Cleanest burning powder for rifle/pistol cartridges

[RIHMFIRE]

Whats the cleanest burning powder for rifle/pistol cartridges?
I have...as you probably guessed, use unique for most loads...
things get quite dirty after a box of rounds!
What say you!

[J Miller]

I use Unique ... a lot. I just clean my guns when I'm done.

Joe

[Old Ranger]

Ya ever try Win 231? I can shoot dozens of 45-70 and still have a pretty clean bore after a days shooting. Same with my .44 and .38's. W231 is the cleanest I've used to date in 50 years of loading my own. Others will say different, but this is only from the loads I've used. I have no knowledge of the other powders other than from Hercules/Alliant and some of the Hogden stuff like HS6. Oh, another clean burner I almost forgot is Trail boss. That is some kinda clean powder too! Not too much punch, but it is clean.....Hope that this helps.

Wade

[Griff]

There are many. In the .38Spl, I think PB is one of the very cleanest. In the .45Colt, moderate loads, RedDot is very good. In my .30-30s, I like RE7.

Just one powder? Not gonna happen.

[RIHMFIRE]

Ya ever try Win 231? I can shoot dozens of 45-70 and still have a pretty clean bore after a days shooting. Same with my .44 and .38's. W231 is the cleanest I've used to date in 50 years of loading my own. Others will say different, but this is only from the loads I've used. I have no knowledge of the other powders other than from Hercules/Alliant and some of the Hogden stuff like HS6. Oh, another clean burner I almost forgot is Trail boss. That is some kinda clean powder too! Not too much punch, but it is clean.....Hope that this helps.

Wade

started out with 231 years ago....then found unique...I guess I changed due to cost..
I think I have an eight pounder somewhere!

[RIHMFIRE]

There are many. In the .38Spl, I think PB is one of the very cleanest. In the .45Colt, moderate loads, RedDot is very good. In my .30-30s, I like RE7.

Just one powder? Not gonna happen.

PB????

[Old Ranger]

PB. An old DuPont powder. I thing it's made by Hodgen now. Fast bruner! But gives a nice pop in a 38.

[Old No7]

I used to use Unique -- but that was before I was turned on to Universal Clays from Hodgdon, now usually called Universal (to avoid any confusion with their "Clays" powder).

I've found it is less position sensitive than Unique, more consistent in c-c-c-cold weather than Unique, and it also burns cleaner than Unique.

Did I mention that it's better than Unique?

It has been for me, it's worth a look I think.

Old No7

[J Miller]

DuPont, now IMR PB (stands for Porous Base) powder is one of the best, most consistent, cleanest, accurate powders you can buy.
I've used it in every handgun cartridge I load. The main reason I didn't continue using it was it used to come in 1/2 pound containers that cost almost as much a full pound of Unique or 231.
Now, I don't know what it costs.

Joe

[Hobie]

Use BP, you won't think Unique is dirty then! Seriously, Unique isn't "dirty" and I have often wondered what obsessive desire for cleanliness causes folks to believe it is. I have never had a problem in firearm functioning with it even after a couple of hundred rounds and the residue wipes right off...

Before


After


Nothing more than Breakfree on an old T-shirt was used. Now the burn rings at the chamber mouths was something else but not more than a few minutes work.

[Don McDowell]

More specifically to add to Hobie's post you want DIIIIRTTy try some of the now defunct Elephant blackpowder... that is some nasty stuff...
But back to more in line with what you want,try some bludot.

[El Chivo]

I think IMR 4227 is pretty clean out of the ones I tried. Accurate in both rifle and pistol cartridges too.

I've tried Blue Dot, 2400, Trail Boss, SR 4759, but I think 4227 is the best.

Phew, I once shot a few rounds of Bullseye somebody gave me. No more of that!

[RIHMFIRE]

Phew, I once shot a few rounds of Bullseye somebody gave me. No more of that!

I agree with that....after a 100 rounds....what a mess

[Old Savage]

American Select

[harry]

Some times its the use that makes powders clean or dirty, if you have a light load with a powder and its real dirty it might be its cleaner if you run with heaver bullets (more pressure). But I have never liked Unique, I still have a pound of it from the 80's. Lil'gun can be real dirty if you don't push it kinda hard.
Harry

[Griff]

...I have often wondered what obsessive desire for cleanliness causes folks to...

GSR tests?

[bdhold]

I can tell you for sure it's neither Aquila (.22) nor whatever BVAC uses (.22 and .357) - but they shoot nicely and I don't mind swabbing at the range. I'm never in a hurry there.

[jdad]

Vita Vhouri makes the cleanest powders, but you pay for them.

[El Chivo]

...I have often wondered what obsessive desire for cleanliness causes folks to...

GSR tests?

also the smell is part of the aesthetic of the experience. You're outdoors at the range in the nice clean air, to paraphrase Robert Duvall "I love the smell of cordite in the morning."

Smells like....VICTORY!

I'm not obsessive on the soot, but it is nice to just swab a couple times and be done.

[Charles]

I do not understand the current quest form"clean burning" powder. I use the best powder to give the performance and then wash me hands and clean me guns, just as I have done for 60 yeare.

[Cliff]

Some of the powders listed are quite clean. Like mentioned the amount of powder to bullet weight and velocity makes a difference. Of what I have seen and read over the years if you are shooting lead bullets, most of the dirt, soot or what have you is from the bullet lubes. Alox blends are notorius for smoke and soot. I have used Apache Blue as made by Paco Kelly and don't have much problems. There are less smoky or sooty powders out there, but again load it to an optimal working pressure and proper bullet, they will shoot pretty clean. Of course if you want a comparison, use some form of Black Powder, now you are talking dirt. Endless qwest for soot and smoke free powders go on. ATB

[Old Time Hunter]

H110 seems to be a very clean powder...but you have to load pretty much at the max. Use quite a bit of Unique though, and it is a tad more sooty than some others. Surprisingly, AA 1680 is a quite clean powder.

[bdhold]

I do not understand the current quest form"clean burning" powder. I use the best powder to give the performance and then wash me hands and clean me guns, just as I have done for 60 yeare.

Even though I already posted otherwise, I can see the desire for it. Target-shooting a rifle, you have to really be trying to shoot more than 50 rounds/hour. With a pistol, though, you can shoot that in 10 minutes, so things can get dirty quickly.

[kimwcook]

I still use Unique because it's so versatile. I will say CCI Blazer has some of the cleanest burning powder I've ever shot. It almost leaves no soot or residue at all. I shot 200 rounds and could barely tell I'd shot any. Would like to know what powder they use.

[Marvin S]

Tightgroup is pretty clean.

[rimrock]

A citrous based BP replacement simply amazed me with what was left in my Ruger Vaquero barrel. I'm not sure what this powder was (maybe American Select) as a compadre gave me some to use at my 1st CAS shoot. A very small amount of fine white powder was all there was in the barrel after about 50 rounds. Cleaned up with water, but then I fully cleaned the gun as a precaution.

I can't say that any one of Unique, Universal, AA #5, Red Dot, BLC(2), H4198, or Varget is more dirty than the others. I will say I believe the age of the oil in a barrel might give some hints on dirty barrels. The older the oil the more tacky it becomes with seemingly more power to cling to powder. I don't tend to select a powder based on how clean it shoots. I have chosen Red Dot as my pistol powder because I can get many more loads out of a lb. than the others, but I actually prefer the more prolonged recoil cycle of AA#5 over the quicker recoil of Red Dot. YMMV

Needing to clean guns is just another good reason to go out to the man cave.

rimrock

[shooter]

I definitely don't choose powders based on how clean they burn, although I do prefer a cleaner powder. I mainly shoot Unique, just because it is economical and is very accurate in every caliber I've tried it in so far. Well, except the 45-70...don't load it for that anymore.

I've always wondered about Promo. It's a shotgun powder and is supposed to be identical to Red Dot by weight (not volume). It is about the cheapest powder out there and I want to get some to try in the .45 ACP I just bought. I don't know if it burns clean or not, but I'm gonna buy some anyway.

[J35]

...I have often wondered what obsessive desire for cleanliness causes folks to...

GSR tests?

also the smell is part of the aesthetic of the experience. You're outdoors at the range in the nice clean air, to paraphrase Robert Duvall "I love the smell of cordite in the morning."

Smells like....VICTORY!

I'm not obsessive on the soot, but it is nice to just swab a couple times and be done.

"You smell that? Do you smell that? Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' dink body. The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like … victory."

[1894c]

IMR-4227 ... :)

[Slick]

I never worried about whether or not a powder is “dirty” so long as it works the way I want. I recently stumbled onto a Desert Eagle in .357mag for too good of price to pass up. Since the DE is a gas operated and has no practical means available to clean the gas port, you need to use a powder that won’t build fouling in the gas port. From my research AA#9 was “heavily rumored” to be the powder the gun was designed around. Having now tested the AA#9, I do have to say that it’s easily the cleanest powder I’ve ever used. That said, I mostly shot Unique, 2400, IMR4227 and WW296 out of my .357mags – so that’s only 4 powders that I’ve personally seen perform. The AA#9 is also very fine, so it meters very consistent.