40 S&W and BE-86

B

black91stang

Inactive
After some looking around here in the forum and other places online I have found limited information on this combination and I wanted to post my info here. I have used Alliant and Hornady data to work up some loads for my Glock's. I wish I had access to a chronograph to give fps numbers.

Using 165gr FN FMJ my go to loading is 6.2gr's of BE-86, Win. small pistol primers, COAL of 1.12. I find this to be a very nice shooting round, not very snappy and I seem to be getting a clean burn.

Using 180gr JHP's I'm currently satisfied with 5.8gr's of BE-86, Win. small pistol primers, COAL of 1.12. This too is a very nice shooting round and runs clean. While working up the load I was close to what Hornady listed as their max load of 6.4gr and like the way 5.8gr felt recoil wise.

Does anyone else like to use BE-86 for 40 S&W loadings? Did you try using this powder, not like it and then find a powder you did like? I'd like to hear any and all experiences regarding BE-86 regardless of caliber. Thanks for reading!
 
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Welcome to TFL.

I too am new to BE-86. My first pound of it is still mostly full. So far, I have loaded only 38 Special and 357 Magnum with it - both with Speer's 135gn GDHP SB bullets. I was attempting to emulate Speer's factory offerings. And I basically did. My 38's go a little faster; and my 357's go a little slower. I chose BE-86 because it is flash-suppressed. Otherwise, I would have just used Power Pistol.

To paraphrase from an Alliant spokesperson, BE-86 is basically flash-suppressed Power Pistol (which was originally named BE-84). But the flash suppressant also increases the burn rate - to something closer to Unique. And that has been my admittedly limited experience with it as well.

BE-86 seems promising to me. I do plan on trying it with 9mm and 45ACP. I think it'll do well with both. I also have a few hundred 200gn GDHP SB's for 44 Special (or very light magnums - they aren't designed for magnum velocities/pressures). If I ever get around to loading them, I'm sure I'll be reaching for BE-86. Seems like good stuff. But it won't likely replace Power Pistol in my inventory. You'll be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of Power Pistol than me.
 
The key to unlock Alliant load data.

To see all of Alliants Data for BE-86, click on http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/default.aspx . Select Handgun, then BE-86. Then select 40 S&W. It will show you a table of load data for BE-86 in 40 S&W. They list 7 different bullets of various weight.

Do NOT use the on-line Reloaders Guide. That tends to only show Sport Pistol powder only. It is like the have 4 railroad cars of Sport Pistol they cant even store. So they push that data. Sport Pistol might be great for competitive shooting sports, but it is not a high velocity and energy performance powder like BE-86, Power Pistol, Unique, Bullseye to name a couple. BE-86 is the only one of those advertised as "Contains flash suppressant".

The Complete Reloaders Guide can be downloaded as a pdf file here: http://www.alliantpowder.com/resources/catalog/AP392_2020_AlliantPowderCatalog_SinglePages.pdf
That document has tables of reloading data that compare powders side by side for the same bullet.

Many older versions of Alliant's annual reloading guides can be found here:
http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Freebies/RM/Alliant.html
They even have 1987, and most years since.
 
Nick_C_S said:
Welcome to TFL.

I too am new to BE-86. My first pound of it is still mostly full. So far, I have loaded only 38 Special and 357 Magnum with it - both with Speer's 135gn GDHP SB bullets. I was attempting to emulate Speer's factory offerings. And I basically did. My 38's go a little faster; and my 357's go a little slower. I chose BE-86 because it is flash-suppressed. Otherwise, I would have just used Power Pistol.

To paraphrase from an Alliant spokesperson, BE-86 is basically flash-suppressed Power Pistol (which was originally named BE-84). But the flash suppressant also increases the burn rate - to something closer to Unique. And that has been my admittedly limited experience with it as well.

BE-86 seems promising to me. I do plan on trying it with 9mm and 45ACP. I think it'll do well with both. I also have a few hundred 200gn GDHP SB's for 44 Special (or very light magnums - they aren't designed for magnum velocities/pressures). If I ever get around to loading them, I'm sure I'll be reaching for BE-86. Seems like good stuff. But it won't likely replace Power Pistol in my inventory. You'll be hard-pressed to find a bigger fan of Power Pistol than me.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the welcome and sharing your experience Nick! I selected BE-86 over Power Pistol for the flash suppressant. Shooting my reloads vs. factory ammo in a low light environment and I can see that there is less flash with BE-86. When I started looking into reloading for 40S&W the 3 powders you listed; Unique, Power Pistol and BE-86 all made the short list. I know there are others that are just as good if not "better" but those 3 were readily available locally. I may have to try some loading with Unique and Power Pistol here in the near future just for comparison. Unique, I have on hand and Power Pistol will have to wait a bit.

It's interesting that you bring up reloading .38 Special and .357 Magnum using BE-86. I have made a few rounds in .38 special using 125gr Gold Dots and have found them to be very nice to shoot and much cleaner than Unique (my go to for .38 Special and .357 Magnum). I have also done some loading in .357 Magnum using 158gr plated bullets and a lower charge for some very mild shooting rounds. I've yet to do any loading with the 125gr Gold Dots and BE-86 for .357 but plan on it in the future.
 
Marco Califo said:
To see all of Alliants Data for BE-86, click on http://www.alliantpowder.com/products/default.aspx . Select Handgun, then BE-86. Then select 40 S&W. It will show you a table of load data for BE-86 in 40 S&W. They list 7 different bullets of various weight.

Do NOT use the on-line Reloaders Guide. That tends to only show Sport Pistol powder only. It is like the have 4 railroad cars of Sport Pistol they cant even store. So they push that data. Sport Pistol might be great for competitive shooting sports, but it is not a high velocity and energy performance powder like BE-86, Power Pistol, Unique, Bullseye to name a couple. BE-86 is the only one of those advertised as "Contains flash suppressant".

The Complete Reloaders Guide can be downloaded as a pdf file here: http://www.alliantpowder.com/resources/catalog/AP392_2020_AlliantPowderCatalog_SinglePages.pdf
That document has tables of reloading data that compare powders side by side for the same bullet.

Many older versions of Alliant's annual reloading guides can be found here:
http://www.castpics.net/LoadData/Freebies/RM/Alliant.html
They even have 1987, and most years since.
Click to expand...
Marco, thanks for your reply and sharing those links! I thought I had thoroughly searched Alliant's site but that second link is new to me and I really like that downloadable chart!
 
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