BE-86

[silverbullet86]

egd

Keep in mind that it looks like Vaalpens is using the hollow base flat point, so that COL of 1.060" which appears to be super short, doesn't translate over to a flat base RN 124 gr. bullet.

My 9mm example up above, where I found my sweet spot, is 5.5 gr. BE86 with 124 gr Hornady XTP and COL around 1.110" - with chrono testing to verify that mid 5.x gr charges are not "too hot". With flat base RN bullet I was loading at 1.145" and 5.2 gr with possible room to go a little further with the powder charge.

The hollow base bullets can have a dramatic effect!

Just have to account for the specific bullet length and design in comparison to the final cartridge OAL.

 

[egd]

Oh, OK. I didn't catch that about the hollow base bullet. All these abbreviations we use are sometimes annoying to me. I understand that they make it easier than typing out all those words over and over, but it's hard to keep all that in your head. And there's so damn many.
I wish in every post we could get in the habit of typing it out once then abbreviating from then on.
Thanks

 

[GBExpat]

9x19

In CHRONY testing in my backyard on 27Dec14 124gr RNHP plated (Xtreme) over 5.8gr BE-86 yielded 1168fps (25.30ES/9.31SD) @ ~4' from my 4" 659.

While it is a robust load, it did not impress me as terribly hot and cases show no signs of overpressure.

It is an accurate load in my 659.

FYI & FWIW

EDIT:

Oops, forgot to mention that COAL was 1.07"

 

[vaalpens]

Do I have this right? BE-86, 5.6gr-124gr bullet-1.060 OAL
Boy, that seems like it would be awfully "hot" to me.I'm at 4.7gr at 1.133 OAL

The max listed by Alliant for 124gr is 5.8gr/5.9gr. I am still below it. I normally don't like to get close to the Aliant published max, but I have tested BE-86 in 9mm from 4.6gr to 5.6gr in .1gr increments. I did not see any pressure signs on my brass or primers.

 

[vaalpens]

egd

Keep in mind that it looks like Vaalpens is using the hollow base flat point, so that COL of 1.060" which appears to be super short, doesn't translate over to a flat base RN 124 gr. bullet.

My 9mm example up above, where I found my sweet spot, is 5.5 gr. BE86 with 124 gr Hornady XTP and COL around 1.110" - with chrono testing to verify that mid 5.x gr charges are not "too hot". With flat base RN bullet I was loading at 1.145" and 5.2 gr with possible room to go a little further with the powder charge.

The hollow base bullets can have a dramatic effect!

Just have to account for the specific bullet length and design in comparison to the final cartridge OAL.

You are correct. These bullets are the Berry's HBFPTP variety, which are also thicker plating.

I will chrono this load by the end of the month to see where I am.

I also calculated that with this bullet and a COL of 1.060", I should be able to get max 5.9gr of BE-86 in a case without any compression.

 

[vaalpens]

Oh, OK. I didn't catch that about the hollow base bullet. All these abbreviations we use are sometimes annoying to me. I understand that they make it easier than typing out all those words over and over, but it's hard to keep all that in your head. And there's so damn many.
I wish in every post we could get in the habit of typing it out once then abbreviating from then on.
Thanks

These are the bullets I use: Berry's 124gr HBFP-TP

Sorry about not stating the details. I should have been more careful since the load was getting closer to the Alliant published max of 5.8gr/5.9gr.

 

[vaalpens]

9x19

In CHRONY testing in my backyard on 27Dec14 124gr RNHP plated (Xtreme) over 5.8gr BE-86 yielded 1168fps (25.30ES/9.31SD) @ ~4' from my 4" 659.

While it is a robust load, it did not impress me as terribly hot and cases show no signs of overpressure.

It is an accurate load in my 659.

FYI & FWIW

EDIT:

Oops, forgot to mention that COAL was 1.07"

Thanks for posting your numbers.

This weekend I was shooting/testing loads from 5.2gr to 5.6gr. Since I shoot from a rest, I normally feel when it is a stout load. Starting at 5.2gr I made a mental note that it felt a bit hotter than my normal 9mm loads, but then I did not notice any change going up to 5.6gr.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I've been running 5.4 grains BE-86 out of a Walther PPX 9mm and I was getting around 1130 fps on the chrono. It was accurate too. I like this powder.

 

[vaalpens]

I've been running 5.4 grains BE-86 out of a Walther PPX 9mm and I was getting around 1130 fps on the chrono. It was accurate too. I like this powder.

It seems that the 5.4gr to 5.6gr is a sweet spot. My grouping at 5.5gr was 1.57", which is normally acceptable to me. The .84" grouping was a wow for me since my eyes are not that good, and I shoot with standard combat sights.

I would normally work up more loads (higher), if my last load was the best grouping, but I am getting close to max so I still debating if I want to test 5.7gr and 5.8gr.

 

[Jlr2267]

I ran some up to 5.8gr with 124gr Berrys. 1.145" OAL. Pretty darn hot, lots of muzzle flash from a G19...groups opened up. I found, like others, a sweet spot in the 5.3gr-5.5gr area. Running 5.3 because that's what my Lee 0.49 disk drops.

 

[vaalpens]

I ran some up to 5.8gr with 124gr Berrys. 1.145" OAL. Pretty darn hot, lots of muzzle flash from a G19...groups opened up. I found, like others, a sweet spot in the 5.3gr-5.5gr area. Running 5.3 because that's what my Lee 0.49 disk drops.

Did you load the Berry's RN or FP bullets?

The HBRN-TP has a suggested COL of 1.160", and the HBFP-TP a suggested COL of 1.060".

I still use the Lee dippers and I like using BE-86. The nearly full .5cc dipper and then trickle works great for 9mm BE-86.

 

[vaalpens]

The next load I am planning to work up in BE-86 since it seems I am getting good accuracy at higher velocities (still need to verify velocity), will be the 124gr RMR JHP bullet.

My calculation so far shows that I should be able to get max of 5.5gr BE-86 without compression using a 1.065" COL".

Has anybody loaded/tested this powder/bullet combination in 9mm?

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I'm using Berry's 124 grain RN with a COL of 1.130", 5.4 grain charge.

 

[egd]

My bullet is the RMR round nose, 124gr.

 

[MightyMO1911]

I loaded 10 rounds each over 5 different charge weights for my 9mm over the weekend. Loaded a 115 grain Nosler jhp and will be testing consistency. Hopefully I'll get those shot this week and post the results.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

My calculation so far shows that I should be able to get max of 5.5gr BE-86 without compression using a 1.065" COL".
Has anybody loaded/tested this powder/bullet combination in 9mm?

My normal 9mm load now is 5.5gr at an OAL of 1.125". They make my Shield jump a little but my SR-9 just drops them about 3 or 4' away. They feel mild in it. I loaded up about 500 of these with RMR match bullets and they are a very accurate combination.

Dropping the OAL to 1.065 would heat them up some for sure. I've never loaded that short except for my PF-9 and that would hurt for sure.

 

[Jlr2267]

Did you load the Berry's RN or FP bullets?

The HBRN-TP has a suggested COL of 1.160", and the HBFP-TP a suggested COL of 1.060".

I still use the Lee dippers and I like using BE-86. The nearly full .5cc dipper and then trickle works great for 9mm BE-86.

I use the 124gr RN Berrys bullets

 

[vaalpens]

My normal 9mm load now is 5.5gr at an OAL of 1.125". They make my Shield jump a little but my SR-9 just drops them about 3 or 4' away. They feel mild in it. I loaded up about 500 of these with RMR match bullets and they are a very accurate combination.

Dropping the OAL to 1.065 would heat them up some for sure. I've never loaded that short except for my PF-9 and that would hurt for sure.

Thanks for the COL information. I have double checked my data and it seems the 1.065" was the lowest I wanted to load. Normally I load these type of bullets between 1.09" and 1.125". Based on my calculation it seems I should be able to go with a 1.1" COL, and then be able to have the flexibility to load to 5.6gr of BE-86 or more if needed.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I went through several boxes of ammo with 124 grain Berry's flat point's loaded at 1.040" with 5.4 grains BE-86. Never had an issue, it was accurate and recoil was normal.

If I load that bullet again, I'll go up to 1.060".

CFE pistol spec's a really long COL with 124 gr round nose bullets, 1.150". I've been running 5.2 grains and its doing well.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I have double checked my data and it seems the 1.065" was the lowest I wanted to load.

Just curious, is there any advantage to loading that short? Does you pistol function better that way?

My PF-9 is short chambered, a lot of PF-9s seem to be that way from other posts I've read. Is that what your up against?

My Ruger and S&W both function really well at 1.125" OAL and I loose accuracy by going shorter with them.

 

[Dudedog]

This was in the 9mm OAL thread but I thought I would put this part of it here as well
Taraus PT99 9mm 5"
Mixed range brass S+B SP primer
4.4 BE86
MBC 125 Coated Cone

OAL 1.14 1023 999 1012 1030 1010 1003
Avg 1013.00 ES 31 SD 11.79 PF 126.63
OAL 1.12 1024 1032 1030 1026 1014 1028
Avg 1025.67 ES 18 SD 6.38 PF 128.21
OAL 1.10 1017 1014 1020 1023 1035 1029
Avg 1023.00 ES 21 SD 7.82 PF 127.88
OAL 1.08 1049 1053 1039 1054 1048 1055
Avg 1049.67 ES 16 SD 5.92 PF 131.21

Interesting the 1.10 were not faster than 1.12 but mixed brass and a small sample size are probably the reason. (I was doing the OAL test on various loads so I didn't test as many as I normally do)
The .06 from 1.14 to 1.08 was about 35fps.

 

[vaalpens]

This was in the 9mm OAL thread but I thought I would put this part of it here as well
Taraus PT99 9mm 5"
Mixed range brass S+B SP primer
4.4 BE86
MBC 125 Coated Cone

OAL 1.14 1023 999 1012 1030 1010 1003
Avg 1013.00 ES 31 SD 11.79 PF 126.63
OAL 1.12 1024 1032 1030 1026 1014 1028
Avg 1025.67 ES 18 SD 6.38 PF 128.21
OAL 1.10 1017 1014 1020 1023 1035 1029
Avg 1023.00 ES 21 SD 7.82 PF 127.88
OAL 1.08 1049 1053 1039 1054 1048 1055
Avg 1049.67 ES 16 SD 5.92 PF 131.21

Interesting the 1.10 were not faster than 1.12 but mixed brass and a small sample size are probably the reason. (I was doing the OAL test on various loads so I didn't test as many as I normally do)
The .06 from 1.14 to 1.08 was about 35fps.

Interesting numbers. It seems that the powder improved in performance, not just velocity as the pressure increased. Both the ES and SD numbers came down as the pressure increased, except for the 1.10 OAL.

Do you know what it did to the accuracy with the lower COL and higher pressure?

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

Cheapest I can find BE-86 is $31/pound at the local gun show. None of the local stores have any around here.

I'll probably end up buying another pound, because I'm pretty impressed with what it does in 9mm.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Cheapest I can find BE-86 is $31/pound at the local gun show. None of the local stores have any around here.

You need to get one of your dealers to order some for you.

When I ordered my last 8lb jug, I had to wait almost a month, but I paid less than $20/lb

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Interesting numbers. It seems that the powder improved in performance, not just velocity as the pressure increased. Both the ES and SD numbers came down as the pressure increased, except for the 1.10 OAL.

That's really interesting,
Valpeens has a good point with the shorter OAL making the bullet further away from the riflings.

Thanks DudeDog for posting those results.