Originally Posted by ScottChapin

I should and do know better. When I bought my Colt 1911 rail gun at the range, I bought 100 rounds of the reloads that they stock (to patronize them) and spent 50 rounds. My son shot a handgun for the first time and he's 24! Finally, I got him interested in shooting and he had a blast.

Anyway, I digress. On the way home he asked me if the air in the range was so dirty that he got dirt on his arm. Looking at my right arm, I saw it too was coated with soot. It looked worse than FFF black powder...LOL. What a chore to clean out my beautiful new Colt
.

So, was it incomplete combustion, or cheap powder? Inquiring minds want to know.

Residue will vary from powder to powder. When I was loading with HS6 I was getting tons of unburnt powder residue all over, after I switched to Titegroup I was seeing less residue in general and almost no unburnt powder.

I have noticed how certain ammo expells more nasty residue than others. I have shot 2 mags of remingtion UMC and the whole tip of my gun was full of residue but than after 200 rounds of winchester I did not see but a speck. I could only imagine how dirty reloads could be if not done right or not done with a cleaner powder. Your range might be cheaping out or just putting to much powder in the reload. Thats why I probably will never fire a reload unless I buy a gun that is used for major abuse. I just dont want to take the chance of those rounds messing up my carry and failing when I really need it.