alot of unburnt powder

[primlantah]

i shot my first reloads and noticed a large amout of unburnt powder. Im using 5.4grains of hodgdes universal clays and .45 ACP 230gr FMJs shooting through a 4 inch barrel. Half the rounds i fired ended up with ejection problems and lots of unburnt flakes on the bench in front of me... not to mention a horrendous mess inside the pistol...what did burn seems to be clean but the unburnt mess is too much. Any one know a cure for this? Do i just need a faster burning powder?

 

[rcmodel]

Hmmmmmm? Lets see?
Gun won't cycle and the powder isn't all burning.

Your load is too light.
Not enough pressure for the powder to light!

That is less then the starting load in my Speer manual.
They show 5.5 starting and 6.3 Maximum with a 230 JRN.

Hodgdon shows 5.6 grains as the recommended load.
(although I doubt .2 tenths of a grain is going to help that much!)

I'd probably be inclined to go more with Speer on this one!


rcmodel

 

[John4me05]

Is it just me or does RC know everything

 

[Roccobro]

I wouldn't say everything, but it isn't just you.

Glad he's on our side...

Justin

 

[Ben Shepherd]

I'd bump your powder charge by 1/2 a grain and put just a touch more crimp on the rounds. That should work just fine.

 

[scout26]

I don't know about you guys, but I heartily welcome our new reloading overlord, rcmodel.

 

[The Bushmaster]

O K...Just as long as we don't have to call him "sire" or "your majesty"...

And I ain't bowin' to him either...

 

[Mark whiz]

For what it is worth, I've found that Universal leaves behind unburned powder grains in every load for every caliber I've loaded it in. Seems it takes a really tight crimp in order to keep such from happening, and taper-crimping on rounds like the .45ACP doesn't quite get the job done.

I've also experienced some ejection problems with Universal if the load is kinda light. I would definitely up to charge close to the 6.0gr recommended by Speer. My Midway LoadMap says up to 6.9gr will work - but I'd play it safer and try the 6.0gr load.

Again, IMHO, I think that Hodgdon's load data is usually on the conservative side so I typically looks elsewhere for loads - and Speer data for most everything I've tried seems to be pretty good.

 

[Walkalong]

Universal Clays is not a good choice for light loads in the .45.

Clays is though.

AA #2, Competition, WST, N310 & N320 are as well.

Red Dot and American Select do pretty good if you want something bulkier like Universal.

 

[scrat]

O K...Just as long as we don't have to call him "sire" or "your majesty"...

And I ain't bowin' to him either...
__________________

hahahahahahah

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

lol, yes rcmodel does usually have a good bit of info. I tend to agree with him your load does sound a little light, try adding a little more powder, or switching powders

 

[primlantah]

i tried loading universal from 5.8-6.1 grains and added about 25% to my crimp. the heavier loads were the best but all were fully burnt.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm not just throwing out a different powder that you aren't using but Universal really isn't a great powder for the .45 Auto. Just switch over to W231 and all your problems will go away. It's a clean powder and works very well in the .45 Auto. I use it in both the .45 Auto and 9mm rounds I make for my son's practice ammo.

 

[primlantah]

i found universal mostly annoying. Is W231 ball or flake?

 

[Mark whiz]

Win231 is flattened ball powder. It does work well in .45ACP - but I've found my most accurate loads using AA#5. Win WST for lighter loads does great too.,

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Yep, W231 is a Ball powder but it's flattened. I have to stress how clean a powder it is. I use it in many of my calibers including the .45 Auto, 9mm and .38 Special. I first used it in my .38 Special rounds and then used it in other Calibers because of how clean it is and the accuracy I can achieve. I also use Clays in my .38 Special and .45 Auto rounds. It is also very clean and it's even more accurate than W231 but it doesn't meter well so I use w231 more than Clays.