Cleanest Burning Pistol Powder

[348win]

What's the cleanest burning Pistol Powder you've come across

(I exclude "touchy" powders, where a little goes a long way; pressure problems, or Magnum Powders where if you down load its dangerous)

32-20
32 H&R mag
357mag
44 Special
44 mag
480 Ruger

[348win]

45 colt

38 special

Didn't want to forget you guys!!!

[348win]

It would save a lot of labor, time, and energy, if a person could get 2 or 3 reloads from nice clean shiny brass before another cleaning is required

[JimT]

It would save a lot of labor, time, and energy, if a person could get 2 or 3 reloads from nice clean shiny brass before another cleaning is required

Since we are working with combustion of nitrocellulose plus other additives it's probably not gonna happen. Compressed air or other gases would be the cleanest alternative. At least until they get the kinks worked out of the Phasers from Star Trek.

[wvfarrier]

Sport Pistol is very clean

[Steve in MO]

It would save a lot of labor, time, and energy, if a person could get 2 or 3 reloads from nice clean shiny brass before another cleaning is required

Since we are working with combustion of nitrocellulose plus other additives it's probably not gonna happen. Compressed air or other gases would be the cleanest alternative. At least until they get the kinks worked out of the Phasers from Star Trek.

Or the plasma rifle in the 40 watt range...

[Turdyturdy]

Mild to moderate loads, W231/HP38, for heavier loads Power Pistol burn clean. Some of the shotgun powders can work very well in handgun applications.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

N310 and N320. With the added advantage that you can actually buy them still.

[JB]

N310 and N320. With the added advantage that you can actually buy them still.

I've found those to be very clean burning powders as well.

[COSteve]

Mild to moderate loads, W231/HP38, for heavier loads Power Pistol burn clean. Some of the shotgun powders can work very well in handgun applications.

I've found that a full power load of Power Pistol burns very clean in my 6" custom Glock 10mm. Conversely, a near max load of Power pistol in my 4.0" G23 40s&w isn't nearly as clean. However, when I tried those same .40s&w loads in my original 1998 Ruger Police Carbine, they burn clean as a whistle.

In addition, a load of Lil'Gun shot in my 20" and 24" Rossis shoots very clean while the same loads shoot dirty out of my 7.5" Uberti SA pistol. The front of the cylinder, forcing cone and muzzle are pretty dirty.

To be fair, I've noticed that all powders dirty up the front of the cylinder and forcing cone on my revolvers as I believe that is a function of the design of a revolver with a gap between them allowing hot gases to fan out.

So, my evidence suggests that how clean burning a powder is is also dependent upon the type of firearm and the length of it's barrel you shoot it out of. Therefore, a discussion of the clean burning properties of a given powder should also include the type of firearm it is intended to be used in.

[4t5]

I’ve been using winclean 244 , I like it, it may be “cleaner “ but not the holy grail in cleanliness I was hoping for .
Also I’ve been shooting lead , not jacketed.

[Crazy Horse]

All of mine seem to burn dirty but I like them

[Rimfire McNutjob]

I’ve been using winclean 244 , I like it, it may be “cleaner “ but not the holy grail in cleanliness I was hoping for .
Also I’ve been shooting lead , not jacketed.

I think they call it WinClean only because it's cleaner (environmentally) to make ... not that it burns any cleaner.

[earlmck]

It would save a lot of labor, time, and energy, if a person could get 2 or 3 reloads from nice clean shiny brass before another cleaning is required

Sometime in the early 1990's, after I had been reloading my trusty 357s for 30 years, was the first time I heard of people cleaning their brass. And it was another few years before I got a Thumbler's tumbler and joined in. And then it was to wash the lube off rifle brass -- pistol brass sized via carbide dies still didn't get the treatment. Cleaning pistol brass is purely cosmetic and you can totally skip it if you want, 348win.

I might also mention that if you choose your powder so that the velocity you want is produced by pressures in the upper range for the cartridge the powder, no matter what the make, will be pretty dang clean-burning. And if you use low-pressure loads they are all "dirty" no matter what the powder.

[1972RedNeck]

It would save a lot of labor, time, and energy, if a person could get 2 or 3 reloads from nice clean shiny brass before another cleaning is required

Sometime in the early 1990's, after I had been reloading my trusty 357s for 30 years, was the first time I heard of people cleaning their brass. And it was another few years before I got a Thumbler's tumbler and joined in. And then it was to wash the lube off rifle brass -- pistol brass sized via carbide dies still didn't get the treatment. Cleaning pistol brass is purely cosmetic and you can totally skip it if you want, 348win.

I might also mention that if you choose your powder so that the velocity you want is produced by pressures in the upper range for the cartridge the powder, no matter what the make, will be pretty dang clean-burning. And if you use low-pressure loads they are all "dirty" no matter what the powder.

Really? Most of mine would be black as coal after 3 or 4 loadings...

[earlmck]

Really? Most of mine would be black as coal after 3 or 4 loadings...

Wow! You really need to up the pressure level of your loads Redneck. You sound like my friend John who was loading his 38 specials with 4227. I sent him home with a can of Unique and he is much happier with his loads.

[1972RedNeck]

Really? Most of mine would be black as coal after 3 or 4 loadings...

Wow! You really need to up the pressure level of your loads Redneck. You sound like my friend John who was loading his 38 specials with 4227. I sent him home with a can of Unique and he is much happier with his loads.

19 grains of H110 in a 357 Mag under cast 158 grain bullets. Slightly warm.

Never been accused of low pressure loads in my life.

Black as coal was a hyperbole. But they would be quite discolored after 3 or 4 loadings.

25K PSI loads in my 45 Colts are definitely the worst for coloring casings.

For some reason my hot 460 S&W loads often make for dirty casings as well.

[Paladin]

A friend used to load pistol ammo (he was a Commercial manufacturer) with Surplus M1 Carbine powder he bought in large lots. The empty brass after fired looked like it had just been cleaned. I bought 9mm, 10mm, and .45 from him for the machine guns.

[earlmck]

Really? Most of mine would be black as coal after 3 or 4 loadings...

Wow! You really need to up the pressure level of your loads Redneck. You sound like my friend John who was loading his 38 specials with 4227. I sent him home with a can of Unique and he is much happier with his loads.

19 grains of H110 in a 357 Mag under cast 158 grain bullets. Slightly warm.

Never been accused of low pressure loads in my life.

Black as coal was a hyperbole. But they would be quite discolored after 3 or 4 loadings.

25K PSI loads in my 45 Colts are definitely the worst for coloring casings.

For some reason my hot 460 S&W loads often make for dirty casings as well.

19 grains? Holy bug poop RedNeck, no that ain't a light load! I'd have thought your primer pockets would get loose before you needed to worry about dirty cases...

Anyway, my point was just that "discolored cases" are merely cosmetic -- the gun doesn't care a bit. I guarantee you my old cases that get washed every other decade are "quite discolored". The stuff that goes through the 45 auto and 44 S&W I do wash regular 'cause shiny cases are a lot easier to find in the dirt. But revolver cases don't get that attention from this old lazy guy.

[Griff]

Just to add to anyone's library of useless information... I used to load my wife's & son's cowboy action loads with PB. At the time all I loaded was 158 grain RN with 3.2 grains, which is the minimum recommended load. Those cases were always cleaner than anything I loaded in my 45 Colt or 45Auto.

[horsesoldier03]

Never had any issues with Titegroup. 231, 244 or CFE Pistol. My suggestion is to focus on the power level of the load you are wanting and have a good cleaning kit and tumbler for your brass.