I'm having some degree of trouble with my Desert Eagles with factory ammo. In 357, a couple of loads work completely reliably -- Winclean and Double Tap -- but have a high amount of flash, which I do not do well with. In 41 Magnum, Buffalo Bore works completely reliably and doesn't have significant flash, but is too expensive for regular target use. Most others tried didn't work at all; on the other hand Lancer, even though fairly soft, functions pretty well.

Oddly, success in cycling doesn't seem to depend at all solely on overall "hotness," as the successful loads have included both the softest and hottest. In 357, for example the Winclean is only 125 grain and only 1370 fps but cycles perfectly. This is lower ballistics than the starting points of almost every powder listed except the very fastest. (Is Winclean very fast?)

I'm looking for a powder that is low flash, clean burning, and preferably on the lower end of recoil.

The speed range that I find any reports of success for the DE extends from Unique to H110.

What seems to be "alternate choices" -- but I could be wrong, maybe the best choice is in here -- in the apparently-correct speed range are R-123, P804 or P803, Ba9, PLC501, SR7625, HS-6, or W-W 473, 540, or 571.

Accurate does list in their manual a Desert Eagle-specific loading, but for the 50 AE so it doesn't directly apply. For that though they recommend No. 9: but in 357 No. 9 is 150 fps faster than No. 5 and uses half again more powder, so I'm concerned it would be higher recoil. And is it low flash?

My guess on best choices is, I am thinking VV N320 - N350 with I'm assuming more recoil being associated with the slower burning ones?

SR4756 seems another strong maybe, or Accurate No. 5 or 7, or Clays Universal. Are any of these not low flash and clean-burning?

Any thoughts of which sounds like the "best overall bets" for clean burning, low recoil, and low flash would be great!

Last, if anyone on top of this has specific Desert Eagle information as to which works and is low flash, clean, and on the lower recoil end in 357, 41, or 44 Magnum -- or even better, loadings! -- that would be a giant help.

Thanks!

Please, it's not necessary to be able to have information on every part, to help.

If several each contribute a piece or two of information on which of the powders asked about are, in your findings, reasonably low flash and clean -- or NOT to be -- pretty soon there's the list of powders to consider and those that I would be unhappy with and so shouldn't be trying. (For my purposes.) Thanks!

I have found the VV N340 feels much lighter in recoil and is very clean burning in my 44 Mag. Contender barrel.

I think that maybe you're asking the impossible.

I have a Desert Eagle with 44 Magnum and 500 AE barrels. At least with the 6 inch barrel (such as I have) I think that with any load sufficient to cycle the action reliably with the 50 AE, you are going to have flash and recoil. I always thought a foot or two of flame was part of the fun of shooting it.

I use Winchester 296 for my 50 AE loads and never found it to be a dirty powder. It has been quite a while since I loaded for my 44 Magnum Desert Eagle barrel but I think I used Winchester 296 in it as well. I also thought shooting with the 44 Magnum barrel was exceeding easy even with full house loads with very little recoil (something like 44 Special loads in a Ruger Redhawk). The Desert Eagle is a big heavy gun that really tames recoil.

Well, two of the commercial loads I've used in the 41 Magnum DE have had no perceptible flash at all, with one of them (Buffalo Bore) working 100% reliably and being very clean, and the other (Lancer) being not that bad for cleaninliness and downright sweet for recoil for a 41 Magnum, with about 99% reliability, suggesting it's extremely close in that department.

So it should be possible to combine the desired attributes, not a futile quest at all.

It sounds as if the 296 had a lot of flame for you then -- thank you, that helps as it helps reduce the list!

(For whatever reason, I just don't do well with flash. Some can be OK, but if it's enough to give the feeling of heat on the face and especially if unburnt particles are thrown in the face, it results in developing a flinch and finding shooting anxious instead of enjoyable. Just a personal quirk, but makes it impossible for me to enjoy the Winclean. And in 41, the Buffalo Bore is too expensive.)

If I knew what powders Lancer uses in their 41 Magnum, and Buffalo Bore in theirs, I would be way ahead of the game, but I can't expect them to give up that proprietary info. But the success of their powders (what Lancer uses probably would need to be loaded just a touch hotter) proves I think there is a powder, or more than one choice, that will work as desired.

KublaKhan, is the N340 reasonably low flash for you? At what barrel length? Thanks!

Can anyone comment on flash and cleanliness of any other powders in about the N330 - N350, 2400, No. 5, No. 7 sort of speed range? Thanks!

Well, I just tried also Speer Gold Dot 357 Magnum, and it (unlike so many other types for this gun) functioned perfectly and with essentially no flash, though much more recoil than the Winclean.

The Speer was clean, too, as was the Winclean.

So there's no doubt that it's possible to achieve the proper functioning with moderate recoil (the Winclean does this) or this sort of power level with little or no flash (the Speer does this) and with clean operation too.

Can't anyone contribute a powder or two in the speed range in question that they've found to be low flash and, preferably, clean-operating? It's surprising this question seems to have everyone stumped?

Lastly, any guesses on about what speed range Winclean 357 Magnum probably is? (What powders would compare to it?)

Thanks!

You need a med. burner for low flash. I would suggest Universal, AA#7 maybe 800X, these will not get you top vel. but should be ok for flash.
Interesting reading: http://www.handguninfo.com/Archive/www.Pete-357.com/357.flash.htm

Thank you, outstanding!

What this summary reported is that AA#9 might be called moderate and inconsistent (at least in that test) flash though consistent ballistics; and AA#7, HS-6, N350, and Universal to be very low flash. This gets me places to start.

One thing I do wonder is that the Winclean has much more modest ballistics (125 grain at 1370 fps) than anything I see published even at starting loads, except for quite fast powders around N320, AA No. 2, or Titegroup, maybe Universal.

That tends to make me suspect that Winclean may be a quite fast powder overall, even though it does have a substantial fireball. (Which might be due more to incompleteness of burn rather than slowness I suppose.)

To match similarly low recoil levels, I'd want to ideally have the ballistics down around the Winclean's level -- yet that would seem to rule out powders such as AA#7, HS-6, and N350 as these have much faster ballistics even at starting loads than the Winclean.

So does this sound like I might be looking at N320 or thereabouts -- or am I barking up the wrong tree assuming the Winclean is this fast simply from its modest velocity? (It is possible after all to have modest velocity with a slower powder that's loaded lighter than the published starting values, or perhaps their powder has different properties.) Any thoughts?

Sounds like you need some of that 2400 religion.

Well, that is where I am unsure, because the published max value for 2400 using, for example, a 125 grain bullet is a whopping 1730 fps.

No minimum value is given, but it sounds as though downloading it to the neighborhood of 1370 fps -- a speed Winclean does fine with -- would be really, really downloading, wouldn't it? And aside from possible inconsistency or other problems, peak chamber pressure would much reduced compared to the powders above? That might prevent the DE from cycling.

This is what makes me think that that may be the wrong powder speed range for my purposes.

Indeed though others with different priorities -- liking loud reports and big velocity -- enjoy 2400 for the DE, I understand.

Since the gun cycles absolutely dead reliably with the Winclean at 125 grains and 1370 fps (nominal) I really don't want to be going to hundreds of fps more velocity, when what I want to do is to just be similar to the Winclean but without the flash.

But is it right -- per my post above this one -- for me to be assuming because of its ballistics that Winclean likely is in about the N320 - N330 / AA No. 2 / Titegroup sort of speed range, and/or to be searching for powders with published ballistics, between starting and maximum, about in the range I am looking to achieve, which seemingly leaves me only with these fast sorts of powders?

I get a big flash out of Blue Dot and Power Pistol.
I get low flash out of 3N37.

Thank you!

I've gotten a good recommendation elsewhere on the 3N37 for function, but they didn't say anything about flash, so now what you've provided puts the pieces together.

It's ballistics at the published starting load are still considerably hotter than desired (considerably hotter than the Winclean, which works perfectly so why go hotter than that?) but at least among the VV powders, the yet faster ones did not get good reports, with N320 said not to work and N340 to work but apparently on the edge.