clean powders for 45 acp
- Thread starter georgiacatweazle
- Start date
Maybe the Powders will but the combo won't. If the powder is the proximate cause of lead fouling (Blue Dot, Tight Group come to mind) due to temp or other relationships..then you still have a dirty load. I have seen some that leave more copper fouling behind using plated bullets than others all other things being equal.
So the question about dirty is...Soot / reside left behind externally that is easy / hard to remove vs. that AND barrel fouling?
SHR970 said:
What do you mean by barrel fouling? Copper? Leading? Crud? Do you mean you can see a measurable accuracy fall-off with some powder & bullet combos? Remember, we're talking handguns here.
I think people get carried away with "clean" powders. I would trade "clean" for accurate, repeatable, reloading safe, available, meets my velocity requirements, etc.
Way back when, when I started target shooting .45 ACP I fell in line with what everybody else seemed to be using: 185 or 200 grain lead semi-wadcutters with enough Bullseye powder to reliably cycle the action of your 1911.
After a while I DID try to find cleaner burning powder but gave it up fairly quickly when I couldn't get the accuracy of good ol' Bullseye.
Like others have said, getting the gun a little dirtier isn't a big issue, IMhO.
After a while I DID try to find cleaner burning powder but gave it up fairly quickly when I couldn't get the accuracy of good ol' Bullseye.
Like others have said, getting the gun a little dirtier isn't a big issue, IMhO.
Bayoubulldog
New member
I use 700x (because I bought it during one of the last buying crazes) and it seems to burn plenty clean! Shoot it through my 1911 and never had any issue. I'm sure there are "cleaner" loads, but I run real soft loads and they work great.
Same result in probably at least 5 1911's.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Same result in probably at least 5 1911's.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
W231-I've never tried it even though it's one of the more popular powders for the .45 ACP. Most of the folk I shot with in a pistol league used Bullseye.
I did try Red Dot and Hi-Skor 700x because my father was a trap shooter and when he saw how much I used for pistols he laughed and said he probably spilled more in a season than I would use in the league so I got a free supply of those two.
I thought they were both okay but I THOUGHT Bullseye was more accurate. I thought Red Dot was just as dirty as Bullseye and 700x was a little cleaner than Bullseye but I agree with a few others here that accuracy trumps cleanliness. I was shooting powder puff target loads almost all the time.
I did try Red Dot and Hi-Skor 700x because my father was a trap shooter and when he saw how much I used for pistols he laughed and said he probably spilled more in a season than I would use in the league so I got a free supply of those two.
I thought they were both okay but I THOUGHT Bullseye was more accurate. I thought Red Dot was just as dirty as Bullseye and 700x was a little cleaner than Bullseye but I agree with a few others here that accuracy trumps cleanliness. I was shooting powder puff target loads almost all the time.
That's because it is
Maybe we're getting a little too wrapped up in this accuracy thing. I've been loading and shooting pistols for 32 years. And the best I can determine, the bullet used is a far bigger factor in accuracy than propellant. (Talking handguns here; not rifles.)
Most 200gn LSWC's are highly accurate (assuming the gun/barrel is in good shape). My pet load of 5.0 grains of W231 under a LSWC is superbly accurate. And if I used Bullseye (or Red Dot, or 700x, or AA#2 . . .), I have no doubt I would make a load that is just as accurate. It's not the powder.