alot of unburnt powder

primlantah · February 1, 2008, 04:54 PM

i shot my first reloads and noticed a large amout of unburnt powder. Im using 5.4grains of hodgdes universal clays and .45 ACP 230gr FMJs shooting through a 4 inch barrel. Half the rounds i fired ended up with ejection problems and lots of unburnt flakes on the bench in front of me... not to mention a horrendous mess inside the pistol...what did burn seems to be clean but the unburnt mess is too much. Any one know a cure for this? Do i just need a faster burning powder?

zdogk9 · February 1, 2008, 05:26 PM

Sounds like you don't have a tight enough crimp. That combo should be pretty clean.

BigJimP · February 1, 2008, 06:29 PM

I find Hodgdon Universal is a pretty dirty powder as well in some loads - especially in a 20ga shotgun load. The only thing I use Universal for anymore is in 28ga shotgun shells - its pretty clean and very consistent with that load at 13.8 grains ( but that's an apple and oranges comparison ).

The only pistol load I tried Universal on was in a .44 mag, 240 gr, and 10.0 grains and I thought it was dirty there too - so I switched over to Hodgdon TiteGroup on the .44 Mag and on all my pistol loads including .45 acp. For what its worth I've had real good luck with Hodgdon TiteGroup.

jdmick · February 2, 2008, 02:01 PM

According to my Speer #13 your not even at the starting load yet. It lists 5.5g to 6.3g as acceptable. An undercharged load will almost always be dirty. I find 5g of Universal Clays to be very accurate and very clean for my 115g 9mm loads.

SmokinTom · February 3, 2008, 07:00 AM

Your going to have ejection problems with underpowered loads.The 45 case is also bigger than the 9mm case too.More room for the powder to hang around in.You might want to try a faster burning powder and don`t load them under the recomended charge weights if you expect the gun to cycle.

WESHOOT2 · February 3, 2008, 09:36 AM

Under your 230g FMJ recommend 5.0g W231.

(and ITS residue is normally not of the 'stop-yer-gun-from-runnin' kind).

Universal normally leaves significant residue in the 45 ACP. Sometimes loading to a higher pressure alleviates this.

primlantah · February 3, 2008, 11:34 AM

i tried loading universal from 5.8-6.1 grains and added about 25% to my crimp. the heavier loads were the best but all were fully burnt.

February 3, 2008, 09:36 AM	#6
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	easy fix (since we already knew about 45 ACP residue) Under your 230g FMJ recommend 5.0g W231. (and ITS residue is normally not of the 'stop-yer-gun-from-runnin' kind). Universal normally leaves significant residue in the 45 ACP. Sometimes loading to a higher pressure alleviates this. __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

February 1, 2008, 04:54 PM	#1
primlantah Registration in progress Join Date: November 2, 2007 Posts: 110	alot of unburnt powder i shot my first reloads and noticed a large amout of unburnt powder. Im using 5.4grains of hodgdes universal clays and .45 ACP 230gr FMJs shooting through a 4 inch barrel. Half the rounds i fired ended up with ejection problems and lots of unburnt flakes on the bench in front of me... not to mention a horrendous mess inside the pistol...what did burn seems to be clean but the unburnt mess is too much. Any one know a cure for this? Do i just need a faster burning powder?

February 1, 2008, 05:26 PM	#2
zdogk9 Member Join Date: January 23, 2008 Posts: 18	Sounds like you don't have a tight enough crimp. That combo should be pretty clean.

February 1, 2008, 06:29 PM	#3
BigJimP Senior Member Join Date: February 23, 2005 Posts: 13,195	I find Hodgdon Universal is a pretty dirty powder as well in some loads - especially in a 20ga shotgun load. The only thing I use Universal for anymore is in 28ga shotgun shells - its pretty clean and very consistent with that load at 13.8 grains ( but that's an apple and oranges comparison ). The only pistol load I tried Universal on was in a .44 mag, 240 gr, and 10.0 grains and I thought it was dirty there too - so I switched over to Hodgdon TiteGroup on the .44 Mag and on all my pistol loads including .45 acp. For what its worth I've had real good luck with Hodgdon TiteGroup.

February 2, 2008, 02:01 PM	#4
jdmick Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Posts: 142	According to my Speer #13 your not even at the starting load yet. It lists 5.5g to 6.3g as acceptable. An undercharged load will almost always be dirty. I find 5g of Universal Clays to be very accurate and very clean for my 115g 9mm loads.

February 3, 2008, 07:00 AM	#5
SmokinTom Senior Member Join Date: November 29, 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 479	Your going to have ejection problems with underpowered loads.The 45 case is also bigger than the 9mm case too.More room for the powder to hang around in.You might want to try a faster burning powder and don`t load them under the recomended charge weights if you expect the gun to cycle.

February 3, 2008, 11:34 AM	#7
primlantah Registration in progress Join Date: November 2, 2007 Posts: 110	i tried loading universal from 5.8-6.1 grains and added about 25% to my crimp. the heavier loads were the best but all were fully burnt.