powder for 45 acp

[wayne h]

just starting to reload for my 1911 45 acp. am using 200 grn lead swc and 6 grains of unique. problem is unique burns very dirty. what would a cleaner powder to use for this. maybe green dot, bullseye etc. looking for advise. thanks wayne h

[GP100man]

Ww 231/ hp-38

[Iron Mike Golf]

American Select is working nicely for me.

[Dale53]

I have used Bullseye, Unique, 231, 5066, and currently using Titegroup. Titegroup measures well, burns reasonably clean and can be had in 8.0 lb canisters. The absolute cleanest powder I have used in the .45 ACP has been Hodgdon's Clays. However, it is so fast burning it is a bit limited.

My current target load is a 200 gr SWC (Mihec's H&G $68) sized at .452" and powered by 4.0 grs of Titegroup.

Dale53

[JohnnyFlake]

W231 & Titegroup are very good. My 1st choice is W231.

[Baja_Traveler]

W231 here also, but half of what I have loaded is the classic loading of 4.6 grains of Bullseye. Both work awesome...

[Potsy]

I've only burned H-Clays and H-Universal in mine.
I'm sticking with Universal. It's plenty clean enough for me and accurate out of my Kimber.
Datawise, it's extremely close to Unique in terms of charge weight and velocity and allows a bit more speed (if that's important, relative to the .45ACP) than the faster powders. Faster powders will be cheaper to load if you're concerened about shooting a few thousand rounds a year.
Just my .02

[Moondawg]

Using lead boolits with lube is dirty, no matter what powder you use.
The lube on the boolits will soot up your pistol, not the powder. besides you have to clean afterwards anyway, so why worry about how "dirty" a powder is.

[timbuck]

AA#7 has been very clean with plated 230 grain RN.
Some dont even have any film inside, somewhat bright inside.
10 gr./ 230 rn

[bobthenailer]

I have had great results over the years with BE ,Tightgroup and the now disconued WSL . in perhaps 9, 45acp handguns
nerver really tried other powders as the accuracy was excellent . as well as more econmical as you use less powder.

[garym1a2]

Wst or Clays.

[km101]

Ww 231/ hp-38

+1 on the 231 if you want a alternative. But Unique has been a favorite for .45acp for years. I really like it. And you are gonna clean it anyway. :)

[captaint]

I have used all of the mentioned powders. I do find Clays to be the cleanest. 231, not so much.. Titegroup is a good one also. enjoy MIke

[motorcycle_dan]

My vote is Bullseye for a 1911 pistol, and Hogdon Tite Group for use in revolvers. I don't like 231, leaves a gritty residue. Old Bullseye was pretty dirty and very smoky but the stuff made in the last 3 years is pretty good. I get great accuracy with a 200gr SWC with 4.1gr of BE, Most recently using a 160gr SWC and 4.4gr of BE. Easily hold 3" groups at 50yd in my hand from sand bags. (more accurate the the same load from a Ransom Rest)

[Blammer]

I like bluedot.

[DrCaveman]

I seem to be one of very few who uses it, but Ramshot Competiton has burned clean, accurate, consistent, and economical for me.

[Small Towner]

I like WST.

I have used pounds of it, and during a large
match never found the need to clean in between stages.
Usually 300–400 rounds a match.

[MtGun44]

Titegroup.

Bill

[gray wolf]

200 grain # 68 SWC 4.8 of Tite group. 4 of BE, very accurate and easy on the pistol and shooter, no need for a spring change.
To kick a little A$$ 7.5 of Hodgons long shot.

[DanWalker]

I shoot 4 grains of Red Dot under a 200 grain LEE TLSWC. My kimber loves them.

[ole 5 hole group]

That's one of the nice attributes of the 1911 - shoots damn near everything pretty good. VithaVouri powders are excellent also - some think the powder is expensive - not really, as you use a smaller amount, so the overall price per round is close, depending upon your source. N310 & N320 are excellent for target loads and N340 & N350 will get those 230 to 255 grain bad boys moving out at warp speed with moderate pressure.

[dragonrider]

I use Red Dot.

[pdawg_shooter]

AA#5 for me.

[PbHurler]

I like Vihtavouri N310 with Mihec's 200gr SWC's.

[BLTsandwedge]

wst or clays.

+1.....

[Roundnoser]

I really like Bullseye, but like Unique, its dirty. I've used Clays and W231. Both are good, but 231 is my go-to powder.

Good luck with your choice. Let us know how you make out.

[MtGun44]

Gray Wolf,

I like your .45 ACP load!

I have shot many tens of thousands of 4.8 gr of Titegroup under commercial cast H&G 68s
over the years. I calculate just under 12,000 rounds from a 8 lb keg and I have been through
more than a few, probably 5 or more. Before that it was a similar amount with W231, and
before that quite a number of 8 lb Bullseye kegs. With W231, I used 5.8 gr and with Bullseye
I used (IIRC) 4.7 gr. In over 30 yrs of IPSC, you go thru quite a few rounds.

Bill

[Moonie]

I use either Unique (for the higher fps loads) or Clays in my 45's. I've loaded down to 3.2gr of Clays at around 600fps, very light shooting, cycled fine in my PT-1911 with factory spring, dropped brass at my right foot and was still clean burning.

Less smoke with Clays than with Unique, I use 45/45/10 for lube.

[saz]

I shoot 4 grains of Red Dot under a 200 grain LEE TLSWC. My kimber loves them.

Yep. +1 here.

[BCRider]

I bought out an estate sale of Bullseye along with a bunch of bullets. I found that the old Bullseye that originally came in the square tins was temperature sensitive to where it would not cycle my 9mm in cold conditions.

I'm now using Tightgroup and it's pretty decent for burning clean enough. The insides of the casings is still dark and sooty but at least it's thin enough that a little brass colour shows through.

A few folks have said that "just" Clays burns cleaner.

But the powder I wish we COULD buy is the stuff that they use in WinClean ammo. The brass that comes out of the gun when these are ejected looks every bit like newly formed brass out of the bag! ! ! ! The downside is that it spits out a HUGE amount of unburned powder. But it still kicks the bullets out nicely so I wonder at the case volumes. But still, I'd buy the stuff in the blink of an eye if they sold it. The cases are clean enough that there is simply no need to clean them before reloading.

[Jammer Six]

Titegroup is my favorite powder. The older powders, (Bullseye, W231 and Unique) are also the dirtiest powders. And they smell bad.

[shotstring]

Bullseye may be dirtier than some and one might not like the fragrance, but nothing stacks them into the same hole better than Bullseye for every 45 I've ever shot. Some might do as well, but I have never found anything better for bullseye work.

[Awsar]

W231 my favorite use it alot

[Taylor]

231 for me too.

[Pb Burner]

Another vote for Hodgdon Clays

[Tom W.]

Any of the "Dot" powders work well, as does Bullseye. I haven't used Unique in some time, but that's just because I had several pounds of Bullseye on hand...

[27judge]

They had a nice writeup over on 6mmbr about the use of V320 said it was clean and very accurate guy picked it over 231.IM going to give it a try ,im using good old unuiqe now . tks KEN

[375RUGER]

May not be "clean" enough for you but I always shot 700-X when I shot 200g SWCs. I use W231 for some 230g loads in .45 and it burns clean.

[sparky45]

For a nice plinker, I use either Green Dot or Trailboss. Both are mild(Trailboss the mildest)and are fun to shoot. I use 230gr TC by Lee.

[roysha]

700X

I really don't know what people are talking about when they say it is dirty, particularly when compared with BE and/or RD or Unique. As a test for my own information many years ago I ran over 1200 rounds through my SIG without cleaning it, using the 700X powder. Not one bobble in the entire time attributable to a dirty gun.

For my part, I wouldn't give a dime for a carload of 231 unless I could sell it for a quarter. I hate the stuff.

I use 700X in 32 S&W wadcutter, 9mm, 38 Spec, and 45 ACP.

[Jammer Six]

I haven't seen anything with Bullseye, 231 or Unique that I couldn't beat with Titegroup.

[Shiloh]

I've used 231, Bullseye, and Unique.
Bullseye and Unique are somewhat dirty, 231 slightly less so.
Accuracy, economy and functioning speaks for itself.

Shiloh

[marlin39a]

I started with Bullseye 30 yrs ago, and shortly thereafter went to HP-38. Tried others, but works best for me.

[MtGun44]

HP-38 = W231

Bill

[csmopar]

Another vote for titegroup

[BCRider]

Tightgroup came highly recomended by the local guys for shooting well despite lots of air in the cases and not being temperature sensitive to any noticable degree. But while it burns cleaner than Bullseye and W231 it's still pretty sooty stuff. Mind you it's good enough that I recently bought 4 lbs of the stuff.

Still, if I could find a powder that burned like WinClean ammo does I'd happily pour my present stocks over the rose gardens as fertilizer and switch to the stuff that leaves the brass cleaner than freshly new.... :D

[kweidner]

Bullseye, Bullseye, Bullseye. I have shot nearly everything out of my 1911 and bullseye beats EVERYTHING I have tried from an accuracy standpoint. I wipe my pistols down after every use so bullseye is not an issue. I clean when it calls for it shooting cast but always wipe the down. Nothing a little rem oil on a rag won't wipe off.