45 Colt: Powder recommendations?

[Texasgrillchef]

I use Power Pistol with 250grain FMJ flat nose.

 

[Jwbfx4]

Unique is my go to with 255gr lead. Works very good for me. I occasionally load the same bullet with w231 with good results.

 

[1KPerDay]

Unique isn't the cleanest burning

On what are you basing this opinion? On residue left on the gun? or debris when unloading? etc.? I'm just curious. If you look at my linked test unique was actually among the cleanest powders I tried as far as debris.

 

[Armored farmer]

Unique is my go to for .45colt 255gr swc.


A pretty ho-hum target offhand at 15yds

 

[Col. Cornelius]

For 250gr 45 Colt: 6.0gr to 6.5gr Red Dot. Full power standard pressure load.

For 200gr 45 Colt: 5.9gr Clays Nice standard mid-range load or full Cowboy Load (much cleaner than Red Dot with the lighter 200gr bullet)

 

[zanders]

So many people using HS-6. The only load I've been able to use it for that burned an acceptable amount of the powder (in my opinion) was some 300 grn loads from the hogdon website. The 255's I tried it with had powder pouring out of the cases.

On a more helpful note, Clay's is basically my favorite powder for target loads in anything. It's cheap, it burns all the way and it's pretty clean.

Unique I've only tried a few loads with, but I have no real complaints, sure it's dirty but it's the type of dirty that just wipes off.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I can’t imagine a “cleaner” combination than a powder coated 250-255gr bullet and 5-6gr of Tight-group

However, I was gifted a nearly full 8lb keg of GreenDot, so that’s what I use.

 

[GaryL]

On what are you basing this opinion? On residue left on the gun? or debris when unloading? etc.? I'm just curious. If you look at my linked test unique was actually among the cleanest powders I tried as far as debris.

Carbon buildup on the gun, and in the cases. Some powders hardly leave a mark in the case.

I suspect Alliant uses quite a bit of graphite when processing their powders (or at least they did), and recipes that don't generate a lot of pressure relative to the volume of powder don't burn quite as hot, and leave more carbon residue as a result.

I use 8.0gr of Unique behind 250gr of lead, and it's quite accurate for me, so no need to bump the load any higher. I also mentioned that the can of Unique I'm using is a bit long in the tooth, probably approaching 50 years old, so more recent formulations might be a bit cleaner. I do have a some Unique I bought and used in 44mag about 10-12 years ago, before I switched to using 2400 in 44mag, but I didn't think it was that much different. Once the old can is used up, I'll switch to the newer stuff. I just checked the can (figured it would be getting low by now) and it looks like there's right around 1 lb left. So a couple more years of 45colt for me left in that can.