[raymo]

Ben, when learning, and experimenting, large numbers of subs are a total waste of time, when four or five subs will easily show any changes for better or worse. With bright objects such as M42, and NGC253 a single frame will suffice. When you have reached a reasonable level, and the changes become
more subtle, you will need lots of subs.
What's with the colour cast your image has? have you mastered your
stacking software? The predominant colour should be similar to the pic
I posted for your convenience, just a bit more red in it.
raymo

P.S. If the images are not bright enough with just a few subs, up the ISO to 3200 or 6400,
noise is unimportant until you get everything else right.