right now im using imr 4035 and it seems to dirty the hell out of my barrel, is there something comparable that wont leave such a mess in the gun? or a better powder for me to use that wont affect my load development progress too much?
cleaner powder?
- Thread starter uchi
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ultimate_monkey
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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- victoria BC
what calliber? yoour 30'06??
if you have a chrony, u can find what the velocity of your current load is, then x-referance with your new powder that will give you the same velocity. and you should be close to the same in your development.
but really as soon as u change powders your existing load data is useless as far as charge weight goes
if you have a chrony, u can find what the velocity of your current load is, then x-referance with your new powder that will give you the same velocity. and you should be close to the same in your development.
but really as soon as u change powders your existing load data is useless as far as charge weight goes
- Location
- Fort St John BC
I agree with Kdx but if you really want clean look at VV powders they are pricey but by far the cleanest I've ever used and extremely consistent also.
Agreed.
In practice, the closer you are to the right burning rate the cleaner the powder should burn in your application. If you get a load that works perfectly and the only thing that you'd change is how it fouls your gun, maybe look for a faster powder.
I tend to work up most pistol ammo with Clays Universal. It's slow enough to be safe in all but the heavy revolver loads. Once I have an OAL and velocity that I'm happy with, I will switch powders and try to work up to the same velocity.
I have found Varget to be much cleaner burning than IMR powders. A quick look at the Hogdon sight listed Varget for the .30-06 using up to 220 gr bullets. There may be better powders out there for the .30-06 or you may have the best load already even if you find it a little dirty.
I have heard VV powders are also very clean, but for me Varget works well and is easy to find just about anywhere.
I have heard VV powders are also very clean, but for me Varget works well and is easy to find just about anywhere.
"Dirty" powders have been the subject of many conversations between reloaders.
I personally believe it is basically a non-issue.
I have seen some powders that foul more than usual, but this is often because one is using them at well below their best working pressure.
H870 [now obsolete] was one of these.
But if used in a case that could exploit it's very slow burning characteristics at maximum pressures, it actually cleans up considerably.
Regards, Eagleye.
I personally believe it is basically a non-issue.
I have seen some powders that foul more than usual, but this is often because one is using them at well below their best working pressure.
H870 [now obsolete] was one of these.
But if used in a case that could exploit it's very slow burning characteristics at maximum pressures, it actually cleans up considerably.
Regards, Eagleye.
Most powders burn cleanest at higher pressures, everything else being equal. If your load is a starting load or low velocity plinking load you could possibly make it burn more efficiently by going with a heavier charge while staying within safe boundaries of course.
The other thing that you can try is going to a slightly faster burning powder if you are finding unburned powder residue with the powder you are currently using. That would mean starting over from scratch with a new powder.
I don't recall seeing IMR4035 before - is this a new powder or did you mean IMR3035 or IMR4064?
The other thing that you can try is going to a slightly faster burning powder if you are finding unburned powder residue with the powder you are currently using. That would mean starting over from scratch with a new powder.
I don't recall seeing IMR4035 before - is this a new powder or did you mean IMR3035 or IMR4064?
apologies its a 4350, i typod it and didnt realize my mistake 
ive had days where ill shoot 60-80 shots and ill put an easy 40-50 patches through it before theyre finally clean, lately ive been using a foam to clean the bore and ill let it soak for a couple hours and then patch it and foam it again and it saves on time and cuts down on the amount of patches i need to put through it till its clean. but if i can just run a slightly cleaner powder i can save on the foam and my time to clean it, thats just the way i see it but thats just me
so you guys are saying to use a slightly larger load within safe parameters and itll burn cleaner? but hotter loads mean it wears the barrel faster right?
im waiting to try this powder with my sierra bullets ive got 50 loaded up for load developing and then ill decide if im going to try another powder, see how these shoot and if i cant get a decent group from this batch ill try something else. id just hate to have a good load developed and then change the powder and go back to square one again. ive given up on the hornady bullets with their stupid plastic tips
thanks for the help guys
ive had days where ill shoot 60-80 shots and ill put an easy 40-50 patches through it before theyre finally clean, lately ive been using a foam to clean the bore and ill let it soak for a couple hours and then patch it and foam it again and it saves on time and cuts down on the amount of patches i need to put through it till its clean. but if i can just run a slightly cleaner powder i can save on the foam and my time to clean it, thats just the way i see it but thats just me
so you guys are saying to use a slightly larger load within safe parameters and itll burn cleaner? but hotter loads mean it wears the barrel faster right?
im waiting to try this powder with my sierra bullets ive got 50 loaded up for load developing and then ill decide if im going to try another powder, see how these shoot and if i cant get a decent group from this batch ill try something else. id just hate to have a good load developed and then change the powder and go back to square one again. ive given up on the hornady bullets with their stupid plastic tips
thanks for the help guys
ive had days where ill shoot 60-80 shots and ill put an easy 40-50 patches through it before theyre finally clean, lately ive been using a foam to clean the bore and ill let it soak for a couple hours and then patch it and foam it again and it saves on time and cuts down on the amount of patches i need to put through it till its clean. but if i can just run a slightly cleaner powder i can save on the foam and my time to clean it, thats just the way i see it but thats just me
so you guys are saying to use a slightly larger load within safe parameters and itll burn cleaner? but hotter loads mean it wears the barrel faster right?
Whoa!! 40-50 patches to clean up??? You are in more danger of wearing out your barrel from cleaning than from shooting it!
I sure hope you are using a bore guide while you clean from the chamber end only.
You should be aware that you absolutely do NOT need to get every vestige of "grey" out of your barrel for it to be clean. [Your recovered patches do not have to be absolutely "white" when you are done.]
I shoot a lot, competitively as well, and have never used in excess of 10-12 patches in any one cleaning session. Usually it is more like 6 or 7 patches.
Wipe-Out is a good foam cleaner, but is slow. Best if you can leave it in the bore overnight. Then 3-4 patches and you are done.
If you are in a bit more of a rush, then there are several good bore cleaners out there you can use. I use KG-12 if copper is an issue [seldom], and Butch's Bore Shine for general cleaning.
Trust me, your bore will love you for cleaning less, not more, in most cases.
Regards, Eagleye.
I know thats why i wanted a cleaner powder lol. Im more trying to avoid copper fouling than anything else thats why im so analabout cleanibg. Kg12 is great we used that to get her clean when she fouled up bad. Are you using a factory barrel ?
uchi; I treat all barrels the same, factory or Custom.
I do have a number of the latter, as well as factory tubes.
I also note that custom barrels usually clean up easier than do factory barrels.
But I still do not worry about a small amount of copper wash left behind.
As a matter of fact, removing ALL the copper may subsequently require that you shoot several "fouling" shots to get things settled down again.
My experience leads me to believe that most factory barrels will work fine even if a small amount of copper wash remains visible in the barrel.
I just do not want it to accumulate too much.
This is evident by how it shoots.
If accuracy starts to drop off, then a good cleaning is indicated.
I have factory barrels that maintain very good accuracy for 80 rounds or more.
Regards, Eagleye
I've not noticed a significant difference in the 'cleanness' of various powders in most applications, except when they're used outside their intended pressures - ball powders in particular seem to be really really sooty when used at lower pressures. I'm starting to think that most 'powder fouling' is really in fact 'primer fouling' - fire a few primed cases sometime, and look at the surprising amount of black crap that comes out
thats my concern too, if the copper, especially since copper tends to stick to copper and itll build up quick.
as for cleaning, i shoot the gun a lot each time out. usually no less than 60 shots, generally 80+ if its a nice day and im feeling good about myself. even my next load development day will have 50 shots going down the tube and ill likely include 10 just to help dirty the barrel a little.
im gonna look for some wipeout and kg12 next time over the border. the stuff i use now comes out with lots of blue every time i throw it in there. and itll produce some black patches.
i dont want you guys thinking i clean it after a few shots, but after 60-80 as my average outing i give it a cleaning, mainly now because im still load developing so i dont want to miss a chance on a good load with a dirty barrel causing it to shoot everywhere.
thanks for taking the time to answer, maybe thursday will see an afternoon range visit to finish off the rest of that powder ive got loaded up
someone had mentioned faster and slower powders, i did some reading about this a while back, how do you determine what powder works best for you? caliber? twist rate? barrel length?
as for cleaning, i shoot the gun a lot each time out. usually no less than 60 shots, generally 80+ if its a nice day and im feeling good about myself. even my next load development day will have 50 shots going down the tube and ill likely include 10 just to help dirty the barrel a little.
im gonna look for some wipeout and kg12 next time over the border. the stuff i use now comes out with lots of blue every time i throw it in there. and itll produce some black patches.
i dont want you guys thinking i clean it after a few shots, but after 60-80 as my average outing i give it a cleaning, mainly now because im still load developing so i dont want to miss a chance on a good load with a dirty barrel causing it to shoot everywhere.
thanks for taking the time to answer, maybe thursday will see an afternoon range visit to finish off the rest of that powder ive got loaded up
someone had mentioned faster and slower powders, i did some reading about this a while back, how do you determine what powder works best for you? caliber? twist rate? barrel length?
thats interesting, im using winchestor primers now, i didnt think primers would actually cause deposits but what you say makes sense to me
