How dirty is dirty (powder wise)?

[txaggie]

I hear people refer to various powders as "clean" or "dirty" and I am trying to establish a frame of reference. All I have ever shot out of my G17 is Winchester White Box factory 9mm ammo. Would you consider that a "dirty" powder compared to some of the other powders such as VihtaVuori or other equivalents?

Thanks.

[Matt Cheely]

I'm very curious as to this too. I know some of it depends on what kind of load you are using, ie: OAL, weight of bullet, how much powder... etc. I'm loading Minor 9mm with a slow burning Silouette powder, and it's really dirty. Before that I tired 231 because I had a lot of it laying around, and it was also dirty. But if you use the 231 a few grains higher, and a lighter bullet, it's darn clean. I'm assuming it's because of the higher pressure. I'd consider WWB to be much cleaner than most of my reloads. But I'm not all the expierenced with the different kinds of powder. Tend to stick with what's been workin.

[Ronnie j]

My major .40 loads with tite group and jph or plated bullets seems to be cleaner than the wb .40 or the wb 9mm. My minor .40 load with the same powder and bullets is dirtier ( lower powder charge=lower pressure=incomplete combustion) . I think what people mean when they say dirty is that the powder isn't or can't be run at high enough pressure to clean up.

[Vlad]

WWB is about medium for me. Also there are degrees of dirty. For example Titegroup leaves a fine residue that doesnt muck up, but it does also cover the outside of the gun around the muzzle covering up the fiber sights. On the other hand AA #5 must me the worst thing ever. I might just well take handfulls of dirt and throw them in the action. It leaves behind a mud like glue on the guts of the gun but never a trace on the muzzle.

And then it all also depends on what pressure kind round you use. Something burn cleaner at higher or lower pressures.

[txaggie]

I have a person who is making me some test loads with N320 (~4g) and 124g loaded to 130pf. Should I expect a dirty Glock after I am done?

Thanks.

[herky]

I have used 4.3 gr of N320 under Rainier and Zero 124 gr in my G17 and found it not only clean, but very accurate. Wish Vit was cheaper.

[txaggie]

Thanks Herky, that was what I was looking for, funny thing though, I have never thought WWB was dirty, hmmmm.

[mcoliver]

IIRC, our local club uses BA10 to load 45. After shooting, you can see flakes of powder in your arms and face. It also turned SG into black gunk in under 200 rounds. I think that's dirty.

Now I use N320 for my 200gr load in 40. All it leaves is some residue in the muzzle end, barrel ramp and breech face. Relatively I consider this to be clean.

[Harmon]

universal clays,

it just leaves kinda a brown film on the gun,

very little "soot"

plain clays in the 45, residue is just a different color...same characteristics..

dirty: anything loaded with unique powder, and especially lead bullets with unique powder.

middle of the road is WSF, WST, 231, imr 4756 and power pistol.

if you want to duplicate WWB ammo, look at 5.5-5.7 grains WSF and a 115 grain JHP or FMJ in a 9mm.

[John R]

I've found AA-2 to be very clean in .40 and .45, I use this powder in .38 special with good results also.