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Cleanest .38 spl?

J

jamesh319

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Are all commercial brands of .38 special ammunition (not +P) pretty much the same in terms of the amount of lead and carbon residue left behind, or do some shoot cleaner than others?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Cheers,
Jim
 
Wax lubed lead bullets leave the most soot.
Coated, plated, jacketed pretty much take bullet lube out of the equation.
Powders leave less residue when operating near the top of their useful pressure range and more at low pressure, just like a smoky fire in a cold wood stove leaves soot. Different powders leave different residues. Some leave a fluffy residue that cleans out easily.
As a reloader, I can pick my powder and reloads to suit my taste.

Now the bad news. You have no way of knowing what powder is used in commercial loads, and the powder may even change from batch to batch. They may even use a custom blend you can't get.
So if you find a certain batch of your favorite load is just what you want, buy all you can of that batch.
 
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Thank you, OKFC05, for taking the time to reply with such interesting information. Being new to shooting, I greatly appreciate it. What a great site this is!
 
.38 is pretty clean...

Most any residue left from a good .38 round will be fairly clean unless it is 'smoke supreme'. Whatever, .38 cleans up very easily, dirty or no because it's mostly ash/soot. The biggest prob is when you are shooting. Shooting lubed cast bullets in an indoor range I had to wait a bit for the air to clear so I could see the target. Now shooting hot loads out of a high pressure cartridge like full .357 loads, leaves hard lead, powder scorch marks on the front of your cylinder which can be a bear to clean until you find a good method that works without scratching up your gun.
 
Thanks, guys. Your highly informed posts make me want to find out about reloading. Whether In the end I become a reloader doesn't matter. As my ol' mama used to say: learning stuff is its own reward.

Cheers,
Jim
 
I don't know if you can find it in 38 special, but Winchester has a brand of ammo called WinClean. I've used it in 9mm and 45acp and it is a lot cleaner. Contrary to one of the posts, you won't have to clean your weapon. You may still want to but after 50 rounds of 9mm, it was cleaner than after one magazine of basic target ammo like Winchester White Box. I think there are a few other brands that sell a clean round. However, it will be about 30 to 50 percent more than basic target ammo. Therefore, the cleaning issue still comes up. It's a lot cheaper to clean your gun than it is to run commercial clean ammo. Reloading may be a completely different story - I don't know because I don't reload.
 
MichiganScott said:
Who cares? You still have to clean the gun.
Click to expand...

Didn't mean to seem rude, but I've never been able to understand the concept of clean vs. dirty ammo. Some ammunition deposits more residue than others, but they all leave residue that eventually needs to be removed.

A modern firearm shooting smokeless ammunition almost never stops functioning from powder residue build-up. Full auto guns shooting large volumes will eventually have problems, as will tight target guns. The judicious application of lube will get the gun back in operation until it can be cleaned properly. Google "dirty AR" for pictures.

Ammo that leads vs. ammo that doesn't is a different story.
 
MichiganScott said:
Ammo that leads vs. ammo that doesn't is a different story.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I don't care about powder residue clean up. Whether there's a little of it or a lot, it's nothing compared to getting lead off the parts.
 
Each time you fire a gun, you build a fire inside it. There will be residue. I second the notion that clean v/s dirty ammo is little more than an internet discussion. Don't get hung up on it. Just shoot and have fun.
 
Many thanks for the additional comments and information. I realize now that I should've been clearer with the question I posted. My concern is with lead, really, not powder residue. I'm certainly not looking to avoid cleaning my revolver; I actually like doing that.

Cheers...and have a good Labor Day.
Jim
 
jamesh319 said:
Thanks, guys. Your highly informed posts make me want to find out about reloading. Whether In the end I become a reloader doesn't matter. As my ol' mama used to say: learning stuff is its own reward.

Cheers,
Jim
Click to expand...

I don't want to discourage you, but if you reload you may have to switch powders due to availability in the shops. Still worth it though. Bob
 
I find that American Eagle 158 grain RN is about the cleanest there is. The bullet has a dry lube that really works, and the powder residue doesn't seem heavy or difficult to remove. By far the easiest for me to keep up with and I shoot a minimum of 120 rounds every time I compete.
Keith
 
Thanks, cprher...and, again, to all those who took time to reply to my post.

Cheers,
Jim
 
If you find ammo loaded with either plated bullets or coated lead your gun will be much cleaner.
 
Atlanta Arms .38 used to be the nastiest ammo I'd ever used.
Don't know if the situation has changed.
I think they were using Unique for low pressure loads.

For me, Red Dot and Bullseye are my two cleanest burning powders (in .38 special HBWC and 140 gn Cowboy Bullet loads), so far.

CFE Pistol may end up being a cleaner-burning powder, but maybe not for low pressure loads. Guess we will find out.

I agree that the cleanest burning powder for the application may not be the powder that is available.
 
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