Dirty powder w231 vs BE

[IheartGUNS]

So couple days ago I shot 100 rounds of 45acp(reloads). 50 of them I used w231 and the other 50 I used bullseye. When I got home, I took apart my 1911 and I was surprised to see how filthy the gun was. I actually had to scrape the crud off of the barrel and frame before and after I scrubbed it down w/ some clp.

I never had experience with carbon like that before. Is BE a dirty powder(my first time using it)? Or was it a combination of both powders that made my gun that filthy???

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[Blitzkrieg]

Dunno about the combo thing but W231 was designed to shoot clean. I've never used Bullseye but I believe it's a flake powder and some of those are pretty dirty.. the worst I've used is Red Dot.. cheap but filthy stuff

 

[jib]

Most powders leave residue if the pressure is to low. Try Titegroup, Clays or Accurate's Solo 1000.

 

[Squidly]

I've noticed that BE is kinda dirty. It's been around a long time. There are better powders. W231 is my favorite for 45acp. Unique is ok in a pinch, dirty, but not as dirty as BE. I've used Clays for light wt target bullets. It's seems to be clean.

I've had consistency problems with Titegroup. I have been using a hornady powder thrower. Any advice would be accepted. They say Titegroup is not for beginners. Well, then I must still be in the beginner stage.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

I have always considered W231 to be a good, clean powder.

 

[FarmerTed1971]

I love W231. It's very clean in my experience.

 

[ripcity]

I really like w231 also. It's always been clean in my 9's

 

[SinisterSouthpaw]

As jib mentioned, any powder will leave "crud" behind if it is not being burned efficiently--which usually means at mid range or better pressure. Loading up a lot more powder than it takes to push the bullet out of the barrel can also produce a lot of carbon. Both these things can happen when we lighten up recoil by adjusting bullet weight.

I shoot only light target loads in both my 1911s and have found N-340 to be easy to tune for accuracy and as much cleanliness as you can get when burning powder. HS-6 works pretty well too.

 

[AMProducts]

If you're shooting light target loads, I highly recommend clays and titegroup, if you're going slightly heavier, HS-6 is a great powder for 40S&W and 9mm.

Pressure, burn rate, chemistry and powder geometry (plus the amount of deterrent coating) all factor in to how clean a powder burns. For example, in rifles IMR single base powders burn much cleaner than double-base ball powders. It's just a reality of life... I personally find W231 to be a bit dirty with light loads, however I don't have that problem with clays.