Cleanest Alliant powder for 357?

[Walter W.]

Out of all the varieties of alliant brand powders (Red Dot, Blue Dot, Green Dot, Unique, etc.) which is the cleanest? This would be for various 357MAG loads. I found bullseye to be not all that clean...

I have gotten some really quick answers here before and I think that's awesome.
Thanx.

 

[dakotasin]

2400 is my pick.

 

[Linear Thinker]

Walter,

For magnum loads, you need the slower powders, Blue Dot would be a good start. It is not all that clean.

2400 is cleaner than most Herc/Alliant powders. Not that difficult, as you noted Bullseye leaves creosote in the chimn..., er barrels.

If you are willing to shop other brands, Vihta makes the cleanest powders out there. N110 would be the max load magnum powder.
Win 296 is relatively clean among the 357 max load powders.
Accurate #9, which I use, is filthy. I will switch to Vihta when I run out.
LT

 

[zxcvbob]

American Select is the cleanest, but it's not a great choice for .357 Magnum unless you want them loaded down quite mild (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I use a lot of Herco for .357 magnum with cast bullets and haven't noticed it to be particularly dirty.

 

[Walter W.]

okay. Maybe I won't use Alliant brand after all. So American Select is good for light loads and Vihta brand for the hotter loads? Would N110 be the only acceptable Vihta powder for 357?

 

[zxcvbob]

How clean do you want? Cleaner is better than dirtier, but only after everything else is optimized. (power, etc) In my opinion, of course.

 

[Steve C]

All powders clean up as the pressure increases, low velocity loads will generally be dirtier than full power magnum. The fast powders are generally cleaner since there is less of it in a load. Often people blame the powder for dirty loads but when using lead bullets the lube is responsible for most of the residue. The only time you really see a difference in cleanliness between powders is when using jacketed or copper clad bullets

 

[Linear Thinker]

Walter - Vihta has a wide range of powders, N110 would be optimal for max velocity loadings of 357 or other handgun magnums. I use it for 22 Hornet as well as 357.
Other powders that would work are 3N37 and N350, with lower velocities.
LT

 

[Doug b]

2400 sp prime is hard to beat.

 

[Bula]

I've shot some N110 loads and I couldn't beleive how clean they were when ejected. It is expensive stuff but if you need clean, you can't beat it. That said, I shoot lots of 2400 in .357 and .44.

 

[rcmodel]

The "new" Unique is pretty clean burning.

2400 is very dirty, with lots of unburned powder left in the gun, IF it is not loaded to close to max pressure.
It won't all burn with reduced loads.

That being said, who cares how clean powder is?
That is the least of my worries when it comes gun cleaning time.

Leading, jacket fouling, and bullet lube mess is much harder to get out & clean up after then a little dirty powder smudging that wipes right off with a wet patch.


rcmodel

 

[Shell Shucker]

I like Blue Dot in the 357. It has been a "clean" powder for me with "warm" loads. It reaches the same or higher velocities as 2400 with less powder. Check out Alliant's web data.