Alliant Pistol/Shotshell
Alliant BE-86
A general-purpose centerfire pistol powder with an ideal burn speed for a wide array of handgun loads. Alliant singles out 9mm and .40 S&W.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Alliant |
|---|---|
| Product family | Alliant Pistol/Shotshell |
| Status | Currently produced |
| Application | pistol |
| Grain form | flake |
| Flash suppressant | Yes |
| Burn-rate position | 45 of 198 (fastest = 1) — what this means |
| Typical cartridges | 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, .45 ACP |
Alliant describes it as a special extruded flake formulation with improved flow, high energy, good lot-to-lot consistency and reduced flash.
Burn rate
Just slower than Unique and slightly faster than Power Pistol.
Chart agreement: DISAGREEMENT — Alliant's own Reloader's Guide orders BE-86 FASTER than Power Pistol and Herco; this list, following the Hodgdon spine, orders them the other way. Ranked here per the Hodgdon chart used as this list's spine. Ranked by: Hodgdon, Alliant, Wolfe/LoadData.
Powders charted near it — neighbours on the chart are not substitutes, and adjacency tells you nothing about what charge either one takes:
- Winchester Super Field (WSF) (position 42)
- Shooters World Auto Pistol (position 43)
- Vihtavuori N340 (position 44)
- Accurate No. 5 (position 46)
- Hodgdon HS-6 (position 47)
- Winchester AutoComp (position 48)
Sources
Other Alliant powders
Verify the charge, not just the recipe
Good data gets you a safe starting point. It does not tell you what actually went into the case on stroke 340 — a bridged measure, a double charge, a squib. That is what an RCM Laser Powder Check is for.