Miller, comparing fast to slow . . . doesn't that depend on what you're comparing something to?? Take a baseball pitcher who's a junkman, lots of slow curves and changeups. His fastball, even if only mid-80's, is going to look fast in comparison. Bring in Nolan Ryan, however, and 85 will look very slow.

Just like you, my information comes straight from an Alliant reloader's guide--but about 10 years newer than yours. (Don't know if that necessarily makes any difference.) I quoted straight off a list in which Alliant says: "These are listed in the order of decreasing burn rates." Same order as yours: Bullseye 1, Red Dot 2, then American Select and Green Dot. But addressing the issue of frequently-used shotgun powders, and recognizing that Bullseye's "principal use" is in handgun loads, the only faster common Alliant shotgun powder is Red Dot . . . while there are 3 Alliant shotgun powders that are slower. So they are faster burning, compared to Unique, Blue Dot, and Herco. And depending on what one considers a "target" load, there are plenty of relatively mild 1 1/8 oz 12ga offerings using either Unique or Herco. And when you drop down to 20ga, you get pretty much nothing but GD, Unique and Herco in 7/8 oz target loads (although I shoot a really nice 3/4 oz 20ga load with American Select). And it's not like recoil disappears when you're shooting a 20ga--especially if you're shooting 7/8 oz target loads in both the 12 and the 20, and the 20 is likely to be a lighter gun.