If UMC is nasty/dirty, which it is what's the cleanest?

I don't know about factory but 124 grain fmj over 5.0 grains WST powder is the cleanest thing I've ever shot.

Federal offerings are pretty clean IMO.

I shot some Winchester BEB a pretty good long time ago but, best I recall it's pretty clean.

I don't know if it just the Superformance ammo but after shooting a half dozen pigs with Hornady ammo this weekend, my buddy looked down the bore of my BAR and said, you already cleaned the thing? No. It was sparkling clean with absolutely no residue.

To achieve the lowest production cost for the maker, they will use practically any propellant that can meet a certain velocity/pressure spec, while achieving safe results, having good production properties, and decent consistency. This means perhaps forgoing potentially more expensive propellants that contain flash inhibitors, incorporate copper cutting tech, etc, and buy ones with a slower pressure curve/less complete burning, single/double base that has a lot of graphite coating, etc.

Companies will literally buy train carloads of propellant, from worldwide sources that can perhaps be used as is, or blended and tested in the makers lab with other propellants, to meet a certain spec. Even if the company can save say a nickle a pound, adds up when loading millions of rounds. Also, it can be a crap shoot - one ammo lot can be "clean", or cleaner at a certain temp, etc... Next lot can produce nearly identical velocities, but look like burning black powder, with a ton of powder fouling yet meet a spec. Companies could even luck into buying tons of higher quality propellant, simply because at the time, that is what the market had... Maybe a huge military contract over-run, a tiny bit out of a certain spec, used in the box/lot you just bought.

Although I am 100% reloads for all calibers I shoot, Remington 9mm has been getting a bad rap for a very long time, and it seems most times deservingly so. Good luck.

Anything Speer seems to burn relatively clean. I shoot a lot of their Lawman and the only stuff I've found that shoots cleaner is their Gold Dots and a few other brands of premium grade defense ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by nickg216:
If UMC is nasty/dirty, which it is what's the cleanest?

Winchester Win Clean. I've used it in both 9 mm and 357 Magnum. Whatever powder they are using burns super clean.

Winclean and Speer Lawman ammo are definately cleaner than UMC, IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by divil:
Winclean and Speer Lawman ammo are definately cleaner than UMC, IMHO.

I always found Blazer and Blazer Brass to be clean and perform well in .40 S&W 165 gr.

Magtech ammo burned pretty clean.

For general utility plinking and typical combat level accuracy it really does not matter. As long as the gun keeps running how dirty it is becomes completely irrelevant

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Decker:
Anything Speer seems to burn relatively clean. I shoot a lot of their Lawman and the only stuff I've found that shoots cleaner is their Gold Dots and a few other brands of premium grade defense ammo.

I concur. Speer Lawman TMJ and FMJ is good stuff.