Cleaner burning .45 powder

[John Dunn]

Is there a cleaner burning powder than Win 231?  My current practice load is a 225 gr, TC Lasercast over 5.3gr. of 231.  This seems to leave a fair amount of unburned flakes.

Second question, what is the recommended recoil spring wt. if I switch to a 185 gr. bullet loaded to major?  I'm currently using 18.5.  Thanks!

[Shipster]

Hodgdon Clays is about as clean a powder for the .45 acp that I've seen.

[kbear38S]

Yeah, Clays is real clean.

[jrguar]

Try Solo 1000 for heavy bullets...230's - 255's

Try Solo 1250 for 200's & down.

Very Clean shoots very nice.

[Duane Thomas]

Titegroup is incredibly clean burning. 18-1/2 pounds is way heavy for a .45. Try 15 pounds, maybe 14.

[Carlos]

Do a search on "titegroup" and you will find a post by a regular BE member who claimed to have discussed it w/ Hodgdon techs. They claimed TG was the cleanest powder they had ever tested, although in my experience, straight Clays left my gun and fired cases cleaner than TG. In its favor, TG shoots as soft as Clays in my gun, it meters well, and it goes a long way (cheap to use). Be careful w/ TG's tiny powder charges - it seems possible to mistakenly triple charge many loads w/ TG on account of the small volume it takes up in the case.  

I think Clays is the ultimate .45 powder for any bullet over 200 grains; the .45 is low pressure and Clays has proven very safe for me (no pressure signs in .45).

[John Dunn]

Thanks everyone.  I'll give the Clays and Titegroup a try when my 231 is used up and keep you posted.  Thanks.

[Duane Thomas]

Carlos,

Actually that was me. Just to get the facts straight, I didn't discuss the matter with Hodgdon, I discussed it with Allan Jones, editor of the Speer Rifle & Pistol Reloading Manual. And I didn't just claim to do it, I did.

[Carlos]

Duane wrote:

"I didn't discuss the matter with Hodgdon, I discussed it with Allan Jones, editor of the Speer Rifle & Pistol Reloading Manual."

Thanks for the post(s) Duane! Your original post was thorough enough that it stuck in my memory (the gist of it anyway) Speer did the test? Even better! I am not aware of an aliance b/t Speer and Hodgdon; the fact that Speer conducted the test lends it greater credibility. Good work.

"And I didn't just claim to do it, I did [it]."  

As good as this site is, it is still the internet; one can understand approaching information (especially regarding reloading matters) with due scepticism; sorry if I offended you.

Regarding Hodgdon, one will find many fans and users (past and present) of Hodgdon powder, including our host, who at one time used Hodgdon - though not sure what he shoots these days; BE?  

[keary]

I have had excellent results with VihtaVuori N320 with a variety of 230gr RN bullets.  With VV N320, I do not get any unburnt powder grains and next to no residue.  I use 5.0 grains with an OAL of 1.250".   As I do not own a chronograph, I cannot tell you what the load's velocities are however I have found this load to be accurate with soft recoil.  Good luck.

Keary