clean burning powders

[dunerjeff]

Does anyone know which powders burn the cleanest in .45 ACP and .40 S&W?
I'm hoping to get rid of all that black carbon inside the shells like some of the factory loads. Maybe it's partialy primer related, I'm using CCI 300 & 500's.
The guns are remaining clean, just the black in the shells.

[denfoote]

Isn't that why you clean your cases before you reload??

[FrankenMauser]

The guns are remaining clean, just the black in the shells.

That's about as much as you can ask for. If the firearm is running clean, the powder is burning fairly cleanly in that load. Carbon in the cases is unavoidable for 99% of loads (factory and hand loads).

You didn't tell us what you're currently using... Which would have helped (a little... maybe).

However, Vihtavuori powders have a reputation for being some of the cleanest burning powders available.

[dunerjeff]

I was just noticing that certain factory loads, Speer h/s mostly, looked as shiny as new but abviously have been fired. So far I've use WSF ,Longshot , Power Pistol , Blue Dot.
Just wandering if possible so I wouldn't have to tumble as much.

[FrankenMauser]

I've only ever run across one powder that gave me near-perfect combustion: Lil Gun. But... It only runs clean in high pressure loads, and is not appropriate for .40 S&W or .45 Auto.

You don't have to tumble to get all of the carbon/soot out of the inside of the cases. If the outside is clean, you're good to go. Many reloaders don't even care about the outside of the case being dirty...

[Unclenick]

I've had Trail Boss leave .45 ACP cases bright clean, but in that small powder space you can only fit enough for very, very light target loads. Hodgdon Universal isn't bad. Speer is owned by ATK, so I would expect them to be using some variant on an Alliant powder.

Take a look through the threads on cleaning cases with stainless steel pins and ultrasonic cleaners. You'll find they actually can be got quite clean, if you really want to bother.

Another technique is to carry a little bottle of Ed's Red with you to the range, moisten a Q-tip with it and run it around the insides of your cases before you leave the range. Too much trouble for pistol, IMHO, and I don't think you'll see any difference in performance at most handgun accuracy levels just from leaving the carbon in place, but some rifle shooters do this to their case necks in brass they use in extreme accuracy loads. Left alone, carbon deposits harden as they age, but Ed's Red keeps it soft, so it cleans out a lot more easily and completely by conventional means.

[snuffy]

A favorite expression of mine is" DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT"! It does not hurt anything, forget about it. Oh, before anyone else says anything, it does NOT build up inside the case.

You're not talking about black powder here. It does leave a mess inside brass cases, and it does build up.

A vibratory tumbler doe little to remove carbon inside cases. It doesn't have room to move much, so it cleans very little.

[Shoney]

Most powders available in the US use wood cellulose formulas, because it is less expensive than cotton cellulose. The wood cellulose has more impurities, which show up as residue from each shot.

As far as cleaner burning powders go, Vihtaviouri Powders are the only ones that are reported to use cotton cellulose in their formulation. The few VV powders I have used seem to be cleaner burning at some charge levels, but they can be dirty. I have seen discussions that indicate that the VV powders need sufficient pressure to burn more cleanly???

[edward5759]

40-50 years ago you could buy bulk powder that was an IDF powder to run their Uzi machine guns.
It was a great powder sold by Thunderbird Cartridge in leaven Arizona.
No smoke, no flash,

[32dgrz]

For 45 WST
For 40 WSF
Is what I use
I'm happy with the cleanliness of both

[SL1]

you can get Hodgdon "Clays" to burn very cleanly. (Just "Clays", nor "Universal Clays" or "International Clays" which are different powders.)

I use it. But, it is not for full-power loads. And, you need to be able to reliably measure the charges, because "Clays" has a very small range between "start" and "max" in the .40 S&W.

SL1

[Slamfire]

I got used to having powder residue on my hands and on the outside of my firearms. My favorite dirty powder is Unique, it is so flexible in so many applications but I always have residue after shooting.

I can live with cleaning my hands, the residue reminds me to wash up which is important because it is important to scrub lead residue from your hands. Ingesting lead is bad. Cleaning the gun is something I must do because I live in a humid area ; powder residue attracts water, water creates rust.

Gunpowder burns best at high pressures. You can get very high pressures in the 40S&W, there are all sorts of web pictures of blown case heads in the 40 S&W, but the 45 ACP is going to be an issue. It is not high pressure in auto pistols. You can stoke it up in revolvers, but you will damage auto pistols with high pressure loads.

If you heavily lubricate your pistols with motor oils or CLP, the lubricant will absorb a lot of powder residue improving function and making the clean up easier.

I also think if you want clean powders you must accept a higher burn temperature. I don't want extra heat in my guns.

[dunerjeff]

I shot WSF in my Beretta 96fs and it was a mild recoil but about a 6inch group at 25 yrds, it shot better in my Taurus 1911 but not the best, Longshot was at 2inches but was smokey. I'll be shooting indoors so smokey isn't what I want. Don't have WST. Clays is on my list, though I have to many on my list already, like Unique, A #2 ,A #5,Auto Comp,or H-6.