BE-86 Question

[TexasJackKin]

I was able to acquire some Alliant BE-86 from a fellow Cal Gunner. I load mostly 9MM and .40 S&W, and according to Alliant this should be a great powder for both.

I load 9MM for my wife to shoot in her Glock 19, with the main goal of light recoil, The Alliant web site shows max loads (which look like they would approximate factory loads). So, my question is have any of you experimented with lighter loads with this powder? I'm thinking I'll start with a 10% reduction, and see if I can go lower and still maintain function.

any advice?

[Germz]

10% reduction is a good place to start. IME you can go 12-15% reduction before you start getting failures to eject.

[9mmepiphany]

There is an interesting thread on using BE-86 in 9mm

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=761471&page=5

Using RMR thick plated 124gr RN bullets, over 5.2grs of BE-86, loaded to OAL 1.160, he was getting very good accuracy and moderate recoil. The OP discuss how he arrived at that load and OAL in the thread

[rsrocket1]

As stated elsewhere, BE-86 is somewhat like a low flash version of Power Pistol (BE-84) so it was meant for higher than mid range velocities. You can certainly load down by 10% and get good performance, but that won't be "low recoil". It would be a little closer to typical factory loads. The problem with trying to get low recoil with 9mm is that 9mm is already a low recoil cartridge and when you start downloading it, you may start experiencing cycling issues or failure to lock back on the last round.

You can certainly work loads down, but just look for those signs as well powder performance issues such as smokey shots, sooty cases and unburned powder flakes. These symptoms will happen long before a stuck bullet as you work down loads. Powders such as Unique, Green Dot or Red Dot would be better, but in these drought days not all of us can be choosers. Good luck.

[TexasJackKin]

Thanks for the input, what I'm worried about is, is seems like back in the '70s there were warnings about going to low with some powders and getting detonations. If I recall (that was a long time ago) the worry was small doses of bulls eye in large cases.

[Mot Mi]

Alliant, hodgdon always recommends 10% below max to start. You can go up to 15%, but it isnt suggested. I've always started at 10% below max and work my way up with all powders. You can make more mistakes with little powder as it can cause a squib and those guys with a trigger happy finger are the ones causing a kaboom with their guns. You always want the bullet to exit the barrel so starting with 10% reduction is ideal. Going any lower to achieve certain results may cause harm and can be dangerous. If you're looking for certain things when reloading you're going to have to search for a different powder as suggested above.

There is another thread in the forum about BE-86. You can read through that about OP's experience on BE-86. I have been waiting to try out BE-86 but my distributor has not received his shipment and when he does I will have a good amount to provide to the locals and for myself to start doing tests.