Hola amigos,

I am not only new to this forum, but new to reloading as well.

I just loaded the first 40 bullets of my life yesterday. I did forty .45 acp 200 gr. lead bullets and used Clays powder.

I shot them today, and I cannot tell you how fun it was to shoot bullets that I had reloaded! i am hooked...

The only thing was when I was shooting the Mozambique drill, there was such a thick cloud of gun powder in the air, I could barely see the target that was 15 yards away!

My question: What is the cleanest burning powder?

Is there a list of clean powders and dirty powders somewhere that I can access?

Thanks in advance for all the advice!

I've never used Clays, so I can't comment on it. But, you could try Bullseye or 231, they both work well for me. And they both work great in the 45

What kind of bullets are you using?

Why do I ask? Because the waxy bullet lube in many cast bullets will cause a lot more smoke than just about any powder. Really noticeable on a sunny day.

Clays, 231 (or HP-38, its the same thing) and 700-X are just a few of the great powders for the .45 ACP.

Hi,

I was using lead cast 200 gr. buulets that are "lubed for smokless powder" according to the guy who cast them.

So, is it the wax coating, the Clays powder, or both?

I think you are getting more smoke from the bullet lube then the powder. I find that to be the case anyway in my 45acp with cast lead. Try the same powder with a equal wgt jacketed or plated bullet(adjust the charge accordingly) and see if the smoke goes away.
The ball powders seem dirtiest to me, followed by the flake type. Red Dot, Green Dot, ect leave a lot of residue. The VV powders I have used are very clean burning but expensive.

Must be the lube. Clays doesn't smoke in my loads.

Is it just Clays or Universal Clays.

(That naming has to be one of Hodgdons biggest screw-ups ever when it comes to internet forum loading.)

When you are young and poor, you use Bullseye (or Unique) because they are cheap.

Once you get older and have some money you upgrade to 231 because it is cleaner and you are tired of scrubbing the shit out of your gun every time you go shooting.

(231 is also interchangeable with HP-38, they are the same exact powder from the same manufacturer)

i use clays in my 12 gauge auto-loader.. very clean burning

I shall pipe in for a quick comment regarding dirty vs clean powder . Powder residue left behind

or not all the powder burnt ?. There is a difference and generally speaking if unburned powder

is left , Barrel is to short or slow powder .

By experience Red Dot powder has proven to be one of the dirtiest powders ever produced

Green Dot and Blue Dot are fairly clean . Most pistol powders are " relatively speaking "

clean burning .

Until you get up into Large and Magnum case capacity's especially with short barrels .

I agree with Ol' Joe . Try wiping your finished reloads off with a clean cloth especially the

cast projectile , so as to remove as much of the lube as possible or switch powders .

I have used a significant amount of Most all powders and Clays seems to be clean burning in my

rigs . Red Dot is " FILTHY POWDER " !. Because of the graphite and burn retardant used .

quote:

Originally posted by Chris McCollum:
Is there a list of clean powders and dirty powders somewhere that I can access?

I've never seen one. And perhaps the reason why is brand X powder might burn dirty in a certain caliber handgun load, but burns very clean in a certain shotgun load. It all has to do with the size and pressure of the combustion chamber. That's also why burning rate charts are NOT set in stone.

I'll also second the advise of W231 (or HP-38) burning very clean in the 45 Auto. Your excess smoke is most likely coming from the bullet lube.

You'll also see the burning characteristics of any given powder change with the pressure developed in your chamber. A powder that burns fairly clean in your gun with a heavy bullet at middling charge weight may burn quite dirty with a light bullet and near max charge.......

Chris,

While I have not yet tried it I plan to load some 45 ACP practice loads with American Select. There are few places where data is available but I am basing this idea on the shotgun target loads my son and I load with it. After 200 rounds in my 12 guage there is barely a speck of residue in the barrel.

The Alliant Web site suggests 6.2 grains with a 230 grain bullet at 941 fps and the have some data for other pistol cartridges. No other bullet data but they might have it if you call them.

See here
Alliant Reloading Data

VihtaVuori N-320 is one the cleanist burning powder.

Yup The whole line up of VihtaVouri powders are very clean.

muck

Blue Dot is very dirty at low pressures, but at 30kpsi it is so clean that 1000 rounds leave residue on a patch that looks more like one round.