powder for magnum handguns, though. Ross Seyfried says that H110 with a magnum cap gives more velocity at lower pressure than the classic 2400 with a standard primer. Flame temperature is supposed to be lower with H11O as well.

I've burned an awful lot of Bullseye in the .38 with hollow base wadcutters, but I wouldn't use it in the .44 magnum if I had any choice at all. It's a very dirty powder ("flammable dirt" is the classic description) and among the fastest available. In a big case like the .44, you could probably fit in a triple or quadruple charge. If the gun didn't blow up, it would foul itself to death.
 
2400 is a good one and some mention Unique but not Bullseye. Bullseye is good for the 38 wadcutter but it is not one used much in the 44 Mag or spl.
Herco is one also. Some have it because they use it for shotgun.

:uhoh:
 
Bullseye is not the optimum for the 44mag, that's why so many of us use that combination!
For those that find it incompatible I would say to them:
:scrutiny:


Now, If you are trying to get true magnum performance out of it they are right. Don't go there. You won't like what happens. Will it work? Sure! Like loading armed torpedo's into a rack. Can it be done, yep! Is it the best way to store torpedo's, NOPE!

I use 4.5gr behind a 240gr LSWC a bunch. I shoot it out of a Smith and Wesson M629 Classic in PPC competition. Works great. I get around 750fps with it which is fine for punching paper. This load is great for "shooting games" like pins or plates. Mild recoil with a big meplat to transfer all the energy possible.


If you want true magnum performance from the 44mag though, you need to choose a different powder. 2400, AA#9, WC820 and a few others will give full throttle loads without gas checks. If you want something a little less than magnum performance go with the powder almost ever hand loader has used since the beginning, Unique. It has a great weight/volume percentage, or density. It used to be one of the dirtiest powders around. Now there is a cleaner version. It is a little cleaner. When you shoot lead though you are going to get dirt, period.

One way to get around most of the dirt problem though is to run it towards the top of the data. Another powder that is excellent in this area is SR4756. Same things go for that powder. Load it towards the top and it will be very clean. Otherwise be sure to get another gallon of solvent! ;)
 
Hey ohman,
Are you near the school? The USMC one that is!

Bullseye is a great powder in the 9mm. The case is so small that you are going to have a hard time finding a powder that doesn't fill it up. Look at the recipe. It will tell you if it is a compressed charge. In the Lee manual he mentions that there is a place where the pressure actually goes down for a point when using compressed loads. Then it swings back up.

The recipe has way more information than just powder type, weight, bullet type, weight, primer type. The most critical piece of information is the OAL. In semi-auto loads, especially those with unsupported chambers, never go below the minimum length, never. Employ a good taper crimp so there is no bullet set back either. If you don't it is a recipe alright, one for disaster! Can you say KABOOM?
 
I guess what would be beneficial is to tell you what cartridges Bullseye is good for.

Any number standard pressure 32 caliber loads.
38 S&W
38spl target rounds.
45ACP target rounds.
There are many more uses for this powder. It's been around for 100 years. I use a lot of it some of the above mentioned cartridges.
 
Bullseye is also good in .357 Magnum (and .38 Special +P). Really. It won't get you as high velocities as Blue Dot or 2400, but it's a lot closer than you might think -- similar to Unique. A lot better than Titegroup.
 
i've been loading for 30 years and Bullseye is the only powder I'm afraid of. It is so easy to double load. Please check each of your cases after you dump the powder.
Click to expand...

Why is it easier to double load vs. other powders?
 
IMO, H110 is THE powder for magnum handguns
Click to expand...
I have to agree with 38 special. I have tried both 2400 and H110 in 357 Mag and 44 Mag and I keep going back to H110. Don't get me wrong, I used to use 2400 all the time and still do. I have a can of 2400 in The Cave as we speak. But after being turned onto H110, I can't help but grab for it first choice. Maybe it's my pistols or just the way I shoot but I really like it. Try both and you be the judge is all I can say.

Cheers...
 
"...it looks like a tiny amount..." It is. Alliant gives 9.8 as the max load for a 240 grain cast bullet using Bullseye. And you should back off by 10% for a starting load. What manual do you have and how old?
"...I should use a magnum primer for this, Right?..." Not unless your manual says to. Magnum primers have nothing whatever to do with the name of the cartridge. They're for igniting hard to light powders and for cold weather shooting. They burn a bit hotter for a bit longer than regular primers. Bullseye doesn't need 'em.
"...Why is it easier to double load vs. other powders?..." Small powder grains and not paying attention. I use Bullseye for .38 WC's, cast 9mm and .45's with no fuss. Mind you, in a single stage press.
"...It's been around for 100 years..." Don't be daft.
"...the only powder I'm afraid of..." That's daft too.
 
"...It's been around for 100 years..." Don't be daft.
Daft, There is a word that Americans don't use much anymore. Leastways not since they kicked the British out over 200 years ago!

Do you mean that I am silly for believing that Bullseye has merit as a handgun powder because of it's longevity? Isn't that a standard we use for other things? All I was trying to point out was that it must be a viable powder today seeing it has been around so long. Are there better powders available today? Sure, but none better, at least in my opinion. And being an American we still have the right to voice our opinion without the PC bobbys's coming to take us away! :D
 
Sunray,

I use Speers #14 and I do not see a place that tells which primer to use. At the beginning of the load data it shows that you can use either but I see no place that shows which primer for which powder. Maybe I am blind but I don't see it.
 
I don't have a #14 but most of the manual, Speer included, have an asterisk beside the data when something special is noted. Usually, again usually, in the footnote it will say "Use Magnum Primers".

Look in the data for one of the magnum cartridges. Look at a powder like 296/H110. Those are two powders that most manuals suggest using magnum primers with.
 
How about for 9mm? It says 4.9 grains but the bullet is just about touching the powder
Click to expand...

As previously said, the 9mm is a small case.

I tested Bullseye in my M92 with a Bar Sto barrel. I was looking for a light accurate load that gave consistent function. 4.0 grains did what I wanted. I tested cheap factory ammo, and my loads were about 100 fps less in velocity. So you could bump the charge up a bit. Depends on what you want to do.


125 LRN .356" 4.0 grs Bullseye S&W cases WSP OAL 1.110"
27-Mar-06 T = 58 °F
Ave Vel = 1114
Std Dev = 20.63
ES = 79.03
High = 1167
Low = 1088
N = 32

125 gr FMJ Olympic Factory
27-Mar-06 T = 61 °F
Ave Vel = 1261
Std Dev = 20?
ES = 63.11
High = 1288
Low = 1225
N = 10
 
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