JRWhit said:
45 acp with win 231. I like the reliability and accuracy but it is very sooty. Mostly on the end of the slide. I'm loading 200 gn copper plated bullets with 5.2 gn 231.
If your load is sooty, you may consider bumping up the powder charge for cleaner burn. While plated bullet manufacturers suggest we use lead load data, they come in different sizing. HSM, Rainier and PowerBond plated bullets are sized at .451", same as jacketed bullet diameter and Berry's plated bullets are advertised larger at .452". X-Treme plated bullets come sized in .451" and .452". IME, depending on the bullet and pistol/barrel used, I needed to use higher powder charges to produce more accurate and cleaner burning loads. YMMV
As the primer ignites the powder, there's a lot of high pressure gas that leaks around the bullet and if enough leakage occurs, you'll start to lower chamber pressures and result in less clean powder burn and more soot. Depending on the plated bullet you use, the bullet diameter and the softness/hardness of the lead alloy core will determine what the chamber pressure will be and how the powder burn.
Hodgdon's current load data indicates 5.6 gr as max charge with .451" diameter lead bullet. I would suggest you conduct a powder workup with 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 gr powder charges and see if you get cleaner burn.
200 gr CAST LSWC W231/HP-38 Diameter .451" OAL 1.225" Start 4.4 gr (771 fps) 11,000 CUP - Max 5.6 gr (914 fps) 16,900 CUP
200 gr Speer JHP W231/HP-38 Diameter .451" OAL 1.155" Start 5.2 gr (794 fps) 12,700 CUP - Max 5.9 gr (906 fps) 16,700 CUP
What would be a preferred powder for a cleaner burn in 45 auto? Or could adjusting charge change my experience? I cannot reduce this charge and cycle reliably with my gun as it results in the occasional FTE.
If 5.2 gr of W231/HP-38 barely cycles your pistol's slide, I would definitely increase the powder charge. When I conduct my powder work up, I first determine the lowest powder charge that will reliably cycle the slide and extract spent cases while reliably feeding/chambering the next round. Then I continue the powder work up to determine the most accurate powder charge.
For me, accuracy is everything and holes on target speak volumes. Usually, more accurate shot groups indicate more consistent muzzle velocities SD/chamber pressures. More consistent chamber pressures come from more consistent powder burn. Often, I will select a particular powder and charge because it produces more consistent accuracy and preferred recoil even though it may not be the cleanest burning in comparison to other powders. Since I clean my pistols after each range session (at least field strip), slightly dirty burning is OK for me as long as the load produces more accurate shot groups.
When I started match shooting with 45ACP, I tested Bullseye, Titegroup, WST, Clays, W231/HP-38, Universal, HS-6 and WSF with jacketed, plated, lead and moly coated bullets. Although Clays/WST may produce cleaner burning loads and Bullseye produced accurate loads, I settled with W231/HP-38 for nice combination of accuracy and felt recoil. I haven't used N320 for 45ACP (it has worked well and clean for 9mm) but because of higher cost with so many other powders that work well, I probably won't. BTW, Promo/Red Dot is another powder that burns fairly clean while producing accuracy. I use 4.0 gr with 200 gr LSWC but you can
conduct powder workup towards 4.5 gr as
indicated by Alliant.
I'm newer to reloading and was hoping to gain from others experience so not to end up with several different powders I don't like. I already made the mistake of buying hp-38 thinking that I was trying something different. Heck I even thought it was better for a short while.
Welcome to the club and we all have made our share of reloading mistakes - but that's how we often learn. You should read some of mistakes we have made:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=603357
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=557433
Here's a thread discussion of virtues of W231/HP-38 compared to other powders like Clays/WST/N320 -
http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=143405
Perhaps you can keep us posted with a range report as to accuracy vs clean burning.