I'm new to reloading so please give me a pass if this question reeks of ignorance.

 

Can the amount of powder charge and or OAL affect how clean it burns?

 

The reason I ask...

I recently put together 4 different loads for my Trojan 9mm. 4.2, 4.0, 3.8 & 3.6 grains of W231. All using Federal brass, Zero 115gr bullets, winchester primers & 1.15 OAL. I tested them out this morning and all of them cycled perfectly. But i noticed that after i shot 50 rounds of the 3.6 grain loads the muzzle was really black. The barrel was even worse. While cleaning i noticed that the rifling was not visible due to carbon build up. I've never seen that happen before. On Saturday, I put 300+ rounds of 4.0 grain reloads through it with almost no visible powder residue around the muzzle and the barrel was relatively clean.

 

Any insights are greatly appreciated.

Yes, charge can affect cleanliness of the powder. Titegroup in 147pf 9mm using 124gr heads burns a lot cleaner than Titegroup used in 172pf .45 with 230gr heads.

 

It's powder dependent, but yeah, you probably aren't imagining things.

 

Yes. I used to notice that same phenomenon when loading 44mag. When I made the charges lite in Blue Dot or 4400, the cases would have black soot on them and the gun needed a good cleaning. When I loaded them hotter, the dirtiness went away.

231 is notorius for being dirty with low-end loads. If you load to the upper end, your loads will shoot much cleaner as the increased pressure and heat will more completely burn the powder. It is counter intuitive that more powder means less residue but that's the way it works.

231 is notorius for being dirty with low-end loads. If you load to the upper end, your loads will shoot much cleaner as the increased pressure and heat will more completely burn the powder. It is counter intuitive that more powder means less residue but that's the way it works.

 

I was going to post the same. My thought is more powder will create a smaller combustion chamber with the same COL. This causes higher pressure and heat to burn off the powder. I'm not sure if that's true, but it makes sense from a physics stand point.

Nick, that seems to be a really light load. When I had 115's I was using 4.9g of 231 with an OAL of 1.140. IIRC they made about 130pf, and burned pretty clean. I'm using 124's now though.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

Nick, that seems to be a really light load. When I had 115's I was using 4.9g of 231 with an OAL of 1.140. IIRC they made about 130pf, and burned pretty clean. I'm using 124's now though.

 

Yeah, they were REALLY soft. While researching load recipes, i came across one that was 3.2gr with a 115 bullets and OAL of 1.1, I wasn't willing to go that low. Figured I'd try the 3.6gr just to see if it would cycle. It did, but the cases practically dribbled out. 4.0 will be the lowest i go with W231 and just for steel.

 

I also ordered some Berry's 124's & 147's to start putting together loads for USPSA.

How you doing with your new loads Nick??

 

I just finished putting a new load with the bullets I got in the group buy we did with X-Treme bullets.

 

.40 S&W Using 5.0gr N320 (avg of 10 powder loads right on the money, even added another 10 and still right on, not even a .1 gr off on all 20 on the scale) under a 180 gr X-Treme bullet, OAL at 1.210 +/- .002 on the 30 rounds that I did.

 

Came in at a PF of 166.854 on the 30 rounds all of them above the 165PF except 1 that missed by only 3.86 FPS..

 

I think I have my new Major load for local matches..

 

Maks and Jon, you were right I do like these bullets, nice and clean to work with also.

Maks and Jon, you were right I do like these bullets, nice and clean to work with also.

 

 

These bullets are now available for local purchase. Maksim should have my forum section set up tonight.

How you doing with your new loads Nick??

 

Not bad... Just starting to research the USPSA loads i'd like to use.

Think i can borrow that crono one day?

I always have it in my car so bring some rounds you want to crono and we can do it tomorrow morning, heck I have to sight in the GSG real quick, when to move the rear sight just a hair and when you loosen the setscrew just a bit it really lets the rear sight move without even touching it, so I have no idea where she's shooting right now, not like it matters.. lol

 

I'll be there between 0830 and 0845..