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Posted: 4/23/2010 1:46:48 PM EDT
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Hi all,
I am very new to reloading and trying to learn all I can. When I start I will be reloading for the .40 and have been hearing good things about Unique, Power Pistol and Titegroup so those are the ones I will probably look at. My question, is one powder any more dirty that another? I have heard of some that burn clean but didn't know if there were charts of powders by how dirty or clean they are. Thanks for the responses. |
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Quoted:
Hi all, I am very new to reloading and trying to learn all I can. When I start I will be reloading for the .40 and have been hearing good things about Unique, Power Pistol and Titegroup so those are the ones I will probably look at. My question, is one powder any more dirty that another? I have heard of some that burn clean but didn't know if there were charts of powders by how dirty or clean they are. Thanks for the responses. all powders are both clean and dirty depending on the application. reduced loads run dirtier than full power loads. for instance many say unique is dirty. at the proper power setting it is actually very clean. on the flip side, many say clays is very clean, i have found it is as dirty as unique in a reduced load. that said. if you clean your gun regularly it does not matter, not even with the finicky gas operated shotguns. i like unique. it can be used for just about every caliber made. i use it for rifle (223 in an ar), shotgun 12 gauge (3/4 oz skeet in a benelli auto) and handgun (45 colt –– ruger and marlin). |
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I switched to PowerPistol for .40cal and it seems to be doing fine. Still needs some tweaking on the load, it does add more recoil & flash but its clean and makes for an accurate load.
I was using BlueDot. It worked but I got tired of going home looking like a WV coal miner after a day at the range....That, is a dirty powder. 
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| I use Unique for my .45 ACP needs as well as 158 gr lead loads on .357 magnum cases. For my .40 loads I use Power Pistol. Both powders work very well for each of the stated purposes. I have tried Titegroup and can't say that I care for it. I don't care for the faster pistol powders. Small variations cause big variations due to the small min to max range. |
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Alliant says that their current formulation of Unique is cleaner burning than the original Hercules Unique formula.
Unique works well over a wide range, however, like most powders it is cleanest burning when in the full-power range. Really all powders are somewhat dirty - and because cleanliness is only one facet of powder and load performance, I think that a reloader should keep everything in perspective, especially this minor aspect. Russian factory ammo powder can be really dirty, so after shooting that stuff you can really appreciate our handloading powders. 
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