Bullseye

[bladeracer]

I was offered two and a half one-pound cans of Bullseye, which I don't use. I poured some of the open one into my hand and it looks good to me. I can't smell so can't test it by smell. Thinking I might load five rounds of .38 Special and shoot them over the chrono to see if it is still good.

I need to pass it on to somebody that uses it but we don't know what a fair price is for it. It was $16.60/lb back in the day, the seventies I'm guessing, but what's an unopened can worth now? I had a look at used guns and this stuff was advertised for ludicrous prices during '22-'24, but with pistol powders back on the market I'm sure it's selling for more realistic prices now. Three years ago a one-pound can was advertised for $535!

Have any of you guys bought or sold any recently or seen it advertised anywhere?

[6mm Remington]

I purchased some BE86 about a year ago and it cost me $170 for a one pound container..
BE86 is the latest version of bulls eye that has a flash suppression feature.
4.5 grains works great in a 9mm load using 124 grain Boyne cast projectiles.

[Oldbloke]

You can do a very simple test like this. But, 1 at a time and with no other flammable materials near by.

Just compare(time) it to a powder in good condition to give you some idea of its burn rate.

There is a similar test in the industry but I don't remember the details.

https://youtu.be/scwJMpRXCUY?si=UkTb3a-pqMU36NlI

[bladeracer]

I purchased some BE86 about a year ago and it cost me $170 for a one pound container..
BE86 is the latest version of bulls eye that has a flash suppression feature.
4.5 grains works great in a 9mm load using 124 grain Boyne cast projectiles.

Thanks for this 6mmRem.

I've been using the Boyne .358" 125gn bullet pushed through a .356" sizing die on 3.3gn of AS50N at .955" - the bullet is fatter than a standard 9mm so needs to be seated very deep. I loaded 250rds yesterday with the HRBC 115gn RN on the same charge to test tomorrow. I tested 50rd of these last week and they shot fine.

I just weighed the cans, the unopened ones weigh 546gm and 547gm, so the can weighs 92gm. The opened one weighs 245gm, so 153gm of powder remaining (2360gn). I'll load five rounds of .38 Special to confirm it's good. A club member has expressed interest in some of it.

[bladeracer]

You can do a very simple test like this. But, 1 at a time and with no other flammable materials near by.

Just compare(time) it to a powder in good condition to give you some idea of its burn rate.

There is a similar test in the industry but I don't remember the details.

https://youtu.be/scwJMpRXCUY?si=UkTb3a-pqMU36NlI

I've seen that before but I'd rather burn it down the barrel
I'll chrono some and compare to Alliant's data.

[Oldbloke]

I think its a good policy to try it outside the barrel first. If it seems OK, go for it.

[Blr243]

Oh blade I wish u lived in my street

[bladeracer]

Oh blade I wish u lived in my street

And I wish I lived in yours sometimes

[bladeracer]

I think its a good policy to try it outside the barrel first. If it seems OK, go for it.

It's too valuable to waste, and the chronograph will give me a more accurate idea I think. If the book says a 3.5gn charge should make 814fps out of the 686, and I see 780fps I'll consider the powder to be good. If I see 650fps I might have to consider it suspect, in which case I'll keep it myself and use it for Cowboy loads.

[Oldbloke]

I think its a good policy to try it outside the barrel first. If it seems OK, go for it.

It's too valuable to waste, and the chronograph will give me a more accurate idea I think. If the book says a 3.5gn charge should make 814fps out of the 686, and I see 780fps I'll consider the powder to be good. If I see 650fps I might have to consider it suspect, in which case I'll keep it myself and use it for Cowboy loads.

The object of the test to get an indication if its more or less burning at its correct rate. If due to age its waaay too fast then even a moderate charge could be dangerous.

Its only a few grains.

[bladeracer]

I think its a good policy to try it outside the barrel first. If it seems OK, go for it.

It's too valuable to waste, and the chronograph will give me a more accurate idea I think. If the book says a 3.5gn charge should make 814fps out of the 686, and I see 780fps I'll consider the powder to be good. If I see 650fps I might have to consider it suspect, in which case I'll keep it myself and use it for Cowboy loads.

The object of the test to get an indication if its more or less burning at its correct rate. If due to age its waaay too fast then even a moderate charge could be dangerous.

Its only a few grains.

I'm very confident the powder is just fine, but even if it were degrading I don't believe it could in way be dangerous, most likely it would squib the bullet in the bore.

[mickb]

Hi mate, going off available powders by price comparison. APS350 about the same burn rate, 90-100 locally from stores. The one shipment of Vectan which was mostly sold where it came in Vic,. sold for about $75 for half a kilo during covid, so thats if you want to be really nice. Noosa shooting suppliers QLD which seems to have a constant supply of Vihta powders sells at 200 per 1/2 kg.
Obviously skys your limit privately.

Id hold onto it, you can do a couple of interesting things with bullseye. Guard loads, aka subsonic with jacketed bullets in 30-06 and similar, probably 303 as well. It can also be pushed moderately hard in 357 and 44mag to get the lightest jacketed bullets into the 1400fps range in a rifle. During covid when I was looking at making powder last and still had a tin of bullseye I realized I could still make workable loads out of it with 180xtp in the 44mag. Not powerful , but huntable

[deye243]

You can do a very simple test like this. But, 1 at a time and with no other flammable materials near by.

Just compare(time) it to a powder in good condition to give you some idea of its burn rate.

There is a similar test in the industry but I don't remember the details.

https://youtu.be/scwJMpRXCUY?si=UkTb3a-pqMU36NlI

I've seen that before but I'd rather burn it down the barrel
I'll chrono some and compare to Alliant's data.

I would be very wary of their loading data I recently acquired 22 pounds of American select and the loading data was absolutely wowful from memory they were stating 4.5 or 5 grains as maximum load in a nine mil and we found that four to four point two across a large range of pistols was well beyond maximum load with blown primers and all sorts of shenanigans

[mickb]

I'd be suprised if Bullseye causes dramas, load data been around over a century